Off in the forest, Branch walked over stones and under branches as he held Gary in his hands, the little blue troll looking down at his remote control son as he spoke to him...

"So... what do we do while we wait for Poppy, Gar?" he asked before pausing to 'listen' to Gary's answer. "What? No, we're not going home. I'm not just gonna leave Poppy here." He paused, 'listening'... "I really don't care if you're bored. I'm not leaving Poppy, and that's that."

     Another short silence and Branch sighed, stopping in place as he looked down at Gary in slight anger...

     "Well... yeah, Gary. Of course I've noticed her mom is crazy..." he groaned, the little pop troll rolling his eyes in annoyance. "But I'm still not..."

     But Branch's sentence was quickly cut off by Gary beginning to speak yet again, the young boy seeming to get nervous as he listened to the remote control's 'words'...

     "Y... yes... her mom dose want to... to kill me..." he stuttered nervously, his voice beginning to tremble in fear. "And I would be safer at home... in my heavily fortified danger proof survival bunker... And... and..."

     Realizing what Gary was doing, Branch quickly paused, cutting off his own statement as the young troll shook his head to push away the horrifying thoughts swirling through it...

     "But I'm still not leaving without Poppy!" he finally yelled firmly, the little blue troll glaring down at his remote control son. "And she wants to be here... so I'm staying with her... no matter what..."

Again he paused, the young boy rolling his eyes in anger as he 'listened' to Gary's argument...

"Because I love her Gary!" he yelled. "I'm not making her leave a place she really wants to be, and I'm not leaving without her, so you can just suck it up, and stop being a little..."

Suddenly, a strange sound came to the young boy's ears, Branch pausing his argument to look around himself in a panic...

     'Snap... crackle... pop...'

     The sound was undeniable... it was the crunching noise leaves made when someone walked through them... someone was coming...

Slowly, Branch put Gary back into his hair as the paranoid pop troll looked cautiously around his surroundings...

     "Stay hidden, Gary..." the survivalist whispered softly to his son. "Don't come out no matter what..."

The leaves continued to crack as Branch looked around in a panic, putting himself into full defensive mode...

     There was no way it was Poppy coming to find him... it couldn't be her... the footsteps were far too loud, clearly belonging to a much larger creature than a normal sized pop troll... even worse... the sounds seemed to be coming from every direction... he was surrounded...

"Who's there!?" the little blue troll shouted out firmly, trying his best to sound as threatening as possible, though his voice was clearly shaking in pure uncontainable terror...

     But... there was no answer... only the sound of footsteps getting closer... and closer...

     "Show yourself!"

Silence...

Looking frantically around his surroundings, Branch suddenly noticed two eyes staring at him from the darkness of a bush, the little pop troll's heart sinking down painfully into the pit of his stomach...

"H... hello?" he gulped, taking a small step back, the young boy making sure to keep his eyes locked on the possible threat...

Slowly, the eyes began to approach the helpless troll, a large bird suddenly walking out of the shadows and entering Branch's field of view...

A small frightened whimper escaped from the little troll's throat as he stared wide eyed up at the massive bird in complete terror...

"Umm... st... stay back... I... I'm warning y... you," he stuttered, the poor boy's voice shaking wildly as he backed away slowly from the wild animal that was approximately four times his size...

Suddenly, the leaves behind him cracked, causing Branch to jump in fear, the young boy quickly spinning around to see another bird right behind him...

"Uh... umm..." he stammered nervously, the survivalist backing away as he looked back and forth between the two giant birds, having no idea how he was gonna escape the horrifying terrors of the sky...

He backed up, the petrified pop troll suddenly bumping into something that stood behind him, his heart seeming to stop beating completely as his face turned pale...

With a gulp of pure and utter terror, Branch slowly turned his head to see what... or who... he was now leaned up against...

"AHHHHH!" he screamed out loudly, the  endangered troll jumping backwards as he saw yet another bird... "Leave me alone! All of you!"

But despite the survivalist's clear demand for them to back off... the birds only continued their mocking approach as the poor terrified troll looked around at all of them, his heart racing in horror...

Suddenly... one of the massive feathered creatures pecked their sharp beak at the helpless troll, Branch quickly jumping out of the way of being impaled before turning to run away in terror, hoping with all his heart he could actually escape this alive...

As he ran, Uueeka, the bird from the cave, suddenly swooped down from the sky, the massive creature landing right in front of Branch to cut off his escape root completely...

"AHHH!" the little pop troll screamed out in shock, stumbling backwards before quickly losing his balance and falling to the ground...

His eyes wide, Branch looked up from where he sat helplessly on the grass, the young boy suddenly noticing that Poppy's mom was on the back of the large bird that had just sabotaged his escape plan...

"You thought you got away with it..." she said in a soft but threatening tone, the former queen gripping her staff tightly in her hand. "Didn't you?"

"Uh..." Branch muttered nervously, scooting away from her as much as he could while remaining on the ground, his eyes locked on the threat and refusing to look away... "Got away with... what... exactly?"

     "Lying to my daughter..." Pansy stated angrily before jumping off Uueeka's back to approach the terrified pop troll. "You know what I said would happen if you ever hurt her..."

     "I... I... I..." Branch stuttered, backing into a tree.

     Pansy continued to approach him, the old pink troll gripping her staff tightly in her hands...

     Branch couldn't help but whimper in fear as he stared up at her wide eyed, the little troll not knowing what to do...

     She was gonna kill him!

     "P... Po... Poppy!" he finally called out, desperately hoping his girlfriend would come and save him. It was his only chance at survival... "Poppy!"

     Pansy chuckled, raising her staff up into the air as she smirked down at the helpless troll who sat motionless at her feet...

     "No one can save you, boy..." she chuckled mischievously. "It's just you... and me..."

     His heart racing in pure terror, Branch finally looked away from the threat, the little troll closing his eyes tight as he braced himself for the excruciating pain he knew was about to come...

     "Branch!?" he suddenly heard in a shout from off in the distance.

     With a soft gasp, Branch opened his eyes, looking off in the direction the call had come from...

     He'd know that voice anywhere... It was Poppy!

     "Poppy!" Branch screamed out in pure fear. "Help!"

     Quickly, hearing Branch's cries for help, Poppy came rushing over, pushing her way through the bushes to get to her boyfriend...

     Pansy sighed at the sight of her daughter, rolling her eyes as she lowered her staff, knowing that her plans had now been foiled...

     Still in complete panic mode, Branch jumped up to his trembling feet, the survivalist quickly running over to hug Poppy tight...

     "Branch? What's wrong? What happened?" Poppy asked in concern as she hugged him back, the poor scared troll shaking in her arms as he whimpered softly in fear...

     Finally... after a few moments of worry... Poppy looked up, suddenly noticing her mom...

     "Mom?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "What's going on?"

     "Nothing much..." Pansy answered with a slight smile, the former queen innocently petting Uueeka's head. "Just having a little chat with Branch here..."

     Poppy looked back down at Branch who currently had his face buried deep into her shoulder as he cried softly in fear, the little blue troll hugging her tight, and refusing to let go...

     The poor boy was petrified...

     "Branchie?" Poppy whispered in concern, the queen of pop gently rubbing her boyfriend's back to try and help him calm down. "What happened, sweetie? Why are you so scared?"

     "She... she... she..." Branch stuttered, unable to speak with how scared he was, the little pop troll not even taking his face out of his girlfriend's shoulder...

     Not allowing him to find the words he so desperately needed to say, Pansy walked over, placing a hand on the survivalist's shoulder.

     "AHHH!" he screamed out in absolute terror, the poor boy immediately jumping to hide behind Poppy...

     "He's just a little nervous..." Pansy informed with a smug grin before anything else could be said. "I was just about to take him on a little ride." She gestured to Uueeka who walked over, trying to nuzzle Branch, but the safety nerd quickly pulled away, hiding even farther behind Poppy, the little troll's eyes shut tight as he whimpered softly in fear...

     "Oh... well... I think that's a great idea!" Poppy exclaimed, smiling wide at the suggestion.

     Branch's eyes widened instantly at the sound of his girlfriend's words, the young boy looking up at her in complete disbelief...

     "Wha... what?" he stuttered nervously. "You... you... WHAT!?"

     "Yeah," Poppy said excitedly, turning to look at her best friend. "I want my boyfriend and my mom to get along. The best way for that to happen is if you two spend some quality time together."

     "B... but, Poppy..." he stuttered, still barely able to speak, his heart pounding right out of his chest. "I... and... and she..."

     Poppy lifted Branch up onto his feet before he could finish his complaint, the young queen leading him towards her mom...

     "You'll be fine," she assured.
"But... but... but..." Branch tried to explain. "I... I..."
"I'll see you both later, ok?" Poppy said with a smile before turning to walk away. "Have fun!"

     "But... no! Poppy!" Branch yelled after her as she quickly disappeared into the distance, the queen of pop unfortunately no longer able to hear him. "She... she's gonna kill me..." he mumbled quietly, the poor boy's ears drooping down in despair as he looked off in the direction Poppy had taken...

     "Well, Branch..." Pansy said with a malicious smirk, the old troll putting her arm around his shoulder. "Looks like it's just you and me again..."

     "I... I actually just remembered..." Branch quickly said, pulling away from Poppy's mother's grasp as he turned back to look at her in fear. "I... uh... left my stove on at home. I... um... better go... turn it off... Bye!"

     With that, the terrified troll tried to run off, but Pansy quickly grabbed hold of his shoulder, pulling him back...

     "Now, now, Branch... no need to be scared," Pansy said menacingly as she smiled maliciously at him, the little blue troll unable to do anything but look back at her in complete and utter terror. "Let's go have some fun..."

     Branch gulped, shrinking away in fear as Pansy began pulling him forwards against his will...