𝓓𝓲𝓿𝓲𝓭𝓮𝓭 | 𝓣𝓻𝓸𝓵𝓵𝓼 |𝓑𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓱 𝔁 𝓯𝓮𝓶 𝓣𝓻𝓸𝓵𝓵 𝓡𝓮𝓪𝓭𝓮𝓻 {𝓣𝓱𝓲𝓻𝓭 𝓑𝓸𝓸𝓴}

𝓝𝓲𝓷𝓮. 𝓤𝓷𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓮𝓬𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓐𝓻𝓻𝓲𝓿𝓪𝓵 𝓣𝓸 𝓥𝓲𝓫𝓮 𝓒𝓲𝓽𝔂.

𝓑𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓱 𝓟𝓞𝓥:
Suspended in silence, floating aimlessly inside the transparent prison, I can feel the anxiety still being sky high as we are drifting toward the ominous metal plate that is waiting our arrival ahead. I twist and turn within the bubble, desperate to catch a glimpse of Juniper, just to know she is unharmed, but when a nearby bubble comes into my view, my heart sink as I realise it isn't her inside, but Hickory instead. In that instant, fear is getting the best of me - where is she? - spinning back around, hoping I'd simply overlooked her, my eyes only met Poppy's. With each passing second, panic settles, my clenched fists trembling as they pound against the bubble's smooth surface in a frantic attempt to break free. To do something, anything. But just as my desperation peaks, everything around us dim, a consuming blackness swallowing our surroundings and stilling my movements once the absence of light shifts my focus outward, forcing my body into reluctant stillness. At last, a glow returns, faint at first, but only to be growing stronger, revealing not what I had imagined, but an entirely new place, unknown and colourful. "Guys, look!" Poppy gestures to our change of nature, our kidnappers' metallic plate-like UFO is enormous on the inside and bursting with colour. My gaze is drawn to shops and stages where Trolls perform. The Trolls in mention, is moving on all fours with noticeably long necks adorned with necklaces and dangling jewellery from their ears. There's something familiar about them, their features and body shape, I can't help but being reminded of Cooper.
As we near the ceiling, a bright light shines down on us through an opening, blinding all three of us. I lift my hand to shield my eyes from the beating of it as our bubbles are pulled in. Poppy being up front and the first to be sucked in, is the first to reach a surface on the other side. Her bubble rotates, flipping her upright so she lands seated on a pillow just as the bubble pops around her. Hickory and I's bubbles on the other hand, pops before it brings us close enough to the floor. I fall face-first, planting into the soft surface of a pillow. The impact bounce me up again, only for my back to hit the hard ground, my feet sticking up in the air.
"Welcome to Vibe City." A voice - not belonging to any of us - comes from nearby, sounding approaching. I kick my feet to sit upright on the pillow, clutching my head as a headache spreads through my skull, probably caused by the fall. "You are cordial guests of Prince Cooper." By the mention of the familiar name, our heads snap up, gazes landing upon Cooper's approaching form, who has somehow travelled from our Village to this. Apparently going by the name of 'Vibe City'.
"Cooper? What are you doing here?" Poppy asks, clearly surprised by his sudden appearance. I scan the surroundings, both ahead and behind, still searching for my missing Girlfriend. She's nowhere in sight - has she been left behind? Cooper lets out a soft laugh at Poppy's question, just as another voice responds, also drawing closer. "Actually, I'm over here." Our heads snap in the direction of another Troll approaching, far too similar to the other one present. Another Cooper? Our heads flick back and forth between the two, trying to make sense of what is currently happening, and how he is doing that. "Back-wrapped Hot Dogs!" Hickory shouts in surprise, bouncing up from his seat on his own pillow and grabbing into his hat, just as it nearly flies off his head mid-jump. "Okay. Maybe all the Jazz hasn't left my brain yet..." I try to convince myself, slamming my palm against my left ear to push out the lingering Jazz notes now spilling from the right - it makes me go cross-eyed. "It turns out I'm actually from Vibe City! Just like my Twin Brother!" Cooper explains, I think. "I'm Prince D, What's poppin'?" The identical Trolls erupts in giggles, strolling in circles, twirling around each other in playful loops. "I have a Twin Brother!" Cooper whispers through his excitement, stopping his movements and directs his gaze back on us. "Haha, very funny guys. Poppin'..." I make a comment to Prince D's, chuckling along with them and pretending to understand. "But answer me Prince D, was it? Why isn't Juniper here with us?"
"Juniper?" His voice is questioning, an eyebrow raised as he searches his memories for the Troll I mentioned. "Princess Juniper? Of Pop Village."
"Oh yeah, Juniper. She was with you guys!" Cooper gasps in realisation, then leans in to his brother, mentioning towards Poppy as he informs him: "She's Queen Poppy's Sister."
"I'm sorry Fella, we didn't notice anybody else on that fancy boat you had." Prince D's eyes stay focused as he recalls the moment they spotted our floating figures on the still river. They hadn't even noticed Juniper's presence when they snatched us, which means she must have disappeared some time before. My thoughts wander, leading me to another realisation: Hickory must have been the last to leave the river. My head snaps to him, my feet quickening as I step right in front of him. "What have you done to Juniper!" I snap at him, poking my pointer into his chest with a certain force, his figure retreating with his palms shooting up in defence. "Branch. I can't believe Hickory has done anything related to her sudden disappearance. Maybe her bubble unluckily steered off course?" I spin around to reason with Poppy, wanting to shift the argument to face her - but as I do, I catch the fear in her eyes. She's just as terrified as I am. Her sister is somewhere out there in the world, and we have no idea if that 'somewhere' is still the river. Even so, she tries to hold on to a sense of positivity. "Don't you worry. I will send an immediate team out, to search for your little girl friend where we left her." Prince D gives Poppy and me a reassuring nod, attempting to ease our worries as he sets off to begin the search. He scurries out the door, leaving Hickory, Poppy, Cooper and I in the room, entertained by each other's company. "But, how is this possible, Cooper?"
"Well, it's a very complicated story." Cooper's eyes turn absent, as if he is currently reliving the moment everything went south. "When we were both babies, my egg got snatched out of the nest. Mom and Dad looked everywhere, but they couldn't find me. So you guys raised me as one of your own." Doesn't sound as complicated as he mentioned for it to be. "And then, when I went out to go find other Trolls like me, my Mom and Dad finally found me! I guess it wasn't too complicated." Cooper shrugs with a laugh, Prince D returning to Cooper's side with perfect timing. I'm nowhere near calm about this whole situation, but at least I know that someone outside the Rock Tribe is looking for her, and would bring her here immediately if she's found. "Oh, Poppy. I want you to meet the King and Queen of Funk!" "King Quincy and Queen Essence" "My Mom and Dad!" The brothers are taking turns to introduce their parents, who approaches their sides from behind. This apparent Queen Essence leans down to place several kisses upon Cooper's cheek, plating blue lipstick stains where her lips touch. "Wow, Cooper you look just like your Dad!" Even after Poppy's statement, I can't put my finger on it. "Yeah, that must be why he's so good looking." King Quincy, Cooper's father, responds and offers his palm to his son - Prince D's slaps it in return. "Was that a dad Joke? It was Lame!" All four family members burst into laughter at the joke, while the three of us - still only just beginning to understand even half of that family - hang back, chuckling along with hearts weighted down by awkwardness. "So that means, you're a Funk Troll?" "You don't have to be just one thing. I'm Pop, and Funk!" Cooper's surprisingly insightful quote stirs something in me. He has a point - which is rare. If Juniper really is born elsewhere, as she believes, then she doesn't possibly have to choose who she'd rather be or who she is forced to become. I just wish I'd told her that before. "Or maybe you're Hip Hop, like me."
"Hip Hop?" Poppy wonders aloud, and my gaze shifts to her as she reaches into her pocket and pulls out an old folded piece of paper. She unfolds it to reveal the Elder map, then peers through a tiny telescope held to her eye, searching for the Hip Hop trope. "Yeah. I think your map is a bit outdated.." Poppy's head snaps back up. She jumps in surprise at Prince D's sudden approach, his face appearing much closer than it actually is, since she's still looking through the telescope. "He's right, look at that. It still has Disco." Peering over her shoulder, I notice another outdated trope, which must have been before our time. Poppy folds the map back together, shoving it back into her pocket, along with her telescope. "Well, your Majesties. We need your help. We have to save all Music from Queen Barb."
The King and Queen's smiles slowly fade at Poppy's request for their help - along with my own - but she doesn't seem to notice the sudden shift in mood, continuing her explaining. "If we combine our Music she'll see that Music unites all Trolls, and that we're all the same and that she's one of us!"
"Poppy, I mean no disrespect. But King to Queen? Anything but that." Poppy's outstretched arms slowly lower back to rest at her sides, her face clearly showing disappointment as he denies. "Why not?"
"Let's tell 'em how it was, Prince D." He turns away and walks toward the standing wall in the background, pressing his palm against an inviting yellow button. A concealed door slides open, revealing a new room hidden behind. The King Strolls through the hall with the Queen at his side, the rest of us following close behind. The walls inside are lined from floor to ceiling with shelves, lightening up the stacked records, probably spanning centuries, or even generations. "Long ago our world was without song or dance, then the Trolls found the Strings, and life was one big party." Our pace comes to a halt as we reach the other end, our focus now shifting upon a guitar, only carrying one single String, a purple String. "Oh yeah, we've heard this story before." "That is until the Pop Trolls tried to steal our Strings..." The mention of the true villains being revealed, makes Cooper's ears drop. "Steal your Strings? That's not what it said in our scrapbooks..."
"Scrapbooks? Those are cut out, glued and glittered by the winners. Let me tell you how it really went down." Prince D approaches an old record player, placing a record on it, filling the room with a soft tune as his rap begins. 🎵We started off a team. Party 'till we fall asleep. When we disagreed We did it on beat. Expected unique, anything less it was weak, The music of the Strings made life complete. 'Till that one day they changed everythin', The Pop Trolls started snatchin' up all of the Strings... Shoulda seen between all of the scheming. It seems like the Trolls they stole from were meaningless, Walkin' around like they were the geniuses, But it's only samples, autotune and remixes. Gotta protect my kingdom, but the dream is to sing again. Being friends, seamless blend. Harmony ain't hard when the keys within you win!🎵
🎵First, it was all love!🎵 All three majesties sing together, forming a circle as they dance and twirl around our smaller figures. Poppy's gaze refuses to meet theirs - she doesn't want to face the fact that Pop is the cause of the Tribe's separation. She shoulders all the blame, being the current Queen of Pop. 🎵Hands up, super star love. That you can have it, you can have it all, love. But then you took it, took it all, love. All, love.🎵 Her eyes stay fixed on the History book resting on her upper arms, her eyebrows furrowed in deep thought. 🎵Turn it up louder - Turn the music up louder - Sing along, get the crowd up. But then you took it all, love. Then forgot all about us. But it's all love.🎵 Her head slowly rises back up, watching their dancing figures with disbelief, her eyes tracking their movements around us. Her mind seems scattered, guilt written all over her face. I place a hand on her shoulder, trying to offer some sort of reassurance.🎵Next morning the elders were on. They saw the warning signs, couldn't ignore it. Had to figure out how to save the way of life - they had made - so they made a play. Each leader grabbed a single string and said, "Run!"🎵
"And the Trolls never lived in Harmony again." As their song comes to an end, King Quincy begins speaking in a soft tone instead of singing. My hand falls from Poppy's shoulder as she steps out of my reach. "So, the Trolls live in isolation because of what Pop did?..." My eyes drop to the floor, a sudden sadness washing over me. "Pop tried to destroy our music." Queen Essence nods. "Just like Barb is trying to do..." I mumble my sentence as the past sinks in, barely louder than a whisper. "I can make it right!" My eyes lifts back upon Poppy who is way past the standing around and listening, doing absolutely nothing. "History is just gonna keep repeating itself, until we make everyone realise, that we're all the same!" Placing all of the responsibility upon herself - like she usually does - Poppy jumps upon the small step, leading to the Funk music String. "But, we're not all the same. That's why all our Strings are different - because they reflect our different music."
"Denying our differences is denying the truth of who we are." The majesties is parting their explanation between each other, finishing the other's sentence. "I hadn't thought of it like that..." Poppy is forced to admit the truth. But before anyone could continue the ongoing conversation, it is cut short by a sudden alarm ringing through the room. The String getting sealed, quickly hidden away by a barrier made out of record plates, keeping the chances of its protection intact. Poppy stumble forward, caught off guard by the unexpected.
"Rock has arrived. It's on!" Prince D shares the cause of the alarm and isolation, not easing any of our rising anxieties. "Prepare for battle." The King nods to his son, and Prince D scurries off in one direction, the other majesties head in another, and Cooper takes a third. Our small group, having just arrived, follows Cooper as he gestures for us to come with him.