23. Episode 23: A Day at the Lake

It had been a couple of days since Frobo came to live with the Plantars, and in that time, Marcy had been doing nothing but studying the robotic amphibian creation. While she was holed up in the outhouse/makeshift research area, Anne and the Plantars were busy helping Mayor Toadstool stay as mayor of Wartwood, as an emissary from Newtopia had come down to instate Toadstool as the new head toad of Toad Tower. Long story short, they defeated some bandits that were led by Bog, Fens, and Mire, and in the process, Jacinda, the emissary, instead made Bog the new leader of Toad Tower. Leaving the Wartwood residents with the promise of making their lives miserable compared to when Grime was in charge.

Anne could not even think of a good retort to that, it was not as if she could say, “As long as I’m around, you won’t be messing with any of my friends!” Because the truth of it was that Anne, Marcy, and eventually, Sasha, would all be leaving Amphibia if their quest for the temples went off without a hitch. Part of Anne hated the fact that she would be leaving her Wartwood friends and found family in the hands of Bog and his crew. Which was probably why she was sighing in deep thought as she leaned against the fence of the Plantar family farm.

Marcy, after doing all her research, came out of the outhouse covered in soot, her hair a mess, and a notepad in hand as she scribbled down some things. “Oh-ho-ho, wow! I can’t believe you can store Machine Stormer in there! But I still can’t figure out why you’re the only one who can? I mean, as far as I can tell, there aren’t any more of you. And you don’t have Machine Zefyr in you, so…perhaps mine just hides itself somewhere, remaining on standby? Or maybe it slips into a pocket dimension when not in use?! Oh man I have so many theories!”

The young genius glanced about and noticed her girlfriend leaning on the fence, looking deep in thought. Marcy put down her notepad, knowing that look on Anne’s face.

She walked over to Anne, stood next to her, and asked, “Hey, Anne, you alright?”

“Yeah, I guess,” said Anne.

“Okay, what’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing, really.”

Marcy pouted a little as she crossed her arms. “Anne, we’re girlfriends, we’re going out. Which means you can tell me what’s bothering you, that’s what partners do. Besides, maybe I can help, maybe I can’t. But I won’t know unless you tell me.”

Anne smiled at Marcy as she blushed a little. “Sorry, I know. I’m still getting used to all this, and I just didn’t want to, you know, have you listen to me gripe and moan.”

“You’ve heard me gripe and moan about plenty of things, same with Sasha, and you with us. The only difference here is I can be a bit more emotionally supportive as a girlfriend. For instance.” Marcy moved closer and interweaved her right arm with Anne’s left. “I can comfort you in some small ways that I couldn’t as just a friend.”

Anne leaned against Marcy a bit. “Yeah, okay. So, here’s what’s up…”

The Thai girl went into her explanation about what happened while Marcy was holed up and studying Frobo. About Jacinda and her promoting a thug like Bog to be an enforcer of Frog Valley. She also explained her worries about leaving her friends in that toad’s hands, and how she could not say that she would always be here to protect them, because she would not be able to once they got the music box’s gemstones charged up.

“Well, Anne, there’s nothing saying we have to go back right away. We still have to deal with The Night and its Fallen. We can’t very well leave this whole world without Kamen Riders to defend it,” said Marcy.

“Yeah, I guess I’m just homesick…I don’t mind if we can crossover to Amphibia and then back to Earth whenever we want. Not gonna lie, even after all the near-death experiences I’ve had here, I still love it.”

Marcy chuckled. “I can relate.”

The teen genius thought for a moment, it had been a few days since their last date. Maybe some levity would help take Anne’s mind off of some things.

“Hey, Anne, wanna go on a date?” Marcy asked.

Anne’s eyes flew open. “A date?! Right now?! But I haven’t planned anything!”

“So? Not all dates have to be planned out, some of the best ones are just spur of the moment kinda deals.”

Anne’s slight rise in anxiety tempt down a bit. “Oh, yeah, well, I guess that’d be okay.”

“Aaaand, since you went through all the trouble last time, I think it’s my turn to pick. And I choose…uuuuuhhhh…” Marcy mentally groped the air, trying to come up with a good idea for a date. And that’s when it hit her. “Let’s go to the beach!”

Anne raised an eyebrow. “The beach?”

“Well, I know we’re far from the ocean of the Newtopian coast, but I’m sure Wartwood has a lake or something, right?” Marcy asked.

Anne thought for a moment, and that’s when memories of the water snake flashed through her mind. “Ooooh…yeeeaaahh…there is a lake nearby that Sprig showed me…buuuuuuuut it might have a huge, carnivorous water snake living in it.”

Marcy blinked. “Huh. Well, other than that, anything else bad about the place?”

Now Anne blinked. “Um, no, other than it’s really beautiful and the water’s nice.”

“Then let’s go get ready!” Marcy exclaimed as she let go of Anne and headed towards the fwagon, closing the door behind her, and then opening it again to call out, “Anne, hurry up and get ready!”

I’m pretty sure she heard me when I said, “giant water snake.” Oh well, it’s been awhile, no way that snake is still there. Anne made her way to the house as she continued to think about what they would need. Okay, some sunscreen, maybe a picnic basket for some food. Oh, yeah, and my swimsuit, can’t forget that…

That’s when Anne stopped in her tracks.

Wait…I’M GOING TO SEE MARCY IN A SWIMSUIT?!

After getting some food prepared and other essentials, Anne and Marcy informed the Plantars that they would be heading out to the lake. Of course, Sprig asked if it was that lake, and Anne confirmed it was. Although knowing that both girls were Kamen Riders and have faced more dangerous creatures than a water snake, that still did not alleviate Sprig’s worries. Hop Pop, on the other hand, just told the girls to be safe and to enjoy their date.

Anne was wearing her usual once piece black and turquoise swimsuit with pink swim trunks and flipflops. Marcy, well, she was keeping whatever she was wearing hidden. She wore her Saint James Middle School hoodie, and had a towel wrapped around her waist to further keep her swimwear hidden from Anne’s sight.

Yeah, this was not well thought out, Anne groaned internally.

It just dawned on her that she was about to see Marcy in a swimsuit, something that never really paid attention to until now. And it was not as if any of the three had not seen the other in one before, but now that she and Marcy were dating, it took on a different context, and with that new context, came new emotions and feelings that Anne was still getting used to. After some walking, Anne and Marcy arrived at the lake in question.

Marcy’s eyes widened when she saw the natural beauty of the lake, while Anne’s eyes zeroed in on the sign that said, “Don’t Swim,” only now it had some added text that read, “Death Lives Here!”

Anne gulped. “Hey, Marbles, maaaaayyybe we shouldn’t swim here.”

“Ah, Anne, it’ll be fine! Let’s just enjoy and have fun,” said Marcy.

Hard to have fun when you know there’s something dangerous waiting in that water, thought Anne. Wow, is this how Sprig felt all time ago?

“Hold on, let me check something first.” Anne picked up a rock and walked to the edge of the lake. She then chucked the rock right into the lake and waited a few seconds. “Huh, okay, guess it’s not here…maybe.”

Marcy walked up to Anne and patted her on the shoulders. “Anne, you have to relax. We’re Riders now, we can handle a water snake if it shows up. Or if it makes you feel any better, get out there and use your powers to electrify the water.”

That was an option, but then Anne might just accidentally kill any and all of the fish that might be living under the water. Not to mention the innocent creatures that might be taking a drink at the exact moment she did that. Anne relented in the end.

“No, if it shows up, we’ll just beat it,” said Anne.

“There ya go, now let’s just enjoy ourselves,” said Marcy.

With that decided, Anne laid out a large beach towel and set the picnic basket she borrowed from Hop Pop on it. That’s when she started hearing a zipper coming undone, and it made her pause. This was it; she was going to see what Marcy had on under that towel and hoodie. A myriad of different possible swimsuits that Marcy could be wearing went through her mind, although they were in Amphibia, she might have had someone in Newtopia make her some new swimwear. And if that’s true, and with the way Marcy has grown in Amphibia, her taste in swimwear might have changed along with her.

“Hey, Anne, are you okay?” Marcy asked.

“Y-Yeah!”

“…Is there a reason why you’re not turning to look at me?”

“Uh…no particular reason…”

“Then?”

Anne groaned inwardly; this was the moment of truth. The Thai girl stood up and slowly turned around, squinting her eyes, and slowly opening them in preparation to take in whatever it was she was wearing. But all her possible ideas were dashed when she saw Marcy standing there, wearing her SJMS school issued one piece swimsuit. It was somewhat similar to Anne’s swimsuit, except the straps around the arms and shoulders were green in color, with the rest of the suit a grayish blue, and the coat of arms for Saint James Middle School on the front of it.

Now Anne knew this was a just a normal school issued suit, nothing particularly invocative about it, she had one back at home with purple instead of green to match her uniform. But…there was just…something about seeing Marcy in that swimsuit that made Anne blush and caused her to vehemently focus on Marcy’s face.

Marcy chuckled nervously as she gripped her left arm nervously. “Heh-heh…Anne, what’s wrong? Your face is really red.”

“Y-Yours is, too,” said Anne.

“I-I asked you first!”

“Shoot!” She had a point. “Well…uh…I don’t know what I was expecting you to wear…but…for some reason, you in that swimsuit…it’s…hitting different, if that makes since?”

Marcy blushed as she caught on to what Anne was saying. “O-O-Oh, ahem…I think I get it. You mean since we’re dating now, the context of seeing me in a swimsuit is different from when we were just friends…I have to admit…now that you’ve brought it up, I’m starting to feel the same way.”

The air became awkward between them now.

Anne shook her head. “Alright, alright, let’s try and stop the awkwardness and take a dip.”

Anne quickly ran towards the lake and cannonballed into the water, sending a splash of water at Marcy.

The Chinese girl got doused, as she giggled, “Anne!” And then that giggle turned into a gasp of fear as she cried out, “ANNE!”

Anne surfaced and asked, “What? What’s wrong?” Some water began dripping down from high overhead, and there was a large shadow cast over her. “The snake is right behind me, isn’t he?”

Marcy nodded slowly.

“Of course, he is…”

Anne turned around and watched as the snake hissed-roared at her. Marcy’s eyes shifted to a glowing emerald green as she focused her energy, and then propelled herself straight for Anne. Before the snake could come down and eat her, Marcy grabbed her and skidded across the water and onto a lily pad.

“Whoa, that was close!” Marcy exclaimed.

Anne looked to Marcy, and then to the snake who turned its head in their direction. The Thai girl glared at the aquatic serpent and stood up. “Mar-Mar, jump off the lily pad, I’ll handle this one.”

“Anne, we can take it down together.”

“Nuh-uh, I have a score to settle with this guy,” said Anne.

Marcy could see the determination in her girlfriend’s eyes and nodded before jumping off the lily pad and landing back on shore.

Anne got into a fighting stance as her eyes shined blue, along with sparks of electricity arcing across her body. She made a “Come at me” motion with her right hand, and the snake slithered right for her. The snake reared up, ready to attack, but Anne used her power to jump straight into the air, catching the snake off guard with how fast she was. Anne came down on the snake’s head with an electrified ax kick, a surge of electrical power made the blow sting twice as bad as the monster shrieked in pain. The Thai girl spun in the air delivered a backhand fist to the side of its jaw, sending the snake splashing hard against the water.

The snake was in a daze, but Anne concentrated her electrical energy into her right hand, and dove right hand first into the water, sending a surge of electricity through it. The snake shrieked in pain as the lightning surged through its body as Anne used the snake’s body as a springboard to splash back into the water. The electricity faded away, leaving the snake spasming from the low voltage electrocution. Anne could not generate that much of a charge, but with the water, it made the lightning she could generate super conductive and sting that much more.

The water snake managed to regain some feeling in its body and began skulking away from them, knowing that it was defeated and not willing to get into another fight with her or Marcy.

After seeing the snake slither away, Anne thrust her arms into the air and cheered victoriously. “WHOOO! Yes! That’s what I’m talkin’ about! That’s what you get for almost eating me and Sprig!” Anne wiped her brow as she smiled confidently. “Whew, well, that was satisfying. Now that that’s done with let’s…uh…Marcy?”

Marcy was blushing and smiling. “Anne, that was hot!”

Anne, instead of getting all jittery and nervous, only smirked confidently. “Well, then.” Anne used her speed to quickly zip around behind Marcy, and scooped Marcy into her arms. “Let’s cool off!”

“Anne!” Marcy squeaked in surprise.

Anne normal ran into the water, jumping in with Marcy and causing a big splash, and when the emerged, both girls were giggling happily.

The girls spent the last hour and a half just having fun at the lake. They swam around, splashed each other, sunbathed on the beach, and took a few pictures and selfies, after a while, Anne forgot about her worries, and just enjoyed the time she spent with Marcy. Time spent like this with her, made Anne feel like she made the right choice in deciding to be girlfriends with Marcy, amongst all the crazy things that were happening to them, Anne felt like this one thing she had with Marcy was the anchor to it all.

For Marcy, she never thought she would get to spend time with Anne like this, in this context of being together as lovers. It was amazing, and she could not ask for anything more. Well, other than for this adventure they were all on to never end, but considering what she discussed with King Andrias, if she was successful, and could show Anne and Sasha that they could go back home at any time they wanted, then they could continue their adventures, and never have to be separated. Yes, it would be an adjustment for Sasha now that she and Anne were together, things might even get awkward with her feeling like a fifth wheel around them. But…maybe there was a chance that “fifth wheel” could not be a “fifth wheel.”

The young Chinese girl shook her head at the notion. C’mon, Marcy, you got Anne now. Don’t be greedy. I mean, would it be super amazing if all three of us could be together in a polyamorous relationship? I mean, yeah, a real dream come true! But…as great as that would be, I know I’m asking for the impossible. First off, neither of us even know if Sasha is into girls, and second, she may like us as friends, but that doesn’t mean she likes as her girlfriends.

Marcy dismissed the notion for now, it was a fun fantasy to have, but the odds of that happening, even here in Amphibia, were astronomically low. No, she would be content with what she has. She and Anne were together, the girl she had been pining over since they were little, before she even knew what her feelings really meant. That was enough for her.

The girls were on the shore, enjoying the meal that Anne had made for them. And despite Marcy thinking what she did, she could not help but give voice to her thoughts.

“Um, Anne, I have a question. A bit of a hypothetical,” said Marcy.

“Ooh, a ‘what if’ kinda question? I like these, hit me, Mar-Mar,” Anne replied as she took a bite of her sandwich and began chewing.

“What would you think about me, you, and…Sasha…being in a three-way relationship?”

“GUGH! PPFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Anne began spitting out her food and continued to spit for what seemed like an unreasonable amount of time.

How big a bite did she take?

Anne finally seemed to run out of food, she then reached for a jug of water she brought, took a few sips, and then began again.

“PPFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

After a two-minute-long spit take, Anne finally stopped.

“Dude! Are you serious?!” Anne balked.

“W-What? It’s just a hypothetical question…”

“Yeah! About all three of us going out with each other! I mean – and Sasha of all people?!”

Marcy rubbed the back of her head as she explained, “I’m just wondering if you see any plausible scenario where you could see all three of us dating…? It’s not as if I expect something like to happen, I just want to see what you think.”

Anne put down the jug and sandwich in her hands and pinched the bridge of her nose with her right hand as she tried to gather her thoughts. “Marcy, am I not good enough or something? Did I say something, do something, not do, or say something?”

“No! Nononononononononononono! Anne, that’s not it!” Marcy moved closer to Anne and took her lover’s left hand into both of hers. “It’s not that you’re not enough, I’m just…I’m just asking because…I wanna know. Would it be amazing if that kind of thing happened? I won’t lie, I do. But I’m not so naïve as to think that it’ll ever happen! I’m happy being with you! I’ve always wanted to be with you! I’m just curious…that’s all.”

Anne could see it in Marcy’s eyes, it really was not as if Anne were not enough, Marcy was always curious, and now that she was in a relationship, she just wanted to know of the possibilities. Anne sighed in the end.

“Okay…” Anne put down her right hand and thought for a moment. “If…and that’s a big IF…Sasha, you, and me were together, the only way I’d even consider that as something between us, is…well…” The Thai girl ran her free right hand through her afro, trying put into words how she felt about Sasha right now. “A lot of things happened between me and Sash at Toad Tower, and we never really got the chance to work through them. But you know as well as I do, she’s manipulative and very controlling.”

Marcy averted her gaze for a moment. Yes, that was an unavoidable character flaw of Sasha. “I won’t lie, I know. Sometimes I find it easier to just follow Sasha’s lead. But you know and I know she does care about us in her own way. She became one of the most popular girls in our school, and she’s captain of the cheer squad. I mean, she really doesn’t have to hang out with someone like me, the literal definition of a nerd. She’s always protected us and never let anyone hurt us, or even get away with hurting us.”

Anne released a long exhale, that was, yet another, undeniable fact. Despite being at the top of the social ladder, Sasha never discarded them, and never shunned them. It really was like she wanted them to share in her glory, in her popularity, even if others at school in that same social ladder did not believe either her or Marcy belonged there.

“…I can’t really give a real answer to that right now, Mar-Mar.”

“But would you be open to it at least?” Marcy asked.

Anne stood up and said, “I’m…I’m going to walk around for a bit.”

Marcy put on an uneasy smile and said, “Sure, Anne, go ahead.”

Anne walked off, trotting along the beach as she grappled with Marcy’s question. She was only now starting to come to grips with her feelings for Marcy, when it came to Sasha, that was something else. There were so many conflicting emotions whenever she thought about that girl. Anger and pity were among them, along with her wanting to be kind to Sasha, and then there was the other emotion that definitely conflicted with the others. The fact that she recognized her attraction to Sasha. There was no doubt in her mind that Sasha was a beautiful girl, and…hot. Okay, she admitted it, Sasha was hot. But still, her personality needed work, or at the very least something needed to give with Sasha for Anne to even…even to possibly consider such a thing.

What would our folks think about something like that?! How freakin’ awkward would it be for all three us to be together like that?! I can’t imagine how either of their families would react to that, much less my mom and dad! UGH! Dang it, Marbles, why do you have to make me think about things like this?!

It was not like she had much else to think about, with the distractions of their world taken away, Anne found herself having more time to think about things. And with everything they have been through in the last few months, Anne felt as if they had grown, at least mentally, and matured a little bit. But maybe not enough to make such a decision. Wait a minute…

“Why am I getting so worked up about a hypothetical question?” Anne questioned herself.

Why was she getting worked up about it? It was a simple “What If” question. Even Marcy said she was not so naïve as to think that such a thing would be possible. So why was she thinking so hard on it as if it was something that was possible in the first place? That’s when Anne figured it out.

“Oh crap…I’m the one who wants it…I’m the one taking it seriously as if it’s a possible thing! Do I…Do I really want that?!”

Unfortunately, Anne was too deep in thought to realize that something was wrong. She had her back to the water, and that was never a good thing to do, for if she were facing it, Anne would see the ripples. And the undulations of something creeping closer and closer to her. The ripples continued to get closer until, suddenly, they stopped. That’s when the water erupted as a tidal wave rushed towards Anne, the Thai girl barely had time to let out a yelp as something black and slithering wrapped itself around her in the water before dragging her back to the lake.

Marcy was still sitting on the towel, hugging her legs to her chest as she waited for Anne to return. She berated herself for bringing something like that up. Of course, Anne would be mad at me for asking something like that…I must’ve made her feel as if she really wasn’t enough for me. She still hasn’t talked about what exactly went down at Toad Tower, but whatever did happen must’ve been bad enough for her to have that kind of reaction. Marcy thumped the side of her. For being such a genius, you can be really stupid sometimes!

The Chinese girl’s pity party did not last as a familiar sensation alerted her to danger. Marcy sprang to her feet and summoned her MetamorphRing Driver, waiting to see what it was that triggered her senses. That’s when something exploded out from the water. It was another Fallen, but this one was a snake, in fact…the coloring looked very similar to the one that Anne knocked out not too long ago. This Fallen looked more like a Naga, with the upper half of its body humanoid, and the bottom half a snake trunk. Its body was littered with glass-like nodes, six on its chest, one on either shoulder, one at the center of its forehead, and many more along its trunk. The thirteen eyes symbol of The Night was emblazoned onto its chest in orange, contrasting against its charcoal gray scales. The Fallen’s hands had long claws, and another node on each palm, but that was not what got Marcy’s attention.

The Snake Fallen raised part of its tail out of the water and revealed Anne wrapped in its coils.

“ANNE!!!” Marcy cried out.

Anne’s body was wrapped up from the shoulders down, leaving only her head untouched. The Thai girl coughed and wheezed, apparently having been submerged this entire time. Anne glared up at the monster and decided to make it sorry for pulling that sneak attack. Her eyes glowed azure blue as lightning began to spark from her body, however, that’s just what the Fallen wanted. The Snake Fallen’s nodes began to absorb the electricity, causing no damage to the monster at all. The Snake Fallen hiss-chuckled at the futility of Anne’s attempt to shock it again.

“You will not hurt my girlfriend!” Marcy declared as she went into her transformation motions. “Henshin!”

Wind swirled around Marcy, creating a dome of emerald air. A moment later, that dome burst apart and revealed Kamen Rider Ranger. Ranger aimed her Squall Sniper at the Fallen’s head, but the moment she was about to pull the trigger, the Fallen swiftly moved Anne right in the line of fire.

Ranger growled and jumped as high as she could go. She spun the Windmill twice to use the armor piercing rounds. Once done she aimed again, but the Snake Fallen was onto her and moved Anne right above its head. Ranger flipped in the air and landed on a nearby lily pad and yelled, “YOU COWARD!”

“MARCY, DON’T WORRY ABOUT ME! SHOOT IT!” Anne yelled back.

Ranger was not about shoot that thing while it had her girlfriend in its clutches. The Snake Fallen smirked and put Anne back into the water. The nodes on its body began to glow, and in a matter of seconds it released lightning bolts at Ranger. The nimble Rider jumped, dodged, and weaved around the bolts as best she could. A few were about to converge on her, but Ranger pressed the right hip device, shifting her into Artificer Form, and transforming her right arm into Rewrite.

With a wave of her right hand, Ranger created shield around her body. The lightning bolts exploded against her shield, and with another wave of her hand she created a hard-light platform to stand on. Ranger looked down at the water, trying to spot Anne. She can’t stay under the water for too long, Anne may be athletic, but even she can’t hold her breath forever! And if that thing even thinks I’m going to shoot at it, it’ll just use Anne as a shield!

Ranger knew what she had to do, she had to go super, her Super Form would grant her the mental prowess to figure out a way to take down the Snake Fallen and save Anne without getting electrocuted and dragged into the Fallen’s domain.

Hang on, Anne!

Ranger focused as hard as she could and jumped straight up into the air to the point that the Fallen could only see her as a speck. While in the air, Ranger undid her transformation, returning her to civilian form. Marcy focused again and summoned the MetamorphRing TRI as she began falling. The young genius took a deep breath and cried out, “HENSHIN!” before pressing on both devices.

A tornado of emerald wind formed around Marcy, green light shined from the center of the tornado, and then burst apart in a shower of emerald-colored sparkles. Now Marcy was in her Super Form, Kamen Rider Ranger: Ahura Mazda (Archer Mode). Ranger’s mind was already on fire as she began calculating the best method of taking down the Fallen and save Anne at the same time. Ranger could see that the monster was still keeping Anne submerged, if there was going to be any hope of destroying the Fallen, Anne’s rescue had to take top priority.

Ranger drew the bowstring on Wind Dancer and fired one arrow down at the Snake Fallen. The creature spotted something green and shiny, and noticed that it was getting closer. The monster quickly drew Anne out of the water, allowing the Thai girl to take in a big gulp of air. She was nearly on the verge of passing out right now, and was disoriented from being submerged, but the lightheadedness due to a lack of air was remedied when Ranger’s arrow whizzed past her and the Fallen and struck the water.

The moment it did, a burst of wind pushed the water back, creating a fifty-foot-wide area free of water. Without the weightlessness of the water, the Snake Fallen fell straight down to the muddy bottom, but it still didn’t release Anne. Ranger fired off several more of her arrows, five in total. All five converged on one point of the monster’s tail and exploded on impact consecutively. Each explosion ate away at the tail until the half that was wrapped around Anne was blown off, throwing Anne and the tail bit far from the Snake Fallen.

Ranger used the concentrated air below her feet as a springboard to launch herself straight down towards the water free area. Once the other half of the tail hit the ground, its grip loosened, allowing Anne to finally fall free from it. The Snake Fallen hiss shrieked in both pain and fury as its eyes locked onto Anne. Gathering the stored electrical energy, the monster fired it in an attempt to at least kill one of them.

However, Ranger landed right of Anne, wrapped an arm around her waist, and jumped straight into the air just before the attacks hit.

“M-Marcy!” Anne exclaimed.

“I’ve got you, Anne!” Ranger continued to air dash until she made it back to shore, which was right around the time when the water finally rushed back in and closed the gap that she had created. “Your lightning powers will only give it more ammo. Wait here, I’ll take care of this.” Before she headed out, Ranger knelt before Anne and gave her a hug. “Anne, I love you.”

Before Anne could respond, Ranger jumped back into the air. The Snake Fallen burst from the water and fired off the remainder of its lightning. Ranger stood in the air and remained still as the lightning bolts passed right through her as if the monster was striking at the air itself.

No one hurts Anne, not while I’m around. Forget Wind Dancer, you deserve a more personal touch! Ranger thought.

Ranger folded up Wind Dancer and holstered it behind her back. The Rider of wind’s butterfly frills began shine as her aura cape and hood flared up with her gathered power. The symbol of Ranger appeared in front of her, angling itself so that it was aiming right at the Snake Fallen. Ranger jumped, flipped once, and used her air power to propel herself forward as the symbol in front of her wrapped itself around her right foot, creating a whirlwind of emerald light and gusting wind. The Snake Fallen kept firing its lightning, but the turbulence of the wind made the lightning bend around it and shoot off harmlessly into the sky.

“Aerial End!!!”

Ranger’s foot struck the Snake Fallen in the chest, driving the monster down into the depths of the lake as a waterspout formed over their location. A few seconds later, an explosion went off that sent a shower of water cascading everywhere as the waterspout was dispersed.

Anne held her ground as a wave rushed towards shore and nearly knocked her off her feet, but she managed to stay upright as the water receded back into the lake, and all the while Anne was anxious as to what happened. Anne had no doubt that Marcy defeated the Fallen, but if she de-transformed in the water…

A figure burst forth from the lake and landed to Anne’s right, abating her fears as she saw that it was Ranger. The Rider of wind’s form shimmered as she changed back, making Anne rush towards her girlfriend, catching her before she could hit the ground. Anne could see that Marcy was out just like last time, but she still sighed in relief.

Man, this Super Form really takes a lot out of her.

Marcy groaned as she slowly sat up and asked, “Oh man…did I win?”

“Yep, you did,” Anne answered.

Marcy glanced to her right and saw Anne sitting next to her. “Good…Are you alright? That thing was trying to drown you.”

“Not gonna lie, I was this close to thinking I was going to die,” said Anne as she used her thumb and index finger to pinch the air. “But I didn’t think for a second that you weren’t going to save me.”

“…You wouldn’t have been in that situation if I hadn’t opened my big mouth…” Marcy hugged her legs back to her chest and pressed her face against her knees. “I’m sorry, Anne…I just brought that up without even thinking about how it’d make you feel…We haven’t even been dating for a month and I’m already messing this up…”

Anne nudged Marcy with her left shoulder and said, “No, you haven’t messed anything up. It was just a lot to think about. Like I said, there are a lot of things that need to happen before I could even consider something like that. But really, what made you think about that?”

Marcy’s face tinted red as she confessed. “I just thought it would be wonderful if my two best friends were more than just my friends…that we could share a bond stronger than friendship, something that would connect us on a deeper level than anything we’ve ever had. I’ve had a crush on you for a long time, but I’ve also sorta, kinda, developed one for Sasha, too. But, if I’m being honest, my end goal was always to be with you, Anne.”

Anne reached out with her left arm and wrapped it around Marcy to bring her into a hug. “I can’t lie, I think I might have a thing for her, too. But, like I said, there are some things me and her need to work out. For one thing, you don’t even know if she’s into girls, and if she is, we don’t know if she’s into either one of us, or both of us. And I need to address Toad Tower with her.”

Marcy glanced up at Anne and asked, “What did happen at Toad Tower? You mentioned it, but you never went into real detail about it.”

Anne grimaced at the memory, her eyes watering a bit as the memory of what happened came back. “……Sasha came to Wartwood with an army of toads from Toad Tower. The one that Jacinda and Bog are about to rebuild and run. Grime and Sasha brought everyone to the tower for a banquet to celebrate our reunion, but it was all a trap.”

Marcy raised an eyebrow. “A trap? For who?”

“Hop Pop.”

“Hop Pop?”

Anne nodded. “Yep, Hop Pop. Apparently, he had become a political figure without even knowing it, ‘A frog who stands for freedom.’ His running for mayor and standing up against the tax collectors was apparently inspiring the rest of the valley to revolt, and to end it they wanted to execute him………And Sasha was the one who organized the banquet, tricking everyone in town to come to the Tower, the Wartwood frogs were all prisoners and she had me separated.”

The Thai girl ran her free hand through her hair as she remembered how happy she was to be with Sasha.

“I was so blinded by the fact that I had finally been reunited with Sasha, that I didn’t see the signs. And when she finally told me what was really going on, I broke the frogs out of the Tower…only for all of us to get recaptured and brought to Grime.”

Marcy’s eyes were wide with disbelief, she knew Sasha was a controlling person, strong willed, and manipulative, but she never thought it was to this degree. “What happened next?”

“Grime was still going to kill Hop Pop, but I grabbed a sword and protected him. Sasha…she…she talked down to me, in that way that she does when you don’t do what she says. You know what I’m talking about,” said Anne.

Marcy did know, it was one of her flaws that she disliked the most. Sasha had a way of talking down to you so that the only way was her way, and she made sure to let you know that that was it by ending it with three simple words, “End. Of. Discussion.”

Anne’s right hand balled into a fist. “I still hate myself when I think back to that moment…I let her talk me down into lowering my sword…into letting them kill Hop Pop, I almost cost Sprig and Polly their grandfather…! The only family they have left! But it was Sprig who reminded me of my worth, of who I’ve become since we were dropped into this world. And that’s when me and Sasha had our duel.”

Marcy saw tears begin to form in Anne’s eyes.

“I won…but Grime wasn’t going to uphold his deal to let us go. But Wally had set up some boom-shrooms around the Tower, and when they went off, the Tower began to crumble. The toads were running, and so were the frogs, I looked back at Sasha, and she fell. I ran to her and grabbed her, I held onto her as we dangled over the edge of the Tower. Hop Pop, Sprig, and Polly all came to my rescue when they saw I was slipping, and together we managed to keep our hold. But…the Tower was not going to hold…it…it was cracking due to our combined weight…and…that’s when Sasha did something I never even thought she would do…she said, ‘Maybe you’re better off without me’, and then she let go.”

Marcy’s eyes widened with shock as her eyes began to water. “Anne…don’t tell me…is…is Sasha really…?”

Anne shook her head. “No, Grime jumped in at the last second and saved Sasha before she could hit the ground. I watched him and some of the toads walk into the forest with Sasha in Grime’s arms, and I haven’t seen her since…She…She was willing to sacrifice herself to save my life, Marcy…”

The Thai girl covered her eyes with her right hand as she began to cry a little.

“I don’t know how I should feel about her after that! She’s been jerk to us, but also a friend, she’s manipulated us, but protected us! And then she goes and does something like that! She was willing to give her life to save mine!” Anne sobbed. “How do I begin to process that?!”

Marcy released her legs and brought her arms around Anne and into a comforting hug. She had no idea that Anne was going through, no idea how conflicted she was when it came to Sasha. Now she felt even worse about even bringing up that topic.

Anne hugged Marcy back, finding comfort in her girlfriend’s embrace, something that she was starting to enjoy and relish the longer they were together. It made her feel better, easing the burden in her heart about the feelings she had about that event.

“Thanks, Marcy,” said Anne.

“Don’t thank me, I’m sorry for making you have to think about something like what I said, when you were going through all that,” Marcy lamented.

Anne broke the hug a little and smiled at Marcy. “Hey, you didn’t know, and that’s because I never said anything. I guess I just wanted you still see Sasha as she was before we came here, and not the version I saw.”

“I guess coming here may’ve changed you and me, but…maybe it just brought out more of Sasha’s bad traits and made them worse……But there’s hope, right? She was willing to give her life to save you, that has to mean that there’s a part of her that still cares about us,” Marcy hypothesized.

Anne did hold out some hope for their friend, the fact that Sasha was willing to make that sacrifice was her sliver of hope that Sasha could become a better person in the end. And if she only cared about herself, Sasha would have found a way to get to safety and left Anne and the Plantars behind, but she did not do that, she did the exact opposite.

“All we can do is hope. I just want to clear the air with her before anything else happens…for better or worse,” said Anne.

“We’ll find her, once we’ve gotten all three stones charged, we’ll track down Sasha so you and her can finally talk it out.”

“Yeah, someday soon.”

Sasha was staring up at ceiling, remembering times before Amphibia. When she and her friends were three middle school girls just living life and hanging out together. Now they were in this world of talking frogs, newts, and toads, and somehow, she gained Kamen Rider powers, and there was a distinct possibility that Anne had powers, too. And at this rate, Sasha was not going to be surprised if Marcy had powers as well.

That’s the whole reason she had Mr. Ponds show her how to make the poison that made Anne unable to use her powers for a short time. Grime managed to get her in contact with an apothecary who helped her refine it a bit more, she used herself a test subject, since, well, she was the only one who had powers. The poison worked as it intended, she was unable to concentrate, her mind was sluggish, and her body felt like a lead weight. No matter how hard she tried, she could not concentrate hard enough to summon her Driver, or even use her enhanced strength and slight fire conjuring.

The original version that Mr. Ponds made was not well suited to inhibiting someone like Anne or Sasha, the dosage was meant for frogs, toads, or other creatures of Amphibia, not a human. So, body chemistry came into play and diluted the effects enough for Anne to make her escape. But this new version was now able to affect a human, and as such, the time of incapacitation had been increased. At most it would last at least twelve hours, she probably could have had the apothecary make it so it could last longer, but Sasha did not think she would need to have it last longer than that.

By the time their plan had been put into motion, and they were ruling Amphibia, there should not be a need to use it more than once. At least she hoped so. She made sure to take pictures of all the notes the apothecary made during the course of the creation of the poison with her phone, and after she was done, she burned them to make sure no one had the ability to make this poison and use it against her. Grime made doubly sure that the apothecary was not going to spread that knowledge, both through coppers and threat of life. To which the apothecary agreed to keep their mouth shut.

Sasha had come to grips with her sexuality, realizing that she did harbor feelings for both of her friends, and boys in general, but really, she cared more about Anne and Marcy. If things went well, and they managed to bring Amphibia under the new rule of the toads and herself, then they could just live here, rule as superpowered queens or something. Because, honestly, what was waiting for her back on Earth?

A broken home, Mom and Dad separated, high school. Pfft, forget that. I have everything I need right here. I have power, I have comrades, and I have my friends here. I’ll convince them both that being here and ruling here, are the best things for us, Sasha thought.

Yeah, Anne would miss her family, but if they were…together…she could be her new family. And honestly, why should she stop there? Why not Marcy, too? Why not all three of them? They were in another world, none of them had to follow the societal rules of their world, because none of them apply here in Amphibia. If Sasha wanted to have two girlfriends, then why the heck not. She was soon going to be the ruler of Amphibia alongside Grime, so why not have two cute and beautiful girls like Anne and Marcy at her side? Sasha guiltily admitted, she liked the idea of having Anne and Marcy to herself, one on each arm.

“I’m sorry, Sash, I should’ve listened to you. Can you forgive me?” Anne would say.

Aww, of course I do, Boonchuy. You know you’re my girl, Sasha thought.

“Only Anne, Sasha?” Marcy would pout.

Sasha giggled. You’re both my girls, so no pouting, Mar-Mar.

The young blonde’s face began to turn red as the fantasy played out in her mind.

Just then, Grime walked inside the room and asked, “Are you feeling alright, Lieutenant?”

“Huh, yeah, why do you ask?”

“Your face is quite red.”

Sasha slapped her face with her ungloved hand and shook her head a few times. “I-I-It’s nothing! What’s up?”

“I just got word; it’s been decided. A few days from now, we’ll be meeting at the North Toad Tower. The other Toad Lords will be in attendance to hear our proposal, our time has come, Sasha,” Grime informed.

Sasha swung her legs out over the bed and stood to her full height. “Guess we need to get serious now, huh?”

“Indeed. If we’re successful in getting our proposal backed up by all three Towers, you know there’s no going back. We might eventually face Anne and whatever power she may possess. There’s little doubt she’ll just accept what we do, and may fight you again,” said Grime.

Sasha reached into her skirt pocket and took out a vial of the poison that they had created. “If it comes down to that, I’ll just have to hit her with this.”

“And if you aren’t able to?”

The blonde girl gripped the vial a little harder and replied, “Then I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.”