By My Side ~A Broppy Fanfiction~

Chapter 20

Dr. Blossom gave Poppy a thorough check-up, but she asked Branch to step out of the pod while she did. When she was done, she let Branch and the leaders come back in. Branch was so anxious, he thought he might explode. "Whatsthenewsdoc?" He said. He needed to know.

"Well," the doctor said, "she has a chance, but it's a very small one. Branch was very happy to hear this. He walked over to the unconscious Poppy. "I know she'll live," he said, stroking her hand. "She's a fighter. She's my queen." They all half-smiled at this. "Branch, she said-" Barb started to say it wasn't likely, but was cut off by the Techno king.

Dr. Blossom said, "Come on, guys. We- we have to tell the village." So they walked out and headed to Pop Stage. They walked up, and Branch said, "Uhm, can you guys do the talking? I don't think I'd get two sentences in if I did." The Funk trolls nodded. They think it would be better if they did the speaking. Branch stepped forward to get the trolls' attention. "Attention, trolls," he said, "We have some... news." Then he gestured to the Funk leaders. They stepped forward.

Queen Essence said, "Today, we were at Volcano Rock City helping Queen Barb with something important. While we were there, the volcanoes unexpectedly erupted, and....." King Quincy finished. "I'm sorry, but Queen Poppy is... Unconscious." A wave of gasps went through the crowd as they understood what they meant. Some of them covered their mouths, others placed a hand on their heart. The snack pack had had the most tears in their eyes out of all of them.

There were murmurs throughout the trolls, and the two trolls stepped back while they whispered. "We should go tell Peppy," Branch said, noticing that the former king wasn't among the crowd. They nodded.

At Peppy's pod, Barb knocked. Peppy answered, "Come in." Branch said, "Peppy, uh, would you come with us please?" Peppy asked, "Why?" Branch sighed. "Just come." So Peppy followed them to Poppy's pod. He walked inside to see Poppy on the bed.

Trollex said, "We're really sorry, but she only has a very small chance of surviving....." Peppy was holding back tears. "My princess..." He said. He asked, "What happened?" They only needed to say "volcano" and he knew what happened to his daughter. He said, "Thank you for telling me."

Then he turned to Branch and told him, "I'm really sorry." Branch asked, "Me?" Peppy answered, "I know how close you were with her. She loved you more than anything, and she even told me once that she's more open with you than she is with her scrapbooks." All the Pop trolls knew that Poppy scrapbooked all of her troubles and secrets.

"Anyways, we better get going," Barb said. "It's getting late." So the non-Pop trolls left, and Peppy also went back to his pod. Branch whispered good night to Poppy hoping she might hear him somehow, and went to his bunker. He got ready for bed, but when he tries to fall asleep, he couldn't. He laid awake, wondering if Poppy would make it.