On The Brink of Calamity

Sorrow in Blue

Chapter 1

"Are you sure this is a good idea Anne?" Hop Pop asked as they walked down the sidewalk. The concrete gave off a cool mist from the rain the night before. Anne was thankful to finally have two shoes again as she stepped down the street at an even pace.
"They have to know what happened it's only right they know their daughter is..." Anne trailed off.
What was she going to tell them. Sorry I left your daughter in another dimension to become the puppet of a colossal sentient salamander with a conquistador complex.
Yeah that wasn't going to fly. But as she began to see familiar houses and street signs and swallowed her fear.
"I have to tell them I'm going back to get her at least." Anne sighed.
"We're here for you Anne just give us the word and we'll jump in with support and emotional stability." Hop Pop smiled.
"Emotional stability? Have you met us?" Polly questioned her elder.
"No offense Hop Pop but I think the last time I was emotionally stable was when I was falling to my death and speed ran the five stages of grief." Sprig cupped his own face reliving the memory. "I had just made it to acceptance when Joe Sparrow picked me up."
"Boy don't joke about that." Hop Pop gently whapped Sprig upside his head as they made it to the last block.
Anne couldn't help but chuckle a little, they'd been through so much, stared death in the face every other day for months, if she could do that she could face Marcy's parents.
Anne turned to the house she had visited a hundred times atleast and froze.
Something was very wrong. The house was dark, even in the dark clouds over head the porch lights weren't on, there was no signs of life coming from the windows either and no car in the drive way.
No ... They wouldn't.
Anne rushed to the door. She yanked on the knob but it was locked.
"No no no." She banged in the door. They couldn't have.
The Plantars barely caught up when Anne bolted to the window.
The inside was dark but Anne could see all she needed to see.
Empty dark rooms, barely any furniture left, paper on the walls signs the home hadn't been lived in in ... quite a while.
"No." It was barley a whisper. Anne stared in disgust at the scene before her.
"Anne? Anne what's wrong?" Sprig took her hand in his feeling how cold she'd gone.
"They moved." Anne sniffled. "Marcy said that when she found the box her parents had told her they were moving but... I didn't think they'd really..." Anne felt sick. In her darkest nightmares this was a cruelty she wouldn't wish on even Andrias.
Sprig and the Plantars looked through the windows at the stark empty building.
"H-how... could they leave?" Anne felt her fists clenched and her body go taught before she realized what was happening.
"What kind of people just leave their daughter behind?!?" Anne didn't notice it but the Plantar's did.
Static begs to permeate the air. Then the ground started to shake. All of Anne's hair began to stand on end as electric sparks began to travel up her body.
"Anne? Anne calm down!" Hop Pop backed away as Anne began to glow.
"How could they just leave?" Anne just snarled. Despair gave way to pure Unstoppables outrage as the calamity gem's power erupted from Anne shaking the very foundation of the house.
The neon blue glow covered most of the front of the house as in one fluid motion Anne pulled back her fist and punched.
CRUNCH!!!
The entire front side of the house shattered inward from the blow broken wood and insulation rained over the remains of the living room and garage.
Anne's pulsing blue light continued to flare as she huffed and growled at the insulting abode.
"Anne!" She felt Sprig latch onto her arm keeping her from swinging again. She looked down tears turning to mist as she wept. "Anne its gonna be ok." He assured.
"They left her Sprig, how could they just leave without her?"
"I don't know, but we won't, we won't let her be alone but you can't take out your frustrations on her old house!" Sprig was right. They would take care of Marcy, when they saved her they would make sure she never felt left behind again.
"You're right I can't." Anne's glare rose up to something down the street. "But I can take it out on him."
The Plantar's looked down the block to the two glowing red eyes locked on them. As it stood menacingly in the dark street a bolt of lightening arched down from the heavens accenting the abominable silhouette of the Frobo Reaver.
"Target located." Its garbled voice droned.
Anne stepped down the front walk and into the street opposite the frobot.
Another bolt of lightening brought with it the rain. First a few drops then a whole torrent. The plantars hid behind the garbage bins as Anne's glowing form steamed from the rain falling on her.
"Polly." Anne called not removing her eyes from the robot. "How much of Frobo do we have left?"
Polly quirked a tiny brow or whatever pollywogs had. "Uh his head and his arm, why?"
"So what you're saying is, to fix him we need a Frobot body with no head and one arm." Anne's threat registered not just with the Plantar's but with the Reaver as it calculated its rapidly shrinking chances of victory and took a step back.
"Retreat advised."
"No." Anne snapped softly. "There is no escape."
The Reaver hunched low ready to leap when suddenly the blur whipped passed him. The machine struggled to follow the movement only to mid turn register its right arm had been completely pulverized!
Metal and circuitry careened through the air as Anne turned toward her target.
"Oh look at that, one arm." She glowered. "Now about that head."
The Reaver did not wait this time. No chances it leapt skyward trying to avoid further conflict until it's target once more depowered.
Anne didn't care, height was no factor, nor was speed or strength. She would win, there were no other options anymore.
"Kick his robo butt Anne!" Polly cheered as the blue blur shot off into the sky following the Reaver's escape. The Frobot looked back to see if it was being followed only for Anne to appear ahead of him in the air.
CLANG!!!
Metal impacted concrete but didn't stop, with a crunching groan the Reaver whirled into a ball boring into the ground until it caved falling into the sewers below.
Anne landed and stepped toward the crater.
"Careful Anne! He's up to something."
"Let him, I think I like my chances." Anne hissed. Hop Pop didn't like this confidence in Anne. These powers were doing something to her and it wasn't good.
The ground shook again, not from Anne this time. In an explosive entry the Reaver exploded out of the ground behind Anne and activated it's hovering jets. It's remaining arm transformed into a cannon and two more emerged from its back. All weapons aimed the Reaver fired its cannons and eye beams all at Anne the brilliant sun yellow beams converging into a single blast to swallow the teen whole.
"Anne!" Sprig cried.
"Bruh I think she's fine." Polly rolled her eyes.
As the blast ceased Anne's still glowing form dusted herself off looking up at the machine.
"Not bad, my turn." Anne brought her palms together then pulled them back behind her drawing all the power she was radiating into one spot. "I saw this in an anime Marcy made me watch, try not to get completely wrecked, I need your parts!" Anne growled and released the power.
Electric blue power surged forth with Anne's palms, unrelenting and unstoppable.
The Frobot Reaver cut its hover jets in a flash narrowly avoiding the truck sized laser that seared passed its head and exploded in the distance over the city.
"Oh look fire works." A pedestrian pointed.
The Reaver landed and with killer instinct lunged at Anne seeking to cut her down with its extending blades.
It was a logical guess. After using that much power surely she couldn't move that fast anymore.
Sadly this logical step turned out to be a step into the grave.
CRACK!!!
The blades shatter against Anne's arm as the Frobot's eyes widen.
Anne's fist lashes out forcing the mech to dodge. It had seen enough to know any blow would be fatal.
It raised its arm again spawning its cannon and fired it point blank.
Anne put up her hand her blue aura stoping the blast in its track as she lunged at the Reaver.
WHOOSH!
A quick duck. The Frobot tucked in as Anne's kick threatened to guillotine it like a french noble. The shock wave of her kick sent two nearby cars tumbling.
"Anne you're gonna break the whole block! Ya gotta stop!" Hop Pop called.
"Yeah end it!" Polly cheered.
Sprig watched the two Titans trade blows Anne's powers were already waning and even damaged the Reaver wasn't giving up.
Anne axe kicked the street the Reaver whirled backward rolling away from the devastating attack. Anne stepped to follow but faltered her aura flickered for a moment before igniting again. The blue flames of the heart would not be extinguished now, not after what she had seen. It didn't matter if it hurt, this thing was in the way of her getting back to Marcy and Sasha. And that was unacceptable!
The Frobo Reaver prepared it's arm cannon again perhaps it could pierce the aura this time with a concentrated attack. But before it's plan could be acted on a bag of trash suddenly popped over it's head.
The frobot clawed at its face trying to clear the trash from its eyes. It peeled away a week old pizza box just in time to see Sprig smirk.
"You're scrapped!" The pink frog cheered as the Angel of death appeared above Andrias' Amphibidroid.
The Reaver's eyes turned to the danger as in another flash of speed Anne swings her foot around right at the machine's head.
CLONK!!!
The reaver's head impacts the Wu family garage, it's body falls sparking but intact in the street.
Anne hovered over the body as her blue glow slowly subsided. She desperately wanted to smash the rest of it as a message to Andrias but she needed it. They needed it.
"There." She huffed. "No arm and no head."
"That was AWESOME!!!" Polly ran over. "We're gonna get Frobo back!"
"You ok Anne? That looked... uh... I don't know what it looked like... kinda looked like that time we both we hallucinated and almost killed Sprig." Hop Pop paused thinking how oddly coincidental that was.
"I'll be ok." Anne whispered.
"Anne." Sprig took her hand in his. "It's ok we won."
"We won but she didn't." Anne looked at the Wu house, broken and empty. No love left inside. Her memories of staying over for slumber parties faded with the frayed wood.
"What is she gonna come back to?" Anne's sobs begin before she can stop them. Sprig quickly hops into her arms and hugs her tight.
"She'll come back to you. She'll come back to all of us." Sprig held Anne as she sobbed until finally the last of her energy left her and she passed out into the arms of her found family.

The next morning Mrs. Boonchuy was the first up, she walked out into the kitchen and began making breakfast. As she passed by the sliding glass door to the backyard she noted the large headless robot body propped against the garden shed.
"... No answer will ever satisfy my curiosity." She shook her head and started the stove burner for eggs. These were the family matters she had to expect when she brought a family of frog people into her house. But they took in her daughter, they were family now so.
Family doesn't question the ridiculous things family does.
"Domino no!"
"Oh god it's trying to eat me!" Polly screams.
"I'll save you Polly!"
"Sprig put down the chainsaw!"
A deep sigh. "It's going to be a long Tuesday."