𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐍➸ ǫ.ʙ

જ⁀➴𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐘 𝐇𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒

"Actually, I'm doing this for college credit."

"NO! What did they do to you, my hairy little baby!" Barb hugged Debbie with a frown on her face.

"Gnarly..." Riff quietly mumbled.

Barb handed Debbie to Flynn, who hugged the pet affectionately. Flynn loved Debbie. She was her favorite bat. The cutest thing she'd ever seen.

Barb payed her attention to an envelope that Debbie was holding in her mouth. "What is this? Pop trolls?"

Flynn watched nervously as Barb opened the package and read it.

"Dear Barb, can't wait to meet you. I have tons of great part ideas?" Barb had a frustrated look on her face as her dad agreed with the scrapbooked words. "Maybe you and I can even be best friends. Best friends?"

She turned to all the trolls in the room and clearly showed them the letter. "Is she making fun of me? No one says that." Flynn knew sending them that invitation wasn't a good idea. "Friendship takes time and years of mutual care and respect. You don't just become best friends."

"Barb, the Pop Trolls are just really friendly like that." Flynn tried to calm her down, "They're always willing to get to know anyone within a 100 mile radius."

"And how do you know?" Barb squinted her eyes at Flynn.

"Uh- Well, when I was out there. Y'know, traveling the world, I came across Pop Village and... some of the conversations I ended up hearing and seeing were great examples of that." She pointed to the letter.

Flynn never told Barb she was a Pop Troll. When they met, Flynn had stolen clean clothes from a camping Rock Troll. So, her wardrobe wasn't very Pop-y. And when Barb originally questioned the suspicious existence of Flynn, she explained that she had left a long time ago, deciding to lead a journey on her own.

Barb appreciated Flynn's natural independence, and they became fast friends.

"Well, I don't need anymore friends. I have all the friends I need." She bitterly responded. She was calmed for a split second, but then a sizzling sound caught her attention.

She looked down to the letter Poppy sent, and a small glitter bomb went off all over her face. Poppy, over a recording, sang, "Trolls just wanna have fun!"

This angered Barb, she growled and went ballistic.

"Pop music isn't even real music!" She kicked stuff around as she yelled. "It's bland! It's repetitive! The lyrics are empty!" She threw all kinds of stuff. Once she got close enough to the couch, she grabbed a chainsaw, moved Debbie out of the way, and sawed it in half. "Worst of all, it crawls into your head like an ear worm!"

While Barb went on the tangent, Flynn handed Thrash a juice box. She didn't have big reactions to Barb's occasional angry rants. She'd gotten used to them by now.

"You know, and you can't get it out- Uh, I'm tired now." Barb collapsed onto the side of a couch, panting. "Phew! Hating things takes a lot of energy."

Flynn was going to find something to eat when Thrash started to sing quietly. "Trolls just wanna have fun. Trolls just wanna have..."

"No, no!" Barb rushed to him, "Look what their music did to Dad!" She gave him another juice box. "Daddy? Come back to me, Daddy."

Barb's face distorted into an angered frown. "No one does this to Dad. And no one makes fun of Queen Barb."

Thrash quickly finished his juice box, so Flynn gave him a bag of small snacks he enjoyed. She thought of trying to correct Barb and set things straight, but she felt it might just anger Barb further.

"Ah! I need that Pop string." She grabbed the letter, "And I know who's gonna help me. The most feared bounty hunters is all of Trolldom."

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The bounty hunters soon lined up as Barb announced them.

"Chaz, the Smooth Jazz Troll. The Reggaeton Trolls. The K-Pop Gang. And... the Yodelers."

Flynn and Barb stood in front of the trolls, and Flynn started the conversation. "Okay. As you probably know, Barb's bringing a tidal wave of rock across this land of ours."

A map of Trolldom appeared behind them while Flynn continued. "And soon there will be nothing but hard rock as far as the ear can hear."

"Whoever brings me Queen Poppy gets to keep their very own music in their very own territory." Barb finished off the explanation, "Right over here." She pointed to a small red dot on the map.

One of the Reggaeton trolls inspected closer, "I don't know. It looks pretty tiny."

"You want it or not?"

He backed up and got back into his position, posing with his group.

"All you have to do it get me Queen Poppy!" The groups made their way out to start their quest and Barb turned to Riff. "Dude, where are the Yodelers?"

"I heard a rumor, uh, that they yodeled so hard, an avalanche fell on 'em?" He looked down to the floor as he spewed his excuse. "...Or something."

"Well, I don't pay you to hear."

"Actually, I'm doing this for college credit." Flynn passed by him and whispered, "You're doing great."

Barb sat down on her throne, "If anyone can find me Queen Poppy and her string, it's the Yodelers." She burned the letter from Poppy.

Flynn slowly scooted to her seat beside Barb's, "Barb, y'know, I could go out and try to find Queen Poppy."

Barb scoffed, "Why? The bounty hunters'll find her, there's no need for you to go."

"Well, I just think that.. with my knowledge of the Pop Trolls, I could find them pretty easily." Flynn shrugged.

"C'mon Flynn, they're Pop Trolls. They're easier to find anyways."

"Mm. Okay." She stood from her seat and walked back to her room.

Barb noticed something was off, but ultimately decided to ignore it.

Flynn's room had always been her sanctuary, away from the Rock Trolls. She loved being around them, she felt free with them. But she also felt trapped, having to hide her Pop roots. Weird, right?

★🎸🎧⋆｡ °⋆

Taking the Funk String might've been the hardest part yet. Flynn had to find and retrieve the string without alerting the royal family. And once she spotted Cooper, she knew she had to stay in the dark.

As soon as they got to the string, Barb quickly took ahold of Flynn's hand and pulled her to leave. "Quick, this way. The Yodelers found Queen Poppy!"

TO BE CONTINUED...

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