"Poppy! Poppy, wait!" Branch yelled, chasing after his wife, as she walked away from him, holding the scrapbook close to her face, as she read the map inside of it.

     Quickly, he grabbed her wrist, forcing her to a stop.

     "Where are you going!?" he asked, panting heavily in exhaustion from running after her. "To find the stone of dreams," she answered, as if it were obvious.
"Poppy!" he yelled in disbelief. "Does certain death mean nothing to you!?"
"Please, Branch," she scoffed. "We face certain death all the time. Besides, if we don't find this stone, we'll basically be dead anyways. I don't want to be stuck like a ghost forever."

     Branch sighed looking away sadly.

     "Yeah..." he muttered softly. "Stuck..."

     "Look, Branch," she said, gently taking his hands in hers. "I'm going. But if you're too scared..."
"What? Me? Branch? Scared?" he scoffed, pulling away from her, as he crossed his arms. "Ha! I fear nothing."

     Suddenly, a bird landed beside him, squawking loudly.

     "AHHHHH!" he screamed, quickly jumping into Poppy's arms for protection.

     The bird flew away, and Branch looked up at Poppy, smiling innocently.

     "Ok..." he chuckled. "Maybe I fear some things."

     He climbed out of Poppy's arms, straightening out his vest, as he turned away from her.

     "I'm going, Branch," she repeated. "It's our only chance to reverse this."

     Branch sighed, knowing she was right.

     "Ok... ok..." he groaned. "I'll go with you."

     Poppy smiled, as she kissed his cheek lovingly.

     "Thank you Branch," she said to him. "Now let's go! We haven't got much time."

     Without warning, she grabbed Branch's arm, dragging him forwards in a quick sprint.

     "Ahh!" Branch screamed in surprise, being dragged away at hyper speed.

—————

     "Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow." Branch groaned, hitting himself in the face repeatedly, as he walked down the path with Poppy leading the way.

     Poppy looked up from the map, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

     "What are you doing?" she asked, watching him hit himself.
"Barb..." Branch groaned in annoyance, slapping his face again, harder than ever before. "Ow!"

     He grabbed his hand, trying to hold it back, but it was no use. He just couldn't make it stop... no matter how hard he tried...

Back in Trollstopia
—————

     "Why are you hitting yourself. Why are you hitting yourself. Why are you hitting yourself," Barb laughed, making Branch's hand slap his face over and over, Branch, being completely unconscious, having no way of stopping her.

     Poppy and Branch's bodies were in beds at Dr. Moonbloom's medical center, all of their friends gathered around them, worried about their safety.

     "Would y'all cut that out, y'all," Holly said angrily, grabbing Barb's arm, so she would stop slapping Branch.

     "Oh come on," Barb complained, yanking her arm out of Holly's grasp. "It's fun!"
"It's mean, Barb!" Demo yelled, having had enough of the queen's childish behavior. "We don't even know what's wrong with them."
"I'm sure their fine," Barb scoffed, sitting back in her chair, as she crossed her arms in annoyance. "Do they look fine to you?" Dante asked with the slightest bit of attitude, gesturing at the two unconscious trolls.

     Barb looked at the two of them, a sad look appearing on her face, as she sighed.

     "Sorry," she apologized, lowering her head in shame.
"It's ok, sugar," Holly assured, placing a comforting hand on the queen of rock's shoulder. "We just have to hope for the best."