Willow followed the music to a beach. She could hear it better, but still couldn't see where it was coming from.

"All aboard!" a voice laughed. Willow noticed three hermit crabs each sing a high note as the ground began to rumble.

Suddenly, giant, fishlike creatures emerged from the ocean, causing Willow to accidentally launch herself in the air with a magical blast. She landed on the tongue of the largest creature, and looked up to notice a bunch of strange-looking Trolls riding them. Some of them even flew bugs like they were flying motorcycles! Two of them were right in front of Willow, failing to notice her. One of them had a mohawk, and the other had a tattoo on her back that looked like a tiny pair of wings. As Willow nervously hid in the giant Angler Tour Bus, Barb and Ash began singing a loud song together.

Crazy!

But that's how it goes

Millions of people living as foes

Music has kept us apart

It's time for the hard rock revolution to start!

No spats, no tiffs, no fighting

When everyone's the same!

I'm going off the rails on a crazy train!

As Barb held the last note, she, Ash, and the rest of the Rock Trolls went inside the Angler Bus as the mouth sealed itself shut. Since Willow couldn't get out now, she decided she might as well find out who these Trolls were.

"Yeah! I got the Techno string!" Barb announced to her fellow Rockers, who cheered as she held up the glowing blue string. "Who knew world domination could be so much fun?"

World domination? Willow thought as she turned herself invisible and climbed up the wall.

Barb and Ash made their way through the crowd and gave their friends fist bumps and low fives. A guitar case opened itself up, revealing a wild-looking black guitar with a silver skull on it. It had a single string similar to the Techno string, but it was red instead of blue. Barb added the Techno string to the guitar and it turned the same shade of red as the notes of Techno faded away and blended in with the sounds of Hard Rock.

"Only four more strings to go until rock unites the world," Barb declared with a sinister grin. She noticed Ash looking nervous. "You okay, sis?"

"Barb, not that this isn't fun, but I'm not sure if we're doing the right thing here," she answered nervously.

"You're right," Barb said understandingly. "We have do the right thing somewhere else. To our next stop!"

"Yeah!" everyone agreed. Ash just meekly pumped her fist in the air before shivering. She didn't know why, but she felt cold.

Willow noticed snowflakes falling on her nose and tried to make them stop.

"Hey, cut it out!" she pleaded, only for ice to form beneath her feet, causing her to slip off the ledge she stood on. Turning visible again, Willow bounced off a couple couches, and landed in Ash's arms. They stared at each other for a moment, both feeling something they hadn't before...

"Hey!" Barb shouted, interrupting their moment. Ash just dropped Willow and she landed flat on her back with her legs straight up in the air. "Who are you?!"

"W- who am I?" Willow repeated nervously, only for Barb to grab her by her shirt and press their faces together with a vicious snarl. Although Willow's eyes were larger, Barb's gaze was still intimidating.

"I'm the queen here, I ask you questions!" Barb said aggressively.

Willow raised an eyebrow. "If you're a queen, where's your crown?"

"Oh, I don't need one," Barb replied, sniffing her. "I also don't need to ask where you're from because you reek of Pop's cheesiness."

"Yeah, I haven't bathed in weeks," Willow admitted as everyone else groaned in disgust. "Or, at least, not since I left my village."

"Why'd you leave your village?" Ash asked curiously.

"Well, to be honest with you," Willow began, "I was born with magical powers, but I didn't find out about them until I turned seventeen. I'm too dangerous to be around other Trolls, so I left my home and I should probably leave this place. It's not that I don't like you guys, even though y'all are kinda creeping me out, but I just don't want to hurt anyone."

Before Willow could leave, Barb grabbed her wrist and smirked. The other Rock Trolls just laughed.

"I have a better idea," Barb suggested. "You don't seem to like being alone, so why don't you join me and my friends on our World Tour? And once we head home to Volcano Rock City, I will help you make sure your powers won't hurt anyone."

Willow had a bad feeling about this. "What about the thing you said about world domin-"

"All I want is to bring all the Trolls in the world together," Barb explained, placing a finger on Willow's lips. "You can't tell me you want to miss out on that. You can have fun with the rest of us if you just come with us. What do you say? Just help me help you."

Willow took a deep breath and said, "Okay, I'll stay."

"Give it up for our newest recruit!" Barb whooped as the rest of the Trolls cheered. Ash, on the other hand, didn't like where this was headed.

"Barb, what are you doing?" she asked suspiciously as her older sister sat on her throne. "You don't really think she has magic powers, do you?"

"Of course not," she insisted. "I just don't want her running off to Pop Village to warn her little friends. Of all Trolls, you know how bad they can be."

Although she couldn't hear what they were talking about, Willow noticed Ash looking away sadly as she nodded.

"Besides, she probably just has a couple screws loose because playing their music too loud and too often messed up her brain."

"We're lucky that didn't happen to Dad," Ash said gratefully.

Barb's eyes widened. "Dad? Where's Dad?!"

Everyone heard a toilet flush as Barb and Ash's dad, the elderly King Thrash, rolled out in a wheelchair with spikes jutting from the wheels, letting out flames in the back as he parked near Barb's throne.

"Nice wheelchair," Willow complimented, giving a thumbs up.

"There you are, Dad!" Barb said excitedly. "I got the Techno string!"

"Cool. What's a string ag- again? What? Uh..."

"Don't you remember the plan?" Barb asked.

"Plan? I don't remember, um, uh, mmm..." King Thrash mumbled. Clearly, all the years of partying to hard rock have fried his brain.

"Barb, we should probably go over it again," Ash suggested. "Besides, we have a new recruit who has a right to know."

"Oh, great idea, man," Barb agreed and turned to three Trolls wearing black vests. "Okay, guys, line up. We're gonna go over the plan again!"

The three Trolls turned around and reveal images sewn on the backs of their vests. Each image revealed part of her evil plan.

"Okay," she announced. "We're on a World Tour. And on each stop, we get a new string. When I have all six strings, I'll play the ultimate power chord. And I will unite the Trolls under one music... Our music!"

"Rock!" all of the Hard Rockers shouted in ecstasy, making the sign of the horns with their fingers. Willow hesitantly joined in.

"Welcome to my world," Ash whispered in her ear. "I'm Ash, by the way."

"Name's Willow," Willow replied, shaking her hand. They noticed King Thrash raising his own hand.

"Oh, here it comes!" Barb said eagerly. Due to his arthritis, unfortunately, he could only raise his index and pinky fingers so high.

"Uh, just a little bit more," Riff encouraged.

"Riff, just help him, man," Barb ordered.

"Yes, Your Rockness," Riff replied, and flicked the elderly Troll's fingers up. Willow watched as the rest of the Trolls cheered. This whole hard rock music thing seemed important to them, so she decided to respect them as long as she was here.

"Rock and roll!" King Thrash shouted as his two daughters hugged him.

I told you guys Willow would find someone else. 😉

I have ideas for moments they can share, but one of them feels so kinda weird. I'll decide whether or not to keep it eventually.

Until I do, rock on. 🤘