7. Vote Till You Croak

Still depressed over losing the stand, Anne, Leo, Sprig and Polly try to help Hop Pop in his mayoral election against Toadstool.

...

...

"This...this is just sad," 16-year-old Leo deadpanned. He, Anne and the Plantar siblings were currently observing the frankly sickly-looking Hop Pop, it looked like one of them had dragged a dead frog inside the house.

His face was shoved into the couch, flies hovering over his head just waiting for the moment that the frog would just keel over and die. He hadn't washed his clothes in weeks and was looking just a miserable as ever.

"Leo's right. Hop Pop you gotta stop feeling bad about losing the stand and get back out there!" Anne urged him to get up, watching as the frog slowly raised his head to the four of them.

"I'm sorry kids, I thought I was ok with losing the stands, but after a couple of days, I just feel worthless."

Leo and Anne gave each other a worried look, he'd been like this for a few days now, "Well, this might cheer you up, ka-pow!" Anne announced showing off a wanted poster.

"Grub-and-go are hiring greeters, all you have to do is smile!"

"Can you do that? Smile?" Leo questioned, staring grimly at the frog. Actually unsure whether or not he could anymore.

Hop Pop looked at the leaflet for a moment, before dismissing it and sliding even further into the couch, "It's just another job I'll lose."

"That's the spirit! Now get out there!" Anne attempted to pump him up only to see no reaction whatsoever, "...Come on, get out there!"

She eventually began tugging on the frog, watching him try to fight back in a useless struggle against the teen, "No! Lemme go, the couch is the only one that understands me!"

"And it understands that you need to stop freeloading in your own house," Leo commented, getting Sprig to drag Hop Pop into his room. Before he left though, he turned to Anne and shook his head, "No one understands him right now, if you can't get the smell out of the couch you know what to do."

Anne simply snickered and nodded in return, watching Leo pull the frog back into his bedroom, "Hop Pop you look like you're supposed to be at a funeral!" He berated, raising his voice a little.

"That means I look nice right?" He tried to reason with the boy, scuttling about his own bedroom.

"No! You'd be the corpse!"

Now back in Wartwood, Leo sorted out Hop Pop's clothes one final time before setting him off into the store, he looked well enough and it wasn't as if the slimy, talking frogs would care for a little smell.

He simply decided that he'd wait outside, without her knowledge he'd managed to pinch Anne's phone and had started playing one of the games that he had become absolutely immersed with, there wasn't anything to tricky about it, a simple punch to win game where you had to fight hordes of enemies.

"Come on, I've almost got enough for the Ukulele Uppercut!" He dryly spoke to himself, he low, monotone voice being heard by no one.

"Thank you, Mr. Plantar, don't call us. We'll call you," Hop Pop sadly dragged himself out of the store, the manager closing the door behind him.

Leo didn't get a chance to speak up, the frog trudged past him, "Let's just go home, this was a mistake."

Just as they were about to though, Hop Pop and Leo spotted a fairly large crowd forming around the center of town, "Hm, what's all this rabble?"

"It's the signups for the election, have you been living under a rock or something? Because I have and even I know!"

"Wally, I know full well that you were sleeping in the fountain last night," Leo glared at him, this time purposely trying to startle the frog, they might have been somewhat accustomed to his presence, but plenty of them were still scared of him.

Of course, the only one actually placing an election signup was Toadstool, no one could be bothered or were too intimidated to challenge him, "Vote for Mayor Toadstool! If reelected I will always look out for the little guy!"

The irony wasn't lost on the townsfolk as he walked away, effortlessly using Toadie as a footstool to climb up onto his snail.

"Why the hell do you frogs vote for that toad?" Leo snarled a little, finding himself annoyed by the toad's freedom to do whatever he pleased.

"We don't. Most of the time Toadstool wins the vote with his own scheming methods. And just what do we have to show for it! Our snail ways are deathtraps, our houses are collapsing because of a single breeze!"

All of it was demonstrated by frogs falling straight through the ground whilst riding their snails, building toppling's over without a moment's notice.

"Heck! We haven't even repaired the schoolhouse since last year's millipede incident!" This was yet again shown, by the ruins of the school, and another bug sprouting out of it, terrorizing the kids away.

"Am I crazy, or is he making sense?" Felicia asked.

"Maybe we need a mayor who actually knows how to look after the people he's mayoring, because ours, he's just looking out for himself," Hop Pop finished waving all of them off, leaving as if he'd said nothing in the first place.

Wally intervened, running up and raising his arm up into the air, "I nominate Hopediah Plantar as mayor!"

All of a sudden, every frog in Wartwood was on board with the idea, writing down his name and placing it in the signup box.

Leo watched it happen, not entirely sure on whether it was a good thing or not, "Well, anyone's better than Toadstool.."

Hop Pop couldn't help but smile as they all began cheering for him, his chest swelling with a pride that he hadn't quite felt in a while.

Just maybe, he could actually do it.

Not too much later, Hop Pop and Leo arrived home. The orange frog feeling much more invigorated than when he left, "Guess what kids!"

Anne, Sprig and Polly had been lazily slumped over the couch, waiting for his return. They all flipped their attention towards him, "You passed the interview?" Anne queried, placing her magazine down.

"You got the job!?" Sprig asked a little louder, sounding somewhat desperate. Leo met eyes with him and shook his head to the frog, "Best not to get your hopes up."

"Nope! I'm running for mayor!" Hop Pop replied, a giddy look on his face. Walking over to the mirror and combing his own white, stained hair, "Don't you get it kids, if I do this. Then I can prove that Hopediah Plantar ain't no loser!"

As he did, Anne waved him over, wearing an even more worried expression than before, "Leo! What happened when you went into town, I thought he was just going to a job interview!"

"Leo..." Sprig groaned, crawling over to him, "We can't live without food, we need money!"

"I don't know, it just sort of happened...but I won't deny that he did actually have a lot of the frogs in town backing him," He explained, catching the kids off guard a little.

"Yeah, but there's still the chance that he loses, and think about how bad he was from just losing the stand," Anne pointed out, glancing over to the orange frog, he was looking happier than ever.

"Not to mention that the couch doesn't smell like the dead anymore.." Polly commented, lightly tapping it.

Frowning, Leo had to agree. There wasn't much he could argue there, just because Hop Pop had made a good speech, doesn't mean he'd be applicable to actually be able to do it.

Sprig noticed this however, wanting to stick up for Leo and salvage a good solution from all of it, "Buttttt! If Hop Pop does win, then it'll boost his confidence even more than it was before!"

"True that," Anne agreed, not taking that long to mull it over.

"I'll go for anything at this point," said Polly.

Pumping her fist up into the air, Anne smiled alongside Polly, "Hop Pop we're in!"

"Really!" Hop Pop gleamed, tears beginning to form in his eyes, "Oh kids, I won't let you down!"

Anne grimaced, feeling a little concerned of the consequences, 'This might have been a bad idea..'

As the older frog, ran off with a childlike ignorance, Leo fist bumped with Sprig, "Thanks, I didn't really have the best idea on what to say there, I kind of drew a blank."

"Don't worry about, us boys gotta look after each other, right?"

Blinking, Leo didn't exactly understand the sentiment, but he appreciated it nonetheless, returning the favor, "Right."

"Still though, I'll help but not by much. Politics are the worst!" Anne groaned, throwing her head back.

Polly nodded in agreement, "Yeah...the monster fights are pretty cool though."

Both Anne and Leo took a second to take in what the pollywog had said, "The what..."

Due to memory loss, Leo had practically no idea on what politics were about. Anne had given him the briefest explanation possible, not really wanting to delve into it much herself; explaining that they held their own debates and campaigns.

But this was most definitely not how they should've been held.

"Only in Amphibia..." Anne sighed, sinking her face into her hands. Standing beside Hop Pop and Toadstool, who were both preparing to duke it out, now standing at the entrance of a cave.

Leo was leaning against the rocky hillside, plenty intrigued and anxious for what the worlds idea of a mayoral election was.

Toadstool took a moment to stretch, dressed in a blue leotard not even bothering to pay attention as he clobbered Toadie in the side of the head, "You've made a powerful enemy today Hopediah! Toads have run uncontested for decades, this is a disgrace."

"The only disgrace, is you as mayor," Hop Pop fired back, keeping his stretching to himself. Anne gasped at the comeback.

'Didn't think Hop Pop had it in him..'

"Alright!" Duckweed approached in front of the toad and frog, "Welcome to mayoral trials, where these two candidates will battle it out to win your vote!"

"This is...entertaining to you all? Well, I guess is does determine who has jurisdiction over Wartwood," Leo murmured in a dull tone, sharing a beetle hotdog with Polly.

"I know, I'm suddenly very interested in politics!" Anne cheered, blowing a horn straight into Sprig's ear, "Anne...you can stop now."

Duckweed gave out the instructions of the trial, whoever was the first to mount the giant beetle that roamed in the cave behind them, "Start!"

The trial began with a start, the beetle rushing out with an aggressive pace in its feet. The two candidates leaped to get out if its way, Toadstool getting the worst of it as he was tossed into a nearby rock.

Hop Pop was dealt with the same, being shoved all the way back into a rotting tree stump. It only helped to give him an idea however, throwing a rock as a way to taunt the bug, "Come and get it!"

Obliging, the beetle sped over, roaring as it did. It was going as perfectly as planned, and exactly what the frog wanted – just as it lunged at him though, he hopped above it and safely landed atop it, successfully winning the trial.

Whilst the crowd cheered for him, Toadstool growled at his loss. He couldn't let this stand.

"The second trial is on sensitivity. Can you find out what these birds want? A good mayor would," Duckweed explained.

Leo gave Anne a blank stare, seriously questioning if this was the right way to determine a mayor. He was only more bewildered when Toadstool genially thought that birds with the brains of peas would stop crying at the sight of money.

"You actually can't be serious, how are you mayor! Being this inept should stop you from breathing," He snarled, actually leaving his usual dry emotions and biting at the previous mayor.

"Leo, tone it down," Anne shushed, forcing the red-eyed boy to keep quiet.

Taking his turn, Hop Pop intervened and stuffed a few worms in his mouth chewing them up and holding it out to the birds, allowing them to pick at the food in his throat.

Delighted with the fact that they were being fed, the birds happily chirped and cuddled up to the orange frog, getting it reciprocated from Hop Pop.

"That's how Hop Pop used to feed us when we were babies!" Sprig explained aloud.

"Don't brag about that," The dull faced teen spoke with a shameful voice.

It ended with Hop Pop obviously winning the trial, and the mother of the three birds returning almost eating every single one of the frogs.

One of the next trials was one that none of the Plantar members could get on board with, "Being mayor is like being thrown into the woods naked and having to find your way back."

Shifting his face into an all manner of expressions, Leo didn't think he'd be questioning his sanity so much in a single day, but here they were, "In what way?" He spat out in his usual straightforward demeanor.

"Yeah, even I think this is stupid," Sprig mentioned scratching his head lightly.

They were interrupted by the rustles of a few bushes and Hop Pop stepping out caped in mud and filth, "Thank you for showing me the way Jeremy," He thanked, giving the beetle his own badge.

"Did I-" Leo started, stopping himself at the sight, Anne shook her head, "You wouldn't get it."

As Hop Pop waved the bugs off, all of the frog began cheering for his victory lifting him high up into the air.

The opposite could be said for Toadstool, who finally managed to escape the creepy depths of the forest, his leotard now in complete shreds and was doing much if anything to hide his lower body, "This is bad Toadie...I could actually lose!"

Hopediah was somehow managing to pass through every trial as if it were nothing, whilst he was stuck struggling and not even close to winning one.

First, he'd stood up to the tax collecting toads alongside the humans he was housing. That had been trouble enough, but now he could lose his title as mayor and the small hold the toads had over the valley.

Toadie nodded, patting him gently on the back, before pulling away a murderous possum from his backside, "Looks like will have to win this the old-fashioned way. Illegally."

Night fell, as did the rain. Polly and Anne had decided to prepare most of Hop Pop's speech, it was the only tactical part of the election, all it came with was a boxing match during the middle of it.

"This could be risky; all of the challenges require some level of skill and quick-thinking. But even I have to admit that going up against Toadstool, fist-to-fist could be dangerous," Leo explained, getting a little worried for tomorrow's outcome.

"You can fight right Leo? Just teach Hop Pop some of your moves, so he can bury this guy!" Polly exaggerated, laughing maniacally.

Thinking about it, he eventually shook his head in disagreement, "I mean. I can teach him how to be quick on his feet, but I'm more of a weapon hunter, I can fight, but I don't think I'll be much help here."

Sprig arrived with fresh, steaming cocoa for the four of them, "So, we should be worried about tomorrow then?" He queried, looking up to Hop Pop nervously, he placed the book down with an exhale nodding in agreement.

"Yep, I've been doing well in the trials so far but if I mess up tomorrow it could cost as the entire election!" He exclaimed.

Suddenly, a knock came from the door. Suspicious, Leo approached it with everyone in tow, keeping hold of the shorts word that Anne had kept inside the barrel full of canes.

He opened it, blinking at the sight of Toadie cloaked in dark robe that wasn't doing much to mask his appearance, let alone his voice, "Mr. Plantar, an anonymous associate would like to speak with you."

None of them were buying it, "You mean the mayor," Anne said.

"No comment."

"Just get on with it Toadie, I can literally see him," Leo spoke, bored of his poor acting pointing to the snail carriage down the driveway, where Toadstool was peeking out from a curtain.

Shivering at Leo's cold and demeaning eyes, Toadie decided to keep quiet and assured Hop Pop over to Toadstool.

Sluggishly seated in his carriage was the blue toad himself, guzzling down his drink, "Nice of you to join me Plantar. I'll be frank with you; I want you to lose tomorrow's election."

'Isn't that obvious?' Hop Pop questioned mentally. "I mean yeah I figured."

"No, you dimwit! I mean lose on purpose!" Toadstool yelled, calming down as he continued, "In return, I will give you back your stand, tax free, you'll be rich!"

Pausing. Hop Pop hated that he was considering it, no matter how much he wanted to become mayor, wasn't providing for his family more important? He really wasn't sure what to do, getting the stand back was what he'd wanted, so shouldn't he just stick with his original goal.

"I'll think about it," He responded quietly.

"It'd be best to make the right decision Hopediah."

Making his way back into the house, no soaking wet from the rain, Hop Pop didn't have a clear-cut view on what he wanted to do.

Anne could already tell that something was wrong, watching him sit and stare at the flickering flames, "The mayor said if throw the election he'll give me the stand back, free of charge."

"You can't! Not to that crummy mayor," Leo argued.

"Not to mention you actually have a good chance to win!" Anne added.

Hop Pop knew they were right, throwing the election now would be such a waste, "But we'd also be set for life, it'd make us rich!"

"Oh, in that case take the deal," Polly chimed in, not even looking up from her book.

"Polly!" Anne and Sprig yelled, chastising her blatant words.

The tadpole was having none of it however, "What we were all thinking it!"

"Nope, Polly's right. It's just too good of a chance to pass up," Hop Pop sighed, all of the kids left him to his own devices.

All but Leo, who sat behind the chair, "You should fight Hop Pop, not just for yourself but for all of those frogs that are routing for you. So, if you're ready, I'll give you a few pointers for tomorrow."

"Thank Leo, I'd appreciate that."

Getting up out of the red seat and following beside the teen, Hop Pop was still on the fence on what he should do, deciding that he'd face it tomorrow.

The day of the final trial arrived, where the two amphibians would duke it out to decide who would become mayor of Wartwood.

Both Hop Pop and Toadstool stepped into the ring, glaring back at one another. Duckweed was there to do the announcement, "Ladies and gentlephibians, you've seen our two candidates fight monsters, nature and now you'll seen them fight...each other!"

They each put on their own pair of boxing gloves, carved out from two different colored mushrooms. Getting closer, the two of them stared each other down.

"Now, remember the fight only starts when the bell rings," The green newt explained.

Startling up from his snooze, the bellringing frog whipped his tongue at the alarm, signaling the start of the fight.

Toadstool was the first to strike, delivering a powerful blow at the floor getting Hop Pop to leap back to avoid it, forcing himself even further backwards due to the elasticity of the band's arounds the ring. Leading to him flying ahead and smacking straight into the fat toad, stumbling him back.

Everyone cheered for him as he did, Anne and Leo actually excited that he could win.

It only continued, with Hop Pop bounding back and forth over the toad, managing to land small and non-lethal blows on him. Getting frustrated with his lack of co-ordination, Toadstool through a ferocious punch at the frog, indenting the old, oak wood with his right swing alone.

Clambering up his arm, Hopediah began spiraling rapid punches into the mayor's face, leaving no visible bruises from it, "That's enough Plantar, you put up a good show but it's time to end it."

Just like that, Toadstool took the opportunity to ram his stomach into Hop Pop throwing him back, skirting along the ground. The crowd stopped cheering, fearing that the orange frog wasn't going to get back up, "Just like we talked about, stay down Plantar!"

With blurry vision, Hop Pop turned to look around the room, seeing the frogs were back to motivating him to getting back up, especially Leo.

For some reason, the seething red eyes that used to scare even him were the most confident thing he could see amongst the crowd. He had the utmost faith in him, this old, cranky frog who couldn't even keep a stand for himself.

Leo was right, this was never about him winning, he was doing this for all the frogs of Watwood, they all deserved this much.

"Stay down!" Toadstool threatened.

But he wouldn't, not now. Wrapping his arm around the ropes, he picked himself up now eyeing down the toad once again, "What are you doing! You could've had your stand back; you would've been set for life!"

Getting exhausted from the barrage of punches that seemed to have no effect on him, Toadstool kneeled over gasping for air, "Why?"

"Because this is more than just about me!" Hop Pop declared running at his opponent. From the crowd, Leo couldn't help but yell out his own words.

"Hop Pop! Use the Ukulele Uppercut!" He actually bellowed for the first time anyone had heard from him, although he had still managed to retain his usual monotone voice.

Hopediah did just that, reeling his arm upwards and straight into Toadstool's chin, knocking him high up in the air and slamming him straight back down into the ring, unconscious.

"That's a knockdown!" Duckweed announced, the bell ringer actually hearing his words this time dinging it twice, signaling the end of the fight. Everyone couldn't help but applaud the frog and circle him within the ring, Hop Pop had not only won the fight but the respect and love from the people of Wartwood.

As soon as Toadstool and regained consciousness each and every frog, crowded outside the town hall, awaiting the announcement of who had come out on top during the election.

Although, no one seemed to be worried about who had come out on top, it seemed pretty clear who had, "With 88 votes, and 100% of Wartwood, Hopediah Plantar!" Duckweed revealed, getting the frog excited running about on the spot.

"So, I won!" He was about let out a victory cry before he was cut off by the newt, "And with 22,000 votes, the entire rest of the valley. Mayor Toadstool!"

No one was happy with the outcome, especially with such a large difference between the two, "22,000 votes...that's not close in the slightest," Leo sagged with a depressive aura around himself.

Confetti burst out of two stone statues as Toadstool celebrated on his lonesome about his own victory, "Well you certainly gave this toad a run for his money, the whole town believed in you...shame none of the others did."

"It's good you didn't win though, hah! Imagine the headlines with a frog meeting a toad, ridiculous," Toadstool shook his head in disbelief.

"Why do other towns get a vote?" Anne asked, confused at his statement.

"Yeah, that makes no sense," Sprig put in.

"Wait, you're not telling me that...you didn't campaign outside Wartwood? Now that's just sad, it almost takes the joy out of this victory."

Toadie appeared from thin air, "The victory pinata is ready sir!"

"Well, I did say almost," The toad giggled to himself, about to run away.

Before he could however, Leo snagged the back of his tight yellow suit, he wasn't about to let him get away with it that easily, "I'm not about to let you get away with all of this," He emphasized his point with his piercing crimson eyes.

"W-What do you even want monster!" The mayor cried, actually fearing his life.

"Hand over the pinata! Now, or I'll be replacing you for it!" Shivering on the spot, Toadstool agreed and begrudgingly handed it over, Anne on the other hand gave Leo and raised eyebrow as he walked over with it in hand.

"What? He's got to get some sort of karma," Leo pointed out placing it down across the steps, where they all anxiously approached Hop Pop.

Sprig was the first to speak up, "Hey, Hop Pop, you ok?"

What they didn't expect however, was that the orange frog was perfectly fine, turning around to the four of them with a wide smile on his face.

"You know you lost right?" Leo stated, trying to make sure he wasn't in some form of denial.

"He's not in shock, right? Are you in shock?" Anne asked, turning to Leo for some kind of confirmation.

Shaking off their worries, Hop Pop nodded his head to the side, "No kids, I might have lost; but I still stood up for what was right, and I think that's all that matters."

Once they were going to leave, Hop Pop was stopped by a group of farming frog's approaching him, "Hopediah," Wally spoke, "May we have a word?"

Following the frogs over to the market place, everyone was astonished to see the Plantar family stand back in its original spot, "We all pitched in a built you a stand, well Loggle did the building we just supplied the money. It's for giving us something better than produce..."

"Hope," Wally finished.

Not being able to contain his emotions, Hop Pop began to tear up. Even after doing what was right, he felt as if that was reward enough, and he'd have to keep on trying to earn his stand back.

He was unaware that he'd been worthy of it for a while.

Glossing his hand over the smooth wooden counter, Hop Pop couldn't help but smile at the attention to detail, "I may have lost, but I'm back at the market with you all, and that's better than any election, it's really perfect."

Of course, it had to be ruined with him silently trying to switch over the placement of the foods, "Hop Pop!" The kids snapped at him.

"Right, sorry," He apologized, not taking his eyes off the turnips, "I'll fix it later.."

...

Little bit longer than my previous chapters so sorry for that and I hope you enjoyed. I liked Leo's input in this chapter and whoever suggested that Toadstool gets some form of karma for his actions, this is why he gets threatened and stolen from. Next chapter will be another original one and it's a Polly and Leo chapter, so until then, see yah!