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The sun is bright, the sky is blue. And the walls are made out of Newtopian Marble. Sasha Waybright is up and at ‘em. She is relays to seize the day as King Grime’s new lieutenant for the Newtopian — or Toad — army. She isn’t sure what it’s called now, but nonetheless she cannot wait any longer.
“So, Grime-sy! Or should I say, “King Grime”! the human chuckles. “What’s the agenda for today!” Sasha asks the toad, cheerfully.
After successfully taking over Newtopia, Sasha has never been happier. she finally has everything she ever wanted ... Still, something deep down inside herself feels ... off. During the planning of this raid, she imagined how she’d feel sitting high and mighty on that Newtopian throne, being an all-mighty ruler of an entire Amphibian nation ... So, how come this feeling she has now, is the complete opposite of that?
“Well, first we are going to establish more restrictive laws into this ridiculous and freelance town. Then, I get rid of you.”
“Ok, great that’s — Wait, what..?”
Sasha asks warily. Get ... rid of me? But ... I’m his lieutenant ... I’m his friend. What did I do?
“Captain I — Your majesty, I don’t understand. Why get rid of me? Did I do something wrong? Please tell me and I’ll —“
“Oh no, it’s nothing you did. I just got everything I wanted out of you. You’re nothing to me now.”
“Excuse me?!”
“You see, that whole “friendship” deal that you assumed we had .. was never real. I lied . And it’s all thanks to you, actually. So, I suppose I should rather be thanking you. For teaching me your villainous and manipulative ways.” The villainous toads says whilst chuckling lightly yet ominously.
“But .. how?!”
“You know the ol’ saying, “Get them to love you, and they’ll do anything for you.”
Hearing that specific phrase, basically hit Sasha like a ton of bricks. Grime gave her a taste of her own medicine ... and this medicine has a very sour and bitter taste...
He’s ... he’s right. I did everything for him ... fought the herons, battled against General Yunan , and even achieved Barrel’s War-Hammer ... only for him to take the credit for it in the end. He used me . And I’m just as bad as him. Heck, he is me. I taught him this. This is ... all my fault ... Sasha thought ...
And besides, there can only be one ruler of Newtopia. and seeing at how you are of no use to me whatsoever anymore ... Guards! Take her away!
And for the first time ever...Sasha doesn’t fight back. She’s too struck with heartbreak, betrayal, and — most of all — guilt. The last Grime ever saw of Sasha, was of the two fellow guards dragging her body away towards the Confinement chambers of the castle.
Throughout the entire time of them taking her there, she didn’t utter a word. She was speechless. She feels as though she’s in a horrendous nightmare that is overdue for a wake up call. Every second she gets closer to the cells, she hopes that she’ll wake up and find herself in a Queen-sized bed.
But nothing is happening .. No gold chandelier floating atop her head, no Queen-sized bed, no marble flooring. Just a dirty cell surrounded by overgrown plants, bones of either former prisoners or creatures, and dust swarming the air.
She cannot escape this. This actually happened. It is happening. She is alone. And it is all her fault.
•••
Not only does she blame herself for Grime betraying her .. but it’s also her fault for losing Braddock, Percy, Marcy, ... and — especially — Anne.
The entire time Sasha is sitting in the cell, feeling as lonely as she did when she first entered this dimension — in a cell by orders of Captain Grime who despises her — is stuck with reliving the memories of everyone leaving her, all alone.
“It’s over Sash, you’re not gonna push me around anymore.”
“I hope you get it Sasha, I really do.”
“You’re nothing to me, now.”
“Hey Anne, maybe you are better off without me.”
As the memories swarm her brain, Sasha sits in silence, quietly sobbing. Throughout her faint sobs, Sasha whispers to herself, “It’s all my fault...”, repeatedly.
•••
Not too long after Sasha was sent away into her cell, she hears footsteps. She’s too riddled with guilt and self-doubt to even care enough to look. But suddenly, she hears some all too familiar voices following the footsteps.
It’s them . Anne and Marcy .
She is suddenly paying clear attention to the situation, as is she wondering why they — of all people — are in prison alongside her.
Everyone loves them. What could they have possibly done? The blonde self-deprecating cheerleader wonders.
Once the two girls are locked in their cells, before they can even get a word in they spot Sasha.
“Sasha?! ” The two say simultaneously.
“Hey.” Sasha says softly.
The two girls are in utter shock to see her there. Sasha . The same girl who lied to them about changing for the better. The same girl who successfully took over Newtopia.
[Anne]: What ... what are you doing here? I thought you were —
[Sasha]: Ruling Newtopia? Yeah, so did I ... But apparently, Grime has other plans.
Anne and Marcy both looked at each other and knew. They should be happy that they’re not alone in what they went through and that she finally understands it, but ... they can’t help but feel bad for their friend — aka their best friend who defended them from the evil bullies at the playground since kindergarten — who’s clearly hurting.
Remembering how alone they both felt back when Sasha pushed them around, the two humans comforted the aching teen.
In the midst of Sasha’s breakdown, she feels hands wrap around her tight. Sasha is shocked but is too far gone to stop crying. Sasha, who’s crying so much she can barely see, can’t stop thinking about how she assumed her whole life that what she was doing was fine, was right. To find out, after a lifetime later, that she was wrong all along...? It broke her. It turned her whole world upside down.
[Sasha] “Why did you do that ...? I thought you hated me.”
Marcy and Anne look at each other and come together on a silent agreement.
[Anne] “We don’t hate you. In fact, we — we never did. We just didn’t like how you treated us — how you treated everyone !”
[Marcy] “And, we helped you because we knew how to. We still care about you, we always did. But, we realized that they need to put ourselves first.”
Sasha, still hurdled up in a ball whilst clinging onto her legs, understands. She now knows that she did some bad stuff — a lot of bad stuff, actually. And she needs to take accountability for all of that.
[Sasha] “I get that. So ... how’d you girls end up here?”
[Marcy] “We could ask you the same question.” Marcy softy giggles, in hopes of lightening up the mood.
[Sasha] Well, wanting more orders from Grime, I go up to ask him only to get him telling me he doesn’t need anymore as an answer. He lied to me the whole time. He was never friends with me — he never cared for me. He only used me to get what he wanted ...
[Anne] I’m sorry.
[Sasha] Please ...
[Anne] No, I am. Knowing the position we’re in, we know how much it hurts. Being lied to by someone you know and trust, it’s never good.
[Sasha] Anne, after I lost you I ... he was the only person I could count on. I trusted him with everything ... And to make matters worse, it’s my fault. I taught him how to be that way, how to fake kindness and pretend to be their friend just to get something out of them. I’m so stupid. I’m so ... I’m so sorry, girls.
[Marcy] You’re not stupid. You didn’t know that what you did was wrong. But now you. And that’s good.
[Sasha] How?
[Marcy] Because! You can change! You can grow and be a better person. We didn’t befriend a Sasha who hurt and lied to us, we befriended someone who was brave, and caring, and would do anything for her friends. Grime is none of those things.
[Anne] Yeah! And besides, you’ve taken accountability for your actions and admitted that you’re wrong. That’s something Grime could never do.
Suddenly, the teary-eyed blonde lifts her head up from in between her huddled knees and faintly smiles at Marcy, with tears in her eyes. To this day, Sasha always knows that she can count on Marcy for light in the darkness.
[Anne] Me too.
Hearing that from Anne shook her to her core. Why would she trust her again? Why believe in her again? Last time she said that, she immediately lost it because she lied.
[Sasha] Really, Anne?
[Anne] Yeah, I do.
The two share a tender look and sincere smiles. Their relationship isn’t completely fixed, but they both know that they are willing enough to work on it, with full honesty and all.
Thank you, girls.
The three humans share a tight and loving hug, they all share an equal amount of happiness that they are friends again. They may not go back to normal, but that’s ok. It’s okay because they can share this new chapter in their lives together.
[Anne] Great makeup and all, just wish that we could find a way out of here.
[Sprig] Did somebody call for a breakout?
[Anne] Sprig!
The hot pink frog leaps out the window and uses his bright yellow tongue to dig through the lock of their cell and free the girls.
But just before Sprig frees Sasha, he gives her a very untrustworthy glare.
You don’t have to trust me. I know I hurt you and everyone else. And I’m sorry for that, really. I’m okay with you all taking your time. I just wanna get home with my girls.
Sprig slowly softens up and looks at Anne and Marcy for reassurance. They both simultaneously nod in agreement that she is good now — well, she’s getting better.
Seeing the confidence in Anne and Marcy when it comes to trusting Sasha again, he is always on their side. So, Sprig decides to somewhat trust her. Nonetheless, he frees the blonde warrior and both he and the girls escape the prison.
[Anne] Wait, where’s Polly and Hop Pop?
[Sprig] They’re by the caravan waiting to take us to the spot.
•••
After the humans and Sprig fight through an innumerable number of toad army guards while escaping Newtopia tower, they finally arrive at the location to open the Calamity Box.
[Marcy] Here it is, everyone.
[Sasha] Are you ready?
[Anne] Nope, let’s do it.
Suddenly, Marcy opens the box and a multitude of pink, blue, and green colors emerge from the box. But, instead of it sending them back to a amphibian dimension, or worse, it opens up a portal back to their realm. Home .
[Marcy] There it is. We can go home.
The first of the teens to walk through is Marcy, then Sasha, and finally ... Anne.
But, out of nowhere, there seems to be a blockage in the portal when Anne tries to step through it.
[Anne] It ... it won’t let me go through...?
[Marcy] What? That’s impossible! All three gems were charged!
Anne suddenly begins to grow a guilty look upon her face. Marcy and Sasha begin to grow worried as to why she looks so guilty.
[Marcy] Your gem was charged right, Anne?
[Anne] Well ...
[Marcy] Yours isn’t charged?!
[Anne] I heard you guys screaming while it was charging and I thought that you were all in trouble so I took the gem back before it finished to save you! But when I found out that you guys were just looking at cute animals, it was too late and I couldn’t go back ... I’m sorry.
[Sasha] So ... what does that mean?
[Marcy] It means —
[Anne] — It means that I can’t go home with you girls ...
[Sasha] What?! No no no, you’re coming home! I lost you once, I am not losing you again!
Sasha grows frantic and begins trying to pull Anne through the portal to no avail. Anne is stuck in Amphibia.
[Anne] Sasha! Sasha, stop! It’s no use!
Sasha begins to grow exhausted and evidently falls to her knees. Whilst on the ground she begins to sob.
Why...why her? Why this?! Why did this have to happen? Why us? The devastated blonde wondered in her head.
[Anne] Sash, it’s okay.
[Sasha] No, it’s not! We went through so much together and ... I mean, just got you back and ...
[Anne] I know ...
[Sasha] Okay, okay. Fine. This is fine. We’ll ... we’ll just a way back to you. We can do this. Right, Marc?
[Marcy] Right.
[Anne] No. Don’t.
[Sasha & Marcy] What?!
[Anne] I’m fine here. I don’t wanna leave.
[Marcy] But .. what about school, and your parents, and ...?
[Anne] I know. Tell them that ... that I love them, and that I don’t want them to miss me too much. They have a business to run. They need to move on. And so do you.
[Sasha] Anne ...
[Anne] I love you girls.
Sasha, is heartbroken. She gives a quick glance at Marcy, who is equally devastated but understands Anne’s demands. She understands them because if the roles were reversed, she’d probably say the same thing.
Anne suddenly puts her hands up to the portal’s barrier. Sasha and Marcy put their hands on it too, to parallel Anne’s. Suddenly, the portal begins to close.
Right before it closes, each of the girls get once last glance of each other. Sasha and Marcy’s last glance of Anne, is her still in Amphibia, grinning tearfully. Whereas for Anne; her last moment with the girls is them being devastated and feeling like they’re alone again, despite having each other.
And then it’s closed. Gone. Forever.
Being back in the playground, late at night, are the two teens. Heartbroken and devastated.
Sasha falls to her knees out of heartbreak and devastation.
Hey, we need to go home.
Yeah. But tomorrow? We are going to get Anne back.
But Anne said —?
I don’t care what she said. We are not leaving her there, not after all we did to be together. We are not losing her again. Not ever. But I can’t do it alone. Please, Marc.
Marcy hesitates to respond to Sasha’s request on saving Anne. On the one hand, she’ll be going against Anne’s requests of moving on. But on the other hand, she’d be getting Anne back and they can go back to normal.
Fine. I’ll do it.
Good. Now, let’s go home. Tomorrow, we save our friend.