Yesh hello friends

You already know

it's the great and loveable Valerie! (if you get the reference you're mah friend now :3)

thank you all so much for the massive amounts of support, I really appreciate it

Onto the chapter! (and also Valerie in a costume <3)

-

Valerie currently made her way through Wartwood with the Plantars, Anne, and Marcy. It had been a little while since Sasha had came to town, and well-- the townsfolk weren't taking too kindly to her. Which was understandable, she did try to kill them all.

She currently wore a faded black denim jacket over a light green shirt with the words 'over dramatic' written in small letters across her chest, along with a pair of flared out deep blue jeans underneath with a pair of classic black dock martens.

"hey, Sash," Marcy next to her threw out to the blonde who sat on the fountain, looking rather sad. The girl replied with a small "hey," in response, still sounding rather down.

Then the mayor of the town on the stage everyone was gathered in front of started to speak. "Simmer down everyone, simmer down," He said, waving his hand in the air to get all attention on him. "Ahem, now, I know we've all been a little on edge since Sasha and Captain Grime came to stay in Wartwood."

"what, why?" Sasha said in disbelief as she stood up, anger written all across her face. "Cause we invaded the town?"

"yeah, it was just one time," Grime sitting down to her left added.

Valerie could be heard snickering from offscreen at the two, as she crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, like that's not enough to piss a whole town of 'slow to accept and even slower to respect'. Right."

Sasha glared at the standing brunette who only smirked at her mindlessly in return, not bothering to waste any more of her words on her friend's anger issues.

"Point is, we could use some levity," The toad on stage interrupted with a shrug. Then a small, light blue toad (which Valerie assumed to be the mayors assistant) was seen pushing a wheel full of fun activities written down onto the stage. "So let's consult the wheel of fun."

There were cheers in the crowd.

As it was spun, anticipation hung heavy in the air. Some hoped for certain answers, but as for Valerie, she just could not care less. As long as it was something that didn't involve her or anyone she cared about dying a horrible death-- she was fine.

The option is eventually landed on?

Well-

"alright everyone, get your teams together and start rehearsing, Wartwood is having a battle of the bands!" Mayor Toadstool announced proudly in a shout.

As the crowd parted, the quartet could be seen near Wartwood's fountain in the middle of the town. Valerie had her arm on Marcy's shoulder, leaning onto her a bit while still keeping herself a part of the group, along with the noirette next to her who had an arm around her girlfriend's waist.

"You guys think Wartwood is ready for a Sasha and the Sharps reunion?" Anne asked the other three girls around her excitedly, smirking knowing at them all.

"The what and the who?" Sprig questioned from the ground, placing his hands on his hips to make a stance in his confusion.

"it was a garage band the four of us had back home!" Marcy chirped out happily. Valerie next to her stirred perking her head up at the mention of the band they had formed, that was one of her favorite things she'd do with her friends-- even though she hadn't gotten to be in it for very long before they were zapped away.

"We used to slay, at talent shows," Sasha said, knitting her eyebrows together and bringing both of her hands up like she was going to catch something, making her look pretty angry. everyone swore they saw a fire background appear behind her.

"hell yeah, we ate that up like it was breakfast!" Valerie chimed in, reaching her hand out and hi-fiving the blonde with a smile. That was something the two could agree on, at least.

Suddenly, Wally just seemed to magically appear behind Hop-Pop and Sprig as he carried Loggle above his head on both of his hands. "Hoppediah, Sprig, you guys wanna join me and Loggle's jug band?"

The two were running off faster than you could say "yes".

"Come on, ladies," Anne said as she pointed back towards where the Plantar residence was. "we can practice in my room."

"Well what are we waiting for?" Valerie moved her hand to grip onto her girlfriend's, the noirette making a cute little "woop!" sound as she was pulled along by her to head back to where they were all staying, causing her to let out a giggle. "come on!"

-

The friend-group were all seated in different spots in Anne's room with their designated instruments.

What was Valerie's might you ask? the brunette carried a bass with her at all times-- the instrument was something she'd started learning when she was very little, despite her dropping it and going back to it a couple of years ago-- so of course, she had it with her when she entered amphibia, and yes, she had kept practicing.

Cause that was important for plot reasons, apparently.

She had her hands on the knobs at the end of the instrument, twisting them to get the right notes for her to play.

"What do you got there, Sash?" Anne asked suddenly as the blonde pulled out a case none of the others had seen before.

Sasha locked her fingers underneath the clips for the guitar case, flipping off the lid to reveal some sort of oddly shaped guitar. "A dope ax-beetle from Toad Tower. Check this out." She stood up, guitar strap around her shoulders and a crystal pick in hand as she played a chord. The soundwaves seemed to spread throughout the room.

Valerie was the first to hop on the track, her fingers gliding across the bass's frets and her pick gliding along the strings as she made some deep notes with the instrument, before the other two girls joined in with their own musical noises.

But the jam session quickly came to an end when Marcy seemed to trip over her own fingers, sending her drumsticks flying in the air, which then made Valerie stop playing as she rushed to catch them both. All of them let out giggles as the brunette handed her girlfriend back her drumsticks.

"there you go, sunshine."

"thanks, player 1."

there was a brief pause.

"what kind of a petname is player 1-"

"SASHA AND THE SHARPS ARE BACK BABY!" Anne chanted out loudly as she threw her hands up into the air, before she ultimately flopped backwards onto her own bed.

"So, what song should we play at the battle?" Marcy asked as she flopped herself over her drumset to have a good view of her friends in front of her, gently tapping on the front of her kick drum out of excitement.

The brunette next to her wrapped her arms around her base and held it up to her chest, furrowing her eyebrows as Sasha seemed to be about to talk. So, she did the only natural thing, she interrupted her. "let me guess, you wanna play Heart Stomper?"

Sasha paused, her eyes slowly shifting towards Valerie as the two locked eyes. "well, yeah, can you blame me? it was a real hit back home." Was she that predictable?

"ooo! I'm into that," the noirette commented, before looking to her girlfriend behind her and smiling as the girl placed a hand on her shoulder. "what about you, bunny?" she asked excitedly.

"I mean, if no one has a better idea..." Valerie replied in a half-hearted tone, before turning to Anne, who looked a little embarrassed. "Anne, what do you think?"

After a second when the girl didn't reply, Marcy also referred to the girl by her name, confusion written all over her face.

The poofy-haired girl coughed before moving her hand to rub at her own arm. "actually, I uh... wrote a song about amphibia and was...hoping we could play it together."

"I..." Valerie seemed unsure, for a second, before her face lit up at the idea and she nodded. Not just because she'd heard Sasha's song way too many times for her liking, but also just because the idea of singing a song about this whole new world the girls had landed themselves in sounded like a lot of fun. "love it! it's perfect!"

"I agree, Anne, you should have told us you were writing a song!" Marcy's grin was ear-to-ear as she spoke. "Let's do it!" she then paused, both her tone and face dropping as she looked to the blonde. "I mean, if that's okay with you, Sasha?"

You don't need her approval, Mars.

Said girl seemed deadpan at first, before starting to reply in a slow, condescending tone. "For sure... teach it to us, Anne."

-

The group could be seen finishing off the song, as Frobo and Polly were there bobbing their heads and dancing to the music. Valerie picked one last note on her bass as it came to an end.

She really loved the idea of the song, and the fact that Anne was the one to write it, expressing her feelings about Amphibia? perfection. In her eyes, at least. And it was way better than Heart Stomper.

Then Anne grabbed out her notebook. "And here's where Sasha plays a killer guitar solo, we sing the refrain one more time, and then we're done!"

"great work, dude!" Valerie said, peeking over her best friend's shoulders at the notes she had written down on the song. "Although, I would change the base note here," she gestured to a certain line. "From a G," she played the deep note on her bass. "to a C." she played the note she'd just stated.

Anne's face lit up as she nodded. "ooo, yeah, you're right! that would fit the vibe more." she grabbed out a pencil from god knows where, taking the brunette's advice, who nodded approvingly.

"it's super fun to play!" the noirette said, spinning her drumsticks around in her hands rather fast, only for them to fly off again. However this time, Valerie didn't manage to catch them, and glass could be heard shattering in the background.

"fu-"

"Sasha," Anne walked up to the blonde with a hopeful smile. "What do you think?"

"It's good," the girl responded, and just with that, Valerie could already tell that this was going to be another one of her manipulative rampages. "I just have a few notes that could make it better."

First, it started with Sasha saying all of the lyrics needed to change, and completely scrapping the idea of bug outfits that Anne had. Then she stripped away Marcy's drumset and started giving impossible orders to Polly (who was waving mushroom lights) and Frobo (who was producing smoke).

"boom, fixed it!" Sasha said, sliding along on her knees and strumming a chord, before throwing her hand up in the air, seeming proud of what she'd done.

"it does seem... simpler." Marcy said unsurely, Valerie wrinkling her nose at Sasha's behavior.

ugh, the epitome of disgusting. Was she like this back home?  Gold asked. The entity didn't seem to be very active in her head recently, so her speaking did make Valerie jump a bit.

Yep.

Well I dislike her even more now.

"yeah, these are solid ideas," Anne started. She seemed confused, and a little offended, which was right, in Valerie's eyes, I mean, one of her best friend's was trying to change everything about something she'd creative. If the places were switched, she'd punch the bitch. "but, it's just not my song anymore. the lyrics are different, the melody is different, it's just... different."

"that's called collaboration, Anne-"

"To hell it is!" Valerie chimed in as the poofy-haired girl was about to speak. She could tell Anne was going to say what she was about to say, but in a gentler tone.

"You know," the brunette looked down, placing on an angry smile. "I was holding back, Sasha, because I really, thought you would have known better. But this? This is just... petty. You're taking something that Anne made, out of her own creative will, and basically making it a hostile take over! Things don't always have to be your way."

Sasha seemed to sigh as she placed her hand on her head, closing her eyes. "so now, once again, I am... forcing you to do things my way." She rolled her eyes, then reaching down and picking up her guitar case. "you know what? maybe I should leave and join a different band. that way I get all the control I want, and you get all the fun you want."

as the blonde reached the door, Valerie started speaking.

"Oh, go take your gaslighting and shove it right up your-"

the door slammed.

"rude," the girl muttered to herself, leaning back onto the wall, and starting to pick at random notes on her bass. Her eyes drifted to where her fingers glided along the frets.

"not cool, dude." Anne said as she turned to face the brunette, who stopped playing at the words she spoke. She raised an eyebrow at her, not convinced that was what she really thought.

"well, I thought it was kind of cool." Marcy said shyly from her seat in front of her drums, her cheeks flushed as she saw Valerie so angry like that. it was kind of hot.

"...okay maybe it was pretty cool, but," Anne paused, putting a finger up in the air as she stated her point. "you didn't need to be so... aggressive, I'd like to say, with your words. We're all supposed to be friends here, Val."

"Anne, are you kidding?" Valerie asked in disbelief, seeming stunned that her friend would even say that. "you made something so amazing out of the creativity of your own mind, and then someone comes along trying to change it-- do you expect me to not defend you?"

"okay, fair, its just," the poofy-haired girl sighed, sitting back onto her bed and looking down to the ground. "who's gonna play the guitar solo now?"

"I'm sure we'll be fine." Marcy said, crossing her legs and politely resting her hands on her lap, propping her chin up on her palm, pausing her speech before adding "probably."

there were collective sighs shared in the room.

"you guys done moping?" Polly asked from atop Frobo's head. "Cause me and Frobo charge by the hour."

-

Everyone was backstage now, getting ready for performing on the stage. The trio of Anne, Marcy, and Valerie had all put on their costumes for their performance.

the brunette really loved what she was wearing. She wore a black sparkly top that faded out to gold at the edges and was fully gold at the back, black tight pants with gold stripes going down them, a black cape that went from her waist to her knees (that looked a bit like a skirt without a front) black fingerless gloves that had hearts on the back of them and fancy looking boots that were an assortment of white fluff, gold buckles and black/gold fabric. But of course, we can't forget the little black bug antennae headband she had on-- Marcy had been the one to make that for her.

"Hey Sasha," Anne said as the group approached the blonde, who was dressed up in a grunge-style outfit. She seemed to marvel in the costumes for a moment.

"oh, hey guys! Those costumes are-" she paused, looking them all up and down with distaste. "...something else!"

Valerie rolled her eyes at Sasha's backhanded compliment.

"I'm a drag-ANNE-fly!" the poofy-haired girl announced proudly, placing a hand on her chest to present her costume more.

"I'm a scarab!" Valerie added to the girl's little announcement thing they had going on, opening up her arms. She did seem excited-- after all, she did love looking extra, and well-- she did look very, very extra.

Marcy then added to the conversation next to her. "And I'm the personification of Metamorphosis!" she said, putting her hands up in the air and spreading them out to either of her sides. the noirette was practically bouncing with excitement.

"Of course you are," Valerie said, wrapping her arms around the girl next to her and pressing a playful kiss to her jaw, only for Marcy to turn red and giggle nervously, replying back with something along the lines of "Val! stop! that tickles-"

"uh, cool." Sasha said, a little confused by the affectionate display in front of her, but smiling nonetheless. "Well, have fun out there."

There were thanks as they all set up on stage.

-

(the actual performance won't be written out in the most detailed format, sorry-)

Smoke was blown onto the stage, as music started to play.

"took a leap through a box, super weird, to a swamp where frogs talk." Anne began singing.

Valerie and Marcy chorused for the backing vocals.

"now I'm stuck, got no plans, just my luck! I'll do the best that I can..."

more backing vocals.

"making friends, and enemies, it's weird, but hey it's grown on me..."

Valerie felt a grin grow on her face as the chorus was about to hit, strumming harder notes on her bass, before she paused.

"Bugs, frogs, newts and toads, gonna be a bumpy road! Flies for snacks, worms for lunch," All three of the girls chorused in a chant, before vocals went back to just Anne.

"I think I actually love this swamp!"

Valerie slid her fingers up her frets for the notes in the chorus, starting to sing along with the chorus.

"It's no big deal, yeah, no big deal! Find a way to start again, brush off the dirt and make some friends! It's no big deal, yeah no big deal! I feel at home in a place that shouldn't be real... crazy strange, but it's no big deal!"

There was a moment where all of the instruments went a lot quieter. This was where Sasha was supposed to do a guitar solo, and it seemed a little awkward without it, that Valerie would admit, but she wouldn't actually-

before she could finish that thought, they all heard a familiar chord being strummed from behind them and all of the girls' heads turned.

Sasha came to join them on stage, absolutely shredding on her guitar. There was a pause in all of the instruments before smiles took over Anne and Marcy's faces, while Valerie's just seemed to remain neutral, but she still started playing at a more... optimistic note as they all sang the chorus once again.

"It's no big deal, yeah no big deal! I feel at home in a place that shouldn't be real."

"Killer birds," Anne sung, breaking off the group singing. "but it's no big deal!"

"Riding snails," Sasha added to the ending of the song. "but it's no big deal!"

"Eating flies!" Marcy contributed her part in a giggle. "but it's no big deal!"

"Talking frogs,"  Valerie was the last one to contribute, smiling a bit, but not as happy as the rest of the group. "but it's no big deal!"

"Finally me, but it's no big deal." All of them made a last sound with their instrument, before the song ended.

"Sasha! that was awesome!" Anne ran over to the blonde and gave her a high-five. "I'm so psyched you decided to join us!"

"Me too," Sasha responded. "sorry it took so long. And Val," the girl turned to face Valerie, who seemed a little confused at first. "I'm sorry I was so condescending earlier. I should have let Anne be herself."

The brunette seemed shocked-- not that the apology was genuine, no, it was fake, that was clear-- but the fact she actually tried to apologize to keep their friendship?

She just smiled and thanked her for the apology. For Anne and Marcy's sakes.

The next-- and final act, was Grime with his harp. He pulled out a shining golden harp and proceeded to play a melody dedicated to the 'serenity of nature'. for three hours straight. And he won, somehow.

Safe to say by