Trolls Band Together (OC Insert)

Chapter 11

(Val's POV)

I look around at the beautiful lights as they illuminate the many golf courses.

Viva brings our attention back to her. "Oh, my gosh. Are you guys hungry? Are you thirsty?"

"Yes!" Tiny exclaims.

"Fries? Fries! You guys want fries. I am seeing fries. Bring out the works! Milkshakes to celebrate!" Viva says.

Some of the Putt-Putt trolls leave to get us food, and it's more than just fries. There's also a hotdog and a banana split.

Now that I stop and think about it, I haven't eaten anything else other than breakfast today. So I grab a fry and start eating.

Viva finishes a strawberry milkshake in like three seconds before jumping around. "Whoo-hoo! That's better. Now I finally have some energy!" She quickly runs by Poppy and braids her hair with colorful hair ties.

"Did you just braid my hair?" Poppy asks with excitement.

"You're welcome. It looks so good," Viva compliments.

"I love it," Poppy says while hugging her braided hair.

Bruce is also eating fries with Tiny. "Wow. These fries are amazing. They'd really go great with a burger."

Out of nowhere, all of the Putt-Putt trolls scream and run away.

"What is happening?" Bruce asks.

Viva walks over to us. "Yeah, we try not to use that word around here. It's just that 'burger' sounds a little too much like, uh...'Bergens,'" she says, whispering the last part.

Wait, why are they still scared of Bergens? Don't they know that Bergens are nice now?

"We call burgers..." A voice shouts to us. Just a distance away, a troll with crazy, green hair approaches us. "...meat circles."

"Clay?" Branch asks.

"That's Clay?" I ask.

Bruce is the first to greet him with a handshake. "Clay. Hey, what's up, man?"

"How you been, man?" Clay asks.

John Dory jumps forward. "Clay!"

Clay only gives him a blank stare. "Hmm. John."

"Wha--" John Dory mutters offensively.

Clay goes back to talking with Bruce. "Spruce! What do you know?"

"Actually, I go by Bruce now," Bruce corrects.

"Bruce. Oh. Someone got fancy.  I like it," Clay says.

"Look who's talking. Is that a sweater romper?" Bruce asks as he looks at Clay's green clothing.

Clay shrugs. "What can I say? When you co-run a place, gotta flex the drip."

Viva appears next to Clay. "Yeah, I'm the fun side of the operation, and Mr. Clay takes care of the boring stuff!"

Clay raises his hand and says, "Guilty!" He then looks over at Branch. "Whoa! Baby Branch? No way!" After giving him a hug, he grabs him by the face.

"Actually, it's Big Branch now. Or just Branch. Branch is fine," Branch says. With Clay finally out of his face, he motions to Poppy and me. "So, Clay, this is Poppy. And this is Val."

"Hey," I say with a small wave, to which he waves back.

"Hi, Clay," Poppy says before hugging him. "So great to finally meet you. Can you do the Rusty Robot for me?"

Clay shakes his head. "Yeah, no, I don't do that anymore, okay?"

Poppy immediately brushes that thought away. "Right. Kidding. Can you imagine? I wouldn't just ask you to do that after meeting you two seconds ago. Who would do that?"

"Yeah, it's just that Fun Boy Clay is dead. Serious Boy Clay only does the Well-Oiled Robot," Clay says as he does a smooth robot dance move. "And it is no..." He imitates DJ scratching before saying, "...fun."

"I mean, that's still pretty fun," Poppy says with a shrug.

John Dory chuckles. "Yeah, same old Clay."

"No. That's not true. If I was still fun, would I have chosen the admin building as my bedroom?" Clay asks.

We all look in the distance and see a very small boring-looking shed. And to be honest, he does prove a point about not being fun anymore.

"Huh? Huh? Asking the tough questions, guys. Asking the tough questions," Clay says.

"Oh, right," Poppy states.

Clay looks at each one of us as he steps closer. "Anyways, I can't believe you all are here. Wait, where's Floyd?"

"That's why we're here," Branch says. "Floyd's been taken prisoner in Mount Rageous by superstar singers Velvet and Veneer..."

Everyone else, including me, joins him in the explanation. "And the only thing powerful enough to free him is the perfect family harmony."

Tiny looks at us in disbelief. "Okay, either they just made that up, or I have not been paying attention."

"Well, why haven't you just called the authorities?" Clay asks. "Oh, unless Floyd is being held in an impenetrable diamond prison." He says that hypothetically as he leans up next to me.

"Yeah, that's it," I say.

"I'm in," Clay says as he backs up. "I'd also like to volunteer to keep track of our expenses. Just 'cause I think you're gonna need somebody to be on top of that."

"Yeah, I don't think you'll get any pushback on that front," Bruce says.

"Great, but we need to leave for Mount Rageous, like, now," Branch says urgently.

"You can't leave now. You just got here. Come on. Let me show you around," Viva says. She grabs Poppy's hand and leads her somewhere.

At that moment, Poppy's hug time bracelet chimes, indicating that it's hug time. My flower also chimes with a rainbow glow.

"Hug time!" Viva shouts as she hugs Poppy.

John Dory extends his arms as he looks at his brothers. But they only refuse with head shakes.

Tiny jumps into my arms and I hug him. Not wanting John Dory to feel left out, I side-hug him as well.

Viva looks down at Poppy's bracelet. "Aw, so cute. Where'd you get that hug time bracelet?"

"My dad gave it to me," Poppy answers.

As we all walk over, Viva says, "Okay, this is so totally random, but I used to have one just like it. Can I see that?"

Poppy nods before putting the bracelet on her. "Wow. It fits you perfectly."

"Yeah," Viva says before staring down at it for a few seconds. She even taps the bracelet, making it sparkle. "I'm sorry. What did you say your name was again?"

"I'm Poppy," Poppy says.

"Poppy?" Viva asks before getting in her face.

With this much silence, I stand confused with Branch and his brothers.

"Okay, um, another totally random, weird question, but is your dad King Peppy?" Viva asks.

"Uh, yeah?" Poppy responds in confusion.

"You're--" Without saying anything else, Viva hugs Poppy and spins her around. "Oh, you're--you're alive!"

I lean over to Branch. "Does she know her?"

Branch only answers with a shrug.

"This is unbelievable! I never thought I'd see you again!" Viva says happily before letting her go.

"Again?" Poppy asks.

"Poppy, it's me, Viva," Viva says.

Poppy only stares, not knowing what she means, or who she is.

"I'm your sister."