Calamitous Intervention

Hop Luck / Magic & Mystery

Previously on Calamitous Intervention

Last time, Luz accidentally charred Hop Pop's cane with a fire spell and went to find the Doom Tree to replace it, to make up for what she did. Luckily, she succeeded. In the following days, the basement flooded and Luz and Sprig decided to be roommates until the situation was resolved. This experience allowed the two to tighten their bond, and they worked together to defeat the river lampreys.

Chapter Seven - Hop Luck / Magic & Mystery

It was a beautiful, sunny day outside in Amphibia. Above, a dragonfly was still carrying a frog it captured weeks ago in the sky, even before the human showed up. He cried out for help while being carried away.

Luz was showing Sprig and Polly pictures and videos on her phone. "And this is a picture of me when I had my bad hair day." It was a picture of her as a kid with very messy hair, with bow-ties in very random places.

Sprig laughed and picked up the phone, still amazed at how it worked. "Oohh..." He then showed it to Polly, who frowned. "If I had hair like that, I'd go bald. But I feel huge looking at this. She's so tiny."

The frog boy took the phone, studying it. "Hmm... I will... SET HER FREE!" He brought out a hammer and Luz froze in shock, barely getting her phone out of the way as he tried to smash it.

"Sprig, you can't break my phone," Luz said. "It's a picture, not a tiny person." Suddenly, the most awful, gut-wrenching, hideous smell reached her nostrils, and she gagged, covering her nose. "Did that other river lamprey die under the house? What is that?"

Sprig took a big whiff of it before realizing what it was, and it wasn't pretty. "Worse, Luz. Much worse. Hop Pop is cooking!" They walked up to the front door and Sprig placed his hand on the handle, turning toward the human. "Brace yourself." Remembering what she had eaten these past weeks in this place, she took his advice and covered her face and nose.

When Sprig opened the door, a massive wave of stink hit them and knocked them to the ground, while it sent Sprig flying. In the house, Hop Pop hummed as he chopped three odd-looking bugs with seemingly no faces in half. They tried to escape, but he grabbed them in his arms and dropped them into a pot, which was the source of the foul smell.

He grabbed a spoon and stirred it around, taking a sip in the process to taste it. Sprig hopped over, leaping up from under the table. "What's the plan this year, Hop Pop?" He pointed a finger gun at him jokingly. "Poison the competition?"

In response, Hop Pop bonked the frog on the head with his wooden spoon. "The plan is to win." Luz walked over, holding Polly's bucket while covering her nose. "What are you making anyway, Hop Pop? It smells... uh..." She felt bile rising in her throat before swallowing it back down. "... great! But, uh... Quick question, how are you able to digest that?" She laughed nervously. "Not that it's bad or anything."

"Why, thank you, Luz," Hop Pop said, not answering her question. "At least somebody has an appreciation for my cookin'. It's a traditional recipe from my family's cookbook. We been usin' this baby since I was a pollywog."

"That's neat, but what are you trying to win at?" Luz asked, now curious.

"It's the annual village potluck," Hop Pop explained. "Every year we frogs gather for a great contest." He pointed his spoon up to some portraits on the wall of this competition. "The family who brings the best-tasting dish is showered with love and copper coins. The family with the worst-tasting dish spends the night in... the Shame Cage!"

"That's a bit harsh," Luz murmured, starting to realize who might've been the family that had to be there every year.

Sprig glanced up at Luz with a sad look in his eyes. "And guess which family ends up there every year..." They all sighed, confirming the human's theory. Luz remembered back when she was little. She used to make her favorite snack with her dad every Friday. It was one of the things she looked forward to the most, and she had fond memories of spending time with him. That was before the...