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Chapter 5

     Cough... cough...

     The group of friends entered the old building, coughing slightly as the thick black smoke flowing through the closed space entered their lungs.

     "Branch!?" Poppy yelled out, cupping her hands around her mouth to amplify her voice. "Branch!? Where are you!?"

     Silence...

     "We... cough... we need to get out of... cough... cough... here..." Dj sad, struggling to breath with the smoke surrounding them. "It's not... cough... safe..."

     "Not without, Branch," Poppy denied firmly, looking around for her best friend, but the smoke was too thick, making it impossible to see even an inch in front of her face...

     "Come on, y'all... help me get rid of this smoke," Holly finally coughed, turning her hair into a fan to blow the suffocating smoke outside.

     Everyone immediately joined in, listening to the country troll's orders, the smoke quickly leaving the room, Poppy gasping in horror at what she saw once her view was clear...

     "No..." she muttered softly, shaking her head in disbelief, her eyes widening in terror.

     The printing press Branch had been building was completely destroyed, looking as if it had just blown up.

     "No... B... Branch!?" the queen of pop yelled out loudly, looking around in a panic. "Branch, answer me!"

     "Poppy?" a somewhat muffled voice suddenly said from somewhere in the room, the person it was coming from completely out of view. "Is that you?"

     "Branch?" Poppy questioned softly, recognizing her boyfriend's voice. "Branch! Where are you!?"
"Up here!"

     Everyone looked up, immediately seeing Branch high above them, his head stuck in the ceiling as he tried frantically to release himself.

     "What... what happened, sugar?" Holly asked, looking up at the light blue pop troll in confusion.

     "I... may or may not of... gone a little overboard on the printing press..." Branch admitted softly, somewhat embarrassed. "And it kinda... exploded..."

     "Are you ok?" Poppy asked in concern.

     "I'm fine," he assured, still struggling to break free from the ceiling's grasp. "But... I'm kinda... maybe... just a little bit... stuck..." He sighed, stopping his struggle, realizing he was getting nowhere close to escaping. "Could... could you please help me down?" he finally sighed in defeat.

     "Don't worry, Branch," Poppy told him, trying to make sure he wouldn't panic and get himself hurt. "We'll get you out of there."

     She looked to her friends, not even having to say a word, all of them quickly whipping up their hair to wrap around Branch's ankle.

     "Ok, girls..." she said. "In 3... 2... 1! Pull!"

     They all began to pull hard on Poppy's command, trying frantically to get Branch down, but his head unfortunately remained stuck in the ceiling.

     "Ow, ow, ow!" he whined. "This... ow! hurts!"
"Just hold tight, sugar," Holly yelled up to him. "We'll have you down in two shakes of a Puffalo's tail."

     "We're gonna need to pull harder!" Poppy ordered, struggling with all her might to pull Branch down to her.

     "Or... you could just find a better solution that doesn't involve you ripping my head off my shoulders!" Branch yelled down to her, as the group of trolls yanked on him like they were playing a game of tug of war with the ceiling. "Ow!"

     "Ok, girls," the queen of pop said, ignoring her boyfriend's comment. "One more big tug."
"W... wait!" Branch yelled, feeling as if his head was about to pop right off. "I..."
"Pull!" Poppy yelled out, cutting him off as the group of trolls pulled harder on Branch's ankles, yanking on him as hard as they possibly could.

     "AHHH!" Branch screamed out in fear, the ceiling finally releasing him as he crashed down roughly to the floor. "Ooo! I think I broke my butt... again..."

     "Are you ok, Branchie?" Poppy asked, helping him sit up as he rubbed the back of his head.

     "Yeah..." he groaned. "I'm good." He looked down at his hand, smiling slightly at the sight of it. "And hey... my two fingers came unglued," he announced, wiggling all four of his fingers freely.

     "Come on. Up you go," Smidge said, the whole group helping Branch up to his feet.

     "Guys... I'm fine," he said, not liking the fact they were all fussing over him. "Really."

     He pulled away, fixing up his messy hair. That was a big mistake...

     As he straightened out his dark blue hair, the ceiling suddenly began to crumble above him, pieces of ruble crashing right down onto the grumpy pop troll's head.

     "Ow!" he yelled out, tumbling back down onto the floor, the force of the ceiling forcing him off his feet.

     "Branch!" everyone yelled in a panic, rushing over to him once more.

     "I'm fine..." he groaned, rubbing his head to try and relieve the dull ache shooting through his skull. "Wait... what the..."

     He pulled his hand away from his head as he felt something in his hair. Mixed in with the rubble that had just fallen on him was... a key?