12. Episode 12: The Ball (Part 1)

(2 Months Ago…)

The night was dark, a new moon floated over the land of Amphibia, and cast the city in shadows. The only light came from the city streetlamps and buildings that came alive during the night. On a rooftop overlooking an abandoned library, the Newtopian Knight Guard and Marcy Wu stood watch. Tonight was the night they were going to commence a raid on the cult known as Nocturne Filios. The Knight Guard had been tracking down this cult for a long time, they were quite the nuisance, and danger to the people of Newtopia.

For whatever reason they seemed most concentrated in Newtopia than in any other place in Amphibia. To this day it was still unknown why that was, but the fact of the matter is they were here, and tonight, thanks to Marcy Wu, they were about to put an end to them. Hopefully. The young teen had learned a lot in her time here in Amphibia, but it seemed even this fantastical land was not immune to dark and shadowy happenings.

A newt came crawling stealthily up a wall and perched himself on the edge of the roof as he said, “Master Marcy, we’ve confirmed the last of the cultists have entered the building. We have them completely surrounded.”

Marcy nodded. “Okay, if all goes according to plan, then we’ll be able to shut down this Nocturne Filios cult once and for all. Is everybody ready?!”

The assembled Knight Guard raised their hoods and put on their masks, indicating that they were ready to move in. Marcy nodded and took a few steps back until she was standing at the center of the roof. After going through her transformation motions, Marcy ran towards the roof and said, “Henshin!” before hitting both devices on her belt. Emerald wind wrapped around her and transformed the teen into Kamen Rider Ranger.

Ranger focused her wind powers to give her a boost as she jumped into the air and cleared thirty feet in one leap as she landed on the old library rooftop. The Knight Guard moved in as Ranger busted through the skylight and dropped down to the floor below. Ranger performed one flip in midair before gracefully landing on her two feet, she spun Squall Sniper once to put into nonlethal mode and readied to fire as she shouted, “NEWTOPIAN KNIGHT GUARD, YOU’RE UNDER ARREST!”

At that moment, the doors busted wide open as several members of the Knight Guard poured through, a few others came in through the busted skylight, crawling along the ceiling as they got into position. Unfortunately, despite their surveillance and careful planning, there was no one inside. Ranger and the Knight Guards looked around in confusion. The library itself was two stories tall, with un upper and lower level. The upper level had two staircases on either end of the first floor that led up to the second where there were more bookcases. Most of the shelves were barren, save for a scant few tomes that were left behind and forgotten. A fine layer of dust had settled over most of the old and broken furniture and shelves, cobwebs littered the empty spaces, but despite all this, there was no sign that the cultists were here, there barely seemed to be any signs of activity at all.

“What’s going on?! We saw them come in!” said one of the Knight Guards.

“Did the surveillance team mess up?!” asked another.

“Hey, up yours, we’ve been watching this place for weeks! They’re definitely here!”

“Okay, that’s enough guys! We know they’re here; we’re just missing something. Fan out and search everything!” Ranger ordered.

The Knight Guards saluted as they quickly went to work looking over every inch of the building. Meanwhile, Ranger was deep in thought as she tried to figure out how it was the cultists evaded their surveillance. They had been watching them go into this building multiple times in the past, and even tonight, so why weren’t they in here? Ranger filed through her memories as she tried to remember if this building had a basement, but to her knowledge – and it was often correct – the abandoned library had no such thing. Still…

Couldn’t hurt to check, thought Ranger.

The wind Rider dropped down to one knee and placed her left hand against the floor. Using the power granted to her by the armor, Ranger started to see the vibrations of the newts who walked in the building, their sound waves assisting her in mentally mapping out the building. So far, there was nothing out of the ordinary. Then things started to get interesting. Ranger could start seeing deeper down through the building, and what she found surprised her.

“Holy frog, they’re here!” Ranger blurted.

“What?”

“This building, it has a tunnel system right under it! It’s crude, but it’s definitely there! How in the world was this not in the records?!”

The rest of the Knight Guard were confused, which was par for the course as they did not possess her powers and therefore were unable to see what she saw. Ranger ran until she was at the center of the building, right where she had landed when she smashed her way through the skylight. Ranger got down on one knee again and began looking over the floor, she tapped it a few times with her left hand and then stopped on one floorboard in particular. Ranger got up and pressed her foot as hard as she could against it, the result of which activated a hidden mechanism that made a section of the floorboards drop low and then part down the middle, revealing a staircase.

“Let’s go team!”

The Knight Guard wasted no time in following Marcy as they headed down the stairs and into the tunnel. The Knight Guard wore special masks when going on missions like this. The masks that the Knight Guard wore weren’t just for show, the plain black masks had crystal filaments that enhanced night vision, Ranger’s armor already provided her with this capability naturally, so she led the way.  As they got further in, the tunnel started to change, displaying pictures of a many eyed creature. Others showed shadowy figures with black feathered wings that descended from the heavens.

Marcy had studied up on Nocturne Filios, for in order to beat the cultists, she needed to understand what their beliefs were. According to some of their confiscated texts, Nocturne Filios believed in a being who knew all, who was knowledge incarnate. But the powers of the world saw fit to punish this knowledge deity and condemn it to never seeing the light of day again, and along with it, the knowledge deity’s celestial servants were cast out from the lofty heavens to join their master in his exile. Nocturne Filios believed that the deity would rise again from the shadows of the night to where it was sent and retake its place and bring with it great knowledge to the faithful. But its time in exile had made it weak, and as such, their deity demanded sacrifices in its name, sacrifices of those with intellect.

Ranger used her extra sensory abilities once again, scanning the tunnel as it opened into a chamber further up ahead. There were three more tunnels that splintered off and led to, what appeared to be, holding cells. Ranger gasped when she heard the sounds of newts and frogs in those cells, her mental mapping took her into large rotunda were more than a few of the cultists were congregating, in the center was a stone alter, and upon that table she could hear the cries of someone begging for help.

“Everyone listen up! There are hostages in holding cells! First team go down the left tunnel and free the hostages. It’s lightly guarded, so you should have no problem rushing in to taking them. Teams two and three, cover the tunnels to the right, there are two more exits, block them!”

“YES, MA’AM!”

Ranger got into a runner’s stance and took off down the main tunnel, using her wind power to boost her speed and reduce the wind resistance some. There was a light at the end of the tunnel, and the closer she got, the louder she could hear the chants of the cultists. Once she was there, she beheld the rotunda, it was painted with thirteen eyes, images of the knowledge deity’s servants cast out, and more images of his rise. There were at least thirty cult members surrounding the stone alter as a salmon pink newt struggled against his bindings.

The cult leader walked up the steps of the alter, brandishing a knife in his tail. When he made it to the top of the stairs, the masked newt raised his arms and proclaimed, “To The Night we give to thee this sacrifice!”

“Humble are those who seek the truth,” the cult members chanted.

“To you, oh lord, we await the time of your rise!”

“Blessed are those among this chosen.”

“Until your glorious time, we offer this young one’s soul and mind to you! May you be nourished!”

“May you be whole!”

Ranger had enough of this as she jumped straight into the air, she landed on a ledge and then jumped off that straight towards the alter. Before the cult leader could harm the newt, Ranger came in with flying roundhouse, smacking the cult leader in the face and sending him spiraling into his fellow members where he toppled them into a heap. Ranger didn’t let up as she fired several rounds in a circular pattern, hitting many of the cultists and pushing the rest of them back.

“Ranger!” the young newt exclaimed.

“You’re alright now, ‘cause I am here!” Ranger stated. “By order of the King, you are all under arrest!”

The cult leader managed to get up, with some assistance from his followers. “Ah, the hero, Ranger. How dare you interrupt our sacred ritual!”

“I won’t let you harm another living thing; this ends tonight!”

“Really, and what will you do against all of us?!”

The leader’s followers all started to take out their own knives, some had full length swords with them as well. Ranger wasn’t worried, their weapons had no chance of harming her in Rider form. However, the hostage was another story. But she had a trick for that, in such a dimly lit place, there were many shadows to make use of. Ranger pressed on the left hip device of her MetamorphRing. The crystal at the center of the Driver was now half black, at the same time her cloak turned into living shadows, while her left arm was coated in dark matter. This was Ranger: Shadow Form.

“Let’s get you out of here first!”

“GET HER!”

The cultists started to rush towards the alter, but Ranger quickly enveloped herself and the hostage in her shadow cape, and in an instant the two of them melted into the shadows and disappeared. The cultists stopped, confused as to how she did that. A moment later, Ranger jumped out of a patch of shadows and began firing off concussive blasts at the cultists. One after the other they were thrown about, knocked out by the sheer force of the air bolts hitting them. Three of them tried to attack, but Ranger jumped into the air and threw down three shadow daggers from her left arm, Nightshade. The daggers pierced the assailants’ shadows, effectively pinning them in place, unable to move.

Ranger did this a few times, knocking out some while paralyzing others, ducking in and out of the shadows and confusing her opponents as to where and when she was going to attack. Some of the cultists started to run towards the exit tunnel, just as Ranger predicted, and thankfully, the Knight Guard were there waiting for them, blades in hand and ready to fight the cultists. Some of them gave up on the spot, but those who did were quickly cut down by their fellow members, the hardcore zealots would not allow their secrets to be revealed. That’s when Ranger noticed that it was the same for the ones she paralyzed, the ones who she hadn’t knocked out or pinned down were doing the same thing, going to each of their downed members and killing them were they were.

They’re insane!

“THAT’S ENOUGH!”

Ranger disengaged her Shadow Form and switched to Artificer Form, switching Squall Sniper into her left hand, she pressed her right hand to the stone floor. With the power of Rewrite, she sent her energy tendrils into the stone floor and walls, willing the stone to become malleable and extend like tentacles towards the remaining cultists. The stone wrapped around their bodies, appearing like wet concrete, once she was certain that they were all taken, she made the tentacles coat their bodies from the neck down in that concrete substance and had it harden, effectively keeping them from harming anyone, including themselves.

Ranger looked around the room and saw that most of them were captured, but one was missing. “Where’s their leader?” Using her heightened senses, Ranger scanned the room and found that were was a secret passageway at one of the walls. Using Rewrite, Ranger forced the wall to open and reveal the escape tunnel. “All teams, guard the cultists, I’m going after their leader!”

The hero of Newtopia dashed down the escape tunnel, her senses showed that her quarry was not too far away. But something troubled her, the leader had stopped running. Once he was in sight, Ranger skidded to a halt and pointed Squall Sniper at him.

“You’re finished, all your false beliefs, all your lies, it ends tonight!” Ranger declared.

The cult leader grinned from under his mask and said, “You are so ignorant, for one so sharp of mind. You, who possess a blasphemous power, cannot possibly comprehend the beauty and majesty of The Night. But you will. My work is not done yet!” The cult leader took out something from his robe, a flask filled with some kind of unknown liquid. “I had hoped you would come after me, because now I can rid us of your evil once and for all!”

“What are you talking about? What is that?”

“Something that will make a nice ‘boom!’”

“NO!”

Ranger shot at him, hitting the cultist leader in the chest, but it was too late, the flask fell to the ground, spilling its contents. Suddenly flames started to form, Ranger didn’t waste any time as she used Rewrite to boost her own speed to aid in her running out of the tunnel and back to the entrance. Ranger glanced over her shoulder and watched the reaction of the flask’s contents, the walls all started to catch fire, and a moment later, it exploded, rapidly. The explosion was coming behind her, and as soon as Ranger made it through, she used Rewrite to pull the moisture from the air.

I can’t believe I let him get the drop on me like that! That liquid must’ve contained some chemical agent that created a combustion effect, the walls of that tunnel must’ve been coated with a highly flammable substance that reacted when the agent hit the floor of the tunnel! I have to neutralize the explosion before it reaches the inner sanctum!

Ranger continued to pull in the moisture at a rapid rate of speed, forming a water barrier at the mouth of the tunnel. Using the power of Rewrite, she expanded the water, making it denser. She spun the Windmill Wheel three times and took careful aim down the tunnel. With a single pull of the trigger, Ranger fired an air bolt that went through the water barrier and into the tunnel. The air bolt sailed down the tunnel and met the explosion head on as it detonated and created a counterforce to the other explosion. The resulting double explosion collapsed the tunnel, but not before a shockwave and some flames spewed from the entrance. Thankfully, the water barrier that Ranger created absorbed the kinetic energy and dampened the flames enough that the blast only managed to knock the newts in the room onto their backs.

Ranger remained standing as she hurried to the tunnel but cursed under her breath when she saw that the tunnel had completely collapsed. She contemplated using Rewrite to bore a new tunnel, but she was unsure of the structural stability of the underground facility after that blast, and there was no telling if that blast was a trap that would create a chain reaction and set off more explosive traps. Reluctantly, Ranger gave the order, “ALL KNIGHT GUARD, FALL BACK! MAKE SURE THE HOSTAGES ARE OUT OF THE BUILDING AND ROUND UP THE REST OF THE CULTISTS! WE’RE GETTING OUT OF HERE!”

“YES, MA’AM!!!” they yelled.

Thanks to Ranger’s Shadow Form, they were able to evacuate the underground facility and reappear outside about a block from the abandoned library, and not a moment too soon. The entire library exploded into fiery embers, and then collapsed into itself. Another explosion went off and that building sank into a hole, collapsing the underground sanctuary of the cultists. Ranger clenched her fists, it was unknown if the cult leader perished in that explosion, the way his followers acted, it seemed they welcomed death before spilling any of their secrets. It irked her, she had him, and now she didn’t know if he was dead or had gotten away.

One of the rescued newts walked up to Ranger and fell on his knees before, Ranger looked down and that’s when the newt said, “Thank frog for you, Ranger! Thank you for saving us!” The rest of the hostages echoed the newt’s sentiment, praising Ranger and the Knight Guard for saving them, but the Knight Guard knew who was the true hero of this moment, and they were proud to be working with her.

Ranger sighed inwardly. It’s fine, I guess. The hostages are safe, and we captured some bad guys. All in a day’s work for a Kamen Rider.

(Present Day…)

Anne had gotten a message, via arrow, to come to the palace today. So, the young Thai girl mounted Machine Stormer and drove through the city, along the way she made sure to avoid certain areas of the city. Unfortunately, there were still some people who still had not forgiven her – or Polly – for their little fiasco concerning the parade and the puppet of “Igor the Brave”. Thankfully the King was able to lowkey smooth things out, plus, the fact that she was a national hero helped a little.

Anne pulled up to the main gates of the palace and was led inside by some of the Royal Newt Guard. Once inside, the Guards brought her to King Andrias. “Hey, I got your message. Something up with the music box research?”

King Andrias scratched at his beard. “Eh…not so much with the research as it is concerning Marcy.”

Anne tensed up, flashbacks of incidents past played in her head over and over again, the numerous times that Marcy nearly got herself killed before Anne swooped in and prevented the worst-case scenario. Anne shivered and asked, “What happened?”

“You might want to come with me.”

Anne’s right eye twitched as she walked alongside the King. The two of them walked down a long corridor until they reached the archive room, and it was there that they found Marcy, on the floor, in a fetal position, rocking back and forth. Lady Olivia was standing there, not sure how to deal with the young Chinese girl, and that’s when she noticed Anne and King Andrias.

“Ah, Anne, you’re here,” said Lady Olivia.

“What the heck happened to her?” Anne asked as she slowly approached them.

“This happened.” Lady Olivia handed Anne a rolled-up piece of paper with some kind of fancy seal on it.

Anne took the paper and unfurled it, reading aloud. “‘Dear Chief Ranger Marcy Wu. You are hereby cordially invited to the Enchantment Under the Cove Ball, held by the esteemed Hufford Edenborough.’ Ooh…now I get it.”

“Fancy ball…so many people…” Marcy whispered.

“Would you mind enlightening us, Anne?” Lady Olivia asked.

“Yeah, Marcy doesn’t do too well with social gatherings,” Anne explained.

King Andrias raised a surprised eyebrow. “Really? But she’s attended a few meetings, and little get togethers here in the palace, and she was fine.”

“Yeah, because it was held in a place she’s familiar with. Whenever our friend, Sasha, threw a party, or invited us to one, either me or Sasha would be nearby Marcy. If it was at Sasha’s place, Marcy was a little more comfortable, but just going to one on her own, not that easy for her. Tell me, were you and Lady Olivia around by any chance during those parties, too?” Anne asked.

A moment of thought was had between Olivia and Andrias as they searched their memories. Many came to mind of events that were held in the palace, Marcy was quite lively during those times and neither of them could remember a moment where Marcy wasn’t in their view or her theirs.

“Ooh now I get it,” Olivia and Andrias said at the same time.

Anne nodded to the two and walked over to Marcy, she crouched low and started to pat Marcy’s head. “Hey there, Marbles, you feeling alright?”

“Party…alone…can’t deal…” Marcy whimpered.

“Shh, shh, it’s okay. Olivia, King Andrias, anyway you guys can go with her?” Anne asked.

King Andrias rubbed the back of his head and said, “Unfortunately, no I cannot. Lord Edenborough did not specifically extend an invitation to me or those who work in the palace. It would be a bit rude to crash the party.”

“Plus, there’s much work to be done before King Andrias could leave the palace. Public appearances must be handled with strict security measures, we’d have to have the Royal Newt Guard assess Mr. Edenborough’’ estate for vantage points, potential hazards, the entire process takes at least a month, which is why such things are planned out in an advance. If we wanted to do something like what you’re suggesting, we’d have to flood the area with the Guard, and that would be in poor taste on our part,” Lady Olivia explained.

Anne winced; she didn’t know that being a king came with that much prep work. She figured there might be rules to these kinds of high society shindigs, and the last thing Anne wanted was to step on any more toes in Newtopia. “Well, can’t Marcy just decline the invite?”

“No.” Marcy answered. “It’s also rude to decline unless a medical notice is given. And I’m in perfect health so that won’t work……” Marcy suddenly sat up and said, “Unless I break my leg, again! I’ll just go to that flight of stairs where I did it last time, and then, I won’t have to go! It’s fiendishly clever! HA-HA!”

Anne karate chopped Marcy on the head, make the young genius utter an “OW!” as she rubbed her head. “No, you’re not going to break your leg to get out of a party.”

“Especially when she’s the guest of honor,” said Lady Olivia.

“Say what?”

King Andrias took out his large reading glasses and picked up the invite, after rereading it he said, “Oh, yes, Marcy is the guest of honor. But it seems we may’ve lucked out. It says plus ones are welcome.”

Anne’s face brightened at this news. “Mar-Mar, this is perfect! You can take me to this ball thing!”

Marcy’s eyes widened as the realization hit her. Me…t-t-take Anne to a fancy, aristocratic ball…Me and Anne…going together…as my plus one! L-L-Like a d-d-date?!

And just like that Marcy overloaded and fell to the ground, completely knocked out.

“MARCY!”

The King and Lady Olivia knew already why Marcy just completely shut down, and the only thing the two of them could do was sigh and shake their heads at the situation. King Andrias walked over and gently picked Marcy up. “Let’s take her to the infirmary. We’ll discuss this further when she wakes up.”

An hour had passed since King Andrias took Marcy to the infirmary, but in that hour, Anne had been spending it with Lady Olivia. The refined newt woman had brought the Thai girl to her private quarters and had a talk with her.

“So, do you fully intend on taking Marcy to this ball?” Lady Olivia asked.

“Well, yeah, I mean, it’s in Marcy’s honor. It’d be rude if the hero of Newtopia didn’t show up, right?” Anne asked.

“Quite. Well, if that is truly your intention, then we will need to get you ready for the party. It begins in two days, and we have much to do. Tell me, how familiar are you with dancing?”

Anne smirked as she got up out of the chair and walked to the middle of the room. After doing so, she turned to face Lady Olivia, and then went into a whole dance routine right there. Moving to music that only she could hear as she struck a final pose. The young teen panted for a moment and then asked, “What do you think?”

Lady Olivia blinked and then said, “Well, that was impressive. But tell me, how are your waltzing skills?”

Anne’s confidence deflated. “Uhhhh…okay-ish?”

Lady Olivia rolled her eyes. Not sure two days will be enough, but Anne seems to have skill, and natural athletic prowess. This might not be too difficult. “Very well, then I’ll have to teach you.”

“Wait, really?”

“Of course, the ball will have dancing, among other things, and it would be rather…embarrassing to Marcy if you couldn’t.” Lady Olivia got up from her chair and then began walking around Anne, inspecting her from head to toe. “We’ll also have to do something about your hair, and your outfit for the party. I think a tuxedo would look dapper on you.”

Anne raised an eyebrow. “Not that I don’t agree, but shouldn’t I wear, like, some kind of fancy pants dress or something?”

“Are you questioning my discerning eye?” Lady Olivia asked a slight edge to her voice.

Anne quickly back peddled and said, “No, no, that’s great! A tuxedo, will work!”

“Good, now, let’s get a little practice in while Marcy is…incapacitated. Come, come, stand up straight.” Anne did as Lady Olivia asked and that’s when the newt woman realized something as she looked up at Anne. “Oh…well, this might be a problem.”

“W-What?” Anne asked.

“There is too much of a height difference between you and me, this won’t work.” Lady Olivia sighed. “Guess it’s time to go and wake up Master Marcy.”

“Right now?!”

“Indeed. You need a partner who is equal height with you, and I know she hasn’t learned how to waltz, out of all the things she has learned while here, that was not one of them. So, it is to your benefit that I teach you and Marcy at the same time. You may not be able to learn all of the traditional dances, but you can at least learn the easiest one in two days.”

Anne and Lady Olivia walked down to the royal infirmary, and it was there they still found a passed-out Marcy on the bed. Lady Olivia sighed and left the room. Anne sat down on the adjacent bed and waited as she contemplated this whole ball thing. She hunched over and rested her elbows on her thighs, resting her chin in the palms of her hands as she gazed at the sleeping Marcy. Anne hadn’t said anything, but ever since Luz left, she had been feeling different. Talking about what Luz had gone through in her school, hiding who she really was, it got Anne thinking about things she never really thought about before.

Things like romance. Something that had never really been on her mind, at least as it pertained to her. It wasn’t as if she didn’t get the occasional crush on a movie actor or some music celebrity, but when she thought about school, there was no one who really popped out to her. No one that she really connected with, other than Sasha and Marcy. And of course, that stray thought led down another tangent that Anne had been wondering for some time, was she like Luz? Did she like boys and girls? Or just one over the other? Hanging out with her friends, playing sports and games, and helping out with her parents’ restaurant, these were the constants in her life, the things that never changed, and up until now Anne didn’t think she was missing out on anything.

More stray thoughts started to enter her head, thoughts that made her focus on Marcy. Objectively speaking, Marcy was cute, both aesthetically and in a nerdy way. Anne thought she’d have to watch over her for most of their lives, but after coming to Amphibia, she’s seen a different side of Marcy, a side that can fight and who can stand up for herself. Gaining Kamen Rider powers may have had something to do with that, but Anne liked to believe that this was how Marcy was deep down when push came to shove, and boy did Amphibia shove them around.

Anne rolled her eyes and sighed. C’mon, Anne, don’t go down rabbit holes like that. Besides, the last thing you need is to make things awkward between you and her by saying, “Hey, Mar-Mar, I’m kinda curious to see if I’m potentially gay, would you mind being my GF for a while?” HA! No way that’s happening.

“Okay, let’s get this started.”

Lady Olivia entered the room with a bucket of water, and Anne could already tell where this was going. The refined newt woman got on the left side of the bed, brought up the bucket, and threw it onto the still sleeping Marcy. The Chinese girl immediately sprang to life as she bolted up right.

“AH! Cockcroft and Walton split the atom on April 14, 1932! Newton’s Second Law states that the time rate of change of the momentum of a body is equal in both magnitude and direction to the force imposed on it! Pi is equal to 3.14159265359–!” Marcy cut herself off when she realized that she was in a bed. “Uh…what happened?”

“You passed out, dude. You’ve been out for an hour and Lady Olivia just threw a bucket of water on you to wake you up,” Anne explained.

Marcy nodded. “Ah, that makes sense. What happened exactly?”

Lady Olivia put down the bucket and answered, “You passed out when Anne offered to be your plus one to Mr. Edenborough’s party.”

“So, is that a ‘no’?” Anne asked.

“YES!” Marcy facepalmed herself. “I mean no! I mean, yes to your no, or no to my yes…? AUGH! I want you to go as my plus one!”

Lady Olivia patted Marcy on the head and said, “Now there, was that so hard?”

Marcy’s response was to draw her hood over her head and hide in it.

“With that out of the way, we should start your education immediately. Marcy, Anne, come, we have little time and much to do.”

Two days passed without any incident, there were no signs of Fallen activity, thankfully, which made it easier for the girls to concentrate on the dancing lessons that Lady Olivia was giving them. Lady Olivia found that Anne was naturally skilled, and while it wasn’t her typical brand of dancing, it didn’t take long for Anne to adapt to the simple box step. Marcy did have a little bit of difficulty getting the timing right with Anne, but that was due to Marcy leading. Lady Olivia decided to switch it up and had Anne lead, and the difference was like night and day.

Once the hard part was done, Marcy assured Anne that she would help her when it came to any special greetings or local manners. Word did reach Marcy about the little fiasco with the parade, so Anne wanted to make sure that she didn’t embarrass Marcy at this party.

Now it was the night of the party and Marcy was currently in her room getting ready. She put on a pink dress that had a beautiful sheen to it when the light hit it just right. Marcy also put on a pair of pink shell earrings, along with having her hair tied into a bun, and decorated with some pearls that gleamed in the light. The young teen was nervous, more nervous than she had ever been before, more nervous than when she fought that giant snake Fallen a month ago.

“Okay, Marcy, don’t freak out! This is just you and Anne going to a party. Just two friends hanging out. It’s not a date! Don’t think about it as a date!………Oh crud I can’t stop thinking about it as a date!” Marcy exclaimed.

Marcy took a long look at herself in the mirror, she promised Luz that she’d finally get the courage to tell Anne how she felt. She even made that a goal for herself while here in Amphibia, she had to tell her before revealing the truth about how they got there. Part of Marcy was wondering if she should even bother telling Anne about that, neither Anne nor Sasha knew what she knew. Besides, it wasn’t like she had any guarantee the music box was going to work.

“Okay, let’s just see how tonight goes.”

Marcy walked to her room door and proceeded to the main entrance of the palace. Once she got there, she found Lady Olivia waiting for her. “Good evening, Marcy. Are you ready to go?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” said Marcy.

“Excellent. I have arranged for a carriage to take you and Anne to Mr. Edenborough’s estate, the party will begin by the time you arrive, and will end around ten. However, I have ordered the carriage to stay in case either of you wish to leave the party early.”

Marcy smiled at the newt woman and said, “Ah, thank you, Lady Olivia. So, am I going to pick up Anne?”

Lady Olivia grinned. “Oh no, she is here to pick you up.”

“Huh?”

Lady Olivia snapped her fingers and the doors behind her opened. Across the pathway to the main road, Marcy could see the carriage, and waiting at the carriage was Anne. She was wearing an all-white tuxedo, with a faded blue shirt underneath, a pair of brown dress shoes, and a black bowtie. Her hair was straightened and cleaned of the leaves and twigs that never seemed to go away for some reason. Marcy had seen Anne in dresses before, but this was the first time she had ever seen her friend in a tuxedo, it looked good, really good, so good that Marcy’s face was heating up and was undoubtedly turning red right about now.

Anne saw her friend coming and smiled as she gave a little bow to her. She then turned to the carriage and opened the door, holding out her hand to Marcy she said, “Your carriage awaits, my lady.”

I’m going to drop dead now, that’s it, I’m just going to drop dead right here because I don’t know if I’m going to be able to control myself!

Lady Olivia nudged Marcy forward, making the Chinese girl stumble a bit and more or less forced her to reach out to Anne. The Thai girl took hold of Marcy’s hand, and the two of them stared at each other for a good ten seconds before Lady Olivia cleared her throat. “I am trusting that you will treat our Marcy like a proper young lady, Anne. And I expect her back at the appropriate hour.”

Marcy glanced over her shoulder and gave Lady Olivia a look that pretty much said, “REALLY?!”

Anne, getting the joke, decided to run with it and responded, “Oh, I’ll treat her right, don’t you worry. And as for getting her back, well, she will be back, but there might not anything appropriate being done during that hour.”

“ANNE?!” Marcy exclaimed as she blushed harder.

Lady Olivia smirked and pretended to be suspicious. “Humph, you certainly have strange tastes in dates, Marcy. She sounds like quite the ruffian.”

“LADY OLIVIA!” Marcy exclaimed again.

Oh frog, oh God, I don’t care which one, just someone put me out of my misery! Marcy whined internally.

Anne and Lady Olivia chuckled after a moment, Anne patted her friend on the shoulder and said, “It’s just a joke, Mar-Mar, relax a little. You don’t need to worry about this party, I’ll be right there with you through the whole thing.”

Marcy pouted and crossed her arms. “I didn’t very much appreciate all of that.”

“You look cute in that dress, BT dubs,” said Anne.

That perked her right up. “Oh, t-thanks! W-Well, we should get going.”

Anne helped Marcy into the carriage and the two of them were off. As they drove away, Lady Olivia waved them goodbye, at the same time, King Andrias walked up and stood next to her just as the carriage turned the corner.

“They off then?” King Andrias asked.

“Indeed, they are,” Lady Olivia answered.

The large newt king rocked back and forth on the heels of his boots and then asked, “Sooooo…what are the odds that Marcy ‘spills the tea’ while at the party?”

“I put it at ninety-ten odds that Marcy goes the entire night and says nothing,” said Lady Olivia. “How about you, my liege?”

Andrias stroked his beard and said, “Hmmm…I’ll be optimistic and give her sixty-forty odds that she will confess.”

Meanwhile, while the adults were making their bets, the girls were wordlessly riding in the carriage to their destination. The sun was starting to set on the city, making Newtopia’s streetlamps kick on as the city became illuminated. Anne wasn’t sure why, but this felt different, this whole thing felt far different than she was expecting. When she said Marcy looked cute, it’s not like she didn’t mean it the times she had said it to her before, but this time she lied. Because Marcy didn’t look cute, she looked beautiful. That dress, her hair, her makeup, it all looked so good. Now she was wondering if Lady Olivia had it wrong when she told Anne to wear a tuxedo instead of a dress? Next to Marcy she looked drab.

“H-Hey, Anne?”

“Y-Yeah, what’s up?” Anne asked.

“N-Nothing, I just wanted to say you look handsome in that suit. I didn’t know how to say it properly, but you do. I’ve never seen you in a tux before, it suits you,” said Marcy meekly.

Anne found herself blushing a bit from the compliment. “T-Thanks, I was wondering if this would look good next to you. Guess I was worrying for nothing.” Silence filled the carriage for a good five minutes before Anne decided to break it, “So, what kind of guy is this Mr. Edenborough? I figured he’s rich, but uh, what’s his deal?”

“Oh, yeah, we never did go over that during our lessons. I’ll give you a rundown of who he is,” said Marcy.

Marcy into explaining that Hufford Edenborough was one of the wealthiest newts in Amphibia, with Mr. Ribbiton coming in second. Hufford Edenborough helped develop safe trade routes around Amphibia, not only that, but he also had the best private security mercenary corps. in Amphibia, allowing him to ensure that precious cargo, whether it be via train or caravan, would reach its destination unmolested by thieves and the natural dangers of Amphibia. That same security force has also been utilized by the crown on several occasions, as Marcy recounted a few times when she worked side by side with them.

Anne sat there and took this in. “Wow, I keep forgetting that you didn’t just help with the architecture or defend the city from the Fallen, you’ve also helped protect them from other things, too.”

Marcy nodded. “Yeah, although, if we’re being honest. There’s still one threat in Newtopia I haven’t taken down, besides the Fallen.”

Anne raised an eyebrow at that. “What kind of threat?”

“Nocturne Filios, otherwise known as ‘The Children of The Night’.”

“Sounds like the name of some vampire themed death metal band,” said Anne.

Marcy sighed as she looked out the window. “I wish that’s all they were. But they’re bad, Anne. They kidnap citizens they deem as ‘worthy’ and then sacrifice them to their dark deity. I’ve busted up a few of their operations here in the city, saving as many of their victims as I could.”

Anne furrowed her brow and said, “Wait, so when you said you rode Machine Zefyr while you were saving some guy from getting sacrificed by a cult, it was those guys?!”

“Yep, that was my first mission here, actually. For months the Knight Guard and I have been trying to dismantle them, but they’re slippery, and well organized. Two months ago, we managed to conduct a raid on their biggest cell yet, and we almost had their leader. But he pulled a fast one on me and slipped away,” said Marcy with some annoyance.

“Wow…so…this cult leader is still out there; have they been doing any more of their creepy crap?” Anne asked.

Marcy shook her head in the negative. “Thankfully, they’re operations have drastically decreased since then. We haven’t had any reports of Nocturne Filios resuming their activities. But I’m still skeptical, just because we haven’t had any sightings or reports, doesn’t mean that they’re gone. Part of me is wondering if they’re just conducting their rituals in an even more secret location, or if they’re just biding their time and waiting to do something big in retaliation for that raid.”

Marcy shook her head, realizing that she must’ve had a serious expression on her face.

“I’m sorry, I just went and ruined the mood, didn’t I?”

“It’s alright, you didn’t. But, man, you’ve become such a badass since we’ve come here. I mean, you’re running a task force to take down an evil cult and saving lives while doing it. Brains and skills, if only those boys back at school could see you now. They only hit on you because you were a cute nerdy girl, but if they saw you now, they’d probably be afraid of you, in a good way” Anne stated as she chuckled at the thought.

So long as you’re not, Anne, I don’t care of others do.