The Owl and the Frog

Chapter 59: Escape to Amphibia (Part 1)

Greetings, All!

So this chapter is part of a really important milestone; it's the first time that my story will be updated on all three sites (ff.net, AO3, and Wattpad) all at the same time. I feel it's actually appropriate, as this chapter is right before the group heads back to Amphibia. It really is surreal how far this fic has come and how it's on three different sites. I never would have thought it would get so popular when I first started writing it.

Huge shout-out to my beta reader, spiritgamer, for going through and editing this chapter. I've been having some confidence issues when it comes to writing; it took me a long time to get through this chapter because of that, so I really appreciate him reassuring me.

Oh, one more note I wanted to say regarding the Lyft Driver's name: I just want to say that all the people he's interacted with do know what his name is; they just haven't ever spoken it aloud yet. It's similar to Final Fantasy X or Knights of the Old Republic. In those games, you're allowed to name the main character anything you want, but because those games have voice acting, your main character's name is never said by any of the other characters. The voice acting addresses all the other characters who have a name that can't change, but you are never directly referred to by your name. It's actually interesting to notice that if you go back and play through those games, it's not something you would pick up on right away, and honestly, I think it's kinda clever. We can assume that all the other characters in-game know what your name is since you must have "introduced" yourself, but again, it's never spoken. Mass Effect does a similar thing, but they get around it by simply always addressing you as "Shepard," since you can't change the last name (which is also pretty clever, by the way.)

But yeah, I wanted to make mention of it here to basically let you know I've been doing something similar in regard to the Lyft Driver's name. Most of the characters in the story know what his name is, but no one has ever spoken it aloud, although that might change soon...

Deep at an FBI station in an undisclosed part of Los Angeles, an agent was watching footage of the Plantars and Amara as they tried to bring down the drone. He was an older man with grey hair, dressed in a suit. He replayed the footage several times before turning to the two agents who were there with him.

"Okay, I've seen enough. This footage you took at the Boonchuy's residence, combined with other photographic and video evidence we have of these amphibian aliens, is getting hard to ignore. There are already internet rumors swirling about their existence."

"Oh, please tell me it's not that demon guy again," said Mr. X in a weary voice.

"You mean witchhunter69? Yeah, it's him," said the head agent. Mr. X let out a growl of frustration.

"That guy is so annoying and always wrong. The FBI had to start keeping tabs on him after he started a panic trying to 'hunt demons.' He went to a national park and started harassing tourists, believing that they were really 'shapeshifting demons in disguise.' As far as conspiracy theorists go, he's the worst."

"We've got bigger concerns than him, X," said the head agent, looking at the video again. "What do you know about these extraterrestrials?"

"Who can say?" said Mr. X in a coy voice. "Maybe a lot, maybe nothing."

"Don't be coy, X!" said the head agent, standing up from his seat.

"Sorry, coy is my default setting," replied Mr. X.

"I want these aliens taken into custody today," said the head agent. "Do you need to coordinate with local law enforcement to get that done?"

"That won't be necessary. The only thing I need regarding that is a warrant so that all this holds up in court," replied Mr. X.