21. Episode 21: First Date in Wartwood!

Anne was trying to keep it all a secret to the best of her ability, and it was not easy. With Marcy staying in the fwagon just a few feet from the house, she had to go the extra mile to make sure she did not find out what she was planning. For you see, Anne Boonchuy, was going to ask Marcy Wu out on a date. An official first date as girlfriends. Partly because it was something that needed to be done, and because she needed to properly thank Marcy for telling her to go with the Plantars back to Wartwood.

Now Anne has seen plenty of romcom movies, read loads of magazines about first dates, and has spoken to Sasha on the matter after some of the cheerleading captain’s exploits. Sasha was a popular girl and was selective of the people she dated. She would give some of the boys a shot, but each time it ended up as a disappointment, and cue “Angel of Death” to swoop down and break it off for her. However, now she had to be the one to worry about if their date would go smoothly or not.

Anne took in all those experiences and complied them into a list in her journal. She wrote down all the things that she remembered Sasha complained about when it came to some of her dates, what she liked, what she did not like, and then made a list of things she knew Marcy liked. Some of those things were going to be hard to come by since they were stuck in Amphibia, and things like arcades, movie theaters, or at home activities like console games and binge watching something on Netflix was not an option.

“All I have to work with is Wartwood. Which shouldn’t be too bad since Marcy’s fallen in love with the place, even after that fiasco. So, I just need to show her the best time I can, and not fail as a girlfriend! This has to be the best date ever!”

“Um, right, but, uh, lass, why are you in my house comin’ up with this dating plan?”

Wally, who was sitting on a chair in the corner, was watching as Anne was busily putting together her plan on a board. Complete with pictures, different colored strings, and extra bits just because.

“Because I need a place where Marcy won’t find out about it. She’s living right next to the house, and I can’t risk her popping in to see me with all this!” Anne gestured to the board.

Wally conceited her point. “Still, Anne, I don’t think ya need to do so much. If she cares about ya, it’ll be just about the good time you’ll have together.”

Anne sighed as she took a seat next to the secretly wealthy frog. “I just want to do this right…I’ve…I’ve never been in a relationship before. Never mind one with another girl. Heck, until a few weeks ago, I didn’t even think I would be into girls! Or could I just be into Marcy? I mean, when I think about other girls, I don’t feel the same…ahem…you know…attraction. But whenever I think of Marcy, it’s just, easy to feel and think of her that way.”

Wally shrugged. “Don’t know much about that, Lass, but what does matter is how you do feel about ‘er. If you like ‘er, and ya want to be with ‘er, then that’s all there is to it.”

Anne sighed and smiled at the fake vagabond. “Thanks, Wally. And I get what you’re saying. I’m just trying not to screw this up. Marcy’s been waiting on me for years, I mean, I didn’t know, and that’s okay because she was worried about messing up our friendship. But now that it’s all in the open, I want to be the best girlfriend she’s ever had!”

“Nothing wrong with that. Tell ya what. Show me what ya got, and maybe I can help trim it down a bit,” said Wally.

“Thanks, dude,” Anne replied.

“So, what were ya thinkin’?”

“Well, I mean, first I gotta ask her out. So, I was thinking of showing up with some chocopedes and flowers.”

Wally nodded his head. “Mmm-hmm, a nice touch.”

“But they won’t be just any chocopedes, they’ll be the best around! I’ll demand the best they have to offer, and as for the flowers, I’ll use my speed and search every corner of Frog Valley for the prettiest, rarest, most beautiful flowers that Marcy has ever–!”

“Pause.” Wally raised his hand up in a stopping motion, derailing Anne’s rant. “Good idea but going a bit overboard. Just get some nice flowers, and some chocopede confections from the shop. Ooh.” Wally walked over to a trunk he had in the corner and opened it. After going through the various items in it, he pulled out a box. After taking off the lid, he showed that it held an assortment of fancy looking treats. “Something from me hometown. Figured I give ‘em to a girl that caught my fancy, but I think these would be put to better use if you gave them to Marcy.”

Anne’s eyes sparkled as she took proffered box. “Wally, thank you!”

“Don’t mention it, Anne. You’ve helped me out and this town, and apparently, you’ve been savin’ our rears for a bit. It’s the least I can do,” said Wally. “Now, let’s see what else.”

What neither of the two realized was that their conversation was not private, as someone was listening in, and that someone was colored pink.

Meanwhile, Sprig Plantar, ten years old, was busy making his own plans. The last couple of days he had seen Anne leave the house and go off without him doing who knows what. Finally, he decided to follow his surrogate big sister and find out what she was doing. When he found her at Wally’s house, he was confused, and went to knock on the door to find out what was going on. But that’s when he heard it all, how Anne was planning on taking Marcy out on a date, and how she sounded like she was stressing about it.

Sprig was getting a bit stressed out, too. Marcy was good for Anne, she was so much happier, and Sprig could see it. He did not want his favorite person to go back to being sad, especially after what happened with Sasha. Sprig spat when he thought of her name. When he saw how controlling she was, how she figuratively sucked the resistance out of Anne and made her feel smaller and powerless, he could not stand it. Marcy was the complete opposite of that, and although she was a little obsessive and brainy, she was fun loving just like Anne.

So, after he listened in on her plan, Sprig rushed off to put his own plan into action. He secretly gathered those who could help make Anne and Marcy’s first date a success. Stumpy, Toadstool and Toadie, Felecia, Loggle, Maddie, and Ivy. Their meeting place was in the mayor’s office, much to his confusion and annoyance.

“Kid, what in the Sam hill are ya doin’ bringin’ all these people into my office. Can’t ya see Ah’m busy?” Toadstool asked.

“Yes, I would like to know why as well. I have a cauldron currently bubbling with a concoction that if it’s not properly looked after could bring about…” Maddie looked around the room and then stopped. “Ahem, uh, nothing.”

Sprig hopped onto Toadstool’s desk and announced, “I have gathered you all here today for an important mission!”

“A mission?! Heck ya! That’s what I’m talking about! What kind of mission, Sprig?! Do Anne and Marcy need our help with battling some monster?!” Ivy asked.

Sprig smiled. “Oh, it does involve Anne and Marcy, but not as dangerous, and yet important beyond all measure.” His face morphed into one of seriousness.

The others were starting to get equal parts worried and intrigued by what Sprig was saying.

“I need you all to help make Anne and Marcy’s first date a success!” Sprig stated.

A cricket chirped in the corner for a few seconds before Stumpy stuck out his tongue and ate it.

“Kid, ya called all these people into my office, uninvited, just to tell us that Anne and Marcy are goin’ out on a date?” Toadstool asked with a deadpan expression.

“No, I’ve called you all here to help with the date!”

Felecia stepped up and said, “I’m sorry, Sprig, but why?”

“Because Anne’s freaking out about having her first date ever, and with Marcy, her best friend! We have to make sure it goes off without a hitch, and MarcAnne continues to prosper,” said Sprig with a flourish.

“Sorry, what now?” Loggle asked.

“MarcAnne, Marcy and Anne, like SprIvy.”

“Ha, cute,” said Ivy.

The adults started to grumble a little and were about to leave the room, but Sprig hopped off Toadstool’s desk and blocked the door. He then dropped to his knees and looked upon everyone. “Please you guys, I want to make sure that they have the best first date, ever! Anne’s done a lot for us, and so has Marcy – aside from the nearly sinking Wartwood thing.”

“Ah did say Ah shouldered a bit of the blame for that,” Toadstool commented.

“Plus, you guys didn’t see how sad Anne was after what happened at Toad Tower. She lost someone who was her best friend, and although Sasha was evil, she was still Anne’s friend, and it hit her hard. I still remember hearing her cry herself to sleep at night. She might not know I know, but I’d sometimes go down to see if she was okay and hear her crying. I hated knowing that there was nothing I could say or do to make it alright, but ever since she’s found Marcy, she’s been really happy you guys!” Sprig stated.

Everyone had to admit, even they could notice a change in Anne, and not just because of her powers. The Thai girl was happier, and they could see it when Marcy was around her.

Ivy walked out from the group and stood by Sprig. “I’m with Sprig on this one. Anne’s done a lot, she and Marcy saved the world, and have fought against monsters we didn’t even know existed! The least we could do is help them have the best first date ever! What do you say?”

Maddie walked away from the group as well and stood at Sprig’s left side. “As Sprig’s ex-fiancé, I have to agree. Few things in this world are as powerful as love…And if I play my cards right, I can syphon off that potent energy for one of my spells.”

Ivy glanced at Sprig and asked, “What does she mean by ‘ex-fiancé’?”

“Oh, Anne traded my hand in marriage for some dough to make a pizza. It was last season,” said Sprig in a nonchalant manner.

Stumpy stepped forward and said, “That girl helped turn my restaurant around, and gave me a new sense of accomplishment. I’m in kid!”

Felecia sighed and then smiled. “Well, I suppose I can help as well. She is my student after all.”

“Not sure how I can help, but I’ll do what I can!” Loggle added.

Toadie clapped his hands and gained the attention of the room. “Well, this is heartwarming, but I’m afraid – as the mayor says – market stops for no one. So–”

“WAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Everyone looked at Mayor Toadstool, who was now bawling as tears streamed out of his eyes.

“Uh…Sir?”

“Frog dang it, Ah can’t hold in anymore! Ah want to help that girl, too!” Toadstool grabbed Toadie and blew his nose on Toadie’s vest. “Kid, you’ll have the full support of my office! People, we’re goin’ to make this the best first date those girls have ever had!”

“YEAH!!!”

Anne took a deep breath as she approached the fwagon. Just be cool, Anne. Don’t be nervous. You’re just going ask her out on a date. You’re already girlfriends, so you’ve “sealed the deal”, you’re just doing what comes naturally after becoming a couple. Well, technically you ask the person out and then you see if you’ll become a couple. But whatever, its fine, things happened out of order, but we’re going to do this properly this time.

Once Anne reached the front door to the fwagon, she knocked three times on it. After a couple of seconds, the door swung open, and Marcy looked down to see her girlfriend standing there. “Anne?”

Anne leaned against the doorframe in a “cool” manner, snapped her fingers, and said, “Hey hot stuff, how’re you doin’ tonight?”

Marcy blinked. “Uh, good. I’m doing good.”

“Good! Good…”

It became silent for about thirty seconds.

“Um, did you need something, Anne?” Marcy asked.

“Uh, well, not so much that I needed something from you, as I wanted to tell you something, or rather, ask you something…Ah jeez…” Anne slapped her forehead.

Marcy was a little concerned and asked, “Do you want to come in?”

“Yes, please, thank you.”

Anne walked into the fwagon. Marcy had turned it into a research lab/living space. With test tubes, beakers, and books on one side, and her clothes, posters, and other things on the other.

“Oh, Anne, I just figured out what we should call the new version of the MetamorphRing,” said Marcy.

“Cool, what did you come up with?” Anne asked.

Marcy walked over to the table and brought up a piece of paper that she had scribbled on. “The MetamorphRing TRI!”

“ ‘Tri’?”

“As in Trinity. Since it has three gemstones on the new face, and before the change we had three different mode changes,” Marcy explained.

Since their adventure at the temple, Marcy had experimented with her Rider powers a bit. She had noticed that her Driver’s appearance changed in tandem with what form she wanted to go into. If she wanted to use her original abilities, she would focus on that and the MetamorphRing would appear in its original state. But if she wanted to transform into her Super Form, she needed to focus on that, and the Driver would change into the MetamorphRing TRI. However, she could not shift into Super Form while in base form. Marcy had to cancel her first Rider Form and then go into her Super Form or go into Super Form right off the bat.

“Between figuring out this new power up and getting to know Wartwood, things have been so much fun!” Marcy exclaimed.

Anne smiled as she leaned up against the counter. “I’m glad you’re having fun, Mar-Mar.”

“Thanks, Anne. So, what did you want to talk about?”

“Oh…um…” Anne rubbed the back of her head nervously. “I was…uh…” Get it together, Boonchuy! It’s just Marcy, your girlfriend! So just ask her out already! Anne turned to look at Marcy, who was smiling cutely at her as she awaited Anne’s answer. Oh God she’s too cute!

Anne turned around to look out the window, buying herself some time to collect her thoughts and find a way to approach this in as smooth a way as possible.

Marcy was starting to get confused. Anne looked nervous, which she did not understand why. Was she wearing something different? Marcy looked down at herself, but she was just wearing the same pajama pants and shirt from their sleepover in the castle, her normal sleepwear.

Okay, okay, just be smooth, Anne. Smooth, and cool. Yeah. Anne turned around and leaned on the counter in a very “cool” way as she shot Marcy a flirty grin. “I was wonderin’, Marbles, that little gondola ride that Sprig set up for us. It didn’t end so well, did it?”

Marcy blushed when she remembered that. “I…well…I-I-It wasn’t ideal how it ended, but…I did like where it was going.”

“Totally.” Anne stood up and crossed her arms over her chest confidently, channeling her inner Sasha, in a manner of speaking. “So, I think we should have a do over.”

Marcy cocked her head to the side. “A do over?”

“Yeah, I mean, obviously we can’t have a gondola ride here. But I think I can still make up for it.”

Anne walked up to Marcy, and for some reason, Marcy felt the need to back away, mostly due to the narrowed, almost hungry look in Anne’s eyes. Marcy ended up backing up all the way until she hit the wall behind her. Allowing Anne to make her move, she raised her right hand and slammed it against the wall on the left side of Marcy’s head.

Oh my God, the one-handed locker slam! A-A-Anne’s doing the one-handed locker slam! That’s a classic anime troupe! Marcy thought.

“I was thinking tomorrow, you and I could go on a date. Just you and me, an official first date. No Sprig, no Polly, Hop Pop, or anybody. Just you and me, hanging out like a couple. What do ya say?” Anne asked suavely.

Marcy was blushing up to her ears as her heart thumped in her chest. But somehow, she managed to squeak out a response. “Y-Yes! Yes, I-I’d love to go out on a date with you!”

“Awesome,” Anne winked and clicked her tongue. “I’ll come and pick you up around nine. Be ready, cutie.”

Anne walked towards the door, but not before shooting Marcy one more wink before closing the door behind her.

Once Anne was gone, Marcy felt weak in the knees as she collapsed onto the floor. “Anne just asked me out on a date……I JUST GOT ASKED OUT BY ANNE! I-I HAVE TO GET READY!”

Meanwhile, Anne walked confidently back inside the house, and once she was back in her room, Anne dropped her confident façade and yelled, “HOLY FROG I DID IT!” Then she facepalmed herself as she groaned, “I can’t believe I acted like such an anime protag cliché back there! What was that all about?! Ugh! Whatever, that was embarrassing as all get out, but it’s fine. She said yes, and now I can take her out! I just need to get up early to get the flowers and we’ll be good!”

Anne walked over to the box of chocolates that Wally lent her and smiled as she ran her hand over the box.

“This will be the best date ever; I can feel it.”

However, as she said that, Anne was unaware that Sprig was watching from overhead.

Oh, it will, Anne. I’ll make sure of it! MWAHAHAHAAHAHA!

Upstairs, Polly looked about her room. “Why do I feel…a disturbance…? Like all froggy pandemonium is about to break loose?” That’s when she smiled deviously. “Sprig.”

It was 8:40 a.m. and Anne was still freaking out about what she was going to wear to this, she had been fretting over it last night, and still was. She had laid out what clothes she did have in her backpack at the time, and what she managed to scrounge up here in Wartwood and put together a new outfit. So far, she had her Frog of the Year suit, her dress when she helped Stumpy relaunch his restaurant, the dress she wore to the social when she helped Hop Pop learn to dance, a white and purple dress she was saving for a special occasion. Well, this was a special occasion, but she wanted to be mobile.

“UGH! How does Sasha make this look so easy?!” Anne complained.

She had watched her other friend get ready for dates before, and the girl was effortless in doing so. Sasha could just look at her clothes and instantly know what to wear and make it look good without even trying.

“Okay, okay, just think, Anne, think. You don’t want to go too casual; you don’t want to make it look like you’re not putting in any effort into this. But at the same time, you don’t want to go too formal and scare Marcy with how serious you’re taking this…I mean, I am taking this seriously, but there’s serious and there’s serious. Ugh…fighting the Fallen was easier than this!”

Anne continued to fret over her wardrobe, this was her first date, and with a girl no less, her best friend. She knew Marcy wanted to be with her for a long time, and she did not want to disappoint her childhood friend turned lover. Anne looked down at her feet and grimaced.

“Wish I at least had another shoe,” said Anne to herself.

In the end, Anne went with a pair of blue pants, a black tank top, and her school hoodie. She at least felt confident in the outfit, and it made her look a little mature. Now that she thought about it. Which of us “wears the pants” in our relationship? Anne had heard about same sex couples where one would “take the lead” or “be the man” in such relationships. But that seemed so arbitrary, Anne did not see herself as the assertive type, well, only when it was necessary, Sasha was like that all the time, commanding respect and sure of herself in everything she did.

Anne sat on her bed as she sighed. “How messed up is it that the only one I can think about when it comes to dating experience is Sasha? I don’t want to be like her. I made that mistake once, not doing it again.” Anne clenched her fists and stood up. “Okay, Boonchuy, you’re going to grab that box of chocolates, walk down those stairs, and take Marcy out on an awesome first date!”

The Thai girl walked over to where she stashed the chocolates and took them out. Once in hand, Anne walked up the stairs and to the hatch door. And as she opened it, she cried out, “Heading out with Marcy today! Don’t wait up guys!”

“Okay, Anne!” Hop Pop yelled.

Polly hopped down the stairs until she was halfway down and replied, “Have fun~” in a creepy manner.

Anne raised an eyebrow when she heard the way Polly said that, but she shrugged it off and continued. As she walked to the fwagon, she paused mid step and realized she had forgotten something. The flowers! Shoot! I was going to give her chocolates and flowers! I got so wrapped up in what I was going to wear that I totally forgot the – oh.

As Anne was having her little freakout, she saw a vendor walking by who was crying out. “Bouquets here! Random bouquets! Never know when you’re gonna need a bouquet and that’s why I’m here!”

“Hey, yo, excuse me!” Anne called out as she rushed over to the vendor. “I need a bouquet, how much?!”

“Depends young lady, is this for someone you’re in love with?” he asked.

Anne blushed and said, “Y-Yeah, it is.”

“Then it’s free!” he decreed.

“What?”

The vendor drew her attention to the disclaimer on the side of his cart. “Bouquets for love are free!” in bold black letters. The vendor took a “random” bouquet from his cart, one comprised of lilies, and gave them to Anne.  

“Wow, that’s really cool, dude. Thanks.”

“Anything in the name of love!” The vendor headed down the road, and once he was out of earshot of the human girl, he picked up a fly-phone and said, “Attention, phase one is complete. The dragonfly has taken the flowers to butterfly.”

{Roger that, proceeding to phase two,} came Sprig’s voice.

Little did the vendor know, Polly was watching from Sprig’s room. “Let the show begin.”

Marcy was nervous, really nervous. She was about to have her first official date with her childhood best friend, who was now in fact her girlfriend. Many thoughts rushed through her head, mostly, what she was going to wear. Most of what she did have was too formal, mostly because she lived in the palace and attended a lot of meetings and social events held in the palace. So, her wardrobe mostly consisted of fancy clothes to be worn in District One of Newtopia. Otherwise, she just ran around in her beat-up school uniform, leather armor, and cape.

“Ugh, but that would be so tacky! It’s fine for every day, but this isn’t just any day! It’s our first date! I need something!”

Marcy was wishing she had Sasha’s fashion sense right now, every time she and Anne saw her getting ready for a date, it was so effortless. Sasha could just look through her wardrobe just once and pick out an outfit in less than ten seconds. Even when you thought it would not look good, she made it look good.

Finally, when the morning came, Marcy went with the simplest thing she had on her. A nice seafoam green, sleeveless dress. She was not too sure about it, even as she looked at herself in the mirror, she thought it still looked too formal. Marcy did not want to scare Anne with how formally she dressed, she was afraid that if she came on too strong that Anne might feel that she was trying to push Anne into making this a very serious relationship.

To be clear, I do hope to marry her, someday. Hopefully. But that’s a little too far into the future and I don’t want to put her on the spot like that, thought Marcy.

In the end, she went with the dress, it was the only thing she could wear that looked fancy enough to be worn as a casual outfit, but still had an air of casualness about it. Marcy now waited on Anne, pacing the floor, but then she sat down, she did not want to work up a sweat and smell. But her nervous energy did not let her sit down for long and she was back to pacing again, and then she sat down. It continued back and forth like this for a couple of minutes before Marcy heard a knock at the door.

“COMING!” She hissed when she realized how loudly she said that. “Sorry! I’ll be right there!”

Marcy opened the door, blushed, gasped, and put her hands over her mouth. Anne was standing at her door, wearing a hoody with some pants. The hoody was opened enough to allow her to see that Anne was wearing a black tank top underneath, which got her a little hot under the collar. But that’s not what took her breath away. It was the red box in her right hand and the bouquet of lilies in the left.

“Anne, you brought me flowers?” Marcy asked, astonished.

Anne smiled at Marcy and replied, “Flowers, and chocolates. Boom!” The Thai girl opened the lid and showed off the fancy chocolate treats within.

Marcy gingerly took the bouquet in hand, afraid that it would break if she handled them too quickly, a testament to how taken she was by this romantic act. “I’ll…I’ll go put them in some water.”

Anne’s smile faded when she heard the trembling sound in Marcy’s voice as she went to the sink and began filling a pitcher of water. Oh man…I already messed up! “Marcy I’m sorry!”

Marcy turned her head in confusion as she looked at Anne. “Sorry for what?”

“I messed up, right? Are they not good enough? Too plain? It’s the chocolates, too, right? Dang it! I should’ve had a backup!” Anne ranted.

“Anne, no, no, you didn’t do anything wrong!” Marcy assured. “I just got a little emotional when you showed up with all of this. I’ve, fantasized about something like this happening for a while, and now…it’s actually happening.”

Now it was Anne’s turn to blush as she bashfully rubbed the back of her head with her left hand. “Sorry, I guess I’m a little nervous about this whole thing.”

“Same here.” Marcy finished placing the flowers in the pitcher and went back to Anne. “These are really lovely gifts, Anne. You’re really putting me on the spot, I still haven’t gotten you anything, yet.”

Anne shrugged. “Like I said, I’m not doing this ‘cause I’m expecting you to get me something. I just want to.”

Marcy moved closer and kissed on the cheek. “So, what did you have planned out?”

“Well, I was thinking we’d walk to Wartwood, and once there we’d hit the spa. After that I thought, we could go to Stumpy’s for some lunch, and see where the day takes us. Is that too boring?” Anne asked.

“Nope, I like it. It actually sounds very relaxing. After my less than stellar introduction to Wartwood, and that temple, I could use a breather.”

Anne stepped out of the fwagon and presented Marcy with her arm. “Shall we?”

Marcy giggled happily as she said, “We shall.” I’ve always wanted to say that!

Anne watched as Marcy wrapped her right arm around her left, when Marcy got closer, Anne blushed a bit harder. This was not the first time they have done this, walking arm in arm, sometimes all three of them would do this after hanging out or having a good time doing something fun. But today it had a different context, they were doing this as lovers, not just as friends. With a gulp, Anne led the way with Marcy in tow, both of them snacking on the chocolates along the way.

After making it halfway down the main road, Anne decided to ask Marcy something. “Hey, Mar-Mar, you don’t mind if I ask you something personal, do you?”

“Nope, go ahead.”

“Would you say you’re gay? Like a lesbian?” Anne asked.

“Hmm, well, I do find the female form more physically attractive, and I have felt a familiar sense of attraction towards other females, Sasha and you being among them. So, yes, I’d say I identify as being a lesbian.”

“Huh…”

“Are you…still having second thoughts?” Marcy asked tentatively.

“No, I was just thinking that whenever I think about other girls or guys, I don’t feel the same way I do when I’m with you. I feel tingly inside, but only when I think about you,” Anne explained.

Marcy took a moment to think as she pondered this. Anne was possibly looking for a way to label her current awakened sexuality and was trying to make sense of it. However, thanks to Marcy’s own independent research on such matters, she had an idea as to what Anne’s orientation is. “Well, it’s just a theory, but based on what you’ve told me, I think you’re demisexual.”

Anne shook her head and looked at Marcy with confusion. “Demi what now? You mean I like demigods or something?”

Marcy giggled a little and corrected, “No, demisexual is defined as someone who develops romantic and…ahem…other feelings, towards someone you have developed a close bond with, like me or Sasha.”

Anne thought about that, it did make sense and sounded closer to what she was feeling. “Huh…that makes a lot of sense when I think about it.”

Marcy carefully brought herself closer to Anne and said, “Just know that you’re not defined by a label. It’s just a word. What matters is how you feel.”

The Thai girl smiled. “Good, ‘cause I like how this feels.”

The happy couple eventually made it to the town but paused when they saw what was laid before them.

“Wow…”

When Anne and Marcy arrived at Wartwood Proper, they found that the entire town had been decked out in pink and red hearts, some of the townsfolk were dressed up fancily – as fancy as they could get. The vendors were selling couple related foods, items, and an assortment of other things. There was even a pair of wooden statues that were carved to look exactly like Anne and Marcy, holding hands.  

“Uh…Anne, did you set all this up?” Marcy asked.

What the heck is all this mess?! What is with all this Valentine’s Day stuff?! Why is there a statue of me and Marcy in the middle of town?! Think, Anne, think!

“Uuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhh – Yeeeeeeeeesssss! Yes, I did! Ah-ha! Yeah, I wanted to go all out for our date, so I…I got Wartwood to snaz up the town a bit for us!” Anne lied.

Marcy blushed and hugged Anne closer. “Oh, Anne, this is all so sweet! I can’t thank you enough!”

Anne gulped, she lied about this, but Marcy seemed happy, so that was a good thing. The Thai girl made a promise to herself to get to the bottom of this after the date, but for now, she had to keep up the appearance that she really did set all this up for Marcy.

“Okay then, how about we hit that spa!” Anne exclaimed as she quickly walked herself and Marcy to the local spa.

As Anne was walking to the spa, she felt like she was forgetting something important. Something crucial that would have made this date go along more smoothly. And once she stepped foot into the spa, it hit her like a ton of bricks.

I don’t have any money! Yes, the most important thing to bring on a date. Money. The last time she came to the spa Anne used an I. O. U. to get services practically for free. It almost landed her and the rest of the family in jail. But now she was in trouble. Without money, they could not go to Stumpy’s, they certainly could not pay for anything in this spa, and if there was something cool or interesting Marcy wanted, she had nothing to pay with. Wait, Marcy might have some money. Dang it, Anne! What’s wrong with you? Don’t ask her for money on a date YOU planned! How lame is that?! Double dang it, I should’ve asked Hop Pop for some money last night!

“Everything alright, Anna-Banana?” Marcy asked.

“Of course! Why do you ask?”

“You look a little stressed.”

Anne shook her head, trying to shake off whatever weird expression she was making. “Y-Yeah, totally okay. Actually, I was thinking, spas are lame. We should go to–”

Suddenly a horn went off, along with bursts of confetti. Just then two of the workers at the spa came up to the girls and bowed to them.

“Welcome, Anne and Marcy, we’ve been expecting you!”

“Say what?” Anne remarked.

“We have two deluxe spa packages ready and set up. The works,” said the second spa worker.

Anne was getting nervous. How did these spa workers know about their arrival? And how was she going to pay for this? “Oh, wow…thank you, but I…”

“Did we forget to mention it’s free?” The workers said in unison.

“LET’S DO IT!”

As Anne and Marcy went into the changing rooms, the first spa worker took out a fly phone and said, “MarcAnne has arrived, phase two is underway.”

{Excellent, we’re almost ready at Stumpy’s, keep them occupied for at least next three hours,} said Sprig.

“Not a problem, we’ll give them the works.”

Sprig’s plan was going smoothly, Anne and Marcy were enjoying their free spa time. He figured Anne might forget that she was essentially broke, so with the help of Toadstool, he managed to get the whole thing paid for.

“Alright, now to check on Stumpy.” Sprig took hold of the fly phone and said, “Sprig to Stumpy, how’s that special lunch coming along?”

{Well…it could be comin’ along better.}

Sprig’s eyebrow rose in confusion. “What do you mean?”

{Ya remember that special menu item was goin’ to go and get for the meal? It apparently doesn’t want to be eaten.}

Sprig’s left eye twitched. “WHAT?! Then forget it and get back here so you can make something else!”

{‘Fraid that’s goin’ to be an issue too, boyo. I’m a bit preoccupied at the moment, tryin’ not to get snapped in two by these here pincers.}

Sprig bolted for Stumpy’s location, remembering where he said he would be. “I’m coming right now! Don’t move!”

{Really can’t go anywhere, lad. But, alright.}

Sprig ran to a nearby river and frantically looked around for Stumpy. He then heard a shrieking noise and ran for where the sound came from. That’s when Sprig spotted what Stumpy was fighting, a giant crab monster. It looked similar to the one that they had fought while on their river boat trip a while back, even had the same blue flowers growing on its back. And in the monster’s left pincer was Stumpy, using his arms and legs to keep it from cutting him in half.

“Oh, there ya are,” said Stumpy nonchalantly.

“Hang on Stumpy!” Sprig shouted as he pulled out his slingshot. “Eat this you son of a sea slug!”

Sprig shot a rock straight for the crab’s eye, hitting it dead on. The giant crustacean shrieked in pain as it released Stumpy, letting him plop into the water below. But now Sprig had a very ticked off crab glaring at him.

“Oh no…”

Anne and Marcy were soaking in a mud bath, with their heads resting up against two plush bellows, and cucumbers over their eyes. They had gone through the works, having their feet soaked in the fish pod to eat the dead skin, hitting the sauna for a bit to sweat out all their toxins. And after rinsing off they dipped themselves into the cool soothing mud. Honestly, it was a little awkward for them. Before they became girlfriends, they had not found being around each other in only bathrobes or towels to be awkward, they were friends, and it was just them.

But now, they were a couple, and knowing that only a robe or towel was the only thing keeping them from seeing other’s nude body made them blush harder. They looked the other way when they got into the mud baths to avoid seeing each other in a state of undress. But despite that awkwardness, it did not derail how nice this all felt.

“Hmm…this is sooo good,” said Anne.

“I haven’t had a good spa day since we got here,” Marcy remarked.

“Really? I thought you would’ve been doing this a lot back in Newtopia?”

“Eh, I didn’t really have the time to. What with being the Chief Ranger, fighting the Fallen, and improving the architecture of the city, I just couldn’t. Or maybe, I just didn’t have the right person to go with.”

Anne could understand that. “I don’t know, Lady Olivia looks like someone who could use a good spa day, you ever ask her?”

“The idea did cross my mind, but I guess I was too busy living my best fantasy life.”

“Now that makes sense.”

The two rested in relative silence for a couple of minutes before Marcy asked, “Hey Anne?”

“Yeah?”

“Is it weird that we can’t look at each other like we used to?”

Anne removed the cucumber slices and sighed. “I guess, maybe? I mean…it’s not like we were actively just gawking at each other in the locker rooms or anything. It was just us girls so, you know, not like you have anything I don’t.”

“I know…” Marcy took off the cucumber slices as well and glanced over at Anne. “I mean, I was always shy in the locker room. And I just want you to know, I always kept my eyes focused on your eyes, I-I never looked anywhere else!”

Anne blushed hard. “Oh…t-thanks, I guess. I mean…it’s cool if you did.”

“Really?”

Anne rubbed the back of her head. “Y-Yeah…like I said, I never thought of myself as being attractive or ‘hot’. So, it’s kinda nice to know that someone would want to look at me like that. You know, not in a creepy, lechery way. But…”

“In a romantic way?” Marcy asked.

Anne nodded a “yes”.

Now it was Marcy’s turn to blush. “I have to say, I feel the same way. I never thought anyone would see a skinny nerd like me as being attractive.”

Anne blew a raspberry. “Please, are you kidding me? Guys love the bookish looking nerd girls. Probably for less than pure reasons, but you get what I mean, right?”

Marcy put on a playful smirk. “Oh, then I guess we discovered what you like. And I guess I couldn’t help falling for my jock of a childhood friend. Guess we both have a type.”

Before Anne could get flustered by that remark, one of the attendants came over and said, “Okay ladies, it’s time to rinse off.”

Anne and Marcy got out, again, without seeing the other, and were brought to a waterfall shower so that they could stand under and wash off the mud. While this was going on, that same spa worker called up Sprig on the fly phone.

“Anne and Marcy are just about done. We’ll be sending them to Stumpy’s next.”

{WHAT?! No not yet! We’ve hit a – HOLY FROG!}

{IIIEEEEEKKRREKE!}

{Ha-ha! Thought ya had ol’ Stumpy there did ya! Well guess again!}

The spa worker looked at the phone in concern. “Uh…is everything alright?”

{We’ve hit a slight snag. Not a problem! We just need you to stall them a little longer! AAAAH! IT’S TRYING TO SNIP MY–!}

The line went dead after that.

The other spa worker overheard the conversation and asked, “What are we gonna do?”

“I hate to do this, but we’re left with no choice.” The head spa worker walked over to the girls who had finished putting on their robes and said, “We have one more amenity for you girls to try before you leave, also free of course.”

“What do you think, Mar-Mar? Want to do one more before we leave?”

Marcy nodded. “Sure, why not? What’s the amenity?”

“A full-bodied massage. This way please.” The worker brought the girls into a private room and rang the bell. “She’ll be with you in a moment.”

After leaving the room, the other door opened and out popped Tootie.

“TUTI!” Anne exclaimed.

“Yes, it is me, Tuti. Masseuse and part time bounty hunter. Now, let’s get personal,” said Tootie.

“Oh, yay! I haven’t had a full-body massage in a long time. I’m going first!” Marcy stated as she got onto the table without a hint of hesitation.

“Marcy wait! Don’t–!”

But it was too late, Tuti wasted no time in getting to work as she began “massaging” Marcy, twisting her limps this way and that, rotating things that Anne was certain were not supposed to be rotated. At one point, Marcy found herself looking at her feet backwards and asked, “Are those my feet?” before being twisted around. When it was over, miraculously, Marcy was still alive and not suffering from any broken bones or torn ligaments. Tuti grabbed the Chinese girl and placed her on another table to relax.

“Now your turn,” said Tuti.

“No, no, I’m good, I’m good!”

“Ooooh man…oh…” Anne groaned.

“That was…something…” Marcy replied.

The two of them had spent over an hour in that room with Tuti, getting their bodies twisted up into pretzels, but in the end, they survived and left.

“Sorry about that…Marcy.”

“I-It’s okay…I was not aware that my body was that flexible…”

“Me neither…”

The good news from this was that it managed to build up their appetites, allowing Anne to bring Marcy to their next stop, Stumpy’s. Anne still realized that she was without money to pay for the food but decided that she would talk to Stumpy about working out a deal to pay off the food by working there for a bit.

When they arrived, Anne opened the door and said, “Hey, Stumpy, what’s up?!” However, there was no reply. “Stumpy?”

Marcy gasped when she saw the inside of the restaurant. “Oh wow, Anne, this place looks amazing! You said you helped the owner renovate this entire place?!”

Anne bashfully rubbed the back of her head. “Heh, yeah. It kinda got out of hand. I got ticked off by this food critic bad mouthing Stumpy, and said I’d have this place on its feet in two days. And, well, I did.”

“Wow, I know you help with your family’s restaurant, but just…wow, I didn’t know you were capable of all this! Anne, you should really think about opening your own restaurant one day!” Marcy exclaimed. “Or maybe expanding Thai Go!”

Anne blushed again. “I-I don’t know…It just comes naturally me; I don’t know if it’s something that I want to do as a career or anything.”

Marcy smiled and replied, “Well, I’m happy to have such a talented girlfriend, both naturally athletic, a natural businesswoman, and a cook.”

“Ugh, stop! I feel like my face is going to melt!” Anne groaned. “But, seriously, where’s Stumpy at?” Anne walked behind the counter and looked around in the kitchen, she looked out back but didn’t find him. She looked in the pantry, but again, turned up nothing. Anne walked to the counter where Marcy was and said, “Okay, this is weird. He didn’t close the restaurant, and he didn’t put up a sign saying that he was on a break or something. Where could he–?”

Just then the service bell rang, and the customer said, “I thought this place was closed. Oh, Anne, you’re manning the kitchen?”

“Oh, well I–”

“Great! I’ll have the magot larb, and some fly iced tea.”

“Uh but…”

“What’s up?” the frog asked.

Marcy looked back at Anne and the back at the frog. “Right, that’s one magot larb and fly iced tea! We’ll get that for you. Right, Anne?” Marcy looked back at her and winked.

“YYYYYeah! Yes! One magot larb comin’ right up!”

Anne quickly went into the kitchen, hung up her hoody, threw on an apron, tied up her hair, and put on a hair net. She turned on the stove and quickly went to work. Marcy was busy getting the fly iced tea, having already figured out where it was and poured a glass for the customer. As she placed it on this table, the door opened again, and a pair of frogs entered the restaurant.

Marcy quickly made her way to the maître d’ podium and grabbed a couple of menus. “Welcome to Stumpy’s, please take a seat wherever you’d like.” The pair of frogs were confused to see Marcy but shrugged it off and sat at a window seat. “Would you like anything to drink, or an appetizer?” After taking their orders, Marcy went behind the counter and tacked on the food orders on some slip of paper to a string that was over the service window. “Anne, two orders!”

Anne went to the window and put the food she had made out, she quickly scanned the two slips of paper and said, “On it! Let me just get that to the table!”

“Nope! I got this!” Marcy insisted.

Anne was weary of that, Marcy was clumsy as it was, and having her carry over a plate of food on a try was already asking for trouble. However, as Marcy placed the food on the tray, her eyes shined green. With grace and ease, Marcy made her way over to the first customer and brought him his food without missing a step. Which made Anne realize Marcy was using her powers to grant herself greater coordination and balance, preventing her natural clumsiness from ever hindering her.

If she can do that with her powers, then I can, too!

With that in mind, Anne channeled her power and increased her speed, allowing her to move around the kitchen faster than before, doing the work of five chefs. Which came in handy as more and more frogs came into the restaurant. Marcy would seat them, and Anne would cook. Together the two girls were able to keep Stumpy’s restaurant from getting mobbed by the customers. Anne was still a bit steamed that Stumpy was not there, not just because she and Marcy were spending their date working, but it was also partly a matter of pride in one’s restaurant. He should have closed the shop or left a sign up that said that he was going to be out for a bit, not just leave his restaurant unlocked and ready for business. After about three hours, the lunch rush had ended, and the last customer left the restaurant. When that happened, Anne went to the front door and flipped over the “open” sign to “closed”, ensuring no other customers would come in. Anne was tired, but Marcy looked exhausted as she sat at the counter.

“Oh man…that was brutal even with my powers,” said Marcy.

“Really, that wasn’t that bad, actually,” said Anne to the contrary.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, compared to back home, that kind of rush was easy. Although, take that with a grain of salt, I was using my powers to up my speed back there, so it might’ve felt easier.”

Marcy shook her head. “No, it’s just that you’re more experienced when it comes to cooking, taking orders, and waitressing. I’ve never done any of that, so even with my powers, it was still exhausting.” Marcy’s stomach growled loudly. “And hunger inducing.”

Anne chuckled as she walked out of the kitchen with a few plates’ worth of food. “Most important rule of cooking, don’t forget to feed yourself as well.” Anne laid out the plates on the counter, and a few more from the back before walking around and sitting next to Marcy. “This wasn’t exactly how I wanted this lunch to go, well, late lunch now.”

Marcy shook her head. “Anne it’s alright. I think this was a good thing, I got to experience what it’s like to work in the food service industry. Even if it was just a taste of it. Speaking of which this all smells sooooo good!”

Anne chuckled as she said, “Well, dig in, dude. I’m starving, too.”

It took a while, but in the end, Stumpy and Sprig walked away with the spoils of the battle, the crab’s left arm. The two of them were dragging it back to Wartwood, unaware of just how much time had passed during their combat with the giant crab.

“That was quite the battle,” said Stumpy.

“He thought he had me…until I snapped its arm off,” said Sprig with a serious expression. “Wish we could’ve got the whole thing, but I guess this will do.”

Stumpy looked at the severed arm of the crab, which alone could feed half of Wartwood. “Yeah, too bad.”

The duo managed to drag the crab arm back to Stumpy’s restaurant, entering through the back door.

“Okay, it looks like they haven’t arrived yet, I’ll go and make sure, and you get to cooking that arm!” Sprig stated.

“Aye, aye.”

Sprig was about to exit the kitchen, but then stopped when he noticed a note stuck to the kitchen door. Curious, he took it down and read it.

Dear Stumpy,

What the heck dude?! You went and left the restaurant open! Me and Marcy had to handle the lunch rush while you were gone. Look, I’m not mad, just make sure to hang up a sign next time. I put all the money away in your back office, I didn’t skim any of it, just FYI.

Anyway, just remember to put a sign up next time.

Your friend,

Anne

Sprig’s eyes bulged out of his skull when he read that. “Lunch rush…what time is it?!” Sprig glanced at a nearby clock and his jaw dropped. “It’s already four?!”

“Four o’ clock?! I missed the lunch rush?!” Stumpy exclaimed.

Sprig gave Stumpy the note. “No, Anne and Marcy covered for you! But this is a disaster! They were supposed to come here and have a crab lunch! Not work! Ugh! Okay, okay, we can still make this work! I just need to cal –!” Sprig remembered that the fly phone met an untimely demise during the battle with the crab. “New plan! Head them off at their next stop!”

As Sprig hopped away, Stumpy cried out, “Wait, what am I going to do with this thing?!” Stumpy looked at the crab arm and shrugged. “Well, looks like crab’s on the menu tonight.”

“What…the…crud.”

Since it was getting a little late, Anne thought she’d move onto the next part of her date plan. Take Marcy to a movie. But when they got there, they saw that there was a two-person love seat put right in the middle, set at the perfect distance from the stage. There was a sign up that read “Closed for private viewing,” and another that read “Enjoy the show, Anne and Marcy.”

“Anne, did you reserve this place, too?” Marcy asked.

Anne shifted her gaze between Marcy and the “theater”, she did not do that, she had fully expected there to be others here, but not this. Right now, Anne had a choice to make. Tell the truth, or own it? “Yes! Y-Yes, I did!”

“Oh, Anne, you didn’t have to do that,” said Marcy sweetly.

Anne draped her left arm over Marcy’s shoulders. “Well, you know, you are my first girlfriend, so I wanted to go all out.” What the heck is going on here?!

The Thai girl led her girlfriend to the loveseat, but unfortunately, before Anne could get up to the stage. The curtain drew back and revealed the actors.

“What the heck?” Anne exclaimed under her breath.

Some of the frogs she recognized, one was Maddie, and the other was Ivy. Although, it wasn’t so much that it was those two frog girls, it was how they were dressed. Somehow, Maddie was dressed up in a mock version of Anne’s school uniform, while Maddie was cosplaying as Marcy.

“Uh, Anne, I thought we were going to see a movie?” Marcy asked.

“T-This is a surprise play! Yeah, uh-ha, yeah, good ol’ Wartwood, ya never know what’s going to happen around here!” Okay, don’t panic, it’s probably nothing crazy.

It was, it was crazy. Anne and Marcy watched Maddie and Ivy recreated some of Anne and Marcy’s adventures in Newtopia. It even had a cheesy version of how Anne and Marcy had their first kiss.

“Marcy, I’ll always be by your side,” said Ivy.

“…”

“C’mon, Maddie, say your line!”

The goth frog girl groaned. “And I’ll always…ugh…love you, Anne.”

“You know it, girl.” Ivy spun Maddie around and then planted one on her lips.

Anne and Marcy were blushing up to their ears, and Anne was shocked to see that Ivy actually kissed another girl. Once the curtain fell for that act, Maddie wiped her mouth.

“What the heck?! I thought we were fake kissing!” Maddie exclaimed.

“We gotta sell it! ‘Sides, it wasn’t that bad,” Ivy remarked.

Maddie grumbled under breath while blushing.

After the intermission, they spent another thirty minutes going through the more recent events of charging the stones. Anne had to admit, it was kind of cute seeing Ivy and Maddie in their versions of Kamen Rider Amp and Ranger. And thanks to Maddie’s spellcasting they were able to add a bit of special effects flare to the production. Anne and Marcy continued watching, and soon enough they reached the part where they went to the Temple of Mind and Marcy received her Super Form. They thought that was the end since it had caught up to the present, but nope, it was not over yet.

“They’re still going?” Marcy questioned.

“I guess so. But, what else could they do? We’re all caught up,” said Anne.

The last thirty minutes depicted a battle with Ivy (Anne) and Maddie (Marcy), battling it out against the dark forces of the Fallen (Sprig).

“You won’t defeat us, Fallen!” Ivy declared.

“Our,” Maddie gaged a little, “love is strong enough to take down any enemy! Are you ready Anne?!”

“You know it, Marcy!” Ivy replied.

Both girls were hoisted up on ropes by Felicia as they got into kicking positions, while Sprig moved into position, and under his mark were a few of Maddie’s explosive hexes. Made to be flashy, not harmful. Ivy and Maddie performed a dual Rider Kick as they were lowered down to hit, and when the “monster” hit the mark, the entire stage exploded, sending the girls, Sprig, and the crew, flying in different directions, and setting the stage on fire.

Anne and Marcy stared wide eyed at chaos and together uttered a, “Whoa.”

A few feet away, Ivy had landed atop Maddie. The redheaded frog girl coughed and rolled off Maddie, both covered in soot, with their hair blown up and frazzled. While Sprig was had landed to the right of where Maddie did and coughed up soot.

“Maddie…what the heck did you put in that thing…?” Sprig asked

The young witch coughed and replied, “Apparently…the wrong stuff…but I kinda rushed that last one…”

“Ugh…that was a bust, we didn’t even make it to the final scene,” said Ivy.

Maddie coughed again and added, “Yeah…too bad.”

The stage had caught fire after the explosion, and the girls were ready to jump in and asset in putting it out. But they were assured that the fire would be taken care of, and that Anne and Marcy should go on and continue their date. Although a bit reluctant, the girls left and allowed the Wartwood frogs to deal with the fire.

“That was certainly something,” Marcy commented.

“Yeah…I hope that wasn’t too much?” Anne asked.

Marcy shook her head. “It was a bit over-the-top, but it was cute. I didn’t know Maddie and Ivy were like that?”

“They aren’t, that kiss was for real! I need to talk to Sprig about this later,” said Anne. “I am not letting my SprIvy ship sink!”

Marcy chuckled. “I’m guessing you had a hand in getting them together?”

Anne made a wavy motion. “Sorta, kinda, but not really. It kind of happened and I’ve been supporting Sprig.”

“Kind of like how he supports you,” Marcy pointed out.

“Yeah.” Anne took out her cellphone and checked the time. It was already six and the sun was starting to set. Most of her little dating plan had been messed up from what she had planned, but Marcy did not complain, so maybe it was going well. “Well, that was kind of all I got, unless there was something else you wanted to do?”

“I CAN THINK OF SOMETHIN’!”

Now what…?

Suddenly, out of the air came Mayor Toadstool, riding in another hot air balloon. Unlike the last one, this one was not shaped like Toadstool, but instead was shaped like a heart and had Anne and Marcy’s initials printed on it. The balloon landed on the ground a couple of feet away from them, and this time Toadstool remembered to throw a line so that Toadie could tie the sandbags to make sure it did not float away again.

Anne sighed deeply as she placed her index and middle against her left temple. “Mayor…what…what’s this?”

“Well, Ah thought Ah’d do somethin’ nice for Wartwood’s newest power couple. Two heroes in love, ain’t nothin’…nothin’ more pure,” said Toadstool as he teared up. The greedy toad shook his head and continued. “So, what’d ya kids? Want to take a ride skyward?”

Anne looked at Marcy and asked, “Do you want to? I mean, we’ve been on Joe’s back, and you can more or less fly now.”

“No way let’s do it! It does sound kind of romantic, besides, those times we were going somewhere or in the middle of a fight. This time, I can just enjoy the view,” said Marcy.

“That’s the spirit!”

Toadstool helped the couple into the basket and cut off the sandbags. Marcy took control and pulled the lever to blast the flame, causing the hot air to fill the balloon and lift them off into the air. The balloon ascended higher and higher until Wartwood was big enough that Anne swore she could fit it in the palm in her hand. The two reached cruising altitude, and from their vantage point were able to get a bird’s eye view of the sun setting on the horizon.

Marcy sidled next to Anne, cozying up to her. Anne smiled and brought Marcy in closer. It was not the date she had planned, but it seemed to have gone well all things considered.

“Anne, this has been wonderful,” said Marcy.

“Did I meet your expectations?” Anne asked.

“No,” Anne’s expression fell a little. “You exceeded them.”

And just like that she was back. “Really?”

Marcy nodded. “This is more than what I had thought would be possible. There’s no way we’d be able to do stuff like this back home.”

“Well, maybe not all of this. But I could still take you out to the movies, eat lunch or dinner together, or heck I could cook it. Or just stay home, chill on the couch and binge watch streaming apps all day together,” said Anne.

Reality was rearing its head in Marcy’s mind as she clutched Anne’s hoody sleeve. “And what about your mom and dad? How do you think they’ll react?”

Anne paused when Marcy mentioned her folks. It did not really occur to her that her parents might not approve of their relationship. She never recalled that either her mom or dad were homophobic, they had a lot of customers come into their restaurant, she had seen just as many gay couples as she saw hetero ones, and her parents served them just like any other customer. But then again, it was always easy to accept something when it was not happening to you, but sometimes it was a different story when it is someone you know. In this case, herself, their daughter. Anne knew that her mom wished for Anne to do more, to be something great, and somewhere along the way she probably figured Anne would settle down with some guy and have kids.

Why did it feel like she was disappointing her? Okay, yeah, she could apply herself more at school, and being here in Amphibia has allowed Anne to gain a newfound respect for her teachers, so perhaps she could try harder at the none sports related stuff. But that did not mean she was planning on being a doctor, a scientist, or whatever. Heck, Anne was only thirteen, she still had no idea what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. Anne knew that Marcy would go on to be some important genius scientist, inventing things or discovering new things. Sasha – provided she had not gone over to the dark side – would probably be some kind of big shot in some company, considering her controlling nature and ability to command respect, Anne had no doubts that the blonde would dominate in whatever profession she chose.

And then there was Anne.

“Maybe you’re right…”

“I don’t want to be separated from you, not so soon after we started,” said Marcy.

“…I don’t know Mar-Mar, something tells me your folks might not be onboard when they find out about us. My ‘rents? It’s a total toss up…” Anne admitted.

“I never got that vibe from them. You think they wouldn’t approve of us?” Marcy asked.

Anne shrugged. “Hard to tell, I mean, they’ve never really talked about whether like, hate, or just dislike gay people. And they’ve never really talked to me about, you know, what would happen if I did start going out with a girl. They gave that whole spiel about boys and stuff, but not when it comes to this.” Anne ran her hand through her hair and sighed again. “I honestly don’t want to be separated from you either…I like being around you.”

Marcy wrapped her arms around Anne’s right arm and gently said, “W-What if we didn’t have to…?”

“Huh? You say something, Marcy?”

“I…I-I said – HOLY SASSAFRAS!!!”

“‘Sassafras’? Seriously?”

Suddenly an explosion went off near them, followed by another, and another. Upon taking a moment to look, the girls noticed that the explosions were multicolored, and while they were exploding it was not really something on the level that they were used to.

“Are these fireworks?!” Marcy exclaimed.

Anne looked over the edge and saw that several more were heading their way, all stemming from Wartwood.

Down below, Sprig was running around like a madman, along with several others of the Wartwood gang. Some embers from the fire had spread to where the fireworks were being kept for when the girls landed, but now they were all going off and firing right into the air where Marcy and Anne were. Some had hit rooftops, others shot through windows and exploded, and a few set the statues of Anne and Marcy on fire. Loggle shed a tear.

“Put out the fires! Put out the fires!” Felecia exclaimed.

“What do ya think Ah’m doin’?!” Toadstool yelled back as he used Toadie to beat the fire out.

It was around this time that Wally arrived in Wartwood proper, noticing the fireworks, he came to investigate. And that’s when he saw the mayhem that was occurring in town. The blue frog glanced to his right and saw Polly sitting on a bench with some popcorn, munching on it as she watched the chaos unfold. The local vagabond walked to where Polly was sitting and sat next to her.

“So, typical day?” Wally asked.

“Kinda, it’s all my brother’s doing,” Polly elaborated.

“Ah, figured. Mind if I get some of that?”

“Knock yourself out.”

Meanwhile, Anne and Marcy were holding onto each other, and screaming their heads off as the sky around them was turned into a mini warzone.

“You don’t think this is going to–?!” Before Anne could finish her sentence, one of the embers of the fireworks hit the balloon and was now starting to catch fire. “Ooooooooof course it would…because why not?!”

“We’re going to have to jump!” Marcy stated.

“In the middle of this?!”

“Unless you want to ride this all the way down?!”

Anne looked over the edge again. “LAST ONE OUT’S A ROTTEN EGG!”

Anne and Marcy both jumped out of the balloon. As they were falling, both girls called upon their MetamorphRing Drivers and transformed in midair.

“COME! MACHINE ZEFYR!” Ranger called out.

The familiar motorcycle sounds cut through the explosions as Machine Zefyr flew towards them. Ranger mounted the bike first, getting it into position so that Amp could land behind her. Once she had, they rode the air bike down to the ground, and away from the danger.

“Eeesh, looked better from up there,” said Amp.

“I got this,” said Ranger.

The Rider of the winds pressed on her right hip device, transforming her right arm and entering Artificer Form. Ranger pressed her hand against the ground and called on the water below the swamp. She made it shoot forth from newly made geyser, which incidentally, Sprig was close to, letting the water burst forth into the air rain down on the entire town. The deluge was enough to put out the fires and keep the rest of the fireworks from going off. However, there was still one other problem. The hot air balloon had caught fire and was plummeting towards earth. Ranger pointed her right arm, Rewrite, into the air and released her energy tendrils, intercepting the balloon, breaking down the flames and remnants of the balloon, and transforming them into a shower of flower petals that cascaded all over the town of Wartwood.

Amp smiled under her helmet and lightly punched Ranger on her left arm. “You did that on purpose.”

“I gotta do my own romantic gestures, too, you know,” said Ranger.

Now that everything was good, Ranger and Amp released their transformations. Anne walked up to Sprig, who was on his back and spitting up water like a fountain for a few seconds before glancing at his surrogate older sister. “Okay, what the heck is going on here?!”

“Uh…well…”

“First, we get here, and the whole town is decked out like it’s valentine’s day. Then we get a free spa treatment and get pretzeled by Tuti. Stumpy’s not at his restaurant and me and Marcy had to fill in. And then there was that play that exploded. Now that balloon and fireworks fiasco?!” Anne paused for a moment as the dots connected in her head. She then gave Sprig a deadpan stare. “This was one of your hairbrained schemes, wasn’t it?”

Sprig gulped. “Yyyyyyeeeeeessssss…”

Anne inhaled deeply and then exhaled. “Marcy, let’s head back home.”

“Uh, okay.”

Sprig watched as the two girls headed down the road, leaving the town. The pink frog boy groaned, he could not tell if Anne was angry, annoyed, or furious.

Polly rolled up next to her big brother and patted him on the head. “As always, thanks for the entertainment bro-bro.”

Anne was walking a couple of steps ahead of Marcy. The teen genius was worried as Anne had not said a word since they left Wartwood, and they were almost back at the farm.

“Anne, are you alright?” Marcy asked, concerned.

The Thai girl sighed. “I don’t know. I planned the whole date, and I feel like it just got hijacked.”

Marcy quickened her pace until she was walking alongside Anne. “Wait, you mean all that stuff back there wasn’t part the date?”

“No! All I did plan out was us walking into town, going to the spa which – duh me – I had no money to pay for it! And I know that somehow those workers at the spa calling in Tuti was part of Sprig’s plan!”

“Well, paying wouldn’t have been a problem, I do have some money on me. And that massage, while a bit painful, worked out some of the kinks in my back and neck,” Marcy countered.

“And then I was going to take you to Stumpy’s, and lo and behold, he wasn’t there! And we ended having to work there for almost three hours! And again, no money to even eat there!”

“It wasn’t all that bad, I liked working with you.”

“Then that play?! Oh god, talk about cringe! And that explosion!” Anne grossed.

“That was unexpected, but I’d say it was cute, cringy yes, but still cute.”

“And, oh-ho-ho, the cherry on top! We go up in a hot air balloon, and nearly plummet to a fiery death!” Anne exclaimed.

“We are Kamen Riders, so our chances of surviving that were extremely high.”

Anne stopped walking and leaned against the wooden fence as she covered her face with her hands. “It was a total disaster…from start to finish.”

Marcy furrowed her brow a little, she gently grabbed both of Anne’s wrists and pulled them away from her girlfriend’s face so she could look her in the eyes. “Anne, it wasn’t a disaster, I really did have fun!”

Anne blinked. “You…You did?”

“There’s no way we would’ve been able to have this kind of a whacky date back on Earth, so the fact that I was able to experience it here, with you, was the best first date I could ever ask for!” Marcy exclaimed.

Anne’s heart skipped a beat when she heard Marcy’s praise. “I…I thought I messed everything up. I’m the one who asked you out, I should’ve thought it through more.”

“Anne, I love you. This date was more than I could have imagined.” Marcy leaned forward and gently kissed Anne on the lips. After parting, she shot Anne a goofy smile. “Although now you’ve set the bar pretty high for me when I plan our next date.”

“Heh, well, you know me,” said Anne, awkwardly

With that cleared up, Anne and Marcy returned to the Plantar farm. Anne stayed with Marcy in the fwagon for a bit, both of them just lounging on the bed while they laid side-by-side and watched movies on Anne’s phone. Once it had gotten late, Anne gave Marcy a goodnight kiss and returned to the house. It was there that she found Sprig, with a worried look on his face as he awaited whatever verbal tongue lashing he was about to receive from Anne.

“Anne, before you say anything, I just want you to know that I’m sorry for eavesdropping on your conversation with Wally! I knew about your date, and I got some of the townsfolk together to set up that date for you guys and make it better! But I screwed up, and I’m sorry. Okay, I’m ready…” Sprig puffed out his chest, stood at attention, and scrunched his eyes shut for whatever Anne was about to throw at him.

“I am a bit annoyed that you eavesdropped on me. That was uncool. But…” Anne walked up to the little frog boy, knelt in front of him, and booped him where his nose was. “But Marcy had fun, and, when I stop to think about it, I did, too.”

Sprig deflated as he relaxed. “R-Really?”

“Yep. But no more of these schemes, or I’ll Rider Kick you into the stratosphere. We clear?”

“Crystal!” Sprig exclaimed.

“Good.” Anne reached out with both of her arms and hugged Sprig as she said, “Thanks, dude.”

Sprig was surprised for a moment before he hugged Anne back.

After the hug, Anne asked, “So, that play, how did you convince Ivy and Maddie to do that kissing scene?”

“Oh, yeah, apparently Ivy’s wanted to do that for a bit, so she decided to go for it,” Sprig explained.

“WHAT?! B-B-BUT SPRIVY?!” Anne exclaimed.

“Relax Anne, she gave me a ‘cheer up’ punch in the arm after all that happened, followed by a ‘cheer up’ kiss. SprIvy is still strong!”

“Oh, thank Frog…!”

“Soooo, is MarcAnne still strong?” Sprig asked.

Anne glanced out towards the window that overlooked the front yard and looked directly at the fwagon where she could see the shadow of her girlfriend moving about inside. “Yeah, we’re still strong.”