Chapter Twenty-Nine: Fort In The Road

It wasn't long before the two fwagons left town, everyone excited for the trip, with the exception of Shadow, the boy sitting quietly at the reigns. His mind was swarmed with mixed feelings. On one hand, he's more than happy to go on this trip with Anne to help her find a way home. On the other, he still felt horrible about lying to her about the music box, but most of all, he was terrified about what could be waiting for him in Newtopia.

"Everything alright there, Azazel?"

Shadow turned his head to his old master, who was sat beside him, the older man wearing a set of ronin robes and a sash around his hip that held his two swords in place.

"Yeah, I'm alright." Shadow nodded. "Just wondering what home's like nowadays. Not as friendly as before, I assume?"

"I'd say it is, but I'm no liar." Cody sighed. "While it's decent still, Apollo has certainly changed. Be it good or bad, I leave for you to decide."

"And the king?" Shadow inquired.

"The less said about him the better." Cody said. "Not that he's bad, mind you. Just that there are old wounds still, especially after you left."

Shadow chuckled a bit, "You always were one to care about my well-being."

"Hey, can't an old mentor just catch up with his students?" Cody snickered. "I could make you run through our old training habits."

"Wow, I can't believe you remember that." Shadow said. "It feels like years ago now since we did our first training."

"Well, you were one out of many students I had. I just didn't expect you and Apollo to adapt so quickly." Cody told him. "My training usually takes weeks before Calamity Warriors get results. Although with Anne, she could go through the same trails, just on the less extreme side."

"That wouldn't be a bad idea." Shadow admitted. "I wouldn't mind going through some of the basics again, to refresh my skills some more."

As the fwagon's rode on over the border of the valley, the two humans looking off to the right to see two wooden signs. The first one saying 'now leaving the valley' and the second one saying 'may frog help you'.

"Well, that's ominous." Shadow remarked.

"I saw the sign as we passed. We've officially left the valley!" Kaemon declared in an excited tone, he and Anne popping out through the roof of the fwagon and sitting behind the drivers. "This is the most exciting thing that's ever happened to anyone. Are you excited? I'm excited. You guys should be more excited."

"I'm excited. You know, it's just, there's a lot riding on this trip for me, and I wanna keep my expectations in check." Anne said.

"A good idea, Anne." Shadow nodded. "It'd be best that, until we reach Newtopia, we should be careful."

Anne nodded, but then her eyes widened at what she saw next. She saw lands beyond Wartwood, open fields of farmland with small villages, giant mushrooms and lilypads, glistening rivers that flowed through the land. And off in the distance, there was an active volcano. Several beautiful butterflies flew past the wagons as Bessie and Ironhide came to a stop.

"This has been beyond the valley?" Kaemon said in awe.

"It's amazing. It's majestic. It's... hurting my eyes." Anne said as she rubbed her eyes.

"It's even better than I could've dreamed." Sprig said with excitement as he hopped atop Bessie's shell put a hand over his brow as he scanned the horizon. "Full speed ahead, Hop Pop! Keep driving and never look back!"

"Hold on, Sprig. Look back here for a second." Hop Pop said, gaining his grandson's attention. "Now that we're out of the valley, things can get dangerous fast. So..." Shortly, everyone found themselves inside the Plantar wagon, Hop Pop having slammed a large book down on the table. "From now on, we're gonna follow Hop Pop's Rules of the Road. By me, Hop Pop." He finished, proudly presenting his self-published book.

Almost everyone groaned in annoyance, with the exception of Shadow and their guests.

"Another huge book? Seriously?" The Thai girl said.

"You kids got a problem with books?" Hop Pop asked. "Why, without books..."

"'...our civilization would crumble to nothingness'." Anne, Shadow, Sprig and Polly groaned before finishing.

"Now, the only way we'll get to Newtopia in one piece is if we follow these rules." Hop Pop said, raising his book to read from it. "Like this one here. Rule number 98: 'Never strike a heroic pose on the fwagon.' It's a sign of hubris that invites disaster."

He then lowered the book to see Sprig doing the exact pose he was warning them not to do.

"I don't mean to sound like I'm telling you how to do things, Hopediah," Cody said politely. "But there's a fine line between being cautious and too cautious."

"That could translate to paranoia." Valor chimed in.

"Doesn't matter." Hop Pop said before pulling out some coloring and puzzle books and setting them on the table, along with a cup of crayons. He then pulled the blinds down over the window before finally grabbing Sprig and putting him in a booster seat as though he was a baby and strapping him in. "That should keep your sense of adventure in check." He said, all the while Sprig looked uncomfortable. He then grabbed his book and climbed to the roof through the hatch while the others looked annoyed. "All right, everyone, let's stick to the rules, and we should have a safe and completely uneventful trip. Okay, thanks. Byeee!"

Rather than wait for a response, he closed the hatch and sat in the driver's seat. Seeing there was no convincing the old frog otherwise, Shadow, Anne, Kaemon and their guests returned to the garrison wagon, Kaemon sitting in the booth with a huff.

"Man, this stinks." The newt said with frustration before gesturing outside the window. "All those adventures out there, and we're stuck in here with these dumb rules."

"Not much we can do." Anne said. "My dad was the same way back home. One time we drove to the Grand Canyon and didn't stop once."

Cody raised a brow at this. "How do you go through the Grand Canyon and not stop to see it?"

"That's what I said!" Anne exclaimed.

"Well, if anyone can figure out how to have fun with these rules, it's us." Kaemon declared.

"Yeah, no need to worry." Shadow assured his passengers. "We'll find some way to make this a trip to remember!"

"Newtopia, here we come!" Everyone in the wagon cheered.

That moment was ruined when Hop Pop yelled, "Road rule number 29: 'No shouting.' Marauders will follow the sound and steal your skin."

Everyone groaned. This was going to be a long trip indeed.

Three hours had passed, and with each exciting looking attraction that passed by, and Hop Pop refusing to let them explore, everyone was starting to go crazy. Even Shadow looked like he was about to blow a fuse from the boredom, as he sat inside the wagon, with Cody taking the reins.

Inside the wagon, Shadow and Anne sat at the table, the Thai girl deciding to teach him Japanese, for some reason.

"Alright, now how do you say 'happy birthday'?" She quizzed the boy.

"Otanjoubi omedetou gozaimasu." He replied in the Japanese language.

"Yeah, that's right!" Anne declared.

"I still do not understand the point of this." Shadow said.

"I just thought it'd be cool, given your use of katana's." Anne explained. "That and you give off that 'wandering samurai' vibe, like Samurai Jack."

Thinking it over, and after having binged the show during the past three hours, Shadow nodded. "Yes, I can understand your point."

"Good, now start counting to ten in Japanese." Anne said.

They were interrupted when Kaemon groaned aloud. "Gah, I can't take it! All of these once-in-a-lifetime experiences are literally passing us by!"

"I know, and I really wanna complain about it." Ina nodded. "But road rule 345: 'No complaining,' takes care of that."

"I wonder how Sprig and Polly are doing." Valor said. "Probably just as bored as we are."

"I admit, this is absurd." Shadow said. "I understand wanting to practice caution, but this is straight up paranoia."

"I swear to frog, if one more cool and exciting thing passes us by..." Kaemon began to say.

"Red alert, everyone!" Hop Pop called, prompting everyone to look over. "We're coming up on the 'Ruins of Despair'."

Hearing that, everyone popped their heads out to see, looking over to see miniscule structures that looked like frogs with two windows resembling eyes above bronze metal gates. The structures looked as thought they hadn't been touched in years, with grass and moss growing on them.

Everyone besides Shadow and the guests looked in awe.

"Whoa! What are those weird structures?" Anne asked.

"No one knows, Anne. They've been here long before any written history." Hop Pop said, looking at the ruins with suspicion. "Just a mystery better left unsolved as far as I'm concerned."

Annoyed, everyone got back inside, except for Shadow, who kept staring at the ruins with intrigue, which Anne took notice of.

"You okay, Teach?" She asked him.

The boy stared at the ruins. "I feel like I've ben here before." He said. "And I feel like I need a closer look."

"Right?! This place is the coolest thing I've ever seen!" Kaemon said, pressing his face against the window as they slowly began to pass by. "If I don't get out and have a closer look, I'll regret it for the rest of my life!"

"Fear not, my friend." Valor declared. "I have a plan."

He then pulled Anne and Shadow to the side and whispered into their ears, both nodding before Shadow stuck his head out the side of the wagon.

"Hey, Hop Pop. We need to pull over." He called. "Anne and I need to answer nature's call."

"Dang it, Shadow. How do humans cope with such unreliable innards?" The old frog complained but complied. "Let me know when we can start moving again."

The two wagons pulled over to the side, with the garrison behind the Plantar fwagon, before Shadow, Anne, Cody, and Kaemon stepping out through the back, before the human boy sneaking up to the back of the fwagon and pulling the back door open, Sprig inside looking as though he was dying from boredom.

"Come on!" He whispered.

His face lit up with excitement before he jumped up and out through the back, the group quickly sneaking off, and once they gained enough distance, they ran off towards the ruins.

"This was your plan? Master, you've done it again." Kaemon declared with a smile as they all ran.

Hop Pop and Polly sat in silence, the orange frog oblivious to being tricked. Polly, who was sitting next to him, on the other hand, was not.

"You do realize that they tricked you, right?" She asked.

Hop Pop scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous! As if Shadow would willingly lie just to leave the fwagon." But after some thought, he sighed before picking up the rule book and climbed down the ladder. "Polly, don't do anything till I get back."

He then went after the group, Valor and Ina popping up next to Polly.

"Wanna do something while they're gone?" The two asked with mischievous grins.

Kaemon, Anne and Sprig laughed as they ran towards the ruins, with Shadow and Cody following behind, the group stopping at the mouth and the metal door.

"Okay, pretty sure Hop Pop's onto us. So, let's take some quick selfies and get out of here." The Thai girl said, pulling out her phone.

"Yeah, yeah." Sprig nodded.

After getting the camera ready, Anne looked over and saw Shadow and Cody standing before the door, looking it over as though looking for a way to open it.

"Hey, what're you guys doing?" She asked.

"I remember being brought here before." The boy said. "When I was a newborn, I remember images of this place. I need a closer look inside."

"Wait, like, go inside?" Anne said, slightly confused. "Even then, I don't think it's even working."

"Allow me." Cody said, stepping forward to a power box that was located next to the door. Removing the cover, he then rubbed his hands together, and much to Anne, Sprig, and Kaemon's shock, started to conduct electricity, before he grabbed onto some wires. The structure then lit up, the metal doors sliding open, revealing a steep-looking passageway, pipes and fungi along the hallway.

"Whoa, how did you-?" Anne asked in awe.

"That would be my elemental magic." Cody explained, a hand against the lightning yellow gemstone of his amulet. "Mine allows me to manipulate the electricity."

"He's always been rumored to have magical abilities." Kaemon said. "Powers that make him quick like lightning and hit hard like thunder."

"At any rate, shall we?" Cody said, gesturing inside.

Shadow was first to go in, followed by Anne, then Cody, before Kaemon and finally Sprig, all of them sliding down the smooth surface before reaching the bottom. They looked around in awe.

The chamber looked massive and technologically advanced, littered with computers and technology lightyears ahead of time on Amphibia. In the center, it looked like a frog-like computer with a lever sticking out of the head. There was a conveyor belt that led into a hole in the wall. Where it led to was anyone's guess. The only living things were the small critters and insects.

"What the heck? Are those computers?" Anne asked. "I thought you guys were like pastoral or whatever."

"These things were here long before Amphibia's time." Cody said. "For what, who can say."

"I'm... gonna touch everything!" Sprig declared with a massive smile on his face. Before long, the pink frog was jumping around the place, touching anything he could get his hands on, as though he was a little kid in a candy store.

Anne smiled cheekily. "We did a good thing." She said before looking over at Shadow, who was looking up at the frog-looking computer console, his face riddled with intense focus. "You okay, Teach?" She asked her boyfriend with worry.

"I remember being brought here when I was younger." He said. "It was the old general, I think, for some initiation, if I remember correctly."

"From what I recall, it was the king's idea." Cody said. "To make you his legitimate child."

"The king's child?" Anne said before gasping. "Wait, this whole time, you were raised by a king?!"

Before Shadow could answer, Hop Pop came sliding down, screaming before he landed on his butt. "Do you two realize how many rules you just broke? 17, 29, 36, 55!" He yelled furiously as he marched over to them, Anne clenching her fists and about to let the old frog have it.

"Sorry, but this had too much significance to just pass by." Shadow said dismissively. "Your paranoid rules can't always be followed, and in some situations, some rules are meant to be broken."

"Yeah, forget the rules!" Sprig exclaimed, ignoring his grandfather's indignant and shocked expression. "Look at this place, Hop Pop! It has everything. Cool atmosphere. Implied historical significance…" He looked up at the lever, before looking at his grandfather with a big smile. "Levers."

"Don't you dare!" Hop Pop warned. "Rule number 68: 'Never, ever pull a lever'."

It suddenly felt like a Mexican standoff between the young and old frogs, both staring at each other with intense glares. Suddenly, Sprig jumped into the air and landed on the lever, wrapping his toes around it and using his weight to push it down.

Everyone, with the exception of Shadow and Cody, gasped before bracing themselves, but to their surprise, nothing happened.

"Well, look at that. I broke rule number 68, and we're all still alive." Sprig declared smugly.

But then the lever pulled out from under him and retracted into the machine, causing the frog boy to fall on his head.

Suddenly, the lines on the floor began to glow blue as the machines started powering up.

"What the..." Kaemon said in wonder as more lights lit up behind the glass wall.

"Huh?" Sprig was startled when the machine opened up, revealing a keyboard and computer screen that lit up. The screen showed several different images and designs for some form of figures; some large and muscular and others lanky and thin.

"Start-up engaged." The machine said.

"Whoa! The building can talk!" Sprig exclaimed with a big smile, but said smile turned upside down as he backed up cautiously from the machine. "Not sure how I feel about that."

"Assembly line activated. Routine protocols engaged."

"Assembly line?" Anne and Kaemon said in confusion, the machine turning on behind them, the two turning around to see the conveyor belt behind the glass started rolling. They watched as machines on the sides of the conveyor belt start up and made their product. "Guys, I think this is a factory."

"But what the heck is it making?" Kaemon asked.

Shadow watched the assembly line roll on, the machines putting together the parts of what anyone could guess, but he knew the answer already.

"Robots…" He whispered.

"Wow. It is mighty impressive." Hop Pop admitted as he looked at the machinery at work.

"Additional materials required. Please place them on the glowing access point."

"Glowing what now?" Hop Pop asked before looking down to see the circle glow at his feet, two restraints locking around his feet, trapping him in place. "Help! It's got me!"

But before anyone could help, the circular floor sank into the floor, pulling the old frog under.

"Hop Pop/Hopediah!" Everyone yelled as the floor closed before them.

Then, much to their confusion, Hop Pop's laughter echoed behind the glass wall. "And it tickles!" A second later, he reappeared on the conveyor belt. Everyone rushed over, watching the conveyor belt move. "See this right here, kids? This is why we follow the rules."

His feet still trapped, Hop Pop crossed his arms and turned away, but he gasped when the conveyor belt started pulling him towards what looked like a laser grid. Remembering what happened in that one movie from movie night, he braced himself to be cut into pieces. But when he passed through, he was fine.

"That wasn't so bad." He said, only to scream when his clothes fell apart, leaving him in his underwear. "I'm not beach-ready!" He screamed, trying to cover himself.

"Not good!" Cody said in a panic. "Azazel, shut down the machine. Anne, help me free Hopediah!"

As Shadow flew up to the computer, Cody moved to the glass wall and felt around underneath. "There should be a hatch to allow access…"

Suddenly, Anne picked up a piece of machinery and threw it, smashing the glass before jumping through. "I'm coming, Hop Pop!"

"Or you could do that." Cody sighed before jumping in after. "Hang on, Hopediah!"

"Take your time, kids. Ooh." Hop Pop said, chuckling as the machine sprayed him with water. "This ain't half bad."

Flying up to the main console, Shadow looked at the console nervously. "Oh, it's been so long since I messed with this."

"If you wish to cancel the operation, please insert new disk."

"Disk? What disk?!" Shadow said in a panic.

Down below, Kaemon and Sprig watched on. "Shouldn't we help?" The pink frog asked.

"Nah, we'd probably get in the way." The newt said. "Besides, knowing our luck, you'd just make everything worse."

"Oh sure, blame everything on me!" Sprig pouted, throwing his hands up.

"Seriously, take your time, kids." Hop Pop said, clearly enjoying the ride so far, before the panel behind him angled upwards, pressing his back against it before clamping around his arms, Hop Pop screaming as it spun around before lowering back on the conveyor belt. On his back and immobilized, Hop Pop looked up, his eyes widening in horror as it brought him closer to a hydraulic crusher. "I take it back! I was a fool!"

"Hold on, Hop Pop! I'm coming!" Anne yelled, running ahead, jumping over the laser grid and running through the water before sliding underneath the crusher, activating her Calamity Powers and stopping it from crushing the old frog. "How's it going over there, Shadow?"

"I'm trying, but it's been a while!" Shadow replied. "I'm a little out of practice here!"

Anne struggled to keep the crusher up, before Cody caught up and joined her. "Azazel, try switching it to voice command! Request an emergency stop!" The older man called.

Shadow pressed a button that connected to a microphone. "Commence emergency shut off!" He commanded.

"To commence emergency shutoff, please press the big red button."

"Big red button? What big red button?!" Shadow demanded, before looking up and seeing said button on a separate platform above. "Oh. THAT big red button. Of course."

"Master, if you could hurry!" Kaemon urged.

Flying to the other platform, Shadow pulled off the glass casing and put his whole bodyweight into the button.

"Emergency shutdown initiated. Powering down."

And with that, the machine powered down, the restraints releasing Hop Pop and the crusher shutting off.

"I'm free!" Hop Pop declared.

"Shadow, you did it!" Anne declared with a smile as her boyfriend descended.

"I'm sorry, everyone. I never meant for you to be put into any danger." The boy said with a sad expression.

"Hey, we did it, didn't we?" Sprig said cheerily, despite what had just occurred. "The danger's passed, and besides Hop Pop's dignity, we're safe!"

The old frog gave his grandson a stern glare, making the little frog glance down in shame. "I know. I know. We should've followed the rules."

"You think?!" Hop Pop yelled, not just at his grandson, but everyone involved. "Seriously, I expected better of you, Shadow. You're supposed to be the mature one! You know, you lot should be more like Polly. I told her to stay put, and look where she is."

"Wait, you left Polly in charge?" Shadow glared at the old frog.

"And alone with Valor and Ina?" Cody added.

Realizing the mistake he made, Hop Pop quickly ran up the incline, with Sprig following behind. Anne made to follow but noticed that her boyfriend didn't make to follow.

"You coming?" She asked, looking over her shoulder.

"You go on ahead, I'll catch up." He assured. "I need some time, if you don't mind."

Shrugging, Anne went ahead, Cody giving his former student a smile. "Nostalgic, isn't it? Back when things were much simpler." He said before leaving himself.

Now alone, Shadow approached the computer, staring at the screen. He wasn't being completely honest with Anne. While he was telling the truth of being here before, he feigned not remembering some things as to not arouse suspicion.

His return to Newtopia was imminent, and he needed a backup plan.

"That Batman fellow had a lot of these," The boy said to himself, cracking his knuckles. "A contingency plan of my own wouldn't hurt."

After a few key presses, a hand scanner reveal itself, Shadow pressing his hand against it as the systems glowed back to life.

"Production resuming. Welcome back, Bearer of Yang."

"Where's Polly?" Hop Pop asked with clear irritation, seeing that the fwagon wasn't where it was supposed to be.

Suddenly, the mad laughing of Polly could be heard, along with Valor and Ina bellowing with laughter, the fwagon racing through factory field like a dune buggy, using the factories as ramps to do jumps and spins, all the while Bessie chirped happily. Finally, the fwagon landed beside their family and friends.

"Whoo! Boom, baby!" Polly declared with a big smile on her face.

"That's how it's done!" Valor exclaimed.

"To the extreme!" Ina added.

A sharp cough got their attention, the trio turning to a stern pair of Hop Pop and Cody glaring at them, the trio realizing the jig was up.

"Bessie made us do it." Polly said. Her grandfather's stare hardened. "All right. I'm sorry, okay? That's the last time I break a rule, I swear."

"Same for us." Valor said, Ina nodding along.

"Yeah, us too, HP." Anne said sadly. "For the rest of the trip, we'll follow all the rules."

"Yeah. We just won't experience anything special, I guess." Sprig sighed.

"Or fun." Kaemon added, as he, Sprig and Anne made to get back on the fwagon.

Hop Pop looked back at the factory, then looked up to Cody who gave him a knowing glare before sighing. "Hang on a sec, kids." He said, getting their attention. "Maybe this only happened because I was being too strict with you. We've never taken a trip like this, and I just wanted it to go smoothly. So, what do you say we set aside the rules for a bit and make a stop or two?

Anne, Kaemon, Valor, Ina, Sprig and Polly all gasped before smiling excitedly "Really?"

Sprig instantly threw his arms up. "Oh, oh, oh! Can we stop at the Hills of Impalement? I've heard it will traumatize you for life."

Cody chuckled. "No, but we've got something else in mind."

"But first, where's Shadow?" Hop Pop asked, just now noticing that the dark-cladded boy was missing from the group.

Just then, said boy had exited the factory and joined them. "Sorry for taking so long. Just reminiscing about things."

"Nothing wrong there." Hop Pop shrugged. "Now, come on! Cody and I planned some stuff."

A few minutes later, the two wagons were passing through the valley of factories again, this time everyone was enjoying ice cream with cricket legs in the frozen treats.

"How's the crickets and cream ice cream, kids?" Hop Pop asked.

"Amazing!" Sprig declared, taking a lick.

"So good!" Polly exclaimed before throwing her whole cone into her mouth and munching.

"You know, there was a time I'd pick out the bug bits. That time has passed." Anne said, biting into hers.

"Welcome to the Getting-Used-To-Eating-Critters-Every-Day Club!" Ina declared.

Hop Pop chuckled. "Glad you like it."

Sprig scooted closer to his grandfather. "Thanks, Hop Pop." He said before hugging the orange frog.

"See how far you get when you're not so strict?" Cody joked with a chuckle.

Anne looked back at the factory. "Man, I'm kinda bummed we didn't find out what that factory was making."

"I'm sorry you're disappointed." Shadow said. "But some things are probably left alone."

"Yeah, guess we'll never know." Valor said, placing a hand on Anne's arm. "Guess we'll never know. Guess..."

"Yep, got it." Anne deadpanned.

Shadow chuckled at the antics of his friends and girlfriend, before glancing underneath his vambrace. Hidden from view was a small device that could pass off as a normal wristwatch. But for Shadow, it was a key component to his backup plan, should things turn south.

Back at the factory, however, two robotic figures emerged from the doorway, stepping out to the sunlight. One of them was large and bulky, with elongated, gray metal arms ending with slender fingers. The main body consisted of overlapping metal sheets with a shiny frog foot sign along the middle. Placed upon his shoulders were brown, darkly shaded metal studs. His head was mounted atop his body via bar extensions, featuring two brightly glowing optics representing its eyes with darker yellow pupils capable of turning red based on his emotions. The mouth consisted of a crescent speaker incapable of moving but allowing minimum speech.

The second one was thin and lanky, having a black and silver paint job, with eight razor sharp claws on the ends of its arms, and had three toes on each leg. It had a horn that curved backward on the top of its head, and its optics were silver, and two large black colored shoulder pads. It had powerful long legs that looked like they could allow it to jump great heights.

Looking around, the two frog robots spotting the two wagons leaving. With no other objectives, the two started following the wagons.