Rock On!: A Parb Story

Chapter 15: The Uprising

Poppy's POV

I managed to get by the guards at the wall without detection this time. They seemed less protected than before, the other guards must have been elsewhere.

I looked around and saw a large crowd gathering inside the stadium. I flew around and all saw my friends headed over, all in chains. I had to do something, just couldn't get spotted.

Then I remembered a former underground entrance we used for dramatic entrances for announcements. I flew around to the back security door and landed close nearby. As soon as I got in, I headed down to the bottom floor, avoiding the guards.

As soon as I got to the platform, I saw what going on topside through the monitors. They were all under some device that looked menacing. I didn't know if they were gonna kill them or worse but I wasn't gonna let them.

Okay, think Poppy, think, I thought to myself, remember what you learned.

I did so, and I remembered how I performed the Rock Blast, the only thing that could save them now. I closed my eyes and reached down deep, opening up all of my emotions, letting them flow through me, fuel me in that single moment.

As soon as I opened my eyes, I let loose a ripping guitar riff that sent a Rock Blast of giant proportions. It blast through the ceiling and up into the machine, destroying it in a single moment.

As soon as I saw the light, I grabbed a speaker phone and announced to the whole stadium, "who wants to party, with or without smiling?"

I kicked the lift button, ascending me high in the air. As I rose, I played my guitar like never before, rocking as hard as I can. I made it to the top, and conveniently, in front of my friends, who were both relieved and happy to see me.

"Hey guys," I said, chuckling a bit.

"Poppy!" they all said, rushing over to hug me. It may have been awkward, but I still loved it.

"You!" A voice called from above.

I turned around, it was Creek. He floated down and landed right in front of me.

"You're not allowed to be here!" Creek said, angrily.

"Neither are you!" I said, readying my guitar. Everyone else managed to get their stuff from the guards after a quick knockout, backing me up.

"Look at yourself," Creek said, mockingly, "you still think you're fighting for us?"

"I'm fighting for my friends and family, not you, Creek!" I said, fierce.

"You abandoned us for this crazy Hard Rock Queen! You betrayed your tribe!"

"That's a lie and you know it! I didn't betray the tribe, you did! And we shouldn't let what tribe we are define who we can be friends with, otherwise it's just like before all over again."

"Oh yeah?" Creek said, cunningly, "well, how would everyone here react if they found out that you, Queen Poppy of the Pop Trolls kissed a certain Troll from another tribe?"

Everyone in the stadium was intrigued about this, they leaned in, wanting to know the truth.

"Fine, you all want to know?!" I asked, rhetorically, turning back to look at my friends before turning back to the crowd, "I kissed Queen Barb!"

The crowd all gasped at that statement, but I pressed on.

"Yeah, that's right! I kissed a girl, and I liked it! And I don't think we all should be ashamed of that, or who we are. Love is not just one straight line, it's an amorphous essence that transcends and respects all differences. And denying our differences denies the truth about who we are. We shouldn't let our differences keep us from getting along together, but we should just ignore what makes us different either, because our real loving harmony takes all voices, every different one there is!"

The crowd started murmuring, starting to agree, I looked around at the crowd, then back at my friends. I looked at Barb, whose smile was bigger than I've ever seen it before. Then I saw Branch, and he didn't even seem mad, he just nodded in understanding. I nodded back, finally accepting who and what I was.

"Oh, boo-hoo!" Creek yelled, angrily, grabbing a weapon, "that doesn't change who you are! And if you won't join us, then you'll die!"

He swung the weapon down at me and I braced for impact, only to hear a small clink only two inches from my face. I opened my eyes, to see Barb standing there, her axe-guitar holding back Creek's weapon, with a determined look on her face. Creek just looked shocked at the sight.

"Hands. Off. My. Girlfriend," Barb said, fierce as a tiger.