(I gave up on Trollstopia, have this chapter I had before.)

"Woo!" Poppy giggled, pumping one of her fists up in the air. "This is so terrifyingly fun!"

"I disagree," Branch gagged and held her waist tightly, attempting to not fall off.

"Yeah!" Barb shouted. She steered the three on a baby boogie beetle, dodging trees in the forest and flying creatures.

"Can we fly over water instead?" Branch reached in his hair and pulled out the rainbow colored gem, Branch Jr., "I don't want it to break before we reach the cave."

"Are you sure we should keep the gem in the cave? It's unguarded there." Barb ignored Branch's request and continued to steer underneath the forest canopy.

"The cave is rarely visited according to Groxie and Shortie, it'll be fine!" Poppy reassured Branch falling back on to his lap.

Branch clutched the saddle of the bug to keep balance, "Sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up, sit up!"

Poppy sat up and rolled her eyes, "Calm down, Branch! We're not gonna crash!"

Barb screamed and pointed in front of them, "WE'RE GONNA CRASH!" They were seconds away from impact with a tree.

Poppy and Branch hugged each other tightly, "I LOVE YOU!"

When the bug hit the tree, Barb hung on to the bug and fell with it, while Poppy and Branch were knocked right off.

Barb had a soft, painless landing on the bug,

The pop rulers were too terrified to think about using their hair (no just plot reasons) and just crashed to the ground.

Then, just darkness. There was nothing at all. It was like the world didn't exist, there was nothing, just empty space.

"Ugh.." Poppy rubbed her head and slowly opened her eyes. Rather than seeing the grass or a doctor's office, all she could see were rainbows. "Wha..?"

She groaned and looked around, getting up. She strangely felt no pain, even after the fall, all she felt was numb. She couldn't feel anything at all. "Am I dead?"

For miles and miles in every direction, there was nothing but rainbow. It looked like she was floating, there was no ground beneath her, but it felt like solid land, glass.

"Branch?" She called out and looked around. "Are you dead too?"

Branch was screaming and rammed into her, "I'M DEAD!"

"BRANCH!" Poppy grabbed his hands and squeezed him in to a hug.

"That was the weakest hug I've ever felt.. or not felt?" Branch frowned, he loved Poppy's warm embraces, but he couldn't feel anything.

"Where are we?" Poppy looked up at the endless rainbow sky.

"The afterlife?" Branch attempted to karate chop his arm, wondering if he was a ghost.

"Where's Barb?" Poppy walked around, looking for any other life forms.

"She must've survived the fall." Branch slowly followed Poppy, hugging himself. He looked down as he walked, thinking. 'We can't be dead.. right?'

"What are we supposed to do here? Is this it? Are we spending eternity here?" Poppy fell to her knees and frowned, tearing up. "B-Branch.. I don't want to be dead.."

Branch sat next to her and hugged her, biting his lip. "Me neither.. but we don't have a choice.."

They say in silence, hugging each other, it felt like nothing existed. No sounds, no feelings, it was like nothing. They wished they were just in a bad dream and they'd wake up in Trollstopia with their family and friends.

After a few minutes, they heard something muffled off in the distance.

Branch's ears perked up, "What's that?" He slowly got up and followed the sound cautiously.

Poppy watched Branch. She didn't bother to get up or follow him, she assumed it was probably their ears ringing.

Branch was stopped by an invisible wall, had reached the end of wherever they were. He rubbed it like it was a window and could suddenly see things. "POPPY! COME HERE!"

"What?" Poppy raised her eyebrow and came over to him. "Woah-"

They could see Trollstopia, the doctor's pod, their friends, and their own lifeless bodies.

"This is all my fault.." Barb covered her face and sighed.

"Don't blame yourself! The beetle probably wasn't fully trained." Riff hugged her.

"Their hearts are still beating, they aren't dead.." Satin handed Chenille a handkerchief.

"..yet." Chenille added, blowing her nose.

Quincy nuzzled Essence and sighed.

The entire village was mourning. Poppy and Branch were everyone's favorite trolls and they were unconscious, bruised, and scratched.

"If our bodies are still there and alive, where are we?" Branch looked down to double check he was still in his body.

"We'll always have the heart gem to remember them." Trollzart held up the rainbow gem and stroked it gently.

The gem had one minor crack from the fall, but that was all.

Poppy and Branch gasped, "WE'RE IN THE GEM?"

They pounded on the glass, hoping they could be heard, "WE'RE HERE!"

Trollex looked at the gem and sighed, "It should stay in that cave they were taking it too."

Poppy screamed and kept hitting the glass, "NO! NO! NO! NO!" The effort was pointless, no one knew they were in there.

"If the gem's put in the cave we might never get out of here!" Branch panicked and looked around. There was nothing that could help them gain their friend's attention. "I'm assuming the gem trapped our spirits in here, but that's pointless if our bodies die." He took deep breaths to avoid hyperventilating.

Poppy patted Branch's back, "We can't give up! Look!" She pointed the the trolls again.

Rose and Almond were walking towards their parent's bodies nervously.

"Mom, dad?" Rose twisted her fingers and stared at her parents. "Please wake up.."

"I know you two are still there.. I can feel it.." Almond wiped his tears and hugged Poppy's arm, "I love you."

"WE'RE HERE!" Poppy fell on her knees again. It was so painful to watch her kids crying over them.

"Come on, we have to find a way out. Clearly they won't notice us. What solves most of our problems?"
Branch lifted Poppy off the ground and pressed his forehead against hers.

"A song and dance?" Poppy rubbed her nose and sniffed.

"Exactly." Branch wiped a tear from her eye and smirked.

The two of them smiled at each other and started singing, "We're dreaming on and on, we're dreaming on and on
We got the windows down, we got the windows down,"

They held hands and kept watching and singing, they were certain this would work, "I'm chasing all of the colors in my head, I wanna feel alive
I'm living high, high, high, high
I'm living high,"

Delta looked into the gem, "They'll be in a better place." She held Hickory's hand and turned away.

"I'm living high!" Poppy and Branch's smiles slowly faded as they began to realize it wasn't working.

"Aunt Poppy? Uncle Branch?" Tiny hopped on Poppy's leg and nudged her.

"We're dreaming on and on, we're dreaming on and on
The stars are all around, the stars are all around
I'm chasing all of the colors in my head, I wanna feel alive
I'm living high, high, high, high
I'm living high
I'm living high,"

All the trolls except for Rose and Almond started to leave with the gem.

"I got this fire in my heart and I'm feeling alright
I got this feeling in my head that we're doing alright
Breaking down the walls, I'm living high
Chasing all the colors.."

None of the trolls had heard the song, they simply kept walking. Rose and Almond were the only trolls with hope.

"What now?" Branch chewed his fingernails.

"Uh, uh, uh, uh, OH! What about the telepathic thing we do?"

"How is that helpful?"

"What if we.. communicate to Rose and Almond through our minds?" Poppy dramatically waved her hands around her head.

"But they're too far away and we're technically not alive.. I think?" Branch was still confused on what their situation was.

"It's our only chance! So think hard with me or be stuck here forever." Poppy took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to focus only on Rose and Almond.

Branch sighed, "Fine." He did the same she did, focusing only on their kids.

Rose and Almond were giving up, turning to follow the other tribes when they felt something.

"What was that?" Almond put his hand on his heart and looked down. His heart was glowing a light red, not as intense as everyone at the end of Trolls: World Tour, but a little.

Rose's heart was glowing a light pink, "What's happening?"

They looked at Barb, who carried the heart gem, which too had a significant glow coming from it.

Almond ran outside, "WAIT!"

Tresillo turned around and tilted his head, "¿Qué es?"

"Our parents are still alive!" Rose exclaimed, climbing on Hickory's shoulders for more dramatic effect.

"It's working!" Branch shook Poppy excitedly.

Baby Bun lifted Rose up and cradled her, "I know you two want to believe your parents are still here, but they're not."

"No, they are!" Rose pointed at the heart gem, "Look at the glow."

"Our parents are connected deeply to the gem, right?"

"Right?" Chaz was still confused.

Rose pointed at she and Almond's hearts, "Look at us! We think our parents' spirits are inside the heart!"

"YES!" Poppy and Branch hugged each other and watched the conversation continue.

Hickory took the gem and looked inside it, "Would ya look at that?"

Everyone looked closely at the gem and could see a tiny Poppy and Branch inside.

They waved at their friends, "Hi."

"THEY'RE NOT DEAD!" Barb waved back at Poppy and Branch and sighed loudly in relief.

"How do we get them out?" Guy tapped on the glass.

Poppy and Branch looked at each other and shrugged.

"What if we broke the gem?" Riff suggested.

"But what if that completely kills them?" D didn't want to take the risk.

"It's our only option." Carol threw her cheese off in the distance. She didn't care about it at that moment, only concerned for her friends.

"What about the gem? It's like the most powerful artifact in the world, what if something happens from destroying it?" Gomdori twisted her fingers.

"We can just hope nothing happens." Trollzart stopped flying and stood on the ground for once.

"Do you two want to take the risk?" Trollex asked Poppy and Branch.

The pop rulers froze and just stared forward. They'd either end up back in their nearly dead bodies or they'd disappear for good.

"Being gone from the world forever sounds better than being stuck in a rainbow gem for eternity, I guess, right?" Poppy tried to look at the bright side of their situation. She turned Branch's face to hers to find his eyes filling with tears. "What's wrong?"

"I-I'm scared of death. We don't know what happens when we die. What if it's nothing? Just blackness and there's nothing. No thoughts or colors or feelings. I don't want to die, Poppy. I wasted my entire life in my bunker, hiding, I've only been actually living my life for a few years. I'm just.. not ready to die." He pulled her into a hug and cried on her dress.

(The thing I love about writing about Branch is that a lot of the time the way I'd feel about something is something he'd feel about the same situation. I feel like I can just vent with him.)

"Aww.." Poppy squeezes him as tight as she could, though of course he couldn't feel it. "Don't worry, I'm sure we'll be fine."

Branch kept hugging, "Thanks," he refused to let go, still.

With Branch distracted, Poppy looked outside the gem and gave a small nod, then made sure her possible last moments with Branch were memorable. She gave him a huge, long kiss on the lips.

Barb raised the gem up and smashed it against the ground, it shattered into hundreds of tiny little pieces.

LIVE IT UP

EVERY DAY YOU WAKE UP SINGING

TURN IT UP

THE PARTY'S JUST BEGI-

(nah i'm not that mean.)

The Trolls all left the shattered artifact in the grass and ran back into the doctor's office.

Poppy groaned and slowly opened her eyes, "Everything hurts.." Her eyes opened up wide and she sat up quickly, "WE'RE ALIVE!"

"YES!" Barb hugged Poppy, "I'm so sorry I almost killed you!"

"It's not your fault!"

Rose and Almond jumped on Branch's legs and hugged him, "DADDY!"

Branch choked on a snore (a i r) and sat up, "HUH?"

Rose and Almond had practically attached themselves to his arms.

"I'M ALIVE!" Branch gave the two a big squeeze, "I love you two so much!"

Rose jumped on to Poppy and snuggled her, "I love you, mommy!"

"Aww, I love you too." Poppy kisses Rose's forehead.

"What about the gem?" Dickory pointed at the shards of glass outside.

Everyone ran out, leaving Poppy and Branch behind.

"We'll just.. be here." Branch sighed and layed (laid?) back in the bed.

Marimba leaned forward and picked up a shard, "At least nothing bad happened?"

Right as they said that, they heard some rumbling in the distance.

"Was that a coincidence?" Ari looked around.

The sky darkened and the wind picked up. As the wind picked up and lightning flashed, they began to notice something off in the distance. A coincidence? A troll?

Tambora face palmed, "oh Dios mío.."

"What's going on out there?" Poppy shouted from inside.

"A COINCIDENCE!" Wani yelled back, assuring everything was fine when obviously it wasn't.

"OKAY!"

"What do we do?" Legsly asked.

"We have to handle this the way Poppy and Branch would." Essence sighed and cracked her knuckles.

"Hugs and sticks?" D raised his eyebrow.

Trollzart nodded, "Indeed."

"Here we go again." Trollex rolled his eyes and tried to look tough.

"Here we go." Barb ran towards the figure.

LIVE IT UP—

(Yes, I am that mean.)