It was another beautiful day in Wartwood, Shadow and Anne deciding to visit the Plantars and help them around the farm, picking vegetables and visiting with the kids. Shadow was outside, sitting under a tree in the Plantar yard, legs crossed and fists pressed together as he hummed in his meditation, his thoughts were calm and serene…
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
His eyes snapped open, hearing the scream that sounded like it belonged to Anne, as he quickly jolted up, grabbed his sword and ran for the house, swinging the door open, the Plantars sitting on the couch in the living room.
"What was that?!" He demanded, ready to draw his sword at the sight of trouble.
Suddenly, the basement door swung open, Anne smiling like a fool as she held her phone up.
"Guys, guys, guys, guys, guys! Look!" She said with excitement as she showed the screen of her phone, displaying the words 'Suspicion Island'.
"What are we looking at here?" Polly asked with mild confusion.
"Suspicion Island. It's, like, my favorite show!" Anne declared. "I've got the new season and didn't even know it! It must have auto-downloaded before I got here."
"Who's this Otto?" Shadow asked. "And how did you download him?"
"Just watch." Anne said before pressing the play symbol on her phone, playing the video.
"Previously on Suspicion Island..."
Four nearly naked humans were walking through the forest of what seemed like a deserted island.
"I've got a lot of feelings about this place." One of the characters, Peruvia, said.
"Hey, more Annes and Shadows!" Sprig pointed.
"Ha ha! They have noses." Polly snickered.
"I feel like everyone on this island is suspicious, Peruvia, except you!" Randy said, putting a hand to Peruvia's cheek.
"But, Randy, I think you're suspicious!" Peruvia cried out, smacking his hand away.
"Nooooooo!" Randy cried, before the scene was drowned in explosions.
"Suspicion Island." The narrator said. "If you don't stay suspicious, you won't stay alive."
"I don't get it." Shadow said before smiling. "But I like it!"
"What is this demonic nonsense?" Hop Pop asked with narrowed eyes.
"Hop Pop, this show's got beautiful people doing dumb things while stuff explodes!" Anne said happily. "It's literally perfect."
"Awesome!" Sprig declared.
"Let's do it!" Polly agreed.
"Well, consider me interested." Shadow nodded.
"Now, hold on." Hope Pop protested, holding his hands up. "Instead of that garbage, how 'bout I treat you to some real entertainment?"
"Oh no." Both Polly and Sprig said with dread.
"Like what?" Anne asked.
"A scene from The Shallow Pond." Hop Pop declared as he pulled a scroll from his pocket. Clearing his throat, he began to read in a dramatic tone. "Sadness. The world is sadness. But look. There. A pond! Is it deep? Or shallow?"
There was a moment of silence, before Shadow spoke, "All in favor of Anne's Island of Suspicion, say aye right now!"
"Aye!" Anne, Polly and Sprig declared in unison, much to Hop Pop's displeasure.
"Okay! Fine!" The old frog gave in, throwing his hands up, the three kids cheered. "But just one."
One episode turned into many, all the way into the night, as the kids sat on the couch, their eyes not leaving the screen of Anne's phone, watching what must have been the fifth episode, even Shadow was engrossed in it, all four with bloodshot eyes and veiny. Hop Pop, on the other hand, just sat on the other end of the couch, while still watching the show, didn't seem all the interested.
The episode showed two characters on a cliff, surrounded by what looked like a flock of pterodactyls.
"It can't be, Vivica." The male character, Chad, declared with disbelief. "These pterodactyls are clones of... my dead brother!"
Anne let out an exaggerated gasp, "NO WAY."
"I don't know what the means, but wow!" Shadow said in shock.
Hop Pop only grumbled as he rolled his eyes.
One of the pterodactyls screech before swooping in and snatching Vivica.
"NOOOOO!" Chad cried in despair.
"Will these beautiful teens ever make it off the island?" The narrator declared as the scene showed the four teens in varying situations. "Find out next time on—"
Anne pressed on the screen, pausing the video, "And that's enough for tonight."
"Aw, come on!" Sprig whined.
"This is torture!" Polly groaned.
"Trust me, guys." Anne said. "You gotta pace yourself with this stuff."
"I agree with that." Shadow nodded. "We'll pick up more tomorrow."
"All right, you two grubs. Off to bed." Hop Pop said, clearly glad it was over. The two frog kids groaned before rolling off the coach before getting up.
"How am I supposed to sleep without knowing what happened to Vivica and Chad?" Sprig asked as he went up the stairs.
"Stupid sleep! I wanna watch it right now!" Polly complained, following her brother.
Shadow, Anne and Hop Pop left alone, Anne smiled as she nudged the old frog, "So? What do you think, Hop Pop? Better than that boring stuff you read to us, right?"
Hop Pop only scoffed before getting up, "That 'boring stuff' is called literature, Anne." He then walked to the doors leading to his room, then turned to the two humans. "And maybe, if you had an ounce of culture, you wouldn't reject it in favor of your substandard, puerile garbage show!"
And with that, he slammed the doors behind him, leaving Anne and Shadow alone.
"Sheesh. Tell me how you really feel." Anne said with a roll of her eyes.
"It's okay, Anne." The boy in black assured his friend, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I certainly enjoyed it, as nonsensical as it seems."
"Thanks, Shady. I had fun too." Anne smiled at her caretaker before yawning. "And I have a feeling that we're gonna have even more fun tomorrow."
The two soon went down to the basement, where they were lodging for the night, before going to sleep, leaving Anne's phone where it was set up.
As midnight rolled around, Shadow tossed and turned in his sleep, mumbling to himself, his face covered in sweat, and his hands clenching the bed sheets; all obvious signs of having a nightmare.
A dream that he's had countless times; a past he tried to run away from, but could never escape.
He remembered a vision of a potential future, where Amphibia would be destroyed.
The feeling of desperation, as he snatched a decorated box with five different colored gems.
Running down the halls, his breath heavy, ignoring the cries of the brother and father.
"AZAZEL!"
Flying away with great speed, his home disappearing from sight.
A great portal opening before he threw the box through it, the portal closing behind.
The agonizing screams of his young brother, "Why, brother? WHYYYYYY?"
"NOOOOOO!" Shadow screamed, sitting up with a jolt, breathing heavily and face drenched with sweat.
"What's happening?" Anne said, startled by the scream, looking over to see her caretaker sat up, sweating and looking as though he was about to have a panic attack. "Shadow, what's wrong?"
Finally managing to calm himself down, Shadow turned to the girl, "It's nothing; just a bad dream."
"Do you want to talk about it?" Anne asked with concern.
Shadow gave it some consideration, but shook his head, "No, it's nothing to worry about."
Anne frowned at this, but decided to not press the matter, "Okay. Goodnight."
Anne turned over and went back to sleep, Shadow sighing sadly as he laid back down. He wished he could just tell her about what he had endure for the last fifteen years. But he couldn't, his fear preventing him from speaking about his troubled past. He simply closed his eyes and went back to sleep. At least he would have, but he heard a noise coming from above. Curious yet cautious, he got out of his best and quietly went up the steps, careful to not wake up Anne, before raising the door a bit to have a look around. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he went back down to sleep.
The next morning, Shadow woke up with a yawn before heading back up to the living room and sitting on the couch. Thankfully, he didn't suffer any nightmares for the remainder of the night.
Anne walked in with a bowl of popcorn and took her spot next to him before calling out, "Come on, guys! It's time to get...suspicious!"
"The only thing that's suspicious is you not having butter on that popcorn." Shadow joked before dropping a cube of butter in the bowl, the two laughing before Anne made to turn her phone on, but her tone soon changed when the low battery notification popped up.
"Wait, WHAT?!" She gasped in shock, the Plantars taking notice.
"What's wrong, Anne?" Sprig asked.
"What's all the ruckus?" Hop Pop asked, cooking some breakfast.
"Why're you screaming?" Polly exclaimed.
"My battery is low." Anne said, picking up her phone, unsure how its battery got low. "But it was fine last night when I turned it off."
She then opened the app, confused when she saw all the episodes were marked 'WATCHED'.
"Huh? 'Watched'?" She said.
"That must have been the noise I heard." Shadow stated. "Someone watched more of the show while we were asleep."
"But who watched all these episodes and used up all the—" Anne didn't finish before the phone started flashing, about to shut down. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Anne screamed, desperately tapping on her phone to keep it on.
Her phone then went completely black, its battery dead. Stunned, Anne only lowered her phone into her lap before whispering, "It's gone."
"What's gone?" Sprig asked.
"Sprig, that was her last reminder of Earth." Shadow explained. "Now it's gone."
"Everything's gone! My pictures! My texts! Videos of my cat!" Anne said in a panic, bringing her knees up to her chest. "Now all my memories from home are gone!"
She then started hyperventilating, Shadow rubbing her back in an attempt to calm her down.
"Anne, it's going to be alright." He tried to assure her.
"No!" Anne yelled, swatting his hand away before pointing an accusing finger at her caretaker. "Was it you?!"
"Huh?" Shadow blinked.
"Did you or did you not?!" Anne demanded once more.
"Anne, I don't know how to work that thing!" The boy said in defense, holding his hands up. "Besides, I was downstairs with you the whole time, sleeping, remember?"
"You were awake!" Anne pointed out. "You just said so yourself!"
"I also told you I had a nightmare!" Shadow snapped back.
"Guys, let's stop fighting!" Sprig yelled, trying to get his friends to stop fighting, as he stood in between them.
"Oh yeah?" Anne said as she gave the frog boy a suspicious glare. "Well, was it you?"
"What? No!" Sprig defended. "I didn't watch anything!" He then pointed an accusing finger at his sister. "It must have been Polly."
"What?!" Polly yelled in outrage.
"I even heard her get up in the night." Sprig claimed, standing on the armrest. "Very suspicious."
"I needed to pee!" Polly exclaimed before pointing at Sprig with her small flipper. "Plus, if you heard me, you were awake too. You're the suspicious one!"
"Guys, enough!" Shadow raised his voice, trying to get the fighting to stop.
"Don't change the subject!" Sprig said and he glared at his sister as he leaned in closer.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait." Polly said. "What about..." She then pointed at the old frog. "Hop Pop?"
"Heh! Me?" Hop Pop scoffed. "In case you forgot, I despise that garbage."
"Exactly!" Polly declared. "Maybe you ran down the phone so we'd have to listen to your boring play!"
"Oh, that's good." Sprig admitted with a nod.
"That is preposterous!" Hop Pop declared.
"ENOUGH!" Shadow roared, his booming voice enough to prevent the arguing from going any further. "If none of you are going to admit it, the least you can do is help me help Anne fix her phone."
"Fair enough, Shadow." Hop Pop nodded before facing Anne. "So, how do we bring this thing back to life? Magic? Live sacrifice? I know a guy in town—"
"We need power. Electricity." Anne said.
All three Plantars looked in confusion, even Shadow tilted his head in confusion.
"You know, zap zap?" Anne tried to clarify.
"'Zap zap'?" Shadow said before lighting up with an idea. "Oh, I think I know what you're talking about. Quickly! To Hop Pop's study!"
Quickly moving to the old frog's study, Shadow pulled one of the books before laying it out on the desk and opening it.
"I've heard talk of a creature called the zapapede that lives deep in the Misty Peaks." Shadow explained. "It zaps its prey with a small spark of lightning. A unique sort of creature."
"Yeah, it's pretty cool, actually." Hop Pop nodded.
"Sounds like it's worth a shot." Anne said. "So, how far away is this bug, HP?"
"Don't call me HP." Hop Pop told her. "It's half a day's travel, but that should be no trouble for this gang."
Sprig, on the other hand, swatted his hand away, "Oh, yeah? Well, that's just what Chad Vanderblad said. Right before he was stabbed in the back by a backstabber on Suspicion Island!" He yelled, pointing finger guns at the old frog.
"Watch where you're pointin' that finger!" Hop Pop said, swatting the hands away.
"I would never stab Chad in the back, but one of you two would!" Polly accused once again.
"Hey! Every time you point, two fingers point back!" Sprig said, holding up two fingers for emphasis.
Polly looked at her own flippers before shouting, "That doesn't make any sense!"
"Hey, enough, all of you!" Shadow shouted. "As far as I'm concerned, all three of you are suspicious. Just looked at you!" He then pointed out their shifty eyes and suspicious faces. "Now, let's get going."
"Yeah, the sooner we move, the sooner I get my memories back." Anne agreed, before following Shadow outside. "Thanks for helping."
"Think nothing of it." Shadow waved it off. "I know how important it is to maintain your memories of your old life."
Thinking about it, Anne asked, "What was your old life like? Good or bad?"
Considering it, Shadow answered, "It was good, at first. Until I realized I was living a lie."
Anne frowned, unsure what he meant, but knew that she wouldn't get more than that.
"So, are you sure that you didn't drain my battery?" She asked.
"Like I said, I don't know how to work that thing." Shadow stated. "That and I wouldn't risk breaking it."
Anne knew this was true and decided not to pursue it further, focusing instead on getting her phone fixed.
About an hour and a half later, the group soon made it to the Misty Peaks, all the while Sprig was playing a song on his fiddle.
A family Distrusts each other
On a dangerous mission
Like the nearly naked humans On the island of Suspicion
Peruvia, Felicia And Randy, so hot
Beguiling, hostile-ing
We're all Suspicious isle-ing
Shadow clapped lightly at the song, before everyone stopped at a rope bridge that looked ready to collapse.
"Look! There's one now!" Hop Pop pointed. "A zapapede!"
Looking across, they saw the electric bug curled up on the top of a mountain. It was golden yellow with a pale yellow underbelly. It had green eyes, one slightly darker than the other. The lighter green eye had a positive sign while the other darker eye had a negative sign. It had many pairs of short brown legs, much like a caterpillar. It had brown horns with electricity zapping between them, with darker to lighter ascending layers and yellow, sharp mandibles at the front of its head.
"Oh, looks pretty cute." Anne said.
Shadow nodded in agreement, before looking down, "Be careful, everyone. This bridge looks like it's seen better days."
Everyone started crossing, with Sprig ahead of the group, the red frog boy letting out a yawn, which Hop Pop took notice of, giving him a suspicious look.
"'Sup, HP?" Anne asked the old frog, noticing his narrowed eyes.
"Sprig sure looks tired, doesn't he?" Hop Pop whispered. "Awfully suspicious. And quit calling me HP."
"The old man's a lying snake, but he does have a point." Polly nodded.
Shadow frowned at the accusation throwing, before Sprig turned and pointed, "You guys talkin' scum?!"
"What? No, no. No, no, no." Hop Pop denied, while Polly whistled innocently.
Sprig glared at them before calling Shadow over, the cloaked boy rolling his eyes before making his way over. Sprig then gestured him the get lower, Shadow crouching down, Sprig looking over his shoulder before turning to Shadow.
"Shadow, I want you to know that I'm not the guilty party here." He told the human. "And I know that you're not guilty either."
"I'm well aware of that." Shadow stated, as though it was obvious. "And I believe you're telling me the truth."
"Really?" Sprig said with widened eyes.
"Oh, no, you don't!" Polly exclaimed, hopping over. "You were trying to Chad him into trusting you!"
"And you're trying to Vivica him and Anne into not trusting me!" Sprig snapped back.
"Stop fighting, you two!" Shadow said, trying to defuse the arguing.
"Oh, and look at Hop Pop trying to Randy his way out of this." Polly stated as she glared at Hop Pop.
"I don't even know what that means!" Hop Pop exclaimed.
"Guys, cut it out!" Anne raised her voice. "You're gonna—"
Suddenly, the rope bridge snapped from the weight, all four falling into the abyss below, the zapapede watching with a tilted head of confusion.
"Everyone, hang on!" Shadow yelled, reaching out and grabbing onto Anne and the Plantars, then with a concentrated breath, he slowed their descent, although the combined weight made it impossible to fully stop the fall, before coming to a stop on another cliff below, everyone dropping to the ground.
"Rope bridge? More like nope bridge." Anne said jokingly.
"Sorry, everyone, I'm not used to carrying so many people at once while flying." Shadow said. "Not to mention the weight.
"Wait, you were really flying?!" Anne gasped.
"I did mention that you could fly, with practice." Shadow stated. "But now isn't the best time, look."
Looking to where his hand was pointing, Anne saw a bunch of zapapede's down below, all seeming agitated from the bridge collapsing.
"More zapapedes!" Hop Pop declared. "They're pretty far down."
"I can just fly down and get the charge." Shadow suggested.
"Aren't you already tired from catching us?" Anne asked.
"Eh, it's just me." Shadow shrugged. "Plus, it's not that tiring, but prolonged periods of time can make it difficult."
"But you don't need to tire yourself out for my sake." Anne said before she sprung an idea. "Oh! Let's just link arms and lower someone down, just like the teens did in episode eight."
"Ha! So that Polly can drop us to cover her tracks, just like Vivica did in the very same episode?" Sprig said, pointing at his sister accusingly.
"You callin' me a Vivica?" Polly growled.
"Maybe..." Sprig said before Polly jumped at him, both brawling on the floor.
"Kids, no! Stop fightin'!" Hop Pop yelled, trying to stop the fighting.
His pleas fell on deaf ears, however, as Polly gave Sprig an Indian burn, Sprig responding by giving Polly a wet willy.
"Hey, cut it out, you guys! Seriously!" Anne tried to intervene, only to receive an accidental kick in the face from Sprig.
"Oh, sorry, Anne. You okay?" Sprig apologized with a chuckle.
Anne didn't respond, except move Sprig's leg to the side before rolling up her sleaves and lunging at the two with a shout.
"Cut it out!" Shadow tried to separate them. "Stop fighting, you three!"
POW!
All fell silent when Anne's fist accidentally collided with Shadow's cheek, Sprig and Polly staring back with fear.
"Oh, my bad, dude!" Anne apologized.
Deathly silent, Shadow gently pushed her arm away before cracking his knuckles, before speaking in a monotone voice, "Your free license for living has been revoked."
Nobody had time to react before the boy lunged at them, putting all of them in a submission holds; holding Anne in a full nelson, Sprig in a scissor hold, and Polly in a headlock, all three in agonizing pain.
"Kids, no! Stop fighting!" Hop Pop begged, sweating bullets, until he couldn't take anymore.
"IT WAS MEEEEEEE!"
His shout echoed throughout the mountain, the four kids looking at him in shock, before Shadow released his hold.
"You mean—" Anne said.
"That's right, Anne!" Hop Pop declared. "I watched all the episodes! Every single one!"
"But you hated Suspicion Island!" Anne pointed out.
"Hated it? Hated it?!" Hop Pop repeated. "I LOVED it!" He started pacing. "Ever since the end of that last episode, I-I couldn't sleep. I fell in love with those crazy kids on their crazy island. I couldn't get enough! I did the only thing I could. I snuck out to the livin' room to watch another episode. I vowed only to watch one, but Suspicion Island had its hooks in me! And before I realized what had happened, I'd finished the season! With dawn approaching, I covered my tracks and made my escape."
"Unbelievable." Anne said.
"What a twist!" Sprig gasped.
"But now, I'm gonna make things right." Hop Pop declared before snatching Anne's phone. "I will redeem myself!"
Before anyone could react, Hop Pop ran over to the edge and jumped off, plummeting to the zapapede's below, screaming.
"Hop Pop!" Anne gasped, all four looking over the edge to see the old frog laid safely on one of the electric bugs.
"I'm okay!" Hop Pop called up to them. "You know, it's actually kinda relaxing!"
Suddenly, the zapapede's started zapping him, Hop Pop screaming in pain. When it stopped, he looked burnt and was in terrible pain as he whimpered. The bugs started sapping him again, the old frog tried crawling away, only to get zapped again and again.
"Stop screaming, I think that's making them angrier!" Polly called.
"He can't last much longer!" Sprig said.
"I'll get him!" Shadow declared, floating up before flying down, taking hold of the old frog and pulling him up before the zapapede's could zap him again, before flying back up, setting him back on the ground.
Recovering a bit, Hop Pop looked at the screen of Anne's phone, seeing it overcharged to ten-thousand percent, "Holy smokes. That's a lot of percents."
"Try not to stand up too fast." Shadow suggested as he sat the old frog up.
"So, you love Suspicion Island, huh?" Anne asked with a smile.
"Yeah..." Hop Pop sighed. "And I'm sorry I lied and drained your memory box. Can you ever forgive this old, silly frog?"
"Hopediah, you just risked your life to recharge Anne's phone." Shadow stated. "I think you're more than forgiven."
"Yeah, I think we're totally square." Anne nodded.
"Aw. Really glad I didn't push you off a cliff like I was planning." Polly smiled.
"Me too, Polly. Me too." Sprig agreed.
After that, Shadow managed to fly everyone back down to the mountain base, proceeding to walk the rest of the way back.
"Well, enough fiddle-faddling. We gotta get home so you guys can finish the season." Hop Pop declared. "If I don't talk to someone about it soon, I'm gonna explode! I mean, that part where the island itself is revealed to actually be—"
"No!/Oh, come on!/Dude, spoilers!/Keep it to yourself, old man!"
Hours passed and everyone turned in for the night, Shadow and Anne having returned to his hut, Anne sleeping quite soundly. Shadow, on the other hand, laid awake, not quite able to fall asleep, his eyes staring at the ceiling before looking over at his desk. Getting up, he quietly walked over and pulled open one of the drawers, pulling out a folded sheet of paper. He proceeded to unfold it, revealing it to be a drawing of some sort. The background was a grassy plain with a tree off to the side while four individuals that looked like stick figures stood at the center, smiling and holding hands. In the center were two adults, from the looks of it, one having white hair and blue colored on the body and had the word 'daddy' written overhead, while the other looked female with green drawn on the body with red hair and 'mommy' overhead, while on the father's side was a youngster that looked similar to him, the word 'me' overhead, while the other one on the female's side had the word 'bro' overhead.
Shadow smiled sadly, wondering how his brother was doing, if he was studying like he usually did, or eating right.
Or if he hated him…
Pushing those thoughts to the side, he placed the drawing back in the drawer before returning to bed, drifting off to sleep.