A new chapter in Troll history has just been written. It all began when rogue Party Crasher Pow attacked Pop Village, stole an artifact called the Sun and Moon scroll, kidnapped her former friend, Archer Pastry, and forced him to translate one of its two incantations for her. With this, Pow now has complete control over the Black Rock's power.

Luckily, Willow organized a search party to rescue Archer, and he told her the other incantation she could use to fight her. Willow won, returned Archer home, and now, Archer's older brother, Bash, has decided to accept Willow's help to bring back the woman he loves.

What we didn't know was that the clash of the Sun's Light and the Moon's Darkness has unleashed an ancient evil that would threaten to destroy us all...

“Welcome to the Museum of Celestial History. We ask that you do not touch any of the artifacts or use any flash photography. Thank you for your cooperation."

“This job is so boring," Carol groaned, eating spray cheese. “It's not like anyone comes here."

“Carol!" said her boss through an earpiece. “Have you found Bjorgle's Shapeshifting Cloak yet?!"

“Relax, Dave!" she replied. “It's not like it has legs, so it couldn't have gone far."

“For your sake, I hope not."

“Excuse me, young lady," an elderly Country Troll spoke up. “Would you care to help me find a certain artifact?"

“Does it have anything to with Van Hairen?"

“Please, miss," she replied. “I just want to see the Scepter of Tsulva."

“Follow me," Carol said, leading her to the Otherworldly Objects section. “Tsulva was this dude who created the scepter to control the minds of anyone he desired, until he was defeated by a Country Music Troll named Whistling Dixie and she hid the scepter outside of Pop Village. Eventually, it was found by Spyke Vicious, and he nearly took over Volcano Rock City with it. But since our leader at the time, King Axel, was blind, Vicious failed, and is rotting in prison to this day.

Unable to destroy it, King Axel turned the scepter into a guitar and used it to protect our music string, or something like that. Eventually, his granddaughter, Queen Barb, reunited the string with its five sisters and played the ultimate power chord to turn Trolls into rock zombies. The Queen of Pop managed to destroy most of it, but Tsulva wasn't stupid. He cast a spell so that it could only be destroyed entirely by someone under its complete control. Legend says that even the smallest piece can also be used to control the minds of anyone under Callisto's curse, including the undead."

“Sounds fascinating," the old lady said. “Where are the pieces?"

“Here," Carol answered, pointing to a small chest. “The queen and princess didn't want to take chances, so they had the pieces locked in this enchanted box, and made me hide the key somewhere in the museum."

The elderly Country Troll scowled. “Then, I'll need that key now!" she said, ripping off her skin and clothes. It was Pow!

“Dave, I found the cloak!" Carol said through a tiny microphone. “Told you I would."

“The key..." Pow snarled. Carol just ran off into the museum library and pushed a table against the doors to keep them shut.

“Gotta hurry, gotta hurry!" she muttered. Suddenly, daggers began breaking through the glass doors. She wrote down a note and pulled the key out of a secret compartment inside a book shelf. As Pow broke the doors open, all Carol could do was hope for the best.

“Give me that key, or I will tear your precious museum apart," Pow threatened.

“Pfft, precious?" Carol snickered, holding the key and note behind her back. “I only got this job to pay for my brother's medical bills. Poor dude was born with glass bones and paper skin. Every morning, he breaks his legs, and every afternoon, he breaks his arms. At night, he lies awake in agony until his heart attacks put him to sleep."

Pow just gave her a look of indifference. Backing up to an open window, Carol wrapped the note up with the key inside and whistled. A black bird flew in, grabbed the note, and flew back out.

“That was a dumb plan," Pow said, using a dagger to pin her to the wall. Two more threatened to stab her in the throat. “Where did you send it?!"

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

“Okay, Willow," Poppy said. “Truth or dare?"

“Hmm... Tough decision," Willow admitted. “If I say truth, I'll have to reveal an embarrassing secret to my closest friends. But if I say dare, I'll have to do something embarrassing."

“Truth or dare! Truth or dare! Truth or dare!" chanted Barb, Ash, and Smidge.

“Okay, okay, okay!" Willow replied. “I choose..."

“CA-CAW!"

Before Willow could answer, a black bird flew into Poppy's pod and dropped a note. Smidge opened it up, pulled out the silver key, and read it aloud.

Emergency!

Pow stealing scepter shards!

Keep this...

“Whoever wrote this, it looks like they never got to finish it," she pointed out. “But I think he or she or they want us to keep this key."

“Uh-oh," said Ash. “Pow stole the remains of the Scepter of Tsulva. It's a mind trap device that can control anyone the wielder wishes. First, it belonged to Tsulva, but he was disarmed by a Country Music Troll. Then Spyke Vicious, who got thrown in prison by grandpa. He turned it into a guitar, and Barb used it to play the ultimate power chord to turn–"

“Okay, we get it!" Barb interrupted. She hated being reminded of her previous actions. “The good news is Pow's not gonna be able to get the pieces because they're locked in an enchanted box, and the key is right here."

“So, what are we gonna do?" Willow asked.

“Carol probably needs help," Barb replied. “Pop-tart stays here with the key, you three, come with me."

At that moment, everyone began arguing. Poppy wanted to go help, while the others were feeling nervous after what happened at Pow's Fortress. Barb just carried Poppy over her shoulder to a wardrobe!

“Barb, wait!" Poppy shouted as she threw her in with the key. “Willow, do something!"

“Sorry, Pops," Willow said, “but she is tall and... scary."

Barb put drumsticks in the handles to keep Poppy from opening the doors, drilled a few holes for air, and kneeled down to Smidge. “Those doors do not open. She doesn't come out, and no one goes in. Right?"

“Right," Smidge agreed. Ash nodded.

“Great," Barb said. “Let's go, Snowcone."

“Actually, I thought I could just stay here, and–"

“Now!"

“Yeah, okay," Willow replied meekly. “We're just gonna go help Carol."

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Outside the museum, Pow tried to break into the box by smashing it with daggers, but to no avail. No matter how hard she hit it, the box wouldn't budge.

“Ugh! It's no use!" she groaned in despair. “I can't get to the scepter pieces."

“Then it looks like we'll have to get that key after all," the Girl replied.

“She sent it to Pop Troll Village," Pow pointed out, “and something tells me Queen Poppy's not gonna just hand it over to us."

“To us, no. But we may have other methods at our disposal."

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Elsewhere, Barb and Willow were headed for the museum, each on the backs of Hippogriffs.

“Since we're too busy to do anything else," Willow spoke up, “I'm gonna say truth. Pop Trolls have a kajillion holidays, but I usually just celebrate the ones with magical dudes."

“What kind of dudes?" Barb asked.

“Oh, come on!" Willow said in exasperation. “Everyone knows holidays with magical dudes are the best. Like the Marshtato Fairy, the Harvest Moon Gift Giver, the Haunted Hair-lo-ween Hair-o'-lantern, and Justin Timberlake!"

Barb raised an eyebrow. “What holiday is he from?"

“Oh, no holiday," Willow answered. “I just think he's a magical dude!"

“Whatever."

Soon enough, the two Trolls arrived at the museum. There was no sign of Pow or Carol, however.

“Where are they?" Willow wondered.

“I don't know, but we should start looking," Barb said. “Do you think Midnight was telling the truth about there being a chance to save Pow?"

“I have to believe him," Willow replied. “I promised Bash I would."

“You're taking a lot of risks, Will," she pointed out. “You know that, right?"

“I know."

“Try to remember what's more important," Barb reminded her. “Destroying the Black Rock."

Soon enough, they found the box. It appeared to still be shut, unsurprisingly.

“Pow's definitely been here," Willow said, looking at all the daggers. She, then, noticed footprints in the ground. “Someone else was, too, with really tiny feet."

“Who could that be?" Barb asked. “You don't think she's got a pet, do you?"

“Pets don't wear shoes," Willow pointed out. “Except for those owned by celebrities. But Pow's the opposite of a celebrity. She's a... ytirbelec. Celebrity, but spelled backwards."

“Right..." Barb said uneasily. “I'm gonna look for Carol, you guard the box."

As Barb went off to look for her friend, Willow put her foot on the box and let out a shield of icicles to let everyone know she meant business.

❤️☀️🧡🌙💛☀️💚🌙💙☀️💜🌙

“Getting kinda bored," Ash told Smidge. “I'm gonna go get a latte. You want something?"

“Yeah, get me a fluffleberry mocha," Smidge replied as the Princess of Alternative Rock left. “And a fluffleberry cortado. And a fluffleberry irish!"

“Okay, okay!" Ash shouted. “I'll get your damn fluffleberry!"

“What about me?!" Poppy yelled.

“Oh, my gah! What am I doing?!" Smidge exclaimed. “Ash, get Poppy a frappuchino!"

“I was hoping you would let me out!"

“Sorry, Poppy," Smidge apologized, “but Barb's right. We can't risk anything bad happening to you or that key."

“The note said ‘Keep this,'" Poppy pointed out. “I'm not going to let anything bad happen to it! Just let me out! Pretty please?!"

“Sorry, that's not gonna work on me," she said.

“Pretty please with sprinkles on top?!" Poppy pleaded once again. She then heard Smidge grunting and shouting, and raised an eyebrow. “Smidge, are you okay?"

Suddenly, the doors opened, revealing Smidge with a crazed look.

“I couldn't take it!" she gasped. “I can't resist sprinkles!"

“Sorry, Smidge," Poppy replied. “I just had to get you to open the door. Now, come on. Let's go help the others."

“But Poppy, are you sure want to risk facing Pow again?" Smidge asked. “She did give you brain damage and cause you to suffer a miscarriage."

“Yeah, but I can't just stay here and do nothing," Poppy replied, putting the key in a bag. “I have to help my friends."

“Okay," Smidge said as they left the pod. “Let's go to the museum."

Once Poppy and Smidge left, Ash returned with her latte, Poppy's hot chocolate, and all of Smidge's drinks.

“Gotta warn you, Smidge, you'll probably go into cardiac arrest with all this..." Ash trailed off when she noticed the pod was empty. “Smidge? Poppy?"

Confused, she put their drinks down and looked around outside. She noticed tiny footprints in the ground, too small to be Smidge's, and a strand of black hair.

Ash had a feeling there was trouble ahead.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Under a fresh, bright sky, Poppy and Smidge headed off on their flyer bugs for the museum. Along the way, Poppy noticed some baby Lava Lizards being attacked by an adult, and one of them had trouble flying. Poppy knew very well that fully grown Lava Lizards will eat babies if given the chance, so she had to save it.

“Smidge, wait!" she said. “That baby Lava Lizard is in trouble. We have to help it!"

“Oh, dear!" Smidge exclaimed. “We better hurry!"

The baby was spotted, but just before he could get eaten, Poppy swooped down and grabbed him. She took a good look at his wing and noticed it had a hole in it.

“I know what you need," Poppy said sweetly, putting a unicorn sticker over the hole. “There you go. Fly off, now!"

With that, the baby Lava Lizard flew off and the two Pop Trolls continued on their way.

Soon enough, they made it to the Museum of Celestial History.

“Hopefully, we're not too late, and Pow hasn't gotten that box open," Poppy said optimistically. “I wonder where she is."

“Don't worry, Poppy," Smidge assured her. “I'll make sure she doesn't hurt you again."

They headed inside where they found Willow guarding the box.

“Everybody is kung fu fighting..." she sang to herself, punching the air.

“Willow, what are you doing?" Smidge asked, startling her.

“Oh, Smidge, it's just you," Willow sighed in relief. “Wait, what are you guys doing here? Barb told you to stay in Pop Village."

“We couldn't just stay in Pop Village knowing that someone was in danger," Poppy explained. “Where's Barb?"

“Looking for Carol," Willow answered. “She left me here to guard the box."

“So you have it?" Smidge said. Willow nodded. “Maybe we should look inside to see if all of the pieces are still there. Poppy, you still have the key, right?"

“Will, there's no sign of Carol," Barb said as she went back inside. “Maybe Pow– Poppy?! Smidge?! What are you guys doing here?!"

“We came to help," Smidge replied. “Let's see if all the pieces are still in the box."

“I don't think that's a good idea," Poppy replied. “Besides, I doubt anything could open it, since it's enchanted. Right now, the only thing to be concerned about is where Pow is."

“She's right here," a familiar voice answered. Out of the shadows stepped Pow. Terrified, Poppy hid behind Barb.

“I don't want to fight you again," Willow said.

Pow laughed. “That's on you. Where's the key?"

“Imposter!" Ash shouted from outside. She broke through the window and somersaulted across the floor to the group. “That's not Smidge, she's a fake!"

“No wonder you let her out," Barb said. “You knew she would bring the key here."

“It's in her bag," the imposter told Pow, her voice now much softer, like a child's. She stood next to the former Party Crasher and removed her disguise, revealing a taller, but still short, creature with messy black hair and piercing red eyes. “I love this cloak."

“What have you done with Carol and the real Smidge?" Willow asked angrily.

“They're fine," the Girl replied as Pow unsheathed the sun blade. “Or, at least, they will be, provided you give Pow what she wants."

“That kid," Barb muttered. “She looks so... familiar."

“Gonna introduce us to your friend?" Ash asked sarcastically.

“Now's not the time," Pow replied bitterly, putting her sword back in its scabbard. She grabbed Poppy's bag and dumped out its contents, but all she found was glitter, glue, a comb, and stickers.

“Huh, it's not in there?" Poppy asked with a smirk. “Maybe I put it in my other bag."

Pow and the Girl each gave her a look in confusion.

“Come on, I knew this wasn't the real Smidge," Poppy explained. “For starters, I never told her about the miscarriage, although I'm not sure how you know about it. Another thing, when we found that injured Lava Lizard hatchling, you said ‘Oh, dear.' The real Smidge says ‘Oh, my gah!' Plus, pretty much every Troll in Pop Village, and perhaps the Troll World, knows how weird Willow acts when taking things seriously. No questions should be asked about that."

“It's true, I am quite the weirdo," Willow admitted.

“I enjoyed our trip together, Queen Poppy," the Girl admitted. “It provided me with an invaluable lesson. Your weakness: compassion. You went out of your way to save that Lava Lizard hatchling because you felt sorry for it."

“Some people would call that a strength," Willow pointed out.

The Girl laughed. “Strength? No. Useful? Yes."

Pow used a dagger to knock down a candle, which rolled to where more daggers stood up, and hanging on a rope above them was...

“Carol!" Barb shouted.

“Smidge!" Poppy exclaimed. “Let them go!"

Pow just raised one of the daggers higher, cutting the rope partway. Smidge and Carol's screams were held back by cloth tied around their mouths.

“Give Pow the key, or Smidge and Carol become permanent artifacts here," the Girl threatened.

“What kind of a threat is that?" Ash asked. “Besides, how do we know that's really them?"

“I'll figure it out," Barb reassured her. “Carol, what's my favorite color?"

Carol managed to loosen her face so the cloth would fall, and said, “How should I know?!"

“She's clear," Barb said. “Now, what about–"

“Oh, my gah! Oh, my gah! Oh, my gah!" Smidge kept repeating in panic.

“Yep, that's Smidge," Willow confirmed.

“Glad you figured it out," Pow said sarcastically. “Hand over the key now, or your friends pay the price."

“No, Poppy!" Smidge shouted. “Don't do it! They're just gonna kill us anyways!"

“Just give it to them," Willow whispered in Poppy's ear.

“Wait, what?"

“Don't worry, I have a plan," she reassured her.

“Listen, Queen Poppy," Pow said, “I don't want to hurt them, really, I don't, but I will. Now, give me the key."

“Okay, fine," Poppy replied, putting her trust in Willow. She pulled the key out from her hair and gave it to Pow.

“Let's speed this up," the Girl said impatiently. Pow brought the key over to her and together, they opened the box, revealing the nine pieces of the black Scepter of Tsulva. “Yes! Pow, all of Callisto's followers, past and present, are now yours to command!"

Using her telekinesis, Willow snatched all of the pieces from Pow and held onto them tight.

“What do you even want with Callisto's followers?" she asked.

“You can't have a war without an army, Willow, everybody knows that," Pow pointed out. “But at the moment, you've got other things to worry about."

Pow made the dagger grow taller, cutting the rope completely. Willow dropped the scepter stones and created an ice slide so Smidge and Carol would slide down to safety. Pow reached down and grabbed one of the stones, because one was all she needed, but Willow froze her feet to the ground, along with the Girl's, before they could leave.

“Not so fast!" Willow said.

“Do you really think you can stop me?"

Pow asked.

“Maybe not," Barb replied, “but you're forgetting we're in a museum filled with magical artifacts, and I don't know what any of them do!"

With that said, Barb pulled a golden baton out from its stand and twirled it, causing the floor beneath them to disappear, and they all fell into another room with more otherworldly objects, along with the eight other stones as Pow dropped hers.

“Okay, so we know what the baton does," she said. She noticed Pow going after one of the stones. “Oh, no, you don't!"

Barb threw a glass vial on the ground, which released a green cloud of smoke that began raining kitty critters!

“Why is it raining kitty critters?!" Willow exclaimed.

“Well," Carol explained, “there was this ancient civilization, and cats were supposed to be the guardians of the underworld."

“Quick, everyone!" Ash shouted. “Grab as many pieces as you can!"

Throughout the kitty chaos, everyone ran around to get the stones. Smidge broke free from her restraints to join in.

“Why did you bring the key here?!" Carol asked in frustration. “I told you to keep it away!"

“No, you didn't!" Poppy argued. “Your note said ‘Keep this!'"

“I started to write ‘Keep this away,' but I was under attack! What do you want from me?!"

“I got number nine!" Smidge shouted.

“Great! Let's go!" Poppy said.

Suddenly, a sparkly boomerang spun around Smidge and knocked the stone out of her hand, the Girl catching it before it could hit the ground. But a kitty critter jumped up to her, causing her to drop it. More kitties jumped up to Barb, crawling all over her.

“Get off of me!" she yelled, knocking over some boxes. One of them broke open, revealing a purple blob that began chasing her. “This is one angry goo!"

“Technically, it's raging," Carol corrected. “It's called the Raging Goo of Vluceaus."

Carol then noticed the stone and tried to grab it with her mouth, but the Girl beat her to it.

“I'll take that," she said, and walked away. Carol used what little arm movement she had left to pull out a can of spray cheese, and squirted it all over the ground, causing the Girl to slip and fall.

“Ha! Have a nice trip!" Carol joked. Pow went to grab the stone, but Smidge pulled her back with her hair.

“Stop it, stop it, stop it!" Barb shouted to the goo, and kicked it. It crawled back to the box it was hiding in. “Ha! Where's all your rage now?!"

“Get me out of this hair!" Pow ordered Smidge.

“Gladly!" Smidge replied, slamming her into a wall, and grabbed the ninth stone. “I got it! We're home free, baby!"

Suddenly, the girl tripped her, causing her to drop the stone. Willow just used her telekinesis to grab it.

“Great!" she said. “Now that we have all nine, let's get out of here before–"

“Oh, Queen Poppy!" the Girl said, holding up a silver locket. She approached Carol with a sinister grin.

“No, not Gorina's Locket!" Carol pleaded. “I'll be trapped in the Spirit Realm for five hundred years!"

“Give Pow what she wants!" the Girl ordered. Poppy was torn between helping her friend or preventing Pow from controlling Callisto's followers.

Ultimately, she chose the former.

“Fine, take one," she said, holding up some of the stones. Pow approached her and grabbed the piece with the silver skull on it. The girl closed the locket.

“Thanks for your compassion," the Girl replied, smirking. Pow created a stone pillar that raised them both up and they disappeared. Poppy just ran to a corner and curled herself up into a ball. The rest of the group ran over to give her a comforting hug.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

After fixing up the museum, Barb put the baton back where she took it from.

“No offense, Carol," she said, “but you guys should put labels on these things."

“No, I'm with you," Carol agreed. “Instead, they just forced me to memorize everything."

“Carol!" Dave shouted. The six Trolls turned to find him standing at a door. “My office, now!"

“Well, there goes the payment for my brother's medical bills," she said sadly.

“I'm sure he'll understand," Barb reassured her. Once Carol went into her boss's office, Barb noticed Poppy holding the eight remaining pieces with a sad expression. “You okay, Popsqueak?"

“I thought I could do it," Poppy replied. “I felt so helpless after what happened last time, and I just wanted to prove to myself I could be useful again."

“But you are useful," Barb said. “Poppy, you've done a lot of great things. Despite the odds, you always managed to come out strong. Pow hurt you, really bad, but that does not mean you're helpless. Besides, you actually have something worth fighting for. We all do. Our homes, our friends, our families."

“Yeah, we do," Poppy said. Barb held up the enchanted box and Poppy put the stones back in. “I'm gonna go wait for you outside with the others."

“Sure thing," Barb said, putting the box back up for display. Suddenly, she heard a much softer voice speak up.

“I believe Pow promised your sister a proper introduction, but she failed to deliver, didn't she?" she said, stepping out from behind the display. “Honestly, I'm surprised you hadn't guessed who I am, seeing as how we've already met. You see, over the centuries, I have been trapped in an empty void, but my strength has grown back little by little, the more wizards, warlocks, and sorcerers have succumbed to their own inner demons. Eventually, I began whispering into their minds, telling them what to do. But my greatest achievement, apart from Pow, was a young Troll who united her kingdom with five others so the Trolls would be together to watch me reclaim what is rightfully mine."

“Callisto," Barb growled angrily. “You disguised yourself as an innocent Ghost Girl because I know how evil you are. And you're doing the same thing to Pow!"

“Pow only knows what I want her to know," Callisto explained. “I needed someone weak and gullible to use my Black Rock and teach her how to use it, so her strength would become my strength. Pow has no idea, but she's under my complete control."

Barb watched the ancient demon approach an artifact, a glowing blue hoop.

“Tell your rainbow-haired friend to prepare herself," she said. “An eclipse is coming. And when it does, the Trolls will become nothing more than dust!"

With that, Callisto tossed the hoop up into the air, and when it fell back down around her body, she disappeared! Barb was left speechless.

“Well, so much for my plan," Willow said with a nervous grin as they brushed their Hippogriffs and flyer bugs.

“It wasn't your fault," Ash reassured her. “We all just assumed Pow would be alone. Besides, it's not over. We can still get Pow back."

“Actually, girls," Barb interrupted, joining her sister and the three Pop Trolls, “at the moment, I'm starting to think Pow is the least of our worries."

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

At Pow's Fortress, now completely rebuilt, Pow examined the stone. Since it was made of Mind-sidian, even this one small piece could control whoever she desired, just like Carol said. As she closed her eyes, the Black Rock let out an energy that flowed through Pow's blood to the stone, which then let out a powerful blast across the land. The moment the energy hit them, all of Callisto's living followers fell under Pow's spell. Those who have been defeated by the Trolls over the past millennia rose up from the earth, and were under her control, as well. Even someone in Pop Village was affected by her power...

“Hi, Daddy!" Flower said cheerfully. Branch waved back at her while he continued to sand a board. For a brief moment, his eyes glowed red and white light shone through his invisible tattoos. Not noticing what had happened to himself, Branch just continued his work.

Dun, dun, dun!!!

Anyways, I'm sorry I mentioned that episode of TrollsTopia, I didn't realize those guys on Instagram stole it, along with the theme song. But until it's actually released on Hulu and Peacock, I think we can all agree that we should never speak of it again.

I should probably draw a new outfit for Willow, now that's she and Branch are no longer filling in for Poppy as Queen of the Pop Trolls.

Until next time. 🤘