Episode title: Technical difficulties

Description: After a crash landing, the gang ends up meeting an old friend.

Set after the first temple.

(Enjoy!)

The moonlight lit up the dim, dark sky and cast a beautiful luminescent glow over the trees in the pasture below. There was barely a cloud in the sky, the stars shining through if there was a cloud there. But alas, the clouds had all seemed to move past to elsewhere. The night was an absolutely stunning view.

However, if you looked just a little lower, you would see a not so beautiful sight.

Marcy, Anne, and the Plantars were currently flying on Joe Sparrow, said bird's eyes were barely opened as he ever so slowly flew along the starry night sky.

Everyone on the bird groaned simultaneously, dark circles around all of their eyes.

Marcy-- who currently held the reins for the bird-- brought a hand up and rubbed her eyes as she continued looking to the horizon which they were flying towards. "Come onnnn," She groaned, grabbing out a map and looking at it. "We got to the temple in a tenth of the time that we're getting back! It's been hours and we're not even halfway..." She rubbed her temples, hoping that she'd have the solution to the problem, but in the end, she was just too tired to think at the moment.

"WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH THIS BIRD?!" Sprig exclaimed, throwing his head back and hands up to the sky.

"Yeah, Marce, I'm with Sprig on this one, what is wrong with this bird?" She gestured to Joe with both of her arms, sitting cross legged on the seat that the frogs and Anne sat in while Marcy was up front. (I made the seat bigger lmao)

Marcy blinked a few times, hoping that it would clear up. She needed something, anything to come to her. But no, nothing did. She was left clueless.

"I don't know what could be wrong with him. I just... ugh, I'm supposed to know what's wrong with this thing! I'm a straight A student for crying out loud! Well except for gym, but... Whatever." She placed the map down and sighed, burying her head in her hands as she banged her head with her fist. "Come on, come on!" It was still no use.

"Hey, you still shouldn't overwork yourself." Anne shuffled up next to her, placing a gentle hand on the smaller girl's shoulder. "Plus, it's like, really late at night, no one blames you for not being able to think properly right now."

"Ugh, I know, but this is going to annoy me!" Marcy massaged her temples once again, before her face lit up with an idea of what might be happening. "Wait a sec... It could be...?"

"It could be what?" Anne asked, her eyebrow raised in skepticism as Marcy crawled forward off the seat and onto the giant bird's red and white feathers.

It was only now that Anne realized a big, glowing, blue orb like thing that was latched onto Joe's chest, and every now and then the small cords connecting it to him pulsed, almost as if it were sending some kind of signal through.

"Uh, Mar-Mar, what is that?" Anne asked, looking to Marcy, her look still staying skeptical as she was a little unsure of whatever that thing on his chest was.

"Dude, chill out, it's just an an artificial power source," Marcy waved off her question like it was nothing to be afraid of, which gave Anne a little bit of reassurance, but the thought of something 'artificial' like that still scared her.

"Are you sure it's okay?" Anne called out, still a little unsure of what to do as her fingers gripped the edge of the leather saddle as a way to cope with her nervousness.

"Perfectly fi- oop-!!" Suddenly, Marcy's hands that gripped onto Joe's feather's started to slip a bit but she managed to keep holding onto the giant burnt-out bird. "I'm okay!" She assured, finding her footing again as all of the Plantars exchanged a nervous look.

Marcy eventually did start to slowly make her way back up to the drivers seat, grabbing the reins again as she did with a disturbed look on her face, her eye looking off into the starry night of the distance.

"Yeah we're gonna crash."

"WHAT?!" All of the others exclaimed in pure shock.

"Chill out, I'm gonna land and uh... hope it goes smoothly." Marcy said, starting to angle the reins down, preparing to land in a relatively safe area.

-

"Well, that went okay." Polly said, hopping off of Joe's back and onto the ground, the others following behind her as Marcy looked back at where they just were, the huge animal now collapsed.

"Yeah, actually it did," Marcy hummed, a little surprised that it actually turned out okay. Then, she leaned down, unlatching the big blue orb from Joe's chest and resting it on the ground, allowing the bird to peacefully fall into a deep sleep.

"Eh, where are we?" Hop-Pop asked, squinting his eyes, his gaze directed towards a faint light that peaked through the green of the bushes.

Marcy, with a raised eyebrow, pulled out the frail paper map out of her cape where she had tucked it. "Hmm..." she stuck her tongue out in concentration, drawing with some kind of red pen before dotting a point.

The others watched in curiosity, Sprig getting a little too close and almost licking it, causing Marcy to push his head away as she tried to focus.

"If my calculations are correct," she says, gesturing to the red lines with a stick. "This is the route we took, and therefore we are at this point in our travel, meaning we're very far from Wartwood, but very close to..."

She circled a familiar town name, causing the frogs to gasp in shock and excitement.

"Techadia?" Anne asks in confusion. "What kind of a stupid frog town name is that? It sounds like a rip-off of Newtopia!"

"Correction, Anne, it's the second biggest town in all of amphibia and rivals Newtopia in both tech and IQ." Marcy corrected, placing a hand on Anne's shoulder. "There was actually a survey done, and Newtopia came as a close second, but Techadia was first in the IQ department. Some of Amphibia's biggest mechanics and blacksmiths were born here. And it's also where Newtopia hires its out of town mechanics from!" She then sighed. "Hell, sometimes I even wish the music box took me here!"

Marcy's eyes were practically shining at this point, with both excitement and wonder.

Anne took Marcy's hand off of her shoulder. "Woah there dude, calm yourself down!"

"Ahh, right, sorry, sorry!" She apologized profusely, placing a hand on the back of her neck and rubbing it, now feeling awkward. "But anyway, let's just head into the city, there should be some kind of robots to assist us there."

"There's robots?" Sprig questioned, eyes shining and the size of dinner plates as he looked up at Marcy.

"Oh yeah, there is. They're very good at tech," Marcy said, taking out her journal, opening it up to a page and showing it to the group. "See?" She pointed to a sketch of some kind of frog robot with wheels, glowing eyes and a white exterior. "It's so cool, I've stopped here twice but never actually met any of the mechanics."

"Well I guess we will have to now." Hop-Pop grumbled, crossing his arms. "Last time I came here to get something fixed it was filled with idiots and maniacs who just know how to tweak stuff right! Back in my day, we all knew how to-"

"Yeah, news flash HP, it's not 'your day' anymore, so shut up about it." Anne said, obviously rather ticked off, before she clapped a hand over her mouth. "Sorry, I didn't mean-"

"It's okay Anne, guess I kinda deserved it." The orange frog replied with a sad smile, hanging his head low.

Sprig looked up at Marcy, seeming a bit uncomfortable. "How about we go before they start fighting again?"

"Yeah, good idea." Marcy replied as she tucked her journal back into her cape.

"I usually like fights but this just feels uncomfortable." Polly chimed in before hopping towards the dimly lit city with high buildings in front of them.

-

The group, upon entering the surprisingly large city was greeted by a white frog-resembling robot, who bowed and politely said "Welcome to Techadia, please identify your group leader."

Anne and the Plantars all looked to the noirette, who just sighed, before straightening her shoulders and clearing her throat to make her speech as clear as she possibly could. "Marcy Wu, chief ranger of the Newtopian night guard."

For a few seconds, a tense beeping noise filled the air as the robot seemed to process the information, before the lights in its eyes turned from purple to green. "Hello, Marcy Wu, may I assist you or your group with anything?"

A smile upturned onto Marcy's lips as she thought how to word what they needed properly. "An artificial power source has stopped functioning properly and has started to slow the animal is was supposed to help."

Again, a high-pitched beeping noise filled the air until the robot started to speak again. "Contents of the power source?"

"Zapapede antennae, enchanted moss, bog mud, glue and anphalia flower petals."

This time the robot replied immediately. "Pyrotechnical work is needed. Our current expert in fire and all things such is Valerie Williams."

Anne and Marcy's eyes met, both wide as they knew what the other was thinking. Time slowed as Marcy looked back to the bot for confirmation. "What species is this expert?"

"She is a human. Her workshop is open 24/7 and is on pilbera street number seven, a five minute walk from here. Would you like me to lead you to her?"

Marcy shook her head and waved off the bot. "We'll be okay, thank you."

"It is my pleasure."

And with that, the bot powered down, the light fading from its eyes as it went back to its dull self.

-

"AH! SHE'S HEREEE!" Marcy whisper-yelled excitedly, shaking her hands to let off some of the tightness wound up in her. "I haven't seen her in SOOO long! I miss herrr!"

Anne, who was also excited, patted Marcy's shoulder in an attempt to calm her down a little. "I know! I'm excited too! But you know, the whole city is sleeping so... Keep it down a bit!"

Marcy's shoulders slumped a bit before she forced herself back up and smiled. "Yeah, yeah, sorry."

As Marcy overtook them, Sprig hopped onto Anne's shoulder, causing her to wobble a bit before she regained her balance.

"Valerie's the one that Marcy has a crush on, right?" The pink frog asked in a whisper, hoping that said girl couldn't hear the question.

"Ohhh yeah, she is. And, fair warning, she's very overprotective, as in, would kill for her friends. But she likes others pretty quickly, so I'm sure you'll be fine!" Anne responded, almost a bit nervously.

"Marcy what now?" Polly asked from the ground as she accidentally overheard the conversation, but before she could get an answer Marcy said "We're here!"

The group approached a small, stone house where the only door was a red curtain hung over the entrance. To make it creepier, it blew a bit in the wind.

Before Marcy pushed through it, she turned to the group and her expression turned dead serious. "Fair warning before we go in, Valerie has some... How should I say, anger issues." She says with a breath through her teeth. "She's just not as controlled around new people so... Tread lightly, okay?"

Hop-Pop gulped and nodded, the others joining him in the head movement.

Marcy sighed heavily, as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders and quickly brushed her hair back. "Good," she said, opening the curtain and letting everyone in.

-

As the group walked into the dark wooden house, a shadowed figure could be seen bending over and working on something.

Then, a voice started the sing.

"Where is my prescription? Doctor doctor please listen..."

A loud click could be heard as she continued on the project, her eyes dimly lit by the fire in the fireplace next to her.

"My brain, is scattered."

She continued, placing the small contraption on a shelf.

"You can be Alice, I'll be the mad hatter."

Even with the room only dimly lit with the fire, the group was still able to see her properly.

She was wearing a black chest piece outlined in gold that seemed expertly tailored, a brown leather toolbelt around her waist that also included a holder for what seemed to be a knife, as well as black leather pants and dark gray combat boots. Along with that, goggles for protecting her eyes while building stuff rested on her head and a bit of soot was smudged over her right cheek.

Anne and Marcy exchanged glances and then looked back to the brunette.

"Valerie?" The two called out in sync, approaching behind her.

Valerie's eyes darted up, a quick gasp falling from her lips as her aqua eyes widened from shock. "I recognise those voices..." She whispered to herself so that no one else could hear her.

She spun around, meeting the two with glassy eyes.

"Guys?"

THREE MONTHS- YALL IM SO SORRY

I STARTED TO WRITE THIS AGES AGO BUT NEVER MANAGED TO FINISH IT BUT MAN DOES IT FEEL GOOD TOO

THANKS FOR READING ENJOY THE NEXT 24 HOURS