The Dance Plague

Chapter 1

The smoke from the candles slowly faded up into the air as Branch sat before the birthday cake with his brothers and his girlfriend Poppy's family.

Heck, it wasn't even just them. All the trolls from the Pop Kingdom were there, waiting in queue, (Probably for a slice of that creamy large cake).

Branch couldn't believe how this all came to be. Years ago he was just an isolated recluse living alone in his bunker.

Now.. he had an amazing girlfriend, his brothers back and an actual family. Not just by blood, but by the friendships he had made, and the lives he had changed too.

He slowly gazed back ahead at the candles, a small grin on his lips and Poppy shook his shoulders excitedly, screaming in glee.

"Branch! Blow them out already!"

Branch only chuckled at this, glancing over to her and said slightly smugly, "Why? So you can have the first slice?"

Every troll laughed at this and Branch rolled his eyes cheekily, before breathing in a big mouth of air and blowing it out so hard the candle's flames swept up in it, flittering away before dying from their very short life.

Everyone cheered and Branch began to cut slices of the five-tier cake, handing, of course, Poppy the first piece of fluffy sponge cake covered in frosting.

She crinkled her nose at him, grinning eagerly herself and soon every troll was handed a piece.

When Branch came away from the cake, a piece of cake on a small plate of his own, he went over to his four brothers and Poppy, whose family was there too.

"Happy Birthday, little brother," Floyd said gently to Branch, giving his baby brother a side hug and Branch squeezed him back, "How old must you be now-"

"Twenty-eight!" John Dory instantly butted in as he used his fork to grab his own slice of cake, stuffing it in his mouth and swallowing it down in one gulp.

"No." Branch said back irritated at his brother's wrong guess, "I'm only twenty-five."

"That can't be true." John Dory said back, shaking his head as if in disbelief of this news, "I was fifteen when you were born, that would make me-"

"Forty," Clay said sarcastically, standing away at John Dory's side and his oldest brother glared at him at his announcement.

"I'm not forty... AM I?!" He peeped back, almost fainting at this discovery.

"Hey, you could be doing worse," Bruce (Formally 'Spruce') said and shook his own belly like it was jelly, adding with a smirk, "You could have a dad bod like me,"

Everyone broke into laughter at this but Bruce stopped laughing as he added, slightly hurt.

"That wasn't a joke."

"Hey, Poppy!" Viva suddenly squed at her sister, waving Poppy over to her and Poppy came to her in a hurry, a big gleam on her own face, "I can't believe you and Branch are getting serious!"

Poppy cocked an eyebrow up, confused to hear this.

She pulled her older sister away from the main scene and crowd and asked her, still baffled at what Viva said.

"What do you mean...?"

"Well, I mean, Branch just turned twenty-five... and you're twenty-one. Like, you two are going to move in together, right-?"

Poppy felt like all the air in her lungs had been sucked out as she heard these words and became dizzy in anxiety.

Before she hit the ground from her head swirling in panic, Viva caught her and helped her keep her balance.

"Move IN? Branch and me?! We've only been a couple for like-?"

"Three years?"

"EXACTLY!"

Viva only stared at Poppy, a bit of judgement hidden in her eyes, but when she saw Poppy's shocked reaction to her stare, she only blinked away her judging eyes and waved off the subject quite easily as she replied.

"Ah! What do I know?!"

"Yeah! Exactly!" Poppy said, nudging her hard and saying in a happy voice, but the heated hidden anger was lacing around her voice, "I mean, YOU have never EVEN BEEN in a relationship yourself!"

"YEAH!" Viva shouted back instantly, her heart hurting inside herself now as she looked over to Branch and his brothers, and sadly laid her eyes on Clay.

Clay, her best friend... Clay, the closest troll she had ever been near to.

"Yep!" Poppy shouted back at her and the two of them laughed awkwardly, and pained in their voices.

Poppy only skipped away from Viva, and Viva watched her go... the first time feeling a new emotion in her soul... that being.

Jealousy...

"It's okay, you know."

She blinked her eyes quickly, glancing over to see Floyd was by her side now, finishing his cake with one last swallow. He placed his fork down gently on it, placing the plate on a toadstool and smiling weakly at Viva.

"Everyone gets there at their own pace,"

"Er..." Viva said nervously, turning her eyes away from Clay and gazing at Floyd, lost in what he meant and asked back awkwardly, "What do you mean?"

"When you meet the right one, well... things are easy." Viva looked at Floyd, still confused and he gave her a small nudge on the arm with his fist, saying again with a smile, warmness in his eyes, "You'll see in time... just, don't be afraid to try... even just a little,"

Viva kept staring at Floyd, into his deep wise calm eyes and only broke into a scared laughter as she added back weakly.

"You would be indicating that I actually LIKE someone... WHICH I DON'T. I DON'T!"

Floyd stayed perfectly still, listening to her irrational words.

"You don't?" He asked back simply and Viva nodded her head quickly, her blonde hair waving in the air.

"I DON'T."

"Shame," He then said back quietly and grinned at her, giving her another nudge, before saying, "Because someone likes you,"

She looked at him, her heart beating fast as Floyd winked at her and then left, walking casually back over to his brothers.

"Someone likes ME?!" Viva squeaked and placed her pink hand on her heart, hearing it beat madly.

"Someone likes... me..."

"Everyone! STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING!"

All the trolls looked over to Branch as he was on a high toadstool, waving his hands around frantically as he screamed, "SOMETHING BAD IS IN THE AIR! EVERYONE GET INSIDE!"

Viva looked over to Poppy who was with their father, and the troll brothers regrouped together too.

"WHAT IS IT?!" Poppy screamed in terror.

"Just LOOK!" Branch yelled at her, pointing away into the distance, everyone turning their eyes that way instantly.

And there the first of them were.

Trolls that were desaturated... but dancing... but rapping, their faces nearly blank like zombies.

"The Dance Plague..." Branch whispered in fear, and waved his family and loved ones to his bunker, "GET IN, GET IN NOW!"

They all then rushed to get to his open bunker door, rushing inside and Branch just took one last scared look at the grey trolls, before ramming his tunnel door shut.

Leaving just him and his loved ones alone underground.

In the bunker.

Alone.

Together.