Return to Amphibia

Chapter 1

Anne sighed as the last class of the day left and she could finally finish up and head home. Sasha and Marcy were coming over for a game night and she still had to stop to pick up snacks, though she wasn't too annoyed by the idea of snacks.

She made sure the heat lamps were plugged in and that the amphibians had water, then she locked up the exhibit and headed out to her car.

Anne turned on her music and made a mental grocery list, trying to keep it in mind as she pulled up to a store that was still open.

"Ice cream... " She muttered to herself as she grabbed small cartons of mint chocolate, chocolate chip cookie dough, and strawberry.

"Chips." She tossed bags of salt n vinegar and sour cream and onion into her basket as she glanced at her watch.

"Soda." The one thing the three of them could agree on flavor-wise.

She swiped a two liter of root beer over the self check out scanner, quietly cursing when it didn't work. After several frustrating minutes, she finally swiped her credit card and bagged her groceries, letting out a long sigh as she reached her car.

Putting the two liter in the passenger seat, she tossed the other bags into the back, too tired to really care.

She pulled up to her house at the same time as Sasha, which drove Marcy as well. Anne smiled for the first time in a while, waving at the two as she grabbed the bag and her keys and made her way inside.

Sasha helped her set the stuff out on the counter while Marcy carried in the games she brought.

"Let's see, I got... Codenames, a puzzle, scrabble, exploding kittens-" Marcy stumbled over nothing and almost dropped the boxes, "My bad! "

Sasha and Anne laughed and Sasha went over to help Marcy carry in the boxes.

"I'm actually curious about the one called exploding kittens. I like cats. Sh- Shoot.. I forgot some of the bags, " Anne interrupted herself as she grabbed her keys and make a second trip out to her car.

She reached into the back seat, fumbling around in the dark of the sunset. She grabbed one of the bags and swore as the other slid out of her reach onto the floor.

She swatted at the ceiling and turned on the light, grabbing the bag and freezing when she saw a cardboard box that she didn't remember putting there. Anne pulled the bags onto her arm and carried the box in the other, locking the car with great difficulty and slowly making her way back inside.

"Hey, did either of you put a box in my backseat? This was back there and I didn't put it there. " Anne asked, sliding the bags onto the counter and putting the box on the edge.

"No..? " Sasha said confusedly, sharing a look with an equally confused Marcy.

"Maybe one of your coworkers did it? " Marcy offered.

"Open it! " Sasha urged.

Anne opened a drawer and rummaged around for her scissors, sliding them over the tape on the box and opening it. There was a piece of paper on top of a large, bulky object. She pulled out the paper first.

"Dear Future Cosmic Guardian (Anne) ,

I know it has been many years and you have grown up away from Amphibia.

That is my own mistake.

You saved that world. You deserve to visit it.

My biggest regret is that I didn't realize this soon enough. I hope this makes up for my mistake.

Signed,
The current overseer of the known universe

"What is it? " Sasha asked, frowning at the look on Anne's face.

Anne looked up, then back at the note, then at the box.

"I- Hold on... " She mumbled distractedly.

Anne reached into the box, her fingers closing around something she never thought she'd see again. She slowly pulled out the Calamity box.

"Holy- Is that what I think it is..? " Marcy asked, she dropped the box she was holding, spilling the cards to the game Exploding Kittens and not bothering to pick them up.

"That- That's a joke right?" Sasha asked, covering her mouth, "There's no way it's real. "

"Only one way to find out. " Anne said, but Sasha grabbed her arm.

"Wait. We all have lives, we have jobs, we can't just vanish again like we did in middle school and expect no repercussions this time. " Sasha said seriously.

"Actually I don't have a job. " Marcy added.

"Hush, Marce. That's not my point. Point is, we should like, request time off from work, say we're going on vacation or something so people don't file a missing person report on us. "

"You're right. I just got a little too excited when I saw it. When we get back there. We'll probably go to the same places. The box will probably be drained again if I had to guess. Let's pick somewhere to meet first."

"I say Wartwood. " Sasha said, "It's pretty close to toad tower and it's close to Newtopia if you fly. "

"That's reasonable. " Marcy said, "Also you should probably put away these groceries if you're not gonna be here. We should probably bring supplies this time too. "

"I got flashlights in the garage, I've only got two battery packs though. "

"I can go without one, my phone has a pretty lasting battery. " Marcy volunteered.

For several minutes they made arrangements, trying to work out everything so that if the big worked, it would make their trip far smoother than it had before.

Finally, the girls stood ready, all standing around Anne like they had all those years before in the park. Anne slowly opened the box, and the air filled with crackling and multicolored lights as they were whisked back to the world they loved.

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Omg I actually updated today like I said I would 🤭🤭🤭