Wrath and Ruin
Reunions Part 1
With the fear for his family and the loan sharks previously on his tail, Floyd runs back to the Troll Kingdoms, entering from the far side of Pop territory and he eventually makes it to Pop Village. They aren’t quite as loud as in canon, and have a tendency to hide more but the forest is protective of them and Floyd. When he makes it to Pop Village, Floyd is reunited with Clay.
Floyd is relieved to see a brother. Since it is the middle of the day when he finds Clay, he thinks Branch might be in school so they talk. They have a reunion and Clay talks about what happened and the escape, careful about the news about Branch. Floyd tells him of his old bandmates and the letter he received about the destruction of the pop trolls and the war. He doesn’t tell him everything about his history.
Clay actually doesn’t know about the war itself. Eventually, he is forced to confess about Rosiepuff and Branch. Floyd is floored to the point that he goes gray and gets into a depressive state for weeks. Clay takes care of him and as months go by, Floyd gets better but the blame nearly crushes him. Don’t know whose idea it is but the brothers decide they need to tell Spruce. Floyd had traveled a bit with him. With the route they take, it leads them near the troll tree where they find Bergentown entirely abandoned and in ruins. The tree is decimated.
They are stunned and freaked out. It is here they meet a Funk Troll and he speaks of the tale of the Rock attack and how everyone believes nearly all pop trolls are dead. He inquires about other pop trolls but Clay keeps a little quiet on it. He’s paranoid.
“Are there any other survivors?” Floyd asked with a frown.
“A couple. One, at least,” the funk troll frowned. “But not really, sorry, no.”
As they talk, Floyd falls into a hole that is kind of hidden which ends up being a tunnel. It goes the opposite way of the escape tunnels so they think perhaps there are more survivors. All three of them decide to follow it. The tunnel is long and the Brozone bros don’t know what made it. The funk troll tells them it was probably an armadillo bus but the boys don’t know that is. So during the travels, Floyd and Clay learn a bit more about the war - the initial start and how Rock eventually got the upper hand. They come to a collapsed end and things start to rumble. They think it is a dangerous armadillo bus and panics. The funk troll gets them out and to the surface with a gadget he has. “It’s not what it’s made for but it works, I guess.”
Since getting out of the hole, they are out of Pop territory and for a while, don’t know where they are. They eventually find a town and go inside but then are almost arrested by Rock Trolls that control the town on suspicion of being pop trolls, however they are beforehand found by Spruce, who manages to hide them away in the home he has made for himself.
Spruce looks a bit different, having painted and possibly tattooed himself a bit to appear more similar to those who has adopted the subgenre of. Spruce - Bruce - has been living under the guise of a subgenre for well over a year because pop trolls are hunted. He’s still learning about how things are working in this new world and regime. He knows a bit about what happened to the tree. The reunion is sweet and joyful once they get to safety and there are plenty of hugs.
He gets to explain what happened to him - about Vacay Island and then how Brandy saved him when Rock trolls thought he was a pop troll. And here, he has been living for quite some time, trying to keep under the radar. He talks a bit about how a war seemed to be kind of starting up but they live kind of out of the way, so it takes time for information and communication to get to them. Spruce says he also knows about what is said to have happened to the Pop trolls and the tree.
Floyd tells him that he saw what was left of the tree. Although considering the news about how Pop trolls seem to be hunted, Clay and Floyd don’t say anything about the other pop trolls in the hidden village (they’d probably tell Bruce later, in confidence). However, they do tell of their grandmother’s fate… as well as Branch.
And that night, they mourn together.
In the morning, over breakfast with Floyd and Clay’s funk troll friend as well as Brandy, the brothers start speaking of their oldest brother and what to do about trying to find him. No one knows where any other pop trolls are. He could be hiding like Bruce or maybe he was hiding alone in the mountains - after all, he wanted to go to the Neverglades. But the moment they mention John Dory’s name, they are given crazed looks.
The funk troll is shocked into silence. Brandy spins around and shushes them immediately. The brothers are confused as she tells them to quiet down. “You don’t speak that name!”
“Why not?”
Brandy explains that one can be arrested for even mentioning that, specific, name, on suspicion of collaboration. They ask why, of course. Before she can try to explain her side, the Funk troll says he’s a criminal, probably the most wanted troll in the Kingdom. You think Rock Trolls are terrible? John Dory is far worse. “He’s a criminal,” the funk troll stated, flatly. “You think Rock trolls do terrible things? John Dory is worse. He finds you? You’re never seen again.”
He continues to insinuate John is a murderer but Brandy refutes it and tells them John is bringing back the war - rebellion. The brothers are still confused but Brandy tells them a story of one of the most well known soldiers from the start of the war - a near feral pop troll. Some of it is fake, of course, and some rumor. She tells them he has become a dagger in Thrash’s ribs, destroying convoys, guerrilla tactics and rescuing prisoners.
Although the funk troll tries to reiterate that anyone who comes across him is never seen again and probably dead, Brandy insists they are taken to a safe haven. A place of peace where people can live in peace and sing their own songs without worry of becoming zombies.
“Do you know how we can find him?”
“You can’t find him.”
“Why not?”
“You can’t find him. No one can/No one can find him - he finds you.”
And the brothers are just… so confused, understandably so, although relieved that John is alive. And then, the door is bust down - the Rock Trolls discovered the ruse.
Next Up: Journey
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