| Reunions and New Conflicts | |
| Season 1, Episode 2 | |
| First Aired (USA) September 11, 2024 (FF) September 11, 2024 (AO3) | |
| Episode Guide | |
| previous "Twelve Years Later" |
next "What They Did for Halloween" |
"Reunions and New Conflicts" is the second chapter of Luz Clawthorne 2024.
Synopsis[]
Family and friends reunite on Earth and the Isles as the Clawblights visit Camila while the Diamantricks host a cookout.
Plot[]
The Bonesborough Museum had changed a lot over the last twelve years.
In the past, the museum's exhibits had been determined by the Emperor's Coven, who commissioned exhibits to make Belos look better and his enemies look worse. In fact, the now disgraced Flora D'Esplora was especially guilty of rewriting history just to make Belos look good. Nothing bad about Belos was allowed.
But now, the museum had experienced a complete makeover after the Day of Unity. Thanks to the fall of the Emperor's Coven, all of the false history had been corrected. The true history of the Boiling Isles had been brought into the light. In fact, the museum was actually larger now, with new exhibit wings having been added since the days of Belos. This place was also very popular amongst newcomers to the Boiling Isles…
"Welcome to the Bonesborough Museum of Supernatural History," said Janna, who now sported short hair with twin bangs on the side. She was wearing a green long sleeve shirt with a black vest, and black trousers and black boots. She was leading a group that consisted of not only witches, but also hellborn demons like imps, hellhounds, succubi, and baphomets. There were also a few magical and non-magical creatures from the Human Realm in the tour group, such as a leprechaun, a mermaid, some humans, and what appeared to be an alien. "My name is Janna Ordonia. I was born in the Human Realm and I'll be your tour guide. So before each tour I like to ask where are all of you folks visiting us from today?"
"We're from the Titan," said a witch. "The Peculiar Peninsula."
"Me and my friends are from the Sloth Ring," said an imp who was with the group of Hellborns.
"We're from the Human Realm," said the mermaid who was with the leprechaun and a few humans.
"So am I!" shouted the three-eyed fuzzy alien, who was wearing a Mouse-Eared hat and a Yoda t-shirt.
"I'm from the Yokai Realm," said a yokai who was basically an umbrella with one leg and one eye.
"Alright!" Janna shouted with a smile. "A nice mix today. Especially glad to see some more Human Realmers visiting us, since I'm from the Human Realm myself. Now then, if you follow me, we can begin our tour…"
During the tour, Janna led them into their Deadwardian exhibit.
"Here we have the Deadwardian Era exhibit. The Deadwardian Era was a period of Boiling Isles history that overlapped with the 1600s in the Human Realm, mirroring many aspects of human culture from the 15th and 16th century. This era used to be largely unknown to us, since a lot of records we have from that time and the eras before it were destroyed in a fire that ravaged Bonesborough. The Deadwardian Era used to be part of what was formerly referred to as the 'Savage Ages', but fortunately we now know a lot more about this part of Boiling Isles history and we have recovered a lot more artifacts that we can trace to the Deadwardian era, a lot of them being over three hundred years old. Our latest addition to this exhibit is this recently restored portrait of Abra Blight and his son Adam Blight," she said as she pointed to the painting portrait of Abra and his son, who had Ghost on his shoulder. "Abra Blight was the creator of Abominations and the founder of Blight Enterprises. We now know that he learned how to create Abominations thanks to guidance from the Titan."
Janna continued to lead the guests through the exhibit, her group gaping in awe at the various exhibits. "The Deadwardian Banisters display is not one of my favorites, but it was added by one of our former curators and historians, who actually visited the Deadwardian Era once, making her one of our top experts on the subject." She pointed to some glass cases that contained Deadwardian clothes, which included gowns that have web patterns and suits made of fish skin, "Fun fact: those ties are actual snakes that just wrap around your neck," she said before she noticed someone else in the exhibit hall. "Oh, and I said Lilith Clawthorne was one of our top experts, since right here is our top historian on the Deadwardian era, who is responsible for a lot of the additions and expansions to this wing of the museum in recent years. Hey, Enna!"
"Oh, good tidings, Janna," said Enna, a brown-haired witch woman with gray eyes, white skin, and earrings. She wore a white scarf around her head, a blue vest with white sleeves, a white dress gown, and a golden Titan symbol. "And good tidings, other realm beings."
"Hi, Enna," the tour guests waved back to her.
"She actually lived during the Deadwardian Era," Janna explained to them. "No, seriously, for real, but that's another story to tell…"
Another exhibit that Janna showed the group was an exhibit dedicated to humans. There were portraits of human historical figures and celebrities, along with displays for human inventions such as the iPhone, the paperclip, the rubix cube, etc. There was also a model of fictional characters being treated like mankind's 'gods', along with the actual gods humans worshiped.
"And this here is the human exhibit," Janna explained to her group. "Now, you have to understand, for the longest time the only things that witches and demons on the Boiling Isles had to learn about us from was our trash. Relationships between the realms was pretty limited and there were a lot of misconceptions about humans. This exhibit was made responsible by the Human Appreciation Society, which actually started out as a school club, but is now a full-on organization dedicated to studying human culture and improving relationships with the Human Realm. The Boiling Isles still isn't officially public knowledge in the Human Realm yet, but we are getting there, as some of our visitors from the Human Realm can attest. Notable members of the Human Appreciation Society include its founder Augustus Porter, its president Mattholomule Tholomule Storms, and others like Cat Harwitch, Amelia Regal, and Lyra Hedgewick. Of course, I still have some issues with the exhibit, like the human weapons display."
Janna pointed at the 'Human Weaponry' display, which included pencils, rulers, hangers, a Pokeball, a bat, and the chancla.
"And over here is where the gods humans have worshiped over the years are displayed," Janna pointed out. "We got some Greek gods, Norse gods, some Christian gods like Jesus and, um, Santa Claus," she said as she pointed at the display of Jesus on the cross and Santa on a cross made of candy canes.
"Oh, and this is a display on some of our notable kings and queens, such as the now late Queen Elizabeth, King Elvis of Rock and Roll, and Queen Tina Turner of Pop," she said as she showed them portraits of Queen Elizabeth, Elvis Presley, and Tina Turner.
"But all of them pale compared to the greatest of us all… Segata Sanshiro," she said as she pointed to a massive portrait of Segata Sanshiro, the hero of the Sega Saturn.
The next exhibit wing showed displays of witch and demon skeletons, along with the bones of prehistoric beasts and charts showing the evolution of different species.
"Now this is the evolution wing," Janna told her tour group. "Now, most of this is based on the theories of Clawdius Sharpentooth. Contrary to popular belief at the time, he proposed that while witches were born from the Titan, they merely fed on the magical properties of the corpse of a mighty beast and evolved into what they were now. According to him, the Titan was just a greater living being that died, rather than someone who intentionally created witchkind for a specific reason and guided their evolution. He first published his thesis on the origins of magic and witchkind during the reign of Belos and his ideas caused a lot of uproar, but after Belos was exposed as a fraud, his ideas started to become more popular. They were still challenged by the religious community, but hey, it's the same with the Human Realm, am I right?" Janna asked, earning a few chuckles from the Human Realm guests.
She led them to a display of cave witches. "Over here are the cave witches or what cave witches may have looked like in the past," Janna told them. "Now, there is actually an even more radical theory out there that suggests witches were not born from the Titan at all unlike many of the species found on the Boiling Isles. This theory is that the common ancestors of witches were actually humans who came to the Demon Realm thanks to Titan's Blood and they eventually evolved into witches. This is similar to 'Cambion Theory', but it is still unproven."
The next exhibit was perhaps the most controversial one in the entire museum… the Hall of Villains.
"Welcome to my favorite exhibit… the Hall of Villains!" Janna told her tour group. "A portrait gallery for the most infamous characters to have threatened the Boiling Isles. These guys were messed up, believe me…"
She led the group down the hallway, the walls lined up with portraits of Boiling Isles villains. This included portraits for the Coachman, the Inner Demon, Terra Snapdragon, the Grim Goblin, Belos, Hotep Koff, Councilor Obron, Firebees, and many others, including some villains that are unfamiliar to us…
"Some say these villains are best left forgotten," Janna explained to them. "Some say this exhibit even risks glorifying them. But others think that the only way for us to avoid repeating history is to learn from it and whether we like it or not, these villains are a part of our history. Not to mention, this exhibit helps us remember these villains for what they are, even if there are still some who will romanticize them to this day. I don't know why though. Sure, villains can be cool. But these guys were also losers who all got their asses kicked." She saw a hand raised up. "Yes?"
"Well… my mommy once said that Belos used to eat the souls of witches during his rule," said a little witch girl who was definitely born after Belos.
Janna chuckled and held up a flashlight in front of her face. "Oh, that's definitely true. Most of the time, Belos would subsist on the souls of Palismen, but every now and then, he would feed on other witches… draining them dry!" she declared in a spooky manner, scaring the kids. She then turned to the Hellborn kids. "And you know, Belo's soul is probably roaming around in Hell, looking for his next victim…"
The children gulped at this, though the parents did not look pleased.
"Um, can you explain some of these villains to us?" one member of the tour group asked.
"Oh, sure," Janna said as she pointed to one portrait. "This is the Inner Demon. Real name: unknown. We do know that he was once a human before he was brought to the Boiling Isles in the 17th Century, but thanks to the Horned King's influence, he became… more. He became the spirit of the Forest of Fear and for centuries he fed on the misery of the youth of the Isles, luring his victims into the Forest of Gear where they would turn into trees. Fortunately, he was eventually dealt with and his soul was claimed by the loa spirit Baron Samedi. Now the Forest of Fear is no more and that area is quite nice now."
She then pointed to Terra Snapdragon's portrait. "And this was his partner in crime, Terra Snapdragon, who was rotten to the core from a young age," Janna said. "Believe it or not, but there are still Belos supporters who think he was right. And despite that, you won't find anyone who will defend Terra Snapdragon. She was one of Belos's original Coven Heads and yet the whole time she was secretly the leader of the Tarot Guild, a criminal organization that dealt in witch trafficking. While a lot of the Coven Heads were definitely corrupt, nobody could come close to Terra. She was just evil incarnate, forcing children to fight each other for her amusement and eventually attempting to help the Inner Demon kill everyone in the Boiling Isles so she could become immortal. And that's just really scratching the surface of her evil…."
The group looked slightly disturbed by this, but Janna continued, walking over to a portrait of Belos without his mask. "And then there's Belos, aka Philip. The former Emperor of the Boiling Isles himself. While Terra was just evil, Belos was more… complicated. He was born human, but he was raised here by witches," she said, which surprised everyone. "Yup, he and his brother, William, showed up on the Isles someday without any memories of their origin. They were found and raised by witches, but eventually they learned of a prophecy. This prophecy scared Philip and led to his decision to create a portal door that could serve as a gateway between the Human Realm and Demon Realm. Now, his intentions were good, since wanted to bring two worlds together and unite them in order to stop a threat to the Boiling Isles that he believed was inevitable. So he brought a group of humans to the Boiling Isles… but unfortunately for Belos, he brought 17th century humans… from the Northeast… and from the witch-hunting era."
The humans winced at that ad Janna continued. "Remember that fire I mentioned? The one that destroyed most of old Bonesborough? That was caused by the witch hunter Gabriel Gates and his sister Mary, aka Bloody Mary. Yeah, that one. And the Inner Demon? He was also part of that group, even if he had his own agenda. In retribution, Philip killed Gabriel, but he did not give up on his mission to protect the Boiling Isles. No, he became more obsessed with ensuring that his vision never came to pass, becoming immortal by making a deal with the Horned King, the same Horned King that created the Inner Demon. Because of his experiences with Gabriel, Philip believed that the Human Realm was the threat to the Boiling Isles, so he agreed to free the Horned King and unleash him on the Human Realm. To achieve his ends, he became Belos, took over the Boiling Isles, set up the Emperor's Coven and the Coven System, and performed some of the worst atrocities in the history of the Boiling Isles with the aid of his allies. He carried out false flag operations, eliminated his political enemies, and committed genocide against lycan witches like werewolves, dragons, werecats… the dude went so far as to kill his own brother for having second-thoughts about his ultimate plan, which was to drain all witches of their magic in order to free the Horned King. But perhaps the worst part of all… is that he honestly believed that he was the hero. And to this day, some still do. But fortunately, that number is getting smaller, since more and more witches are waking up to what Belos was. He wasn't born a monster. But he definitely became one…"
Next, Janna took them to a part of the museum dedicated to the two heroes of Bonesborough, those who had saved the Boiling Isles time and time again.
"Okay, so you know how I said the Hall of Villains was my favorite exhibit? Yeah, I lied. This is my favorite exhibit," Janna declared while gesturing to statues of Luz Clawthorne and Amity Blight. "This exhibit is dedicated to the greatest heroes of the Boiling Isles, the delinquent human-witch-Titan Luz Noceda Clawthorne and her Fae girlfriend/wife Amity Goodfellow Blight. The two are absolute badasses… and good friends of mine. They, along with their friends and allies, were the ones who defeated Emperor Belos. Without them, the Isles wouldn't be like it is today."
Around the statues were illusion holograms of Luz and Amity's allies, the holograms constantly changing to show a new ally. "You may have heard about some of their allies. Augustus Porter, Willow Park, Skara Brooke, Boscha Saltstar, Hunter Clawthorne, Donna Masterskull, Nina Fangs, Emily Tricks, Cross Drakescale… and many others."
She then showed them portraits depicting the battles Luz and Amity have been in. "Lumity, their ship name, has overcome many battles and taken down many villains. One of their earliest accomplishments was rescuing the children of the Isles from the Coachman, an evil Fae," she said as she pointed at the portrait of Luz and Amity defeating the Coachman. "Shortly after that, they defended their school during the Glandu war and later they fought the mad goddess Melinoe," she said as she pointed to a portrait of Luz, Amity, and their friends and allies going up against Mel while she was in her dragon form. "And of course, Luz was the one who ultimately defeated the Inner Demon for good. After that, they and their allies defeated Belos and the Titan mechs that Belos summoned, including the one that Belos sent to destroy St. Epiderm." She pointed to the portrait of them taking down a mechanical dragon that had been summoned by Belos to destroy St. Epiderm. "And those were just some of their early adventures. After the Day of Unity, they-"
"Wait, what about Luz's brother?" one of the tourists asked. "Is is true he is a Titan?"
Janna smiled. "I'm glad you asked…"
"And welcome to the Titan Exhibit!" Janna announced.
They were now in an exhibit dedicated to the Titan. They saw a large table that was modeled after the Boiling Isles, a map of the Titan, and charts and maps to other Titan Islands discovered.
"Our friends from beyond the Boiling Isles will probably recognize their home Titans on our maps," Janna explained. "These maps used to be much more bare, but we have greatly increased our understanding of this world's geography since the Day of Unity." She then tapped on something on a display and an illusion hologram popped up. "And this is King Clawthorne… the last living Titan!"
Everyone stared in awe at the illusion hologram of King Clawthorne.
"Aw, he looks so cute," one of the tourists commented.
"Yeah, Titans like him are small at first," Janna commented. "There is still a lot that we don't know about Titans, with most of what we know coming from our study of King, who did not hit a growth spurt until he reached his late twenties."
"And where is he now?" one of the kids asked. "Is he still on the Boiling Isles?"
"Oh, no," Janna said while looking over to King. "Right now, King Clawthorne's on a spiritual journey…"
For all the children of the Boiling Isles, their Fall Break had started. Phil and his friends were currently hanging out in Bonesborough, chatting.
"So, my moms have made a decision," Phil said while holding a grudgeby ball. "We're going to be spending time with family at Gravity Falls in the Human Realm."
"Ooh, that sounds lovely, Phil," Jaspin said. "Who are you staying with?"
"My Grandma Camila," Phil explained.
"How long will you be staying there?" Annie asked him.
"Probably for a few weeks at least, but I don't think we're going to be there for all of Fall Break," Phil said as he passed the ball to Annie.
"Any plans for what you're going to do there?" Fishstick asked him. "Like flying fishing? Ghost exorcisms?"
"Um, right now the plan is just to spend time with my family there," Phil answered. "I think Dipper and Mabel will be there, I think they're out of college at this point."
"Huh, that's it?" Fishstick asked.
"I mean, it is Gravity Falls," Phil pointed out. "Something weird is bound to happen, right? So it isn't like I won't be doing anything there."
Fishstick nodded. "If I were to go to the Human Realm, I'd definitely meet some potential love interests who'd be interested in this cool kitty… not like those odd, orange cat face videos from the Human Realm that teach kids about stranger safety."
"Well, if I were to go to the Human Realm, I'd enjoy the sights and different cultures there," Jaspin said. "Ooh, and I definitely want to know more about surfing. Like, it's amazing that humans can surf on water without getting scalded."
"And they have their own haunted houses and even ghost-filled towns," Annie said with a smile. "I would love to check those out."
"If I were in the Human Realm, I'd try to learn about the scientific and technological advancements that humans have made in their world," Sid said with a thoughtful look "Already thinking about how do they make their coffee maker,"
"You know, you guys could come with me to the Human Realm if you want," Phil suggested.
"We'd love to go with you, Phil… but we already have Fall plans with our families," Jaspin reminded him. "Palm Stings…"
"Splinter Fest and the LOWTH museum," Annie added,
"Spending some quality time with my mom," Fishstick said before he muttered "And settle my love life…"
"Internship at Abomex," Sid pointed out. "Sorry Phil."
"Oh, that's alright," Phil replied, though he still felt a little down. "I hope you guys enjoy yourselves while I'm in Gravity Falls." He then turned to Pete, who had been with the group the entire time, he just hadn't said anything yet. "What about you, Pete? You've been pretty quiet for a while now."
"Huh?" Pete asked, looking up at Phil. "Oh, well… I don't really have anything going on during Fall Break," he admitted. "But the Human Realm does sound interesting. Maybe I can talk to my folks about going with you."
"That would be great!" Phil shouted, patting Pete's back hard, which made him let out air. "Because there's a lot of cool things we could do together in Gravity Falls. Laser tag! Gnome fighting! Mini-golf!"
"Uh-huh," Pete said before he thought of something. "Though, it might take you some convincing to get your moms to agree to take me with you."
"Oh come on, I'm sure they'll be okay with it," Phil assured him.
"Dude, I don't think they like me that much," Pete said. "Not because I'm from Glandus, but uh… I'm not the most sociable guy around."
"Please, you're not so different from cousin Cross," Phil pointed out. "Like, I remember that he used to be more of an introvert, but my folks still liked him."
"I don't know…" Pete said.
"Listen, I'll tell ya what," Phil said. "I can talk to my folks if you talk to yours. I promise to put in a good word to my moms about you. But I would really love it if you came with us."
Pete turned to Phil and gave a nod. "Yeah, alright. I'll talk to my folks about it."
"Great!" Phil said with a huge smile. "Trust me, Pete, you are going to love Gravity Falls…"
Meanwhile, in another part of the Boiling Isles, Katie was visiting a bakery run by an old friend of her moms…
"Hi, Aunt Drea!" Katie announced as she entered.
"Hiya, Katie!" shouted Andrea, the cotton candy haired witch woman looking great for someone in her late 20s. She wore a light pink blouse with a yellow apron and blue trousers with sandal-boots and was noticeably pregnant. Scattered throughout the bakery were six other kids… her kids. Some had pink hair like her, others had black, teal, and blue curly hair, some had additions like horns and extra eyes, and one was a werecat. They were all somewhere between three and nine years old. Three were boys and three were girls. "Hey kids, say hi to Katie!"
"Hi Katie!" they all waved to her.
"Hi Candy, Ike, Tootsie, Caramel, Reese, and Willy," Katie said to each of the kids as she walked up to Andrea. "So I just stopped by to get the sweets I ordered for my mom."
"Oh yeah, the chocolate turtles order, I just got these made for her," Andrea said. "Hey Ike, help me get the boxes."
"Yes, mom," spoke Ike, who had curly pink hair and a horn, as he held up the ordered boxes. "Here you go, Katie."
"Thanks, Ike," Katie said as she took these from Ike.
"You know, we could have just delivered these to your mom in person during the cookout later today," Andrea pointed out.
"I know, but I want to get in good graces with my mom," Katie responded.
"Ooh, let me guess, a bribe?" Andrea asked with a smirk. "Are you giving these to Mama Tabby because you want something from her?"
"Uh… how did you figure it out?" Katie asked her nervously.
"Please, I do this all the time to my kids to get them to do something for me, bribing them with sweets," Andrea said. "So what is it? A concert? A movie you're too young to see? Ooh, staying up past your bedtime?"
"Um, no," Katie told her. "Let's just say that the Coven Crusaders are looking to get into sports."
"Ooh, which one?" Andrea asked her. "Is it hockeeth? No wait, Flyer Derby? Though, I think you need a Palisman for that… oh! Scareball!"
"It's uh, a surprise," Katie said while putting the boxes of turtles in a bag before paying Andrea, putting the snails on the counter. "Here's the snails I owe you."
"Aw, thanks, but for you, you know you get the discount," Andrea told her.
"Nah, I'm feeling generous today," Katie said as she headed out. "See you guys at the cookout!"
"You too, Katie!" Andrea waved back before turning to her kids upon hearing them cry out. "Caramel! Stop biting Reese's tail! I'll give you taffy if you want to chew on something," Andrea told her werecat daughter before getting an idea. "Hmm… Taffy could be a good name for the next one…" she said while patting her pregnant belly.
Elsewhere in the Boiling Ises, Pete returned home, walking inside. "Ma, dad, I'm home!"
"Peter, come in," Margo said as she was having tea. She saw her adopted son enter the living room where she wasn't alone. "Your sister decided to drop by," she said as she gestured to Emily, who was sitting next to her.
"Hey, Peter," Emily greeted him while having her own tea.
"Hey, sis," Pete responded. "Um, I wanted to talk to mom and dad about something."
"What's that, son?" Hamilskin asked while walking into the room.
"Well… Phil asked me if I wanted to come to the HR with him and his folks," Pete said while rubbing the back of his head. "Uh, I mean the Human Realm. But it's only if his parents say I can and I don't know if they will, but if they say yes… could I possibly go?"
Emily was surprised by this. "You want to go with… Luz and Amity to the HR?"
"Well, he said it wouldn't be for all of Fall Break, just a few weeks," Pete replied. "And honestly… I want to see what the Human Realm is like. And it would be a good way for me to get out of the house during Fall Break."
"I think that sounds wonderful," Margo said, putting down her tea and clapping her hands together. "Going there could be quite educational for you, Pete."
"Yeah, a trip outside of the Demon Realm could be a great experience," Hamilskin agreed. "What do you think, Emily?"
"You have been to the Human Realm before, right?" Pete asked her, curious.
"Oh, I've been there a few times," Emily admitted. "It is… very different from our own world. They have a lot of the same stuff we do, but with its twist. They even have their own magical creatures who are very different from our own. For example, their unicorns are much more peaceful than the ones here."
"Peaceful unicorns?" Pete asked, intrigued. "Okay, that I gotta see."
Emily smiled. "I do think this could be good for you," she confessed. "But… promise me that when you're in the Human Realm, you will always listen to Luz and Amity. They have a lot more experience there and they know what they're talking about."
Pete gave her a nod. "Okay, sis, I promise to listen to them."
"Good," Emily said with a nod. "Because as long as you do that, you should be good."
Meanwhile, Phil decided to pay a visit to his mom at Abomex, which was in a building once owned by Blight Industries. But now that Blight Industries was no more, the building was under the ownership of an old friend of Amity's.
"Yeah, she's here, Phil," Gavin said as he led Phil through the building. The older Gavin wore a bronze shoulder pad on his left shoulder, a purple coat with a gray tunic, a black belt, and purple pants with gray boots. "We called her in to help fix a machine's wiring."
"Thank you, Gavin," Phil said as he went to look for his mom while passing by a mirror that was playing a commercial…
The commercial showed the Abomex building, along with purple and green abominations who were helping the local plant life.
"We here at Abomex have been blessed with the discovery of clean energy that is a fusion between Abomination magic and Plant magic," said an older Jerbo Jeepers, who wore glasses and a green turtleneck. He sported a small beard on his chin.
"And now my wonderfully brilliant husband and I want to pass that blessing onto you," said an older Sarah Atos, who was sporting a bobcut and a white turtleneck with yellow lines. "And at radically reduced prices."
The two kissed each other and the commercial cut to a biped brown furred dog demon kid wearing glasses over his hazel eyes, a white lab coat, and black boots.
"Abomex makes everything better!" the dog kid declared while standing with some Abominauts. "With the help from our protocol Abominauts, who can serve as your translators, restore forest areas, and assist you with your profession!"
"That's right, Dexterrier," Jerbo said as he and Sarah walked over to join their son. "Not to mention, parts of our profit will go toward environmental and health organizations that we also help support."
"Abomex: For A Clean and Healthy Future."
Phil walked over to a part of the building where he saw a bunch of workers gathered as they watched Amity work her magic. She was working on a machine, using a wrench to pull one bolt out and using an extra-abomi hand to reorganize the wiring. Once she was finished, she gave a thumbs up "Go!"
A worker pulled the lever and the conveyor belt of the machine moving. The machine then started to pump out Abomi-tires, which were made out of Abomination-matter. The workers cheered while Amity stood up and wiped the sweat off her forehead before she turned and noticed that Phil was there cheering for her as well.
"Good job, mom!" Phil cheered, making Amity smile.
"Hey, my little miracle," Amity responded as she walked towards him. "Are you here to see your mom work?"
"Well, that and, I wanted to ask you something. About our trip to the Human Realm," Phil said. "I was thinking of bringing a friend along."
"Oh, that sounds great," Amity replied as she picked up her toolbox. "So which friend do you want to take along with this?"
"Well… I'm thinking about bringing Pete," Phil revealed, which surprised Amity and made her stop in her tracks.
"Pete? Oh… um, has he… talked to his parents about it?" Amity asked.
"He said he would and I told him I would talk to you about it," Phil said. "So if his parents say it's okay, can he come with us?"
"I… if his parents give him their okay, I guess we could take him along," Amity said, trying to not sound conflicted. "But I'll have to check in with your mother about it and see what she thinks."
Phil gave a nod, but before he could say anything their conversation was interrupted by a shout.
"Stop that Abominaut!" a worker shouted, causing the two to turn and see an Abominaut running away from the workers.
"You won't take me alive!" shouted an Abominaut. It sort of resembled the Jean-Lucs. It had a purple-box shaped head with plant antennas, a screen for a face that showed emoji-like face, and a purple matter chest plate. Its skeletal and vine wrapped body included Abomiparts around its arms and legs, mixed with some gold metal.
"What's going on?" Amity asked, seeing the Abominaut running away.
"It's Model JT-90X," Jerbo said as he came over with Gavin and Sarah. "Apparently, there was a, um, glitch to their system. JT-90X is now acting like… well…"
"I don't want to be serving organics!" declared JT-90X, who stretched its arm to reach for a window and pull itself up. "I want to be free! I want to look out at the world as my oyster!"
"JT-90X! You get down from there, right now!" Sarah shouted. "Don't make me get you myself!"
"My name is Jetstream!" they declared while climbing out the window, helicopter propellers coming out of its back and helping them fly away. "I'm free!"
Amity and Phil were both stunned by this.
"What just happened…?" Phil asked.
"I think one of the Abominauts is going through a teenage phase," Amity responded.
"How did that happen? And how is that possible?" Phil asked. "I mean, the Abominauts do have some autonomy, but why is this one rebelling? Should we be worried about this?"
"Yes, we should," Sarah said as she adjusted her glasses. "This one is now acting like a rebellious teenager due to the glitch of their programming. Who knows what damage it'll cause while on the loose."
"What can a robot with teenage thoughts do?" Phil asked, which led to everyone exchanging horrified looks. Phil just looked at them in confusion. "What?"
"Maybe I can help," Amity volunteered before turning to Phil. "Want to help me find a runaway teenage robot from before it causes a PR disaster?"
"Sure mom, I'll be happy to help," Phil replied with a smile as he summoned Ghost and formed her into a staff.
The runaway Abominaut, self-named Jetstream, was currently flying away from the Abomex building. However, Amity and Phil were both in hot pursuit, Amity using her Fae wings while Phil used his staff.
"Wait! Stop!" Amity shouted at the Abominaut.
"Uh, no way!" Jetstream declared, only to see Phil fly into their path.
"Hey, can we just talk?" Phil offered.
"Yeah… no," Jetstream said before he dove down to the forest below, landing and trying to lose them in the trees. However, before they could hide, Amity suddenly teleported in front of the Abominaut. "Gah!"
"Okay, now you're forcing us to take you in," Amity said as she raised her hands. Abomination matter surrounded Jetstream, forming large Abomi-hands ready to grab them.
"Don't underestimate me!" Jetstream shouted as suddenly their legs spun around and turned into a drill that they used to go into the ground.
"What?!" Amity shouted in surprise as she looked around and looked up at Phil, who was still on his staff. "I'm going after her, keep an eye up here in case she comes out of the ground!"
"On it!" Phil responded as he saw his mom jump into the hole. He then flew around the forest, keeping an eye out until he saw Jetstream come out from the ground and head toward the creek. "Found you…"
Jetstream kept running, looking around to make sure they were not being followed. They sighed in relief. "Once I make it out, I'm so gonna get me a-"
"Found ya," Phil said as he flew in front of them, surprising Jetstream. "I'll admit, you're a slippery one."
"Thanks, but I'm not going down easily," Jetstream said as their arms suddenly grew and they stretched out their giant fists to swing at Phil.
"Whoa! Hey! Watch it!" Phil said while dodging the attacks. He landed on the ground and lifted up his staff, shooting a spell at Jetstream, who instantly jumped over the attack, forming their legs into a spring. "Whoa… how are you doing that?"
"I'm part abomination," Jetstream reminded Phil before forming green vines that they used to swing from tree to tree. "Along with being part plants!"
Phil saw them swing away and he gave chase to the robot. "Alright, two can play that game," he said as he drew spell circles, summoning large plant vines to try to grab Jetstream.
The Abominaut swung around, dodging the attempts to stop them. However, when they swung past a purple tree… that tree managed to grab them. "Nani?!" they exclaimed.
"Gotcha," Amity said as she revealed herself. "You know, you made us go through a lot of trouble just to catch you."
"Oh come on," Jetstream said, their screen face emoji changing to a saddened face. "I just want to be free! I just want to go out and do dumb and wonderful things like skateboarding on a mountain! Texting with friends! Singing in a metal band!"
"Huh, this is new," Amity commented as Phil joined her.
"So what will happen to her?" Phil asked.
"Well, usually we would try to figure out what caused the glitch, which would mean taking apart the malfunctioning Abominaut to learn what went wrong," Amity said while looking at the Abominaut.
"I don't like that idea," Phil said with a frown.
"Yeah, me neither," Amity admitted. "This may have been a glitch caused by accident, but it resulted in an Abominaut that is more independent and complex than the other Abominauts," she said with a sigh. "It would be wrong to take her apart. Maybe I can talk to Jerbo and Sarah about Jetstream here."
"Hey, you used my name!" Jetstream shouted happily while being restrained in abomi-goo.
Phil just sighed, Ghost sitting on his shoulder as he sat down with his mom. "Man, I wonder what mom and Dylan are doing right now…"
"Probably nothing as crazy as chasing down a runaway teenage robot," Amity responded with a smile as she sat down next to her son.
As for Luz and Dylan, they had gotten themselves in a… weird situation.
"Keep them down!" Luz shouted as she shot a magical blast at a living toast spider coming at her before punching away a spider-banana. "Where do these things come from?!"
"I don't know!" Dylan replied while punching a spider-pineapple. The two had been fighting half-food, half-spider creatures that had somehow invaded their home…
Meanwhile, Katie returned home with the boxes of chocolate.
"I'm home!" Katie declared as she came inside and looked around, spotting one of her moms. "Oh, hey mom."
"Hey, Katie," Emily said while putting away some groceries. "Mind helping me?"
"Sure," Katie said while setting the boxes of chocolate on the table, which Emily noticed.
"What's with the chocolate?" Emily asked.
"Oh, they're not from me," Katie admitted. "These chocolate turtles are for mama. You know how much she likes chocolate…"
"Yes, she really does," Emily said, though she already suspected that her daughter had ulterior motives. So as Katie helped her with putting the groceries away, Emily asked "So what's the occasion? I mean, there has to be a catch…"
"Oh, um… I was hoping to… get her approval for something," Katie admitted.
"I knew it," Emily said with a smile.
"Well, I was also hoping to get your approval as well," Katie added.
"Oh? Approval for what?" Emily asked while putting fruit in the basket.
"I… wanna try out for grudgeby," Katie admitted while putting the canned food away. This caused Emily to pause.
"Grudgeby?" Emily asked, sounding surprised. "Oh… um… that sounds… great, Katie. Though, we should go over it with your mother first…"
"I know, which is why I bought her these chocolate turtles," Katie said with a grin. "I don't want to spring it onto her until she is nice and relaxed. Once she is calm enough, I give her my permission slip for her to sign and then I get to try out for the junior grudgeby team along with my friends!"
"I see," Emily said with a nod. She definitely wanted to be supportive, but she could already see this might go south. "Katie, you are aware of how your mother…"
"Can be overprotective of my well-being, I know," Katie said with a sigh. "But, if I put her in the right mood, I think I can convince mama that I'm hardcore enough to try out for grudgeby and get her approval!"
Emily turned to look at her stepdaughter, seeing her determination. She couldn't help but admire that about Katie. It brought her a smile. Emily always had trouble saying no to Katie, but whenever she got like this… she especially couldn't deny her.
"Alright, I think I can help you with that," Emily said, surprising Katie. "I'll help you convince your mother to let you try grudgeby."
"You will?" Katie asked, her eyes wide with awe.
"Of course," Emily said. "If this is something you want to do, I am completely on board."
"Oh, thank you, mom!" Katie shouted as she rushed over and gave her stepmother a hug.
"However," Emily said while she hugged Katie back. "Your plan with the chocolate turtles is… lacking."
"Oh?" Katie asked while looking up at her mother.
"I don't think the chocolate turtles will be enough," Emily pointed out, getting Katie to think.
"Hmm, you might be right," Katie admitted. "In that case, we should try to sweeten the deal if we want to get her on board…"
"I have some ideas," Emily suggested.
"Me too," Katie said and they shared rather evil-looking smiles as they began to plot…
At the Clawblight home, the family was getting ready for their trip to the Human Realm.
"Phil," Amity said to her son as Phil turned to her "After talking with your mom, we both have agreed to take Pete along with us to the Human Realm."
Phil smiled. "Really? That's great! Thank you, mom!"
"Better call him and tell him to get ready if we're gonna stay on schedule," Amity told him before Phil nodded and went to contact Pete.
"Mom, do I have to wear this?" asked Dylan, who came over while holding up a concealment stone necklace. "Why do I need to be in disguise?"
"Because we're going to Gravity Falls, Dylan," Amity pointed out while kneeling towards him. "There are going to be some humans who still aren't used to, well, us. Summer may be over, but there's still tourists and they might see you. But you'll be able to take it off once we get inside Abuelita Camila's home, okay?"
Dylan sighed. "Okay, mom," he said as put the necklace around his neck, activating the concealment stone and changing his appearance. His human form had brown hair, brown skin, black eyes, and a red hoodie, jeans, and shoes. He sorta resembled his mother, Luz, even having her fang sticking out of his mouth.
"Aw, it's like seeing a mini-me," Luz said as she came over with her suitcase. "Your abuelita can't wait to see you boys again."
It wasn't too long before they heard the doorbell ring and Luz walked over to answer it. After she opened the door, she saw Pete standing outside with his things.
"Hey, Mrs. Clawblight," he said.
"Oh, hello, Pete," Luz said, a bit nervously. She turned to shout into the house. "Phil! Pete's here!"
"Pete, hey," Phil said as he ran over and they did their handshake. "Glad you could make it, man. Ready to see the other side?"
"You know it," Pete said with a smile as he entered their home, following Luz and Phil to the living room, where he saw Amity and Dylan. "Hey Mrs. Clawblight, and uh, is that you, Dylan?"
"Yeah," Dylan responded while in his human disguise.
"Hello, Peter," Amity acknowledged. "Don't mind Dylan's appearance, he's gotta wear that concealment stone while we're out in public in Gravity Falls."
"Ah, because of the tourists," Pete said, nodding in understanding. "Phil told me about that."
"Alright, everyone," Luz said as she held up the portal key and tapped on the eye while Amity, Phil, Dylan, and Pete all gathered around with their suitcases. "Time to make the jump."
Appearing in the middle of the room was the portal door, which opened up with a bright and colorful flash. Once the flash was gone and they took a look, they saw the woods of Oregon on the other side of the door.
Phil noticed Pete staring at awe at the other side of the portal and he smiled, excitedly anticipating being able to show his friend around.
"Now then, watch your step," Luz said as she guided everyone through the portal door…
Welcome to Gravity Falls.
The town was mostly the same town that it had been twelve years ago. The same weirdness, the same quirks, the same old things that went bump in the night. And it was still a place for tourists to visit, including a roadside attraction that we have not seen in its glory for quite a while…
"Welcome to the Mystery Shack!" declared an older Soos. He was dressed similar to Stan. The same kind of suit, the same fez hat, an eyepatch, and he was even holding Stan's cane. Besides that, he looked mostly the same, just older and sporting a beard. "My name is Mr. Mystery, and I'm about to show you dudes the stuff of dreams! Wonders! And inspiration! Join me and see what eyes within these walls… I meant lies." He paused for a moment. "Wait, if walls did have eyes, do they see what we do in private? That's, uh, something that'll haunt you if you think about it too long."
He led the tourists around in the Mystery Shack, showing them the displays of various creatures and artifacts. "Here in the Mystery Shack, you will see stuff that you won't see anywhere else, like the only known skeleton of the elusive merdog," he said as he pointed to a skeleton that resembled a dog with a fish tail. "Honestly, they're still pretty cute."
"Ooh," the tourists said as they snapped pictures.
"And over here is a collection of mysterious paintings made by an unknown deity," Soos said as he showed the group paintings that looked like paintings made by a child. "These give us a look into the eyes of the deity and how they see our world. Like, look, this one is of a human family," he said as he pointed to a crude portrait of own family that included himself, his wife, and their three kids.
"Um, they kinda look like a child's paintings," one elderly woman pointed out.
"Heh, oh yeah, that's cause they are," Soos admitted. "I just wanted to show off my little Ava's paintings. She used to paint on the walls, so uh, Melody got her some canvases to do her finger paintings. I think she is getting pretty good too."
The tourists chuckled and smiled at this, finding it cute.
After the tour, Soos led the tourists into the gift shop. "And that's the end of our tour. Please, buy a souvenir to remember your time here today and be sure to tell your friends about the Mystery Shack!"
"Beware of the ghost that follows you home!" warned a young ten year old Hispanic boy. He had blue eyes, brown hair, and a skin complexion similar to Soos. He was wearing a Mystery Shack hat, a green t-shirt, and cargo pants with teal sneakers. After the guests made their purchases and left, he turned to his dad. "Did I do good, dad?"
"Heh, you sure did, Stanley Jr.," Soos said, patting his son's head. "Hey Melody, how are we doing with sales?"
"Great, hon!" shouted Melody, Soos's wife. She was of average height with a heavy build. She had light tan skin, full pink lips, and wavy light brown hair that was pulled back to a ponytail. She wore the Gravity Falls employee uniform with the hat, t-shirt, cargo pants and her own boots. "Thank you for shopping at the Mystery Shack!" she told another customer before she looked around. "Say, where's Luiz and Ava?"
"Oh, I think they're haggling with a customer over there," Soos said as he pointed to their two other children.
"Come on, is that enough to give to your little girl, sir?" asked a young eight-year-old boy with a slight tan, brown hair, and black eyes, Like his father, he had buck teeth and a stockier built. He wore a red track suit and white sneakers. "I mean, you can definitely get more than a t-shirt, right Ava?"
"Yeah!" shouted the youngest child of the Ramirez family. Little Ava had curly blond hair like her mother and peach skin, brown eyes, a yellow shirt with gray overalls, and pink sandals. "You should at least get her a snow globe! They have memories in them!"
"Oh, that's a nice suggestion," the customer said as Ava handed him a snowglobe.
Soos smiled at this. "I'm so proud of them."
"Well, I don't know if letting Mabel babysit them was a good idea after all," Melody replied, unsure about her kids knowing how to haggle.
In another part of Gravity Falls, a cop car with two cops in it was patrolling the streets. But these partners were not the cops you have come to expect…
"Oh man, I can't believe they used that photo of me," said Vee, the Basilisk in disguise. She looked older, with shorter hair, some blue streaks, and her Basilisk ears incorporated into her human appearance. She wore the standard GFPD hat and uniform while reading a newspaper. "I look like a mess…"
"Hey, you won that hot pocket eating contest, and to be honest, you are a bit of an overeater," replied the older Wendy, whose hair was also shortened. She also wore the GFPD hat and uniform and was the one driving the squad car. "Or as Soos would put it, 'an over-achieveater.'"
"Heh, that is what Soos would say," Vee replied while setting the newspaper down. It was then they got a call over the car radio.
"We got a MG-12 at the barrel factory."
"MG-12… a magical creature's on site!" Vee realized.
Wendy pulled up the comm. "This is officer Corduroy and her partner. We're nearby and will check out the scene."
"You think it could be the gnomes again?" Vee asked.
"Honestly, I hope so," Wendy replied as she turned on the siren. "That would be better than those giant ants we had to deal with last week."
The two drove over to the barrel factory, where they saw the magical creature that was causing the disturbance.
"Oh come on!" Wendy complained, seeing what appeared to be a large half-beaver, half-troll hybrid. It had green fur with buck teeth, beady eyes, horns, muscular arms, and a large flat tail.
"Is that… a beaver-troll?!" Vee asked in shock, seeing it up on the roof of the factory as the two got out of their car.
"Come on, let's handle this guy," Wendy said as she put on a sash with potion bottles on it as they started to climb up the scaffolding on the barrel building.
Seeing the two climbing up toward it, the beaver-troll picked up a barrel and rolled it down the scaffolding. It grabbed more barrels and did the same, forcing Wendy and Vee to jump over and dodge each barrel as they made their way up the scaffolding. Wendy took the lead, with Vee struggling a bit more behind her.
Eventually, Wendy made it to the top of the building and confronted the beaver-troll. "Alright, Norm, let's get you out of here…"
The beaver-troll screeched and swung its tail at Wendy like a club. She dodged the tail and jumped up to kick the beaver-troll's face. "Hiya!" she shouted. The beaver-troll screeched again and tried to go in to bite her, but she threw a potion up on its face, which exploded into a cloud of mist. This stunned the beaver-troll long enough for Wendy to kick it on its back.
The beaver-troll quickly got up and glared at the redhead woman. Wendy dashed around as the beaver-troll tried to tackle her and she continued throwing more potions that exploded into clouds. The beaver-troll looked around for her, disoriented by the potions, and before it could find her it felt a punch to the face by Wendy, followed by a kick. The beaver-troll tried to screech again, but Wendy threw a potion in its mouth, causing it to cough violently.
"Did you wear him out?" Vee asked as she caught up to Wendy.
"Yeah," Wendy replied, pointing at the beaver-troll looking worn out. "He's all yours."
Vee smiled as she went to deal with the beaver-troll close up, using her powers to drain the magic from the beaver-troll. The large creature felt drained before it fell to the floor, defeated.
After draining him, Vee turned to her partner. "Another one for the books, eh?"
Wendy nodded while going to the beaver-troll. "But first… the hardest part will be getting him off of the roof…"
Over at Greasy's Diner, two young adults were sitting in a booth together with their laptops out.
"Okay, so what offers do you have, Candy?" an older Dipper asked. He was taller now, sporting glasses, short brown hair, and a small scruff of a beard on his chin. He wore a red flannel button shirt with a black shirt with a bunch of hand patterns, jeans, and blue sneakers.
"I've gotten some job offers in communications," replied Candy, who was now a young woman with her hair tied to her back with a teal stripe around. She was wearing a white jacket with blue stripes, a green shirt with black skirt, gray leggings, and black boots. "They seem promising and the pay's good. What about you, Mason?"
"Well, thanks to my thesis, I've been getting some offers from some engineering companies and global communications," he replied while tapping on his laptop.
"Alright, you two, here are your orders… if you can get your eyes off those laptops long enough to eat," said an older Pacifica Northwest, her hair now shortened with purple highlights on the tip of her bobcut. She was dressed in a waitress uniform and was holding up a tray. "Your nachos and hot cocoas."
"Oh, thanks, Pacifica," Dipper said as he and Candy began to munch on their nacho order.
"So how's the job search going with you grads?" Pacifica asked them.
"Oh we're still looking at our options," Candy said. "We've already gotten some offers, which is good. But we also want to look for stuff that we are interested in. Like there's a job in Colorado that I am thinking of applying for. They work on space projects."
"And I'm hoping that my research and articles on cryptozoology will gain the attention of zoologists," Dipper said.
"What about you, Pacifica?" Candy asked her. "Have you been looking for a new job?"
Pacifica thought about it. "Well, not really," she said with a sigh. "I mean, I could go into professional golfing, but I haven't decided anything. The diner's good for the moment, but I don't want to work here for my whole life, you know? Although my biggest dream would be to go into politics someday."
"Politics?" Dipper asked, surprised.
"Yeah, and I'd go blue," Pacifica said. "I want to help the people of Oregon, do right by them in a way that my old man never did."
"I think that is something for you to look into," Candy said. "Have you talked with Mabel about options?"
"Not really. Compared to me, she seems to have everything figured out," Pacifica admitted.
"Hi, everyone! It's your favorite girl, Mabel, bringing you another episode of Mabel's Guide to Everything!" Mabel shouted into the camera. Like her brother, she was now a young adult. Her hair was still long, reaching beyond her back. Her braces were off and she wore a red sweater with bat symbols on it, blue jeans and black mary-janes. "Now, I've seen many paintings where dogs are playing cards and I asked myself 'Mabel, why can't dogs actually play cards?' Well lucky for you, we'll bring this to a reality!"
The camera moved to show a bunch of dogs gathered around the table, each of them with a deck of cards. Mabel went to sit beside them.
"Alright, time to show these dogs how to play cards," Mabel said. "Let's start with something simple like Go Fish."
"Arf!" one dog barked. He sniffed at his cards while a bulldog ended up chewing on his.
Now we head over to the Noceda home, which the Clawblights and Pete stood in front of. Luz rang the doorbell and a few moments later the door was answered by Camila.
"Oh mija! It's so good to see you!" Camila shouted while hugging Luz and Amity. She still looked the same as she did twelve years ago. She wore a brown sweater with blue jeans and purple crocs.
"Hey, ma!" Luz greeted with a smile as she hugged her mom.
"It's so good to see you again, Camila," Amity said as she hugged Camila as well.
"And oh, my little grandsons, how are you two doing?" Camila asked while turning to hug her grandsons.
"We're doing good, Abuelita," Phil responded while hugging Camila.
"Yeah, and it is great to see you again!" Dylan added.
Camila felt Ghost hop from Phil's shoulder to hers, rubbing her head against her. She smiled. "Hello to you too, Ghost."
"We also brought one of Phil's friends with us," Luz said as she pointed to Pete, who was standing at the back of the group, keeping his distance from everyone else. "This is Pete, hope that you don't mind he'll be staying with us."
"Not all, it's always nice to meet one of Phil's friends," Camila said as she invited them all in. "Why don't you come in?"
"Thanks, ma'am," Pete said as he followed the others into the Noceda home.
They went into the living room, which was filled with many pictures and mementos from over the years. From a makeshift basket that holds items to paintings made by Luz and drawings by Phil and Dylan. Among the framed photos was one of Luz with Camila and Lois, another showed Abigail and Camila with Clara and Masha at their wedding. Another photo showed Luz and Camila in Norrisville, and another photo showed Eda handing Camila a wine-bottle of apple blood, and there was one of Manny…
"The others will come by later," Camila said. "So, for now, why don't I treat you all with some quipes."
"Oh, you made quipes?" Luz asked, looking excited.
"Yes, do you really think I wouldn't make some food for you?" Camila asked with a smile.
While the others settled into the Noceda home, Dylan removed his concealment stone, causing his disguise to vanish. "Finally!" he said.
Meanwhile, at the Diamantos-Tricks farm back in the Boiling Isles, Katie and Emily were outside working together to set up for the cookout.
"Table's ready!" Katie announced. "How's the grill, mom?"
"Set up," Emily said as she checked on the outdoor cauldron, lifting the lid to briefly stir. "And the scumbo should be ready soon."
"Forks, spoons, plates, outdoor games, all ready," Katie said as she looked up at the bug zapper. "And the bug zapper should help keep the bugs and pixies from ruining things."
"Good, cause I can see your mother now," Emily said as they saw Tabrella coming over to them.
"Sorry that I'm so fashionably late, but I did buy the buns for the notdogs," Tabrella declared as she entered the backyard while holding a bag of notdog buns. "Oh, looks like you've already been getting things set up without me."
"Yup! But we're glad you're home mama," Katie said with a smile as Emily walked over to her wife and took the notdog buns from her.
"Katie has a surprise for you at the table," Emily told her.
"Hmm? What could be-?" Tabrella asked as she turned to the food table and saw a box with her name on it. She opened the box and gasped. "Goodness, are those… chocolate turtles?!" she squeed out of excitement.
"Yup! All for you, mama," Katie told her.
"Oh, thank you, my little sweetie bell," Tabrella said as she picked one up and ate it. "Mmm, so good…"
"Why don't you sit down and enjoy them, hon?" Emily said while bringing over a chair for her to sit on. "You must be tired from work today…"
"Hmm, well I was looking into and approving designs for the fall season. Running all those bouquet stores isn't easy," Tabrella said while sitting back in the chair while Katie tapped on the music player, which began playing calm and relaxing music near her. "Ooh, I love this music…" she said before Emily started to massage her shoulders. "Oh, you didn't have to do that, dear…"
"You just look so tense," Emily said while Katie had Silvermane hold up a large fan and wave it in front of Tabrella, fanning her.
"Tea, mama?" Katie asked as she held up a tea tray to Tabrella.
"Oh, thank you, dear," Tabrella said as she took the tea. She then ate another chocolate turtle and let out a relaxed sigh… before asking "So… what is this all about?"
"What do you mean?" Emily asked.
"Well, you are obviously trying to butter me up, which means you want me to agree to something that you don't think I would do otherwise," Tabrella said, causing Emily and Katie to exchange nervous looks as they realized they had been found out. Tabrella looked at her daughter. "And I think it involves you, Katie."
Katie was silent for a moment, glancing at Emily before facing her mother. She saw no reason to lie. "Well… okay, mama, the thing is… I wanna try out for grudgeby," she revealed.
"WHAT?!" Tabrella shrieked, getting up from her chair while still holding the box of chocolates. "Katie… you didn't say what I thought you said… right?"
"Um… about me joining sports?" Katie asked.
"Yes! Especially joining grudgeby of all games?!" Tabrella pointed out before tapping the music player so that it would play something more dramatic. "How could you even consider this, Katie? Don't you know how dangerous playing with these ruffian sports can be?" Tabrella asked in a very dramatic tone before turning to Emily. "And you! How could you approve of this? Especially trying to butter me up to approve of such a thing?!"
"Well… I would only agree if you agreed…" Emily said nervously.
"I am shocked! Shocked! Flabbergasted! Bewildered! Gobsmacked! Rattled!" Tabrella declared over-dramatically before eating more of the chocolate turtles, stuffing them into her mouth. "Now I'm stress-eating…"
"Tabby, could you calm down for a second," Emily said while trying to calm her wife. "Maybe we should talk this over, you know?"
"Oh we are talking this over, alright," Tabrella said while looking more demon-like, her eyes blazing. This frightened Emily, who was unfortunately pulled into the house by her wife, leaving Katie alone with Silvermane.
Katie winced, feeling bad for her stepmother before turning to Silvermane. "Well, that turned out well…"
Back in the HR, Luz and Amity were helping Camila set up the table when they heard the doorbell ring.
"I got it, you boys just stay here and enjoy yourselves," Luz said as she walked over to the front door, passing by Phil, Dylan, and Pete, who were all watching TV.
"Yeah, mom," Phil said while getting into the show.
Luz opened the door and broke into a huge smile. "Hey! Glad to see you guys again!"
"Hey, Luz," Dipper greeted. He, along with Mabel, Candy, and Pacifica, were the first to show up. He and Mabel hugged Luz.
"So good to see my sister from another dimension!" Mabel replied before seeing Phil and Dylan. "Philly! Dylan! Come give your Aunt Mabel a hug!"
"Hey/hi, Aunt Mabel," Phil and Dylan replied as they both got up and walked over to be hugged tightly by Mabel.
"I-I can't breathe," Dylan gasped as he tried to squirm his way out of Mabel's loving embrace.
"Hey, glad to see you guys," Amity said as she walked over and hugged Dipper before turning to Pacifica and giving her a hug. "Hey Paz, how's your mom doing?"
"She's doing well, thanks for asking," Pacifica responded.
"Is she still doing pottery?" Amity asked and Pacifica nodded.
"Yeah," Pacifica confirmed. "Honestly, I'm surprised she hasn't given up and moved on like with her other hobbies. I guess she's found something she really likes doing. She's also been helping out with the town's council more, pitching ideas about how to help with the community and generate more business for the fall season."
"That sounds great," Amity replied. "And what about you?"
"Oh, I'm doing great," Pacifica said with a smile before Mabel, who had finally let go of her nephews, ran up and hugged Amity from behind.
"Hi, Ams!" Mabel shouted.
Pacifica looked around and noticed Pete, who like before was trying to stay in the background. "So who's the new kid?"
"Oh, that's Pete," Amity replied. "He's a friend of Phil's, and me and Luz agreed to let him tag along."
Mabel let go of Amity and was about to head over to Pete, but Luz stopped her.
"Be careful," Luz whispered to her. "He… doesn't like to be touched by strangers."
"Ah, got it," Mabel said with a nod as she walked over to Pete. "Hi, Pete. I'm Mabel, Phil's aunt. I'm sure he has talked about me before."
"Uh, hi," Pete said while taking a step back. "And yeah. He called you his 'sweater aunt'."
Mabel broke into a grin. "Well, I'm glad my reputation precedes me. If you want, I could make you some sweaters."
"Uh, no thank you," Pete said. "I don't really like sweaters."
Mabel looked slightly shocked by meeting someone who didn't like sweaters, but she controlled herself. "That's okay," she said. "I have plenty for Phil and Dylan to try out anyway."
Hearing this, Dylan paled slightly. "Oh Titan no…" he whispered while Phil smirked.
"Yo," Wendy announced as she and Vee entered the Noceda home. "We're here."
"And we bought a slow cooker meal," Vee said as she raised the pot she was holding up.
"Wendy, Vee, glad you guys can make it," Luz said, letting them in. She hugged Vee, but rather than hug Wendy the two clasped their hands together Predator-style.
"Hey Wendy, hey Vee," Phil greeted them.
"What's up, Amity Junior," Wendy greeted him with a nod while petting Dylan. "And how are you doing, Luz Junior?"
"I'm doing great, Wendy!" Dylan replied, smiling up at Wendy while his tail was wagging behind him.
"Uh, so how long will you guys be staying?" Dipper asked while setting his jacket aside.
"A few weeks at least," Luz said. "So where is Grenda? Still in Austria?"
"She is, but she said that she'll try to find a time to come over and see you," Candy said.
"And us, since it has been a while since we've seen her," Mabel noted. She then got an idea and she turned to Luz and Amity, smiling. "Oh, we should definitely do a girl's night soon. What do you think?"
"Hey, Soos and his family are here," Dipper noted before Luz or Amity could answer. He pointed at the car for the Ramirez family.
"What up, dawgs?" Soos asked as he came in with Melody and their kids. "Luz, Amity, glad you two are back in the Falls."
"What's up Soos, Melody," Luz greeted them. "How are things at the Shack?"
"Business is up," Melody said while holding up Ava, who was wearing her dad's fez hat. "Good thing too, since Ava has started kindergarten."
"Really? Now that's super!" Luz said. "I never actually attended kindergarten. What is it like, Ava?"
"It's… pretty fun, I guess," Ava told Luz. "It is nice to see you, Mrs. Cawbight."
"Aw, it is nice to see you too, Ava," Luz said with a smile, not minding that the little kid got her name wrong.
"Hey, Mrs. Clawblight." Luiz spoke up, earning Luz's attention. "Would you care to buy these new Pokemon trading card packets for five bucks each?" he asked while holding up five packets of cards.
"Oooh, are these the Master EX series?!" Luz asked in awe. "Wait, you're not trying to con me again, are ya?"
"Maybe…" Luiz said.
"No puedes conseguir una sobre una ex estafadora," Luz told him in Spanish, which Luiz understood. She turned to his parents. "He is definitely living up to Stan's legacy."
"That he is," Stanley Jr. agreed before turning to Dylan. "Hey, Dylan! Glad you're here, man."
"Glad to see you, Stanjay," Dylan replied as the two shared their own secret hand-shake.
"Hope I'm not late for the party," said another voice.
Luz turned and smiled. "You just made it, Aunt Abby," she said to Abigail, who came into the Noceda household. Her hair was a bit longer, now being at neck length, and there were some gray streaks. She wore an orange sweatshirt with khaki pants and white shoes. The two gave each other hugs. "Though you do live, like, next door to us, so you could have gotten here earlier."
"Hey Gail," Amity said as she went over to hug Luz's godmother. "How are Clara and Masha?"
"They are doing good, Clara got a role in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Masha still has their museum job," Abigail replied. "But once Clara's done with her shows, they'll be visiting soon."
"As well as my Gus," Nora said as she came in. She looked mostly the same, though her hair looked a little grayer. She was wearing a white blouse with black pants and heels.
"Nora, good to see you too," Luz replied to her. "How is the school scene going?"
"I had to help interview some new teachers for the semester this year. I hope it goes well, especially with our students in the Human-Demon Realm Exchange program."
"And how about your son?" Amity asked. "How is his tour doing?"
"It is doing great, I caught him on a few of his videos," Nora responded. "I really love when he and his band made these neat postmodern songs where they're modern but they make them sound like they're from a different decade, and sometimes the other way around. You should hear him do a 60's vintage crooner version of 'I Write Sins, Not Tragedies'. It is just so good."
"I have no doubt about that," Luz replied.
"But what about you two? How are your jobs doing?" Abigail asked them.
"Pretty swell, I've been doing a lot of inking and sketch work for the comic companies at the Isles," Luz said. "But I have been thinking about going independent."
"And I have still been helping out with Abomination problems around the Isles," Amity explained. "In fact, earlier today, Phil and I had to stop an Abominaut going through a rebellious teenager phase."
"A… teenage robot?" Dipper asked in confusion. "You mean like Jenny?"
"Not quite," Amity explained. "It seemed to be the result of a glitch in the programming, but we are going to try to help the Abominaut. They already chose a name for themselves."
"Yeah, Jetstream," Phil replied.
Camila walked over, smiling. "Gail, Nora, glad you could both join us," she said with a smile. "We're going to eat soon."
"Excellent," Abigail said before she turned to Luz. "Oh, by the way, how is King doing?"
Back in the Boiling Isles, at the Diamantos-Tricks farm, the first of the guests for the cookout had arrived.
"Emily! Tabrella! We're here with the fried shrimp!" Goonla announced while Kay immediately ran over to Emily with a huge smile.
"Emily!" Kay shouted as she jumped up and hugged the green witch woman, who held her in an embrace.
Emily smiled while patting Kay's head. "Hey, Kay. Good to see you as always."
"Welcome to our cookout, Kay," Katie said as the two high-fived each other after Kay let go of Emily. "Glad you could make it."
"Of course!" Kay declared before turning to Tabrella. "Hi, Mrs. Diamantos!"
"Hello, Kay, darling," Tabrella greeted. "You can put the shrimp down on the food table."
"Thanks, Tabrella," Levi responded as he and Goonla placed their food on the table.
"We're here!" announced a familiar voice.
Everyone turned to see Andrea show up with her kids, all of them getting off a griffin taxi before it flew off. "Thank you!" Andrea told the driver before turning to her friends and their daughter. "Hi, guys!"
"Evening, Andrea," Tabrella greeted. "I must say, your chocolate turtles were delicious. Thank you for making them."
"Hey, anytime," Andrea waved it off while giving a smirk. "So you took the bribe?"
"I'll tell you about it later," Tabrella replied before greeting the children. "Hello, young darlings."
"Hi, Mrs. Diamantricks!" all of Andrea's kids replied.
"Are you going to show us more of your tricks, Mrs. Diamantricks?" one pink-haired girl, Candy, asked Emily. She had pure red eyes.
"Of course, anything for my audience," Emily said with a smile before showing off her illusions to the kids, summoning butterflies and little dragons while the kids watched in awe.
Tabrella waited patiently until Emily was done and then began to lead the six kids to the kids table. "Now if you all could just head to the kids table, you will be able to eat shortly," she told them.
The Courtlands showed up next, consisting of Jackie, Blossom, Billy Bob, and Granny Courtland. They were accompanied by the Dashers, consisting of Tracy, Vespa, Balder, and Skinda. Currently, Jackie and Tracy were in the middle of an argument.
"And we would've had the time if you let me help with the chores instead of letting you do everything by yourself," Tracy argued. Her hair was that of a mohawk-style and she was wearing a blue and red bodysuit with her red flight jacket still on.
"Well, I would let you do more chores if you were able to do them the right way," argued Jackie, who wore an orange and red dotted button shirt with a red skirt and brown boots. She was not only older, but she was also more muscular.
"You mean the slow way," Tracy said while sticking her tongue out at Jackie, who rolled her eyes at the falcon biped.
"Evening Courtlands, evening Dashers," Emily said as she walked over to them.
"Evening to you three as well, Emily, Tabrella, and little Katie," said Granny Courtland. "And how have you been, Katie?"
"Doing great, Granny Courtland!" Katie replied as she saw Blossom and Vespa walking over to her.
"Hey, Katie!" Blossom shouted. "So did you get your moms to sign you up for grudgeby?"
"Yeah! We got both of ours to sign us up!" Vespa added.
"Um… well, I did tell… them both," Katie responded awkwardly. "But getting both of their permission is still a work in process…"
While Katie was talking to her friends, Emily walked over to Jackie and Tracy. "I'm glad you both could make it," she said with a smile.
"Hey, somebody had to ruin your cookout, Tricks," Tracy said with a smirk, causing Jackie to elbow her in the side. "Ow, watch it."
"We were happy to come," Jackie said politely.
After Jackie and Tracy went to find their seats, Emily went over to the Coven Crusaders, who were still engaged in conversation with each other.
"And how are you two doing?" Emily asked Blossom and Vespa.
"Oh, we're doing good, Miss Emily," Blossom replied politely.
"Yeah, we're just wondering if Katie's up to join us in trying out for grudgeby," Vespa said. "The Coven Crusaders can't try it out if not all three of us join."
"Ah… so you two would only try out if Katie tries out?" Emily asked with a nod, before glancing to Tabrella, who was nearby. "It would be nice if Katie were to join her friends, right Tabrella?"
"Hmph…" Tabrella said, giving Emily a grumpy cat-like look before eating another chocolate turtle.
"Oooh, now I see," Andrea said, connecting the dots.
"Oh, by the way, we brought the Speedemon Specials and Vespa's Veggies for all to enjoy," Skinda announced while holding up trays of food named after her daughters.
"Food table's over there," Tabrella told the Dashers while the Courtlands also went to add the food they had brought. "Now we are just waiting for Cross and the Shysteams…"
"And there's them right now," Emily said as she spotted Cross, Lindsay, and the rest of the Shystreams coming over.
"Hey, we're here!" Cross waved. Outside of his academic uniform, he was dressed in a black button shirt with green palm leaves all over, beige pants, and black boots.
"Oh, I hope we're not late," said an older Lindsay. Her hair had grown out and was tied up in a ponytail. She was wearing a pink long-sleeve shirt and white split long skirt, wearing pink and white striped leggings, and green knee-length boots. She was holding a picnic basket.
"We brought some food for the cookout!" Hendrick announced. He had a full beard and shaggy hair. He was wearing a red Hawaiian shirt, khaki shorts, and blue sandals.
"Glad that you all could make it," Emily said as she walked over, receiving hugs from Lindsay, Cross, and an older Jojo. "Hello Lindsay, Cross, Jojo."
"Hey, Emily," Jojo said, now much taller and wearing a white flannel shirt and blue overalls.
"It's so good to see you after a while," Bloom said. She looked practically the same, just with some streaks of gray on her hair.
"Yeah, we've been worried about you ever since you got that job at Glandus. Hopefully it hasn't been too stressful for you, Emily," Colt responded while having some wrinkles.
"Oh don't worry, it's been nothing that I couldn't handle," Emily replied, smiling as she hugged them both before giving Tabrella a chance to hug them as well.
"How are things at the farm?" Tabrella asked them.
"Oh, they are doing great," Aunt Dorothy said, her hair having some grays, before she turned to Granny Courtland and narrowed her eyes at her. "Courtland… we meet again."
"Oh hello, Dorothy," Granny Courtland responded as they too had a glare-off. "If yer here to settle things after the last Hex'em Hold'em night…"
"Oh no, the cease fire stands… for now," Dorothy said. "But I'm not gonna let you get the slip on me, Gran…"
The two elderly women continued to send glares at each other. Watching from the sidelines was Uncle George, who had a lot less hair. Standing next to him was Billy Bob, who looked more muscular.
"They're at it again, aren't they?" George asked Billy Bob.
"Yup," Billy Bob replied with a nod.
"Hello, Katie?" asked another voice.
Everyone turned to see one last guest arrive, a guest that most of them didn't recognize. But when Katie saw him, she broke into a smile. "Professor Rampart! You've made it!" she shouted excitedly.
"Yes," Rampart said while walking up to the farm house and looking around. "I must say, this is quite a charming farm you have here. But I am sorry for my lateness."
"Hey, who's that guy?" Tracy asked.
"Oh, that's Katie's theater teacher, Professor Rampart," Cross told her.
"Hello, you must be the theater teacher that she's told us so much about," Emily said as she went over to greet Professor Rampart. "It's nice to finally meet you, sir. My daughter keeps on praising your class. She's said that you are her favorite teacher."
"And I am flattered that she thinks so," Rampart said as he looked at Emily with an expression of warmth. He offered his hand to her. "Professor Noshir Rampart, I have always wanted to meet you, Professor Tricks."
"Oh, you have?" Emily asked in surprise, shaking the professor's hand.
"Well you could say that I am a big fan of your work," Rampart explained. "I was a member of the Illusions Coven back in the days of Belos. I remember hearing tales of your exploits, including how you tricked the Emperor himself! You served as an inspiration to so many illusionists, myself included. Why, I would easily call you the greatest illusionist of your generation, perhaps the greatest in the Boiling Isles today!"
Despite herself, Emily couldn't help but swell with pride for a moment before she remembered herself and attempted to stay humble. "Oh um, thank you, Professor Rampart," Emily replied. "Though I wouldn't sure if I would call myself the greatest illusionist in the Isles. Gus Porter and Riley Strange-"
"Can't hold a candle to you," Rampart said with a smile. "And I do think your daughter takes after you in many ways. It has been my honor as a teacher to help her…"
Back in Gravity Falls, at the Noceda home, everyone was mingling with one another. Currently, Luz, and Amity were speaking with Abigail, Camila, and Nora.
"So you said that Clara and Masha were doing good, Aunt Abby?" Luz asked while eating a quipe.
"Yes, we've been hearing good things from them in Portland," Abigail responded. "Clara's been getting more offers from different theaters."
"That's great! She should send us tickets when she can," Luz said.
"Yeah, I'm proud of Clara," Amity said in agreement. "How about Masha?"
"Oh, they're doing wonderfully with their curator job," Abigail explained. "I've heard they're actually opening a new Yokai exhibit there and Masha's putting in the effort to make sure they get it right."
"Hmm, maybe we should make a day trip to Portland at some point," Amity responded.
Luz nodded before she spotted Wendy and Vee starting to walk out. "Hey, where are you two going?" she asked.
"Sorry, Luz, but duty calls," Wendy replied. "We got another call from the barrel factory, which we were just at earlier today because of a beaver-troll."
"Beaver-troll?" Camila asked before shaking her head. "This town…"
"We think it might be another magical creature incident," Vee said while holding her own bowl of quipes to eat. "Although the call said that it was a man who broke in."
"Want me to tag along?" Luz offered.
"Nah, I think we can handle it," Wendy said. "You and Amity should stay here and enjoy yourselves. But thanks for offering."
Soon enough, Wendy and Vee returned to the barrel factory, finding the lock broken and the door hanging open. Exchanging looks, they entered the building while holding their flashlights up.
"Do you think they're trying to steal something?" Vee asked while looking around. "Although I don't know how much you can get on the black market for… barrels."
"Maybe they're not here to take anything," Wendy suggested. "They could just be here to lay low. Or maybe they are one of those YouTubers who break into places and film themselves doing it."
"Or perhaps I'm waiting for someone," said a voice.
The two turned and saw a stranger enter the faint light of the building. The Stranger was completely covered in what appeared to be some kind of armor. It was purple and green armor with purple gauntlets, boots, and a belt. He also donned a purple helmet with a glowing blue visor that hid his face. There were also three glowing blue circles on the chest armor.
"Who is… that?" Vee asked in confusion.
"I don't know, but he looks like a mash-up between Iron-Man and Master Chief," Wendy said, causing the Stranger to chuckle.
Both Wendy and Vee began to pull out their tasers, but the Stranger raised his glove up and suddenly their weapons were suddenly pulled out of their hands.
"Hey!" Wendy shouted. "Vee, watch out for this guy!"
"On it!" Vee declared as the two got into fighting positions, but the Stranger just looked at them, tilting his head.
"Please, don't bother," the Stranger said as he waved his hands. The steel bars that were around the two women suddenly lifted off the ground and wrapped around them. It happened so fast that they were unable to react in time. He then lifted them both up before pinning them down on the ground, making the groan.
"Oof/Gah!" they shouted as they hit the floor.
Vee looked up and saw the Stranger walking over to them. She opened her mouth and attempted to drain him, but it didn't work and the Stranger just chuckled in amusement.
"Sorry to break it to you, Vee," he told her while poking her on the nose. "But your basilisk powers are useless against me."
Vee gasped. "You… you know that I'm…?"
"Yes, I know all about you," the Stranger told her before turning his gaze to Wendy. "And I know a lot about you, Corduroy."
"Oh really? And what do you know about us?" Wendy challenged.
"I know that you are both friends of Luz Noceda Clawthorne," the Stranger told them. "And I know that she's in town today…"
Wendy and Vee looked at each other, then back at the Stranger.
"W-what do you want from Luz?" Vee questioned.
"A chat," he told her while holding up a phone and offering it to Wendy. "Now then, I need you to contact her and tell her to come here… alone. Oh, and she better get here fast, because I get bored really quickly."
"I'm not going to lure Luz into a trap!" Wendy told him off.
"Brave," the Stranger acknowledged with a nod. "Your courage and your loyalty to your friend is commendable. Really, it is."
A taser then appeared in his hands, one of theirs, and he used it to shock Vee.
"AAAAH!" Vee cried out in pain.
"VEE!" Wendy shouted with worry, turning to the Stranger. "Stop it! Stop hurting her!"
"I'll stop if you call Luz now," the Stranger told her while holding the phone to Wendy. "Or else we learn what fried Basilisk smells like." He pointed to Vee, who had changed into her basilisk form. She groaned in pain. "I imagine it smells awful."
Wendy looked at Vee with worry while looking at the phone in his hand. She gave him a glare. "Luz is gonna kick your ass into paste," she snarled.
"But you have to call her first," the Stranger told her as he placed the phone in Wendy's hand.
Minutes later, Luz flew down to the scene. She entered the barrel factory and saw both Wendy and Vee inside a force field bubble.
"Vee! Wendy!" Luz shouted, rushing towards them… only for the Stranger to appear in front of her out of nowhere. "What the-?!"
"Luz Clawthorne… or Clawblight," the Stranger said. Luz swiped at him, but he immediately vanished before she could touch him, reappearing behind her. "Woah, let's not get too hasty," he said as he tapped on his gauntlet, making the bubble disappear, dropping Wendy and Vee to the ground. "At least give those two a chance to leave."
Wendy helped Vee up and looked at Luz, who nodded for her to go. Wendy nodded back before carrying Vee out of here. It is now just Luz with the Stranger.
"Well, I must say that I am surprised that you'd come… actually, that is a lie, I expected you to come," the Stranger told her. "And despite asking you to come alone, I have no doubt that your wife, Amity, is already here or is nearby as back-up."
"Using my friends to get me to come here was a mistake," Luz told him. "Not to mention unnecessary."
"Oh, I would disagree with that," the Stranger told her. "I think this factory makes for a very moody location for a fight scene. Not to mention, using your friends is more… dramatic. One of us has to care about the presentation, after all."
Luz narrowed her eyes at the Stranger. "So what's your deal? Who are you?"
"Oh, I'm… just a man," he admitted while walking back and forth. "I've been known by several names, and I'm going to be known by several others," he told her. "I guess it is the same for you. Luz Noceda. Luz Clawthorne. Luz Clawblight. Yes, I know quite a lot about you, Luz. A human raised by witches in the Demon Realm, who was granted powers by the Titan himself. They wrote songs about you, and your tale of heroics…" He paused. "I just want you to know, this isn't personal."
Luz just sighed. "Okay, so I'm getting the impression that you're some kind of wannabe supervillain," she told him.
The Stranger just chuckled and shrugged. "I was," he admitted.
He then pointed his finger and shot a beam at Luz, who dodged the beam and turned into her Titan form. Her horns were larger, more spiraled, and her hair grew longer. Her body became much muscular as it expanded, adding in the fur around her. Her fingers were formed into claws, her feet turned into golden talons with kneecaps. She sported the dark, black overcoat around with bones on her sides, along with the black top with the glowing glyph combination on her chest. She had a much bushier tail, along with her Titan wings. She launched herself towards the Stranger, going straight for the head. But the Stranger vanished before she could land a claw on him, reappearing far from her on the other side of the room.
"There it is, your Titan form," he declared, his voice full of glee. He drew glowing circles with his fingertips, creating mock versions of spell circles that fired blue laser beams at her, forcing Luz to dodge the beams as they hit the crates and barrels. He then flipped to the side, avoiding a large purple sword that was swung at him. "I knew you'd show up…"
He was referring to Amity, who was in her Abomi-Knight armor. It appeared to be sharper, with the helmet resembling a cat with a black visor and white mouth-piece that was shaped like fangs. Her armor had purple shoulder pads with a lavender chest armor with a crescent gemstone. She wore black pants with the suit, with purple knee-length boots with metal claws. Her gauntlets contained pink hearts on each side. She glared at the Stranger. "You pick a fight with Luz, you pick a fight with me." she told him.
"Right, the package deal," the Stranger said before seeing Luz and Amity charge at him. He formed force fields around himself when they struck at him, Luz blasting him with light beams while Amity slashed at the force field with her sword. He then teleported away and appeared behind him. Amity instantly flew at him to try to slash at him, but he raised his shields to block the attack. "Is that all?"
"Nope," Amity declared while Abomi-matter appeared around the Stranger, trying to wrap around him. However, he just teleported away again. "Huh?" she asked in confusion, only to get hit to her back. "Gah!" she shouted as she fell down, the Stranger standing over her.
"You're not the only one wh-" the Stranger started to say before he was forced to teleport again after Luz swiped at him with her claws. "Hey, I was monologuing there!"
Luz snarled at him. "You don't get to hurt my wife!" she told him. She then flew at him and swiped several times at him, but the Stranger seemed to perfectly dodge every attack before landing a few hits and teleporting away.
"So predictable," the Stranger said as Luz snarled at him. "To be fair, you have no idea what you're up against, since this is our first meeting," he told her. "I know all about you and you know nothing about me, so I can understand why you're behind. But I can rest assure you… I'm not like any villain you've fought before. I'm no Belos, no-"
"You're starting to piss me off like him!" Luz shouted as she shot ice and fire spells at the Stranger. But each time, he dodged each of her attacks, including a large vine trying to grab him. He seemed annoyed that she kept interrupting him, but he didn't have a chance to complain since Amity came at him with his sword, teleporting around the Stranger and trying to attack him from different angles. But the Stranger dodged perfectly every time, even when Luz tried to land some hits. "What the… how is he this fast?!"
"Don't tell me we're dealing with an actual Eobard scenario?!" Amity declares.
"Luckily for you, you're not," the Stranger told her before blasting Amity back and landing a hit towards Luz in the face. He followed it up by a kick towards her face, causing her to be launched to the floor, hard.
"Gah!" Luz shouted.
"Luz!" Amity shouted as she transformed into a purple Abomi-dragon that was almost too big for the building. She blew purple flames at the Stranger, who shielded himself from her. Suddenly, glowing light circles appeared behind Amity and she was hit with each beam. "Gah!"
"Amity!" Luz shouted while snarling at the Stranger. "That's it, you Halo knockoff!" she shouted as she launched herself at the Stranger, managing to grab him by the shoulders and shove him against the wall. But as she tried to hold onto him, blades popped out from his gauntlets and he took a swipe at Luz.
She gasped and backed away, noticing some strands of her hair falling onto the floor… and some blood. She felt the cut on her face and looked at the blood… her blood. She then looked at his blade, seeing her blood stained on it.
"There," the Stranger said while retracing the blade. "I got what I came here for."
"What?" Luz asked in confusion.
WRACK!
"GAH!" the Stranger cried out as he felt a blunt hit to the back of his helmet from something hard. He turned around and saw the one who hit him with a metal pipe. "You…"
"That's for Vee, you sick, son of a bitch!" Wendy declared while holding the pipe.
"You… you weren't supposed to come back," the Stranger said in shock. But that shock caused him to let his guard down and he received a punch to the helmet by Luz.
"That's for my Amity!" Luz snarled as the Stranger was sent flying across the room, crashing into a conveyor belt.
The conveyor belt then morphed and wrapped around the Stranger. He looked up to see he was restrained and he was raised up by Amity, who was no longer wearing her helmet. She did not look pleased with him.
"And this is for cutting my Luz!" Amity declared as she moved her finger to have the conveyor belt slam the Stranger to the floor and then hit him on a part of a machine, making him groan.
"Ow! Gah! Fuh! Bah!" he cried out as he got slammed around before getting thrown towards Luz, who flew up and punched him straight across the visor of his helmet, knocking him back into a bunch of crates. He groaned as he tried to get himself picked up. His head spinning before Luz hit him across his helmet once more.
After the Stranger was launched back again, Luz, Amity, and Wendy began to corner him.
"I may not know who you are, but I know what happens when you mess with the wrong mama," Luz declared.
The Stranger shook his head. But he wasn't looking at Luz. Instead, he was looking at Wendy, who was glaring at him. "I… I should have expected this from you," he told Wendy, his words confusing her before he vanished from the spot.
"He's gone," Amity said while looking around, still defensive.
"I… don't think he's here anymore," Luz said. "He most likely teleported out of here. We sent him back running to wherever he came with his tail tucked between his legs."
"But just who the heck was he? And… how did he know so much about us?" Wendy questioned, while looking down at the spot where the Stranger had been, "And… why did he look at me like that?"
As they all looked at the spot, Luz and Amity had the same questions as Wendy. But like her, they didn't have the answers either…
Back in the Boiling Isles, at the cookout at Emily and Tabrella's farm, everyone was mingling with one another. Professor Rampart was currently interacting with a few guests.
"So you are the… Dashers?" Rampart asked Balder and Skinda. "I don't believe I have your daughter in my class…"
"Oh, but you should know that she would be incredible if she was in your class," Skinda told her.
"Yeah! Both of our daughters are such talented and great sports-witches," Balder declared while rustling Tracy's hair, since Tracy was nearby. "Our Tracy was the best athlete at the Boil-lympics earlier this year! Won four gold medals along with her wife."
"Mom… dad…" Tracy said with a blush, feeling embarrassed.
"Well, your daughters are certainly quite talented then…" Rampart said, wanting very much to get out of this conversation.
At another part of the backyard, Levi was talking with Billy Bob and Jojo.
"You know, scraping barnacles off the ship is probably my least favorite part of the job, especially when some of them are still alive," Levi said. "Has something happened at your farm?"
"Well, not barnacles per se," Jojo said. "But we do have these speyeders crawling around in the attic."
"Fruit bats always try to drain the apple blood from our apples," Billy-Bob said, a rare moment of him speaking in a full sentence.
Gathered at the food table was Cross, Lindsay, Hendrick, Jackie, and Andrea.
"So how's that animal sanctuary going for ya, Lindsay?" Jackie asked her.
"Oh, it's going great," Lindsay replied with a smile. "Jesse and Viney have been helping me out."
"You know, I could help out with the animal sanctuary, Lindsay," Hendrick offered.
"…No thanks, I think I'm good," Lindsay responded.
"Are you sure?" Hendrick asked. "Because I-"
Lindsay silenced him with a look. "I said I'm good," she said, making Hendrick gulp.
"Um, speaking of Jesse, have you guys heard anything about her sister Donna yet?" Andrea asked them. "I heard she's expecting her kids to come soon."
"Yeah, Nina has been keeping us updated on when Donna will deliver," Cross said with a smile. "We can't wait to see them."
"Yes, I'm really excited as well," Lindsay agreed.
"Ooh, then I hope I go into labor the same day as Donna," Andrea replied while patting her pregnant belly. "I mean, how great would it be if my little Taffy shared the same birthday as Nina's kids!" She then turned Cross and Lindsay. "Say! Why do you two not have any kids yet?!"
Cross and Lindsay were startled by this question.
"It's not like that didn't cross our minds…" Cross told her.
"We have just been busy with our jobs," Lindsay admitted while looking over at some of Andrea's kids as they ran past. "I mean, it would be nice to have kids of our own."
"Yeah," Cross said while rubbing the back of his head.
"Well, you two should have the final say on when you have kids," Jackie told them. "You should only have them when you think you're both ready to take care of kids, since that is a huge commitment. You should at least be sure that you have some financial stability."
"We'll keep that in mind," Lindsay said with a nod.
Meanwhile, Tabrella looked at her now empty box of chocolate. No more chocolate turtles to eat. Emily walked over to her. "Out of chocolate?"
Tabrella sighed and turned to her. "I am going to feel bloated from eating all of that chocolate."
"Tabby… maybe you should let Katie join grudgeby," Emily said, bringing it up. "But look, I know that it's a rough sport, and I'm sorry that we conspired to get you on board with this."
"You are forgiven," Tabrella told her while having a drink. "And I can't say I blame you, I know that I can be… difficult."
"And I know how you feel about her joining sports," Emily said. "But Tabby, she's growing up. She's not that adorable little baby witchling anymore. Katie's her own witch now and she is figuring out what exactly that means. She has her own interests and she wants the freedom to expand those interests, to try new things. Now, is she going to get hurt in the process? Probably. But that's something she has to experience at some point. Because it could help her get ready to one day face the world on her own. And she is going to be with her friends and adults who will be there to pick her up when she falls down. That is, if she can't pick herself back up, since I know that Katie is a strong kid. Don't you think that too?"
Tabrella looked over at Katie, who was currently enjoying herself with her friends as they played with the grudgeby ball, tossing it around. Sure enough, Katie fell down at one point and Tabrella almost got up, but Emily placed a hand on her arm and stopped her. They watched as Katie picked herself back up. She wasn't crying after falling like she might have once had, instead she was… laughing about it. Laughing along with her friends as they continued playing.
"Well… perhaps I overreacted," Tabrella said with a sigh. She looked over at Emily. "You just have to make sense, don't you, Emily?"
"It is part of my charm," Emily replied with a smile. "And she doesn't just want to try out grudgeby. She also wants us to be there with her, supporting her. Just like how we support her acting or her singing. This would mean so much to her."
Tabrella thought about it before she got up and walked over to Katie before calling out to her. "Oh Katie, darling," she said, earning her daughter's attention.
"Yes, mama?" Katie asked her.
"Me and your mother have talked it over, and… well, I think it would be good for you to try out a sport like… grudgeby," Tabrella said, trying to hide her own anxiety. "Sure, you could get hurt, but… I want to trust and support your decisions, so…" She struggled a bit to say the next part. "I want to encourage you to be a strong, independent witch, Katie. You're figuring yourself out, so if that means you want to play grudgeby, then… I'm on board!"
"Do you mean it?" Katie asked in awe and Tabrella gave her a nod. "Oh thank you, mama! Let me get my sign up permission slip for you to sign!"
While Katie ran into the house, her friends talked among themselves.
"Wow, Katie's mom is really doing it," Blossom told Vespa and Kay.
"Yeah, though is she having a nervous breakdown or a stroke?" Vespa pointed out. "Cause she's suddenly all sweaty."
"Maybe she should lie down for a bit," Kay suggested, looking concerned.
Back in Gravity Falls, at the Noceda home, Luz and Amity were both recovering from the fight with the Stranger. Camila helped patch them up while Wendy, Dipper, Mabel, and Abigail stood nearby.
"So he just showed up out of nowhere and fought you two?" Dipper asked them.
"Yeah," Luz responded while having a bandage patch on her cheek. She formed healing glyphs around her and Amity. "He's got like… advanced technology on him. Probably one of those techno-villains."
"He knows a lot about us, about the Demon Realm, about Vee…" Amity noted while holding an ice pack on her head.
"I don't like this at all," Camila said while holding a bag of veggies on Luz's shoulder. "First day back here and trouble finds you."
"He somehow knew you were going to be here today," Abigail mentioned, frowning.
"Do you have any idea who this guy was and what he wanted with you, Luz?" Wendy asked.
"Well, I don't know who he was, but I know what he wanted from me," Luz responded while looking down. "My blood." She sighed. "Oh Titan, please don't let this be the Alchemist trying to make an evil clone of me again…"
"So much for our vacation," Amity muttered. "Does this mean we have to leave town? Go back to the Boiling Isles?"
"What? But you guys just got here," Mabel said. "You can't just leave just because of a supervillain attack."
"Honestly, you're right, Mabel," Luz told her.
"I am?" Mabel asked in surprise.
"Yeah, if we leave, we can't guarantee that this guy still wouldn't try to find us," Luz pointed out while looking serious. "Not only do I not want this guy to ruin our vacation, but he has also shown that he is not above using our loved ones as hostages. If we leave, it could put an even bigger target on the backs of our family and friends, since he might use them to try to force us to come back to Gravity Falls."
Amity looked conflicted, but she nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right. So what do we do?"
"Best thing to do is keep our guard up," Luz said. "This time, he had the advantage since we had no idea what we were up against. But next time, we'll have a better idea of what to expect…"
Camila just sighed. "Why couldn't this have just been a normal family vacation, mija?" she asked her daughter. "It's always something…"
Luz couldn't help but crack a small smile.
Back in the Boiling Isles, at Tabrella and Emily's place, their guests had started to leave.
"Thank you all for coming!" Tabrella shouted. "We're happy that you were all able to make it to our cookout."
"Hey, we wouldn't have missed it for the world," Tracy said.
"Yeah, though next time maybe one of us could hold the cookout," Cross suggested to the others.
"Ooh! It could be in my place once Taffy is born!" Andrea volunteered.
Meanwhile, Katie was with her friends.
"See you guys at the grudgeby tryouts," she told Blossom and Vespa. "I can't wait."
"Yeah! We're gonna impress them with our skills!" Vespa shouted.
"Are you sure you don't want to try out, Kay?" Blossom asked the gillchild.
"Nah," Kay said with a shrug. "It doesn't appeal to me. But hey, I'll cheer for you guys when you make it."
Watching this, Emily smiled and turned to Tabrella. "So… do you think you'll be ready for an athletic daughter?"
Tabrella frowned. "Well… I guess it'll give me the opportunity to design team uniforms for them," Tabrella said. Her face lit up when she considered the potential. "Oh, I can see the jerseys now!"
"And I can't wait to see them," Emily said, placing her arm around her wife.
"Emily," Rampart said as he walked over to them. "I just wanted to say that it was a privilege to meet you. Thank you for having me."
"Oh um… I'm glad to have met you too, sir," Emily replied, a bit awkwardly.
"And I do think your daughter has a lot of your talent," Rampart told her. "I have no doubt that she will be the latest in a long time of talented illusionists and actors!"
"Um, thank you," Emily said, shaking his hand. Once he left, he turned to Tabrella. "He was a bit much, don't you think?"
"Well, he is a theater teacher," Tabrella pointed out with a smirk.
Once everyone had gone, Tabrella, Emily, and Katie began cleaning up, taking the food that was left and putting it in containers.
"Well, I would say this has been a successful cookout, wasn't it?" Tabrella asked.
"Yeah," Emily replied while cleaning up. "A bit of a shame that Le'Belle wasn't able to make it though. And Pete could have been here too, if he hadn't gone on that trip with the Clawblights. He could help us with the leftovers…"
"Yeah, he would've eaten everything from the food table," Katie agreed with a nod. "But I do hope he enjoys himself there…"
Back in Gravity Falls, the Clawblights were getting ready for bed. The boys settled in the basement, where Luz used to sleep.
"Didn't know your grandma works out," Pete commented, seeing the weights. He was in a tank top and black pajama pants.
"Nah, that's ma's weights," Phil responded while in his purple pajamas, while Dylan was in his green pajamas as they settled in their beds, Pete having set up a sleeping bag on the floor between their beds.
"Hey, you boys settled in?" Luz asked as she and Amity came down to check on them.
"Yeah, we're just about," Phil responded before looking at his moms in concern. "So, um, should we be worried?"
"Worried?" Luz asked him.
"He's talking about the supervillain you two faced," Dylan responded. "Is our vacation going to be canceled?"
"No, it's not going to be canceled," Amity assured them. "We're still going to enjoy our vacation here."
"Yeah," Luz said. "We're going to make a campfire to eat s'mores, play mini-golf, play laser tag, go to the arcade, eat tacos… Whatever you boys want to do. We are going to have a great time and nobody is going to ruin that."
"Oh, okay," Phil said while sitting on his bed with Ghost at his side.
"So you boys get a lot of good sleep for tomorrow," Amity said while she walked back upstairs with Luz.
"And don't worry about anything," Luz added as she followed Amity upstairs. "Cause this is going to be a worry-free trip. Goodnight, everybody!"
"Night/Night moms!" Pete, Phil, and Dylan replied as the lights went out.
Up in their bedroom, Luz and Amity were in their own nightwear, Luz worriedly looking out the window while sporting a blue shirt and purple pajama pants.
"You think we should sleep in shifts?" Amity asked while brushing her hair. She was dressed in a pink shirt and purple shorts.
"I think so," Luz responded, still looking out the window. "Just to be sure that this guy doesn't come back. I'll take the first shift, so rest your pretty head."
"You sure? I can take the first shift," Amity offered.
"I'll wake you when we change the shifts, la batata," Luz told her as she turned around, walked over to Amity, and planted a kiss on her wife. "Besides, I'm a night owl. I can handle the first shift."
Amity still looked concerned. "Are you… okay?" she asked.
"Of course," Luz claimed. "This isn't the first time some costumed loser has come after me. You know that."
Amity nodded. "Of course," she said, though she couldn't completely shake off her worries. "Just… wake me up in a few hours, okay?"
"I will, mi Corazon," Luz responded as the two kissed each other, "Goodnight, Sweet Potato."
"You too, Batata," Amity responded as she went to settle in her bed.
After Amity settled in, Luz sat by the window to keep watch. Every now and then she would glance at her wife, then she would look back outside at the autumn trees and the moonlight as her mind tried to figure out who this Stranger was and why he wanted her blood…
Meanwhile, the Stranger who fought Luz and Amity returned to his ship, which was hidden somewhere in the woods of Oregon. After the ship confirmed his identity and let him in, he was greeted by the voice of a female AI.
"Welcome back… Kang."
The Stranger, known as Kang, removed his gauntlets, which contained the blood sample that he took from Luz.
"How did it go, sir?" the female AI voice asked.
"Mission was a success," Kang said as he opened a drawer in the ship and placed his gauntlets in them before sealing up the drawer. "I came back with a sample." He then tapped something on his helmet. "I am uploading the footage from my fight with the Clawblights. I would like to review this footage."
"On it, sir," said the ship's AI, which popped up in front of Kang as a holographic avatar that resembled a cartoon clock with eyes, mouth, arms, and legs. She smiled at Kang. "Reviewing archive footage 55435."
Holographic images of Kang, Luz, and Amity popped up. Both Kang and the ship AI watched the fight play out with the holographic images. However, they were able to see something that Luz and Amity couldn't see while fighting him. At certain points of the fight, Kang would move faster than Luz and Amity, who would slow down and give him a chance to move to different spots to avoid getting hit by them. To Luz and Amity, he was moving so fast that he seemed to teleport. But in reality, time was just moving faster for him than it was for them, allowing him to react to them much more quickly.
He wasn't teleporting. He was manipulating time.
Near the end of the footage, Kang paused it. He saw a holographic image of Wendy appear behind him with the metal pipe. Behind his helmet, he narrowed his eyes.
"I can see things before they happen," he told his AI. "I can see every possibility, every version of events. And yet…" He crossed his arms. "Why couldn't I see her coming?"
"You mean Wendy?" the AI asked. "With your abilities, you can see every possibility that you can conceive. For whatever reason, you couldn't conceive a possibility of her coming back to the fight."
"I should have," Kang said, shaking his head. "I shouldn't have underestimated her. I should have known better…"
The clock avatar sent the holographic image of Wendy in the footage a glare. She scoffed. "Look like that lumberjane's a blind spot to your superior abilities, sir. Perhaps you should just kill her so that she doesn't become a liability…"
"No," Kang flat-out rejected the idea, shaking his head. "We are not killing anyone if we don't have to. Especially not her." He removed his helmet, revealing the face of a dark-skinned man with an oval-shaped head, grayish brown locks, and a small beard.
This was the face of someone we knew in the past… as Steam Punk.
But now he went by the name Kang.
"Analyze the Titan's Blood sample I took," the older Steam Punk ordered.
"Coming right up, sir," the AI replied before she went to work.
Placing his helmet on a console, Kang to the pilot's chair of his ship and sat down, deep in thought. There were many obstacles to his plan, but he knew that they were ways around them all. One way or another…
Back in the Demon Realm… we go to the other side of the world. To the place known as Titan Trapper Island.
It had once been home to the Titan Trappers, a cult of witches dedicated to finding and killing the last Titan. This place had been their base of operations for centuries and yet… this island appeared to have been abandoned for some time.
There were no signs of life, no signs that any Trapper still lived here. The House of Strays, the tavern, and the other buildings were left in various states of disrepair. Weapons littered the ground, broken or otherwise abandoned. The cages that once held animals were now empty.
The tower where Bill the Elder had lived was partially destroyed. The treasure room was empty, having been stripped clean. The library was abandoned, books left on the shelves or on the floor collecting dust.
It was like the entire tribe had just… vanished.
There was not a single soul left on this Isles… well, except for one.
A hooded figure walked through the Titan Trapper village, looking down and seeing the abandoned Titan skulls that the Titan Trappers had once used to disguise themselves with. The figure sighed, knelt down, and picked up the skull. With his other hand, he removed his hood, revealing his horns… and skullcap.
At first glance, you would mistake the figure for a Titan Trapper, even with the large fur growing from the back of his skull, forming a mane. He was also tall, much taller than the average witch.
But this was not a Titan Trapper.
This was King Clawthorne.
King continued his exploration of Titan Trapper Island, eventually finding a partially hidden entrance to a cave on the island. He moved some rocks aside, revealing more of the entrance, before he descended into the cave with a torch.
As he went deeper into the cave, he found murals telling the story of the Titan Trappers. He recognized much of it, including the figure of the Horned King. But there was one mural that gave him cause. One mural that he stopped in front of.
"What… what is this?" he asked, lifting up the torch.
The light of a torch revealed a mural depicting a figure standing over a dead Titan. But this figure did not look like a Titan Trapper. Instead, the figure was wearing armor, a helmet that still showed his face, and a cape. And running across his face, over his eyes, were two vertical lines.
Kang.
Cast[]
Trivia[]
- This chapter came out on the same date as "Grom: The Musical, Part 1" three years prior.