I was helping Hop Pop build a boat sculpture. My dad always made some at home, and he taught me how, so I thought he'd need some help. "Well, after five years of working on this girl, we might actually finish." Hop Pop said. "Five years?" I asked. He nodded as a ball came crashing through the window, almost hitting the boat. "My baby!" Hop Pop cried. "Sorry about that, HP and Rowena." Anne apologized. "We're trying to teach Polly how to play kickball." "Which is challenging for obvious reasons." Sprig added. "Dang it, kids, what have I told you about rough housing near the windows?" Hop Pop asked. "Now come inside and play a quiet game, Hop Pop's working." "Yeah, I can see that, nice toy boat." Anne compliments. "Actually it's not a toy boat." I explained. "It's a replica of a famous warship." Hop Pop added as they left. "So, is there a story behind this warship?" I asked. "Indeed." Hop Pop replied. "A long time ago..." "Tongue tag!" Sprig interrupted as they all came in the study for their game. "If you get tongued, you lose!" They played their game and ended up breaking the replica of the ship. "Why don't you kids ever listen to me?" Hop Pop screamed. "It's fine, we can still fix her." I said, trying to calm him down.

We rushed over to Loggle's to pick up some parts. "I'm going on, give Bessie some mushroom treats if she acts up." Hop Pop said as he walked inside. "Wanna take Bessie for another spin?" Anne asked. "Heck yeah!" Sprig and Polly exclaimed. "I don't know guys, Hop Pop was pretty mad about the boat." I shrugged. "Do you really want to upset him even more?" At that moment, they started spinning in circles so fast, I flew through Loggle's window. "I tried to stop them." I groaned. "Those kids are driving me insane!" Hop Pop complained. "Unruly kids, is it?" A frog in a cloak commented. "Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Apothecary Gary, and I've got just the thing for your troubles." Gary gave Hop Pop a vial as I saw the cops outside. I went outside to deal with them.

After the cops left, Hop Pop came back outside. "Did you get everything, Hop Pop?" Sprig asked. "Yup, now all I need is a quiet afternoon to fix this gal." Hop Pop replied. "We'll be on our best behavior." Sprig said. "Yeah, the least we could do is give you the time to fix it." Anne added. "We're sorry, Hop Pop." Polly apologized. "They also gave you a ticket." I added. "Thank you, kids." Hop Pop said. "For the apology, not the ticket."

Back at the house, I decided to help Hop Pop again. But Anne, Sprig, and Polly broke the boat again by accidentally running into Hop Pop. "Sorry, HP." Anne apologized. "Let me help you." "Don't you touch her!" Hop Pop cried. "None of you!"

Late at night, I was barely awake. "I can't do this to her, she's so helpful." A faint voice whispered.

The next morning, Hop Pop called us for breakfast. "Kids, breakfast!" Hop Pop shouted. "Nice, pancakes." I said. Anne, Sprig, and Polly were right behind me. "Good morning, Hop Pop." They greeted. "Okay?" I wondered. "Now, I'm gonna start working on my ship, now I want you kids to finish your breakfast quickly then sitting on that couch and not say a..." Hop Pop said as they left the table. "...word." We both saw them on the couch. "Yes, Hop Pop." They replied.

I helped Hop Pop fix the ship most of the day and Anne, Sprig, and Polly were still on the couch. "Uh, hey guys." I waved nervously. "Hey Rowena." They responded in a creepy tone.

Later that night, they started acting normal again. "Man, I feel funky." Anne yawned. "Like I was a prisoner in my own body." Sprig added. "I have all this anger, and I don't know what to do with it!" Polly exclaimed. "Wanna shake it off with another game of Tongue tag?" Anne asked. "Heck yeah." Sprig replied. "Let's play in Hop Pop's room." Polly added. "I like the obstacles." They decided to play their game in the study again, and I decided to protect the ship he was working on. "Go to bed now and I'll give you 10 coppers each!" Hop Pop shouted as they all headed to bed. "That goes for me too, right?" I asked. "Sure." Hop Pop replied as I went to bed.

In the night, I heard moaning, creepy moaning. "Anne, quit it, I'm trying to sleep." I groaned. The moaning grew louder. "Anne?" I got out of bed to grab my driver in case a monster got into the house. Turns out it was Anne, but she looked different, her hair was filled with glowing mushrooms and her eyes were glowing the same color. "Holy frog abuse!" I exclaimed as I ran upstairs, but when I got upstairs, Sprig and Polly were the same way. They tried to leave, but they bumped into Hop Pop's door. "What's that?" He wondered. They moaned some more. He gasped. "Hop Pop!" I exclaimed. "Rowena, are you alright?" Hop Pop asked. "Yeah." I replied. "But what about Anne, Sprig, and Polly?" We walked up to them to keep them under control. "Kids, what's gotten into you?" Hop Pop asked as Anne opened the door to Gary, the guy from Loggle's shop. "Knock knock." He said. "Gary, what the heck are you doing here?" Hop Pop asked. "I'm here to witness the birth of my new children." Gary explains. "Children?" I asked. "That's right." Gary responded. "That potion I gave you was no ordinary elixir, it was made from a special blend of my very own spores." He took off his hood, revealing a giant mushroom on his head. "Behold, my true beautiful self, you see, I am a rare species of mushroom able to control the mind of its host, and soon, all of Amphibia will be under my command!" "You won't get away with this." Hop Pop said. "To me, my mushroom children!" Gary ordered as everyone in town came to him, affected by the spore. "You maniac, you brainwashed the entire valley!" I exclaimed. "Welcome to the family, Hopediah and Rowena, and they're gone." Gary said as we went back inside. "We have to hold them off." Hop Pop said as they continued moaning. "Kids, snap out of it!" I shut the windows as Anne opened the door. "Anne, don't let them in!" I rushed Hop Pop in the study to escape, but Hop Pop grabbed his ship. "We gotta get help." I said. "We can't, everyone's infected." Hop Pop explains. "Not everyone." I corrected.

We walked into Bessie's stable, but right behind us was Polly. She sent out a signal to the others to bring them here. Sprig grabbed Hop Pop and Anne had me cornered. "Anne, I don't want to hurt you, but, please snap out of this." I said as she moaned. "That's it, come closer." I grabbed her arm and placed her lips against mine. She stopped and her eyes closed, but then I remembered that Gary's spell allowed him to control minds from his mushroom spores, so I took the mushrooms growing out of Anne's hair and removed them as our lips released. Anne was back to normal. "What happened?" Anne asked. "Long story, but let's help Hop Pop." I explained. "No!" Gary exclaimed. "Enough games, time for your assimilation." "Sorry to disappoint you, you compost-eating fiend." Hop Pop said. "But we've got you right where we want ya." Anne and I unlocked Bessie's stable gate. "Bessie, snack time!" Bessie came out of the stable and attacked the infected frogs while Anne and I helped Hop Pop fight Gary. Bessie ate all the mushrooms and rescued everyone. "Hey buddy, do you know where I live?" Gary asked. "Nope, sorry, Gary." I replied. "Gary?" He asked. "The name's Lloyd." Anne, Sprig, and Polly glared at us. "Hey, I have nothing to do with this, it was all Hop Pop." I retorted. "I know, no matter how important my ship is, it doesn't give me the right to use mind control on you." Hop Pop sighed. We all nodded. "But, I guess we're sorry too, looks like we pushed you very far." Anne apologized. "We'll try to be better about listening to you in the future." "Yeah, I guess we're even." Hop Pop chuckled. I still can't believe I kissed Anne tonight.