All right, Polly, check this out!
According to this map, if we drive straight through the night,
we'll be home by morning!
Say "home" again.
Just think. Home for breakfast.
Mmm. Pillbug pancakes.
- Hanging out with Ivy. - 'Sup.
Not that it's a big deal.
Huh?
Where do you guys think you're going? We've got a schedule to keep.
Guys, we've been driving nonstop for like 20 hours.
Just a little shut-eye and we'll be back on the road by morning.
But we're so close!
Yeah! Can't you just power through one more night?
Please, please, please? I want to sleep in a real bed.
I know how you guys feel, but you're not the ones who have to drive.
Hey, I've got an idea.
Why don't you two sleep and we can get us home!
Yeah! Remember how we owned Quarrelers Pass?
Oh, you sweet, sweet, ignorant kids.
Amphibia changes at night.
And not for the better, let me tell you.
The nocturnal leech flies are bad enough,
but I've even heard folks tell of evil spirits wandering these parts.
Real spookums and such!
Haven't seen any myself, of course, but, you know, could happen.
Mm-hm, mm-hm.
Plus, neither of you read Bessie's driving manual!
- But… - Forget it.
You're not driving, and that's final.
Now, if you'll excuse us.
This is messed up!
Sure, we're young and made mistakes.
But we've proven we can handle ourselves!
I know, right? What in the world could be so dangerous out there
that we haven't lived through already?
I've been eaten eight times, Sprig. Eight times.
I sort of look forward to it now.
Hey, wait a sec. Hop Pop and Anne are asleep, right?
So asleep they won't even know if we take the reins and drive us home right now!
And when they wake up, they'll be so grateful to be home,
they'll completely forget to be mad at us!
Sprig, you creepy, little genius!
You sure they're not gonna wake up, right?
Absolutely! Those two are out cold.
Huh. Wonder if they'll have any dreams.
Oh, no. It's like all my stresses have physically manifested
as hideous monsters! Or something.
Looks like that's it for me!
Huh?
I'm floating. Wait a second. This must be a dream.
And if it's a dream, I can control it!
Ha-ha! For the first time in my life, I feel free!
Come on, you freaks! Follow me!
No stinking way!
Welcome to Yogurtropolis, ma'am. Would you like a free sample from my body?
Uh, sure. You guys got anything without bugs in it?
Bugs? Our yogurt doesn't have any bugs!
Did you say "no bugs"?
That is the most beautiful thing I've ever heard.
All right, little yogurt man, what flavors you got?
Green tea? Caramel? Hazelnut?
Oh, I'm afraid we only have one flavor here, ma'am.
What? No! No!
Licorice!
No!
No, no.
All right. Let's do this!
Sprig, have I ever told you you're such a great night driver?
Why, thank you, Polly,
but it is you who is the excellent night driver.
Well, end of the line, Polly.
There's no way we can dodge a couple of little pebbles.
Well, that's a big rock.
Well, we obviously nailed that. But, uh, should we stop?
Pshaw! No way! That all you got, night driving?
Then away we go.
Murder! Murder!
Could this place get any creepier? Wait, who's that?
Huh. Hitchhiker. What's, uh, our policy on those?
Just play it cool. Maybe he's friendly.
Hey there, mister. Like that hat.
Anything we can help you with today?
Punch it, Sprig!
Phew.
Well, that was close. Good thing we're way too good at night driving.
Preach!
The Foggy Fjords?
How foggy could it be?
Oh.
What do you think those things even are?
I don't have the foggiest idea. Sorry, sorry.
Crazy stuff.
Oh, hey, wait a second. I don't see the road anymore.
Polly, are we even going the right way?
Hey, look! There's someone! Maybe we can ask… them.
Oh, my frog, it's the hitchhiker!
It can't be! Don't make eye contact.
Too late.
A fork in the road!
- And he's pointing left! - Then go right! Right!
- Sprig. Polly. - What the heck is that?
- Where's the hitchhiker? Did we lose him? - Definitely.
There's no way he could follow us.
- Hey, did you just get a chill? - What?
- He's trying to steal our wagon! - Oh, no, you don't!
That's it! Take that, you creeper!
Uh-oh.
I've been hooked!
Polly! Hang on!
Oh, no, the seat. Hop Pop's gonna kill us!
Focus, Sprig!
Polly, you impaled?
Um… No, not yet.
Huh. Me neither.
The hitchhiker. He's gone.
Whoa! And not only that, Sprig. But look where we are, the valley!
We did it!
Good thing we stopped when we did. We would have been goners!
Yeah! And it's all 'cause we're the greatest night drivers ever…
What? What is it?
It's the hitchhiker! He's back!
Wait a minute. It's a statue.
Huh. It says here, "This monument is dedicated to Zechariah Nettles,
who spent his days guiding travelers away from danger on their way back home."
Oh, man! Polly, what if that hitchhiker wasn't trying to hurt us,
he was trying to help us?
He did try to make us take that other path.
And look. There's the path we were on.
And there's the path he wanted us to use. Aw, it looks nice.
Between that, stopping us from driving off this cliff and how he just disappeared,
I don't think there's any way around it.
You telling me that hitchhiker was the ghost of ol' Zechariah,
returning from the grave to do us a solid?
Sure seems like it.
Whoa.
What the heck in a handbasket is going on out here?
You better not have disobeyed me!
Dang it! Of all the irresponsible, inconsiderate, juvenile…
Wait, HP. Look at them.
A ghost, a ghost, a ghost with the most!
Without Mr. Nettles, we'd surely be deadles!
I don't know what happened,
but it looks like they've already learned their lesson.
All right, all right. I'll let this one slide.
Say, Anne, did you have any weird dreams last night?
I thought you'd never ask! It was horrible, Hop Pop. Horrible!
So, I was in this town full of yogurt, right?
I was a god in my dream!
How I missed the swamp air.
The aroma of grass, a whisper of manure and just a pinch of humidity.
You feel that humidity, Anne?
A pinch.
I see it! I see it! I can see Wartwood!
Whoa.
Hey, I know that irritating voice.
D To help them escape poverty d.
The Plantars are back! Get out here, everyone! It's the Plantars!
- Oh! - Oh, hi!
Hiya, folks!
- Hoppy! - Sylvia!
Come here, city boy!
Any luck finding a way back to your world, Anne?
Not yet. But we're whittling away at it.
That wood reference was for me.
Well, if it isn't the Plantars! Buba-dee buba-dee bup.
Haven't seen you lot for a long time.
Uh, definitely didn't see you on your trip.
Whatever you say, Walliam.
Uh, hey, Felicia. Where's Ivy?
She said she had something more important to do.
More important?
- Something about an… - Ambush!
- Hi. - Hey, you.
- Aww. - Isn't it cute?
Ow. Ow. Ow.
Just simmer down now! Come on, simmer down.
Market stops for no one.
Y'all can welcome back the Plantars after business hours.
Ooh! How about we all meet at my restaurant tonight?
Have a town dinner for the Plantars.
We're in. I can't wait for some authentic swamp cooking!
And I can't wait for that Newtopian, coral hand fitment.
Thanks for picking it up for me.
Say, if we're all gonna be together anyway,
why not bring all the gifts from our wish list!
- Gifts? - Wish list?
Great idea, Mrs. Croaker.
Can we go home, Hop Papa?
I am so "sweeeepy."
Of course, my sweet baby child.
Okay, here we go! Come on, kids!
Okay, bye.
- Do you want this one? - No, no, all yours.
What the heck is going on?
Aha! Found it.
So, uh, remember when Hop Pop and I went to pick up the fwagon?
Well, on our way back, Mrs. Croaker asked
if we could pick her up a new romance novel while we were in the city.
Before we knew it, everybody was asking for stuff.
So, we made a wish list.
We hid the list in a special place so we wouldn't forget.
- And then we forgot it. - What?
I'm so sorry, you guys.
Please don't get mad.
Oh, no, no, no. It's okay, Polly. You're just a baby.
But you!
I cannot believe you forgot about something so important, Hop Pop!
Look, I'm sure we can find a way to bury this so no one finds out.
Nope. Lying will only make it worse.
I feel like we've learned that lesson by now.
Well, one thing's for sure. We have to lie.
Preach! Wait, what?
Ivy asked for a red sunshell from the Newtopian coast.
To match my blue moonshell.
Aww!
She can't find out, Anne. What if she gets mad?
What if she thinks I don't like her?
The relationship will be over before it starts!
Fine! I'll do it for Sprivy. No way I'm letting that ship sink.
Great. Now, let's put our heads together and come up with a plan.
Yeah, and we'd better hurry or you might forget.
It was one time, Anne!
Bye, Chuck. Thanks for watching the house, Chuck.
I grew tulips.
Okay, so we agree on the concept.
Fake, empty gift boxes that get tragically destroyed by some kind of monster.
But what monster? Nothing too dangerous. We don't want anyone to actually get hurt.
How about this? The Chicka-lisk.
A beast that eats gold and treasure, doesn't eat amphibians,
won't attack unless threatened,
and can be called to any area with a ritual.
Where'd you get that book? This cover made out of skin?
- Maddie gave it to me. - Oh, that's nice.
I got to say, this Chicka-lisk is pretty perfect.
Gifts get eaten, no one gets hurt, and we don't get blamed.
We all okay with using ancient Eldritch magics?
- Sure. Why not? - Gotta do what we gotta do.
- I'd be mad if we didn't! - Great!
Now to collect all the materials we need for the ritual.
First, we need the horn of a sky goat, whose arcane note pierces the air.
Then we need cursed obsidian to amplify the dark energy.
Finally, we need candles for that evil ritual vibe.
Wait, that's not in the book.
Trust me, it's a thing. Ooh! They have campfire!
Play the forbidden note.
Corrupt its sacred message.
All righty then! Now, who wants Stumpy's?
Whoo!
- Wow. - Amazing.
- I like tulips. - You don't say?
Can we open the gifts soon? I'm itching for that hand. Heh.
Not literally. No feeling in it.
Presents seem like an "end of the night" thing.
Why rush it?
And I barely got out of the ant queen's stomach alive!
I'm still coughing up acid.
I'm so jealous!
At least when I look at my sunshell, it'll be like a piece of me was with you.
But, uh, end of the day, it's just a shell, right?
It's our shell. I'm really happy you found me one.
Oh, thank frog. Finally.
What is that thing?
Chicka-lisk, the Storm Bearer.
It's an honor to see him. You know, before he kills us.
Oh, no! Who could have predicted this?
Don't overdo it.
- What the heck is it saying? - No idea.
Its language is older than written history.
Oh, no! It is eating the presents.
We should probably leave it alone till it's finished.
No way! You guys did something nice for us.
Are we gonna let some chicken get away with this? Would the Plantars?
- No! - Well, then, come on!
Let's save those presents!
For the Plantars!
- Wait, no, Ivy! - Uh-oh.
I can't believe it's finally my turn to say this, but told you so! Boom!
Eat this, you chump!
I'm Loggle.
Sprig! Let's spatchcock this chicken!
Wait, guys, we got to work together!
Who knows what this thing can do!
- Holy moly! - Cool!
Maddie, can you cure them?
Uh, yeah, sure.
I should have enough antidote for everyone, probably.
- Good enough. - For Wartwood!
For Wartwood!
You have beautiful eyes.
- Split up! We got to surround it! - Okay!
Oh, my Go… Oh, wait.
Aim for the eyes, children!
Nice! Using Toadie's stone body as a shield.
Wait, he's stone?
Upsy-daisy, Archie.
This thing's unbeatable!
Nothing's unbeatable! Everyone, Chicka-lisk formation!
We have a formation for this?
We have a formation for everything!
Hup, hup, hup.
Come on, Anne!
- We did it! - Finger-licking gone!
But it destroyed all the gifts you worked so hard to bring back for us!
If only we had fought harder. I guess we let you guys down.
- We feel bad. - It's a shame.
Me and Hop Pop forgot the wish list and didn't get you guys anything!
What?
- Can you believe it? - Mmm. The nerve of it all.
Why am I not surprised? Typical Plantars.
Giant monsters, property damage, putting the entire town in danger.
I got to admit, I missed it!
- Hear! Hear! - Me, too.
Things have been really boring without you four
causing mayhem and learning emotional lessons.
Wait, so you don't care that we lied and summoned an elder god to cover it up?
- Not especially. - We're just glad you're back.
Ivy, I'm sorry I didn't get you a red sunshell. Ow!
You big dummy! It's just a shell.
You can make it up to me by finally taking me on a date.
Okay, we're done here.