Sorry for the lateness of this chapter. Work was taxing and had to go through it in order to make money and if you're interested, I'm opened for commissions. Just go to my DA account "JumpZone" and you'll see my status link to gain commissions.

All characters from Disney and other properties are owned by their respectful owners. The OCs made here are written entirely for the story. Enjoy the fic.

Chapter 113: A Long Overdue Reunion

It was morning at Hexside. Principal Bump was walking through the halls of his school, his first time back in Hexside since the Glandus War. His return did not go unnoticed, since many students and teachers had gathered in the hallway to happily greet him.

"Principal Bump! Welcome back, sir!" spoke up Maverick, the illusionist student with the light-blue pompadour

"Yes, yes, it's good to see you again, Maverick," Bump greeted back.

"Bump! My good old friend, welcome back!" Rupert Colt welcomed as he rushed over to give Bump a hug.

"Easy on your strength, Rupert, I just recovered," Bump responded, wincing slightly. "But it's good seeing you again." He patted Rupert on the back, smiling.

Walking further down the hallway, he found the trio of Mattholomule, Skara, and Barcus waiting for him.

"It's so good to see you, sir!" Mattholomule said as he along with Barcus and Skara saluted their principal.

"Mr. Storms, Barkowski, and Ms. Brooke, nice seeing you three as well," Bump greeted them.

"Come with us, we have something to show you," Skara said as the three led Bump through the halls, leading him to the square of the hallway.

Bump looked up in awe, his eyes widening when he saw the large statue built in his honor. The statue depicted Bump riding on a skateboard over a ramp.

"When the Construction Track heard you were coming back, we decided to build this statue in your honor, sir," Mattholomule said.

"You built this statue… for me?" Bump asked, tears leaking from his eyes. "I had no idea you all cared so much…"

"Of course we cared, Prince-B," Luz said as she flew over to him. "I think we've all come to appreciate what you've done for us as principal. Dealing with Faust especially helped us realize how good we got with you running things here. And we've really missed you, sir."

Bump smiled, almost about to cry. "It's so good to be back at Hexside…"

Now back in his office, Bump had decided to speak with some of the Glandus students that had transferred to Hexside during his time in the Healing Coven. He started with Boscha, Gavin, and Angmar.

"It's very nice to see you here at Hexside again, Ms. Hieron," Bump said to Boscha.

"Um, actually sir, I don't go by Hieron anymore," Boscha corrected. "It's Boscha Saltstar now."

"Oh, thank you for the correction," Bump replied. He didn't need to ask why her name was changed, it was easy enough for him to guess her reasons. He smiled at her and nodded. "Welcome back to Hexside, Ms. Saltstar."

"Thank you, sir," Boscha said, giving him a nod. "It actually is good to be back… and to have you back."

"As for you, Mr. Nightshade," Bump said, turning to Gavin. "I was quite surprised to learn that we had enough Nightshade attending now. But I think it is fitting. I remember your father. He was a brilliant student in our Abomination Track. And I heard you are quite good as well."

"Thank you, sir," Gavin replied respectfully. "It is… interesting to be in his old school, to follow in his footsteps and to even have Faust as a principal for a while like he did."

Bump chuckled. "Like father, like son," he said while turning to Angmar. "And of course, Mr… um, how do you pronounce your last name?"

"It's best you try not to," Angmar said. "My family name is unpronounceable in this realm. But you can just call me by any common surname, sir."

"Uh… right, anything in particular you would like me to call you?" Bump asked him.

"Angmar Loom would suffice," Angmar recommended.

"Well, Mr. Nightshade and Mr. Loom, I just want to reassure you two that I don't have any issues with either of you attending here at Hexside, despite your past as Glandus students," Bump told them. "Me becoming principal again changes nothing about your status as students here, especially since I do believe in second chances." He nodded to Boscha. "And Gavin," he said as he turned to the boy. "If you ever want to talk about your father… I'm here. I was shocked to hear about his death and if there is anything I can do to help you, I would be happy to do so."

Gavin gave a grateful smile. "Thank you, sir. I think I may take you up on that offer."

"My office is always open," Bump told him. "Now then, how have you two been enjoying Hexside so far? I called you three in together because I understand that you're all pretty close, having become friends back at Glandus."

"Well, we do like it here better than Glandus," Gavin explained. "And a lot of the students here have actually been pretty good about making us feel welcome. Especially in our classes. Amity, Jerbo, Lambi, and Puffer have all been very friendly, and the teacher Snope is great."

"Yeah. And Willow, Amelia, and Jerbo have been helping me in the Plant Track," Angmar mentioned. "We aren't looking to cause trouble, sir. We can promise you that."

"Good, good," Bump said before turning to Boscha. "And what about you, Boscha? How are your classmates treating you?"

"You don't have to worry about me, sir," Boscha promised. "Me and Luz are good with each other now. We're friends now and I am in a much better place mentally."

"That's great to hear, Boscha," Bump said. "I did hear about your recent incident and I was really worried about you."

"Thank you, sir," Boscha said. "But you don't have to worry about me. I am getting better with each day."

Bump nodded. "Well, I'm glad that you two had a successful transfer to Hexside… even with how my predecessor runs things. Anyhow, that's all for now. You're now dismissed."

Boscha, Gavin, and Angmar got up and began to leave the office, Boscha turning to look at Bump one last time. "It's good to see you again, sir."

"Likewise, Boscha," Bump said with a smile as he saw them leave. Once they left, he pressed the intercom. "Send in the next student."

A minute later Batters came in while holding pamphlets. "Howdy there, new Principal. Would you like to hear about the word of Mel?" he asked while Bump looked at him oddly.

"...You must be Batters," Bump said to the young bard.

Meanwhile in the Human Realm, a familiar RV and van drove down the road toward their final stop on their road trip.

"Alright, people, our next stop is just ahead!" Dipper announced. "Everything up until now has been a walk in the park compared to this next attraction."

"Is it a walk to the world's biggest park?" Amity asked.

"Sort of," Dipper responded as they looked outside the window while the RV made a turn. In the distance, they saw a fog-covered mountain. "There it is… Mystery Mountain. It's about five times the size of the Mystery Shack and Stan was always envious of it because, well, it actually has real attractions. Including Mummy Town USA."

"Mummy Town USA?" Vee asked.

"I have read about that, actually," Candy said while holding up a brochure. "It is a mummy museum that boasts to have authentic mummies. It also has a sky tram and sightings of half human, half spider creatures."

Amity looked at the pamphlet in Candy's hand. "Huh, you know we do have spider bipeds in the Boiling Isles. One is a teacher at my school."

"Wait, should we be worried about these spider-people?" Pacifica asked in concern.

"Nah, we're outside of Gravity Falls, where this kind of stuff usually is just made up to trick gullible tourists," Dipper reassured her. "For every real urban legend, there are more that are completely fake."

"So we are in the clear," Candy said.

"Y-Yeah, we are," Dipper replied, though now sounding awkward around Candy.

Pacifica smirked as she turned to Grenda, who was sitting beside Candy. "Yo, Grenda, wanna check out this… um, thing, over there?"

"Oh, yeah I think I would, Pacifica," Grenda replied with a wink as she got up to follow Pacifica in the pack of the vehicle.

"And I gotta help Vee with something as well, come on Vee," Amity said while bringing Vee to the other part of the RV, leaving Candy and Dipper alone.

The two looked at each other, then quickly looked away. Dipper cleared his throat. "So um… Candy, I was thinking it would be nice if we could, um, hang out again today like we did yesterday."

"Yeah, I would lov- like to do that!" Candy replied, quickly correcting herself. "Hanging out with you. Like, us, just us…"

"Yeah, um, it's going to be really great," Dipper replied nervously.

Soon they turned off the highway and came to a stop in the parking lot of Mystery Mountain, everyone getting out of their vehicles to take it all in. The Mystery Mountain was covered by fog and a vast forest of redwoods. Amity noticed that near the statue were a large statue of a lumberjack man with a blue ox.

"Who's that?" Amity asked, pointing up at the statue.

"Oh that's Paul Bunyan," Masha explained while looking up at the Paul Bunyan statue. "Said to be the largest lumberjack in North America, probably a giant. Legend says that he was born after a violent windstorm in a small town Maine, a town that adopted him and when he was old enough gave him a double-bladed axe to use to chop down timber to clear open land for the town to expand."

"Then he heads off west to chop down more timber," Gus G explained while pointing at the baby-blue ox statue. "That ox there is his trusty companion, Babe, who helped collect the timber Paul Bunyan chopped down."

"According to legend, he made parts of America," Dipper added. "Like, his and Babe's footprints made a lot of lakes in what became known as Minnesota, cleared trees from North to South Dakota, dug the Missouri River to send the logs downstream…"

"Don't forget he made the Grand Tetons, Pike's Peak for a lookout, oh and Yellowstone Falls for a shower bath," Candy finished. "Legend says that he and his ox eventually retired to Alaska."

"Whoa… so many legends you have," Amity replied while looking at the statues. "Do you guys think that Paul Bunyan could have been real?"

"Who knows? Wouldn't surprise me at this point," Clara said before she turned to her mom. "Do you think Paul Bunyan's real, mom?"

"Well, I know giants are real, though even if Paul Bunyan was real, I think some of his exploits were probably exaggerated," Abigail said.

"I wouldn't be surprised if all of it was real," Camila admitted as Nora walked up to the ticket booth that sat underneath the statue of Paul Bunyan.

"Excuse me, we came here as a party," Nora said to a familiar face managing the ticket booth.

"Oh hey, I remember you," Darlene said with a smile. "You and your kids were with my old ex, Fu. Did you arrive safely in Gravity Falls?"

"Yes, Darlene, and it's nice to see you again," Nora replied kindly. "We are on a road trip right now and this is our last stop."

"Perfect timing!" Darlene announced. "I've been in a happy mood lately and it is nice to see some old familiar faces around here in addition to some new ones, so I'll give you your group discount."

"Really? Thank you, Darlene," Nora replied gratefully as she paid for tickets and turned to the group. "Hey, guess who got a group discount?"

Camila stared at Darlene with a curious look. "Excuse me, but I couldn't help but wonder if you're a magical creature of some sort. Nora mentioned that you were one of Fu Dog's contacts?"

"Curious are we?" Darlene asked with another smile. "Truth is, I'm sort of a dryad, a tree nymph who takes on this human form. A lot of magical creatures can do that."

"Oh, well that's good to know," Camila replied. "We have our own experience with magical oddities."

"Since you know Fu, I bet you do," Darlene replied with a nod. "Well, I hope you and your group enjoy yourselves on Mystery Mountain…"

Inside the Owl House, the Clawthornes and their friends were getting ready for an outing.

"Alright, what do you think works better?" Luz asked while holding both a pizza shirt and a Red Sox jersey. "Should I go with Brooklyn Style, or 'I'm from Boston for the season'-look?" she asked Willow and Skara.

"I like the pizza one," Skara said while wearing a baseball cap, red hoodie and black jeans with skull boots.

"Thanks for allowing Skara to come along with us, Luz," Willow said while wearing a long green jacket with a yellow shirt with a green leaf, brown pants and dark-brown boots. Her hair was covering her ears.

"Yeah, I'm glad I get to meet the Longs, I want to thank them for helping Willow find a way back home," Skara said.

"It's no problem," Luz responded. "Me and mom have been planning this trip for a while, and after settling up some things, we've managed to find a day to visit."

In another room, Gus was helping out with King's outfit.

"Alright, that should do it," Gus said while showing King the mirror. "What do you think?"

"I look… great!" King replied, seeing himself wearing a small blue collar shirt with a red tie and blue pants. "Thanks for tailoring this for me, Gus!"

"No prob, just a thanks for letting me tag along with you guys to New York," Gus responded with a smile.

"So… are you doing better then?" King asked.

"Well, yeah," Gus replied. "I've honestly been feeling really better since yesterday, thanks to the séance with Eve and Fazio, which I think did give me the closure I needed. Plus, I'm excited to meet other magical creatures in the Human Realm."

"Well I'm glad you're doing alright, Gus," King replied. "And maybe while we are in the Human Realm, I can find something to give Laura when she comes here."

"Hey, it is always good to be prepared for your date," Gus said.

"I-It's not a date, it's just… well, I asked Kitsuni to bring Laura so I could see her again and show her around the Demon Realm. I even have a reservation at a restaurant with the best cheese fries of the Boiling Isles," King clarified.

"...It's a date, dude," Gus pointed out.

"Alright, this should do it," Eda said as she held up a concealment stone, wrapping it around her neck. Her appearance changed so that she seemed to have both of her eyes and orange instead of gray hair. "My, do I look twenty years hotter or what?" she asked, turning to Kitsuni.

"Is that really necessary for your visit?" Kitsuni asked her.

"Hey, I don't want to draw any unnecessary attention to myself, which an eyepatch would," Eda said while wearing a red jacket with a black long dress with a red belt, gray stockings and black boots. "Besides, I want to look good when meeting Susan's family."

"Don't you mortals have this whole 'be yourself' life lesson?" Kitsuni asked.

"Well how do you stay looking this good? You're like, what, centuries old," Eda pointed out. "And I've met much older looking folks in my day."

"We deities often age differently than you mortals, I'm still considered a young adult," Kitsuni said while looking outside the window. "We're lucky that there are fewer scouts here…"

"Yeah, some were probably called away. They probably think that Amity won't show up around here at this point," Eda noted, seeing the scouts just passing time. "Now it just looks like they're just loitering."

"Well, they should not be a problem as long as I keep up with the illusion of you all still being here while you're gone," Kitsuni said. "However, we both know that you and Luz aren't going just for the reunion."

Eda gave her a look. "Yeah, we are hoping to get some leads on how to take down the Inner Demon," she said while looking serious. "I think Fu and the Longs might have some ideas, given the resources they could have. This has all been leading up to this…"

As she said this, she saw Luz, Willow, Skara, Gus, and King coming into the living room. "Alright, is everyone ready?" she asked.

"For the Big Apple? We are," Luz said while wearing a Bronx jersey under her jacket.

"We're ready to visit the Longs," Willow said while Skara and Gus looked excited.

Kitsuni turned to King. "And King, I'll make sure that Laura is here when you come back, for your scheduled date that is."

"That's great!" King replied excitedly. "And it's not a date, it's a get-together… though, how is she, by the way?"

"Well, she made it back to her world safely, and we have been keeping tabs on her," Kitsuni replied. "From what I hear, she's doing fine, even if she is still recovering from her imprisonment in the Underworld. According to my co-worker, Laura can't wait to see you again, King."

"Really?" King asked before trying to compose himself. "I-I mean, that's nice…"

"Now then, off to New York City," Eda said while holding the key, pressing it as the portal door opened…

The portal door opened, the group consisting of Eda, Luz, King, Willow, Gus, and Skara appearing in Central Park.

"Whoa…" Gus said in awe.

"Welcome to New York City!" Willow declared as she waved her hands. "This is my favorite spot, Central Park!"

"Ooh, this place is so… big! Like, bigger than the Metropelvis!" Skara exclaimed, looking excited as she noticed the skyscrapers in the distance.

"That's New York for ya," Luz said while enjoying the sights. "The city that never sleeps… I should text Amity to let her know that we're here in New York."

Back on Mystery Mountain, Amity had just received a text from Luz.

Luz: Up in New York, meeting up with the Longs. Miss ya, hermosa 3

"I got a text from Luz. She said that she along with Eda, King, Willow, Gus, and Skara are in New York right now," Amity said while riding on the sky tram with Vee, Camila, Dana, and Rudo. "Said they are going up to meet up with the Longs."

"The Longs? That's great!" Dana replied.

"Oh yeah, I remember that, um, Jake, the American Dragon we met," Camila said.

"Yeah, and they were pretty chill with us," Rudo replied.

"And helped us and Willow find her way back to you guys," Dana told Amity and Camila.

The two smiled, but then Camila noticed Vee's uneasy look. "Are you alright, Vee?" Camila asked out of concern.

"It's this tram that's making me nervous," Vee responded while looking out the window. "It's just one bad accident waiting to happen…"

"I'm sure the people who designed this knew exactly what they were doing and took every safety precaution," Amity tried to reassure Vee.

"Um, you might want to rethink that," Dana said as she pointed at the emergency release switch, which was literally right next to them with nothing stopping someone from pulling it.

"Why would there be an emergency release switch for anyone to pull?!" Camila said in shock.

"Yeah, that is a bad design choice," Rudo said, everyone a bit more nervous now while Amity texted back to Luz.

Amity: That's great! On a road trip with Camila, Dipper, Clara and the others. Up on what's called a 'sky tram'. Miss seeing you, la batana 33

Back in New York City, the Clawthornes and their friends were now in front of the Long family's home. Eda looked a bit nervous.

"Well, this is the place," she said as she took a deep breath.

"Are you alright, mom?" King asked her, poking out of her hair while wearing a hoodie.

"Yeah, well, it's just been a long while since I've last seen them," Eda said as she took off her concealment stone and walked up to the door. She rang the doorbell, then began knocking on it. "Hey! Anyone home or do I need to sneak through the window?"

"Patchi? I thought you were still in Cleveland!" shouted Jonathan's voice.

"It's Eda, Johnny-Boy!" Eda called out before she heard footsteps rushing toward the door.

Opening the door was Susan, with Jonathan standing next to her. They both looked shocked to see her. "Oh my… Eda…" Susan said as tears leaked from her eyes before she screamed excitedly and jumped forward to embrace her. "Eda! It's you! It's really you! Oh my gosh, how have you been?"

Eda smiled. "Well you know, here, there, everywhere across the realms. How are you and John doing?"

"Oh we're doing great, Eda," Jonathan replied before he saw King pop up from her hair. "Ah!"

"Hi! I'm King, her son!" King greeted.

"Oh King, oh I think I remember Jakey's old pen buddy from the last time Eda visited," Johnathon said as he looked past Eda. "And hey, you brought more kids here. I recognize Willow."

"Hey Mr. Long," Willow greeted.

"And this must be Luz," Susan said, pointing to Luz. "Jake told me about you. Eda's kid."

"That's right, ma'am." Luz replied with her hand up. "Luz Noceda Clawthorne, nice to meet you. My other friends are Gus Porter and Skara Brooke. We're all from the Demon Realm."

"Nice to meet you!" Skara waved to them.

"Yeah, glad to meet Eda's friends," Gus said.

"Why don't you all come in?" Jonathan asked as he and Susan invited them in. "Jake! Haley! Guess who's here!"

Jake came running downstairs. "Hey, what's with the commotion-" He stopped when he saw who was there. "Yo, Willow, Eda, Luz! My witch-crew!" he said, giving Willow and Luz fist bumps. "Rose mentioned that you'd show up."

"Yeah, we're here to visit," Eda replied.

"How is Rose, by the way?" Willow asked.

"Doing good, she's with her folks right now to set up extra security precautions…" Jake explained.

"I… don't know about this, sis," Violet said to Rose, who held up a remote. "Is all of this necessary?"

"Don't worry, Violet, I'm just taking precautions," Rose said while tapping the button. Suddenly, the front yard transformed into something resembling a fortress. The trees had lasers prepared, the gnome's eyes turned red, and the roof of the house had lasers and cameras on it. "This is so the Huntsman won't get the jump on us."

"Uh Rose," spoke Rose and Violet's dad from inside the house. "Why are there lasers in the bathroom…?"

"Word about the Huntsman's return really shook all of us," Jake replied. "So we're pretty much taking every precaution, especially with these Archangels being the new magical threat." He then noticed one person missing. "So where's Amity? Thought she'd be here with you guys?"

"She's still at Gravity Falls with my mom right now," Luz said as Haley showed up.

"OMG, Willow!" Haley shouted as she ran up to them and gave Willow a hug. "So glad to see you again, and these must be your friends," she said before she noticed Eda. "Wow. And you must be Eda, or Aunt Eda."

"Nice to meet you too, kid," Eda responded, patting Luz and King on the heads. "Meet my kids, Luz and King."

Haley looked at King… and smiled. "Oh my god, he's such a cutie!" she said while hugging him.

"Ah! Not again! Why am I so cuddleable?" King exclaimed, struggling in her grip.

"Nice to meet you, Haley," Luz greeted.

"Same to you too, Luz," Haley replied after King freed himself from her grip. "I heard many stories about you from Willow, like how you've taken on a giant plant monster and something called a 'Slitherbeast'? But it's so nice to finally meet you in person!"

"Same, oh and meet the rest of our friends," Luz said as she introduced them. "Gus Porter, he's a master illusionist, and Skara Brooke, Willow's girl and flyer-derby strategist."

"Me, Willow, and Skara are part of the best flyer-derby team in the Isles," Gus bragged.

"Nice to meet you, Haley," Skara said, extending her hand.

"Yeah, nice to meet all of you," Haley replied, shaking both Skara's hand and Gus's. "We should totally hang out."

Eda turned to Susan. "So where's Fu and Lao Shi? Are they still in that old shop?"

"Yeah, dad's here on account of taking some time off from the Dragon Council," Susan responded. "I will let him know that you're here. He's been wanting to know what you've been up to all these years."

"Oh, he does…" Eda replied, sounding nervous. "I can almost hear him ranting in Cantonese already, I always got an earful from him from my youth."

"More than Jake?" Haley asked, pointing to Jake who just rolled his eyes.

"Jake, Haley, why don't you help your dad with our guests," Susan said while patting Eda and Luz on the shoulders. "I'd like to speak to these two for a bit."

"Sure, mom!" Jake and Haley responded.

"Alrighty-o, let's get you kids comfortable in the tv room, and we can catch up how you've been, Willow," Jonathan said as he brought Willow, King, Gus, and Skara into the living room.

Susan brought Eda and Luz into another room where they could have some privacy. "Now, since it's just the three of us, I'd like to get to learn more about you Luz, and Eda, I would like to know what you've been up to these past twenty years and what the deal with the eyepatch is. Did you become a pirate or something?"

Eda snickered, though she looked saddened. "Sorry that I lost contact with you, Sue. But the eyepatch is something new…"

"Well, you can tell me all about it," Susan replied with a smile. "Cause we have all the time we need to catch up."

Back in the Owl House, Kitsuni had finished turning her clones into the Owl House residents, who she commanded to act casually. She then went to feed Kay, who took a bite of her meal.

"Where is he? He should be here by now," Kitsuni said as her small mirror blinked. She held it up and answered it. "This is Kitsuni."

"Hey Kitsuni, um… this is Osik," spoke a brown grizzly bear-like deity with a shirt, tie, and blue hat.

"Osik, what's taking you so long? I thought you'd have Laura with you by now," Kitsuni said.

"Oh, y-yeah, I got her. But… we hit a snag," Osik said nervously.

"What kind of snag?" Kitsuni asked the bear deity.

"Um… we… took the wrong realm," Osik answered, causing Kitsuni's eyes to widen.

"WHAT?!" Kitsuni exclaimed. "What realm did you take her?!"

Laura was standing still while in her pink blouse and black skirt and holding her handbag. She stood in the center of an otter habitat inside the Central Park Zoo.

"Look mommy, this otter is all dressed up!" a little girl shouted while pointing to Laura.

'Where am I…?!' Laura thought, trying not to freak out over this…

After the tram ride, Camila's group decided to check out the mummy museum.

"So this is the mummy museum," Camila said while looking around at the mummies on display before she noticed a banner hanging above them and got confused. "I wonder what that means?"

The banner in question read 'New Mummies Daily'.

"Maybe there's a factory that makes the mummies and delivers them here?" Dana suggested. "I mean, sure they claim to have real mummies, but they're probably all fake."

"Must still be expensive though, I mean, these mummies look so real," Rudo said while looking at the mummies behind the display glass lining the walls. These mummies came in all sizes.

Amity noticed some of the smaller mummies and felt creeped out. "Yeah, too real…"

"They kinda look like children," Vee said, feeling just as creeped out as Amity. As she looked around some more, she heard someone call out to her.

"Vee?" someone asked. Vee turned and saw that it was, to her surprise, Emma Sue. "Hey! I had no idea you'd be here as well! I almost didn't recognize you right-side up."

"Emma Sue? Whoa, what a coincidence," Vee responded as she walked over to meet her. "I thought you'd be in Canada. I was planning to contact you after the road trip."

"Well, funny funny about that…" Emma Sue said before they heard another voice.

"Vee? Oh my gosh, hey!" spoke up the log girl from Log Land.

"Oh, h-hey Simone," Vee waved to her before she saw another girl show up. It was the one from the Corn Maze. "Kendra, hi!"

"Hey Vee, surprised to see you again," Kendra said while walking over to her.

"So you've met Vee too?" Emma Sue asked the others.

"Yeah, at the Corn Maze, how about you two?" Kendra asked.

"Log Land," Simone replied.

"Upsidedown Town," Emma Sue said. "But isn't it kinda funny that we all know Vee?"

As the girls continued to talk about their own experiences with Vee, the girl in question began to look flustered and shy around so many cute girls…

"Huh, looks like my advice worked too well," Amity admitted as she, Dana, and Rudo watched all the girls talking to and around Vee.

"I don't know, looks like Vee's enjoying it… I think," Rudo said.

"…Is no one going to point out how coincidental that all three girls from the different tourist spots from yesterday ended up here and at the same time?" Dana commented.

"Come on, since we're all here, how about we look around the Mountain together!" Kendra suggested.

"Yeah!" Emma Sue and Simone replied together while they both took Vee by the arms and led her away with them to another part of the museum.

"Alright, let's uh, go see more of this… mummy… museum…" Vee replied nervously. She looked back to Amity, who just gave an unsure nod.

"I hope Vee will be okay," Camila said in a worried tone.

"I'm sure things will work out for her," Amity replied, trying to be optimistic.

Back in NYC, Eda and Luz had finished bringing Susan up to speed.

"Wow… you guys have been through a lot," Susan commented.

"Yeah, our lives haven't been easy, especially as of late," Luz responded.

"Sorry that I didn't contact you sooner, Sue," Eda said while rubbing her arm.

"Hey, I won't hold it against you, Eda," Susan reassured her, patting her shoulder. "I'm just glad to see my old witchy-sister again." She nudged Eda's arm.

Eda smiled. "Yeah, it is nice seeing you again too, Suzy."

"Susan! Your dad's here!" Jonathan announced.

Eda, Luz, and Susan went into the hallway to see Lao-Shi, whose hair is now white and balding along with his mustache and beard. With him was Fu Dog. Hailey and Jake along with the witchlings also went up to meet him.

"Hey Gramps, Fu, guess who stopped by today," Jake said while King, Willow, Skara, and Gus show themselves.

"Oh yes," Lao-Shi states while turning to the kids. "You must be the witches from the Boiling Isles…"

"Hello sir, my name is Willow Park, and this is my girlfriend Skara Brooke, and my best friend Gus Porter," Willow introduced.

"Greetings from the future ambassador to the Human Realm," Gus said to the oldest Long.

"Ambassador? Um yes, nice to meet you too, all of you," Lao-Shi said. "Now where is Eda? I wish to see her."

"Right here, Lao-shorts."

He turned and saw Eda, who gave him a nervous wave. His eyes narrowed and he started to walk up to her. "Edalyn…"

"Hey, Lao-Shi, um… I know that I haven't called, a-a-and you know, I have a very good reason," Eda spoke nervously. "L-Look, I'm so sorry for being absent from you and Susan's lives-" But to Eda's surprise, she received a hug from the old dragon.

"It is good to see you again, Little Phoenix," Lao-Shi said while hugging Eda.

Eda was silent at first, but after a moment she hugged Lao-Shi back, tearing up a little. "You too, old man."

"Heh, speak for yourself. You look like you're the same age as me," Lao-Shi joked while he and Eda let go.

"Oh please, I'm still more foxy than you ever were," Eda shot back.

Lao-Shi chuckled and turned to Luz. "And you must Luz, her daughter that I've been hearing about."

"Yup. Um, nice to meet you, sir," Luz replied, giving him a bow. "Thank you for taking care of mom."

"No need for that, young one," Lao-Shi responded.

"Yeah, there's a lot we need to discuss," Fu Dog said.

"Yeah, I'm gonna need to speak to you and Susan about something," Eda said as she pulled Lao-Shi and Susan aside.

"Yo Luz," Jake said to Luz. "There's something that I need to show you. Something that I think might catch your interest."

Luz nodded and turned to Eda. "Mom, is it alright if I hang out with Jake?" Luz asked her.

"It's alright," Eda said, letting Luz with Jake while she went to talk to her old friends.

"You know how you guys have dragons all over the world?" Eda asked Susan and Lao-Shi when they were alone. "Well, it turns out the Boiling Isles has its own dragon."

"A Boiling Isles Dragon?" Susan asked in shock.

"Yeah. His name's Cross Drakescale. He came from a line of dragons that were wiped out under Belos's orders. The Drakescale Clan are the only surviving members of this lineage."

"That is concerning," Lao-Shi admitted. "Considering what you've told us about the Emperor's Coven, it sounds like that boy and his family could be in danger. Hmm, perhaps you could have him meet with us in the future…"

"Jake did mention that you're in the Dragon Council these days," Eda said.

"Yes, succeeded Councilwoman Chang after she betrayed us by siding with the Dark Dragon," Lao-Shi responded. "Lately, the council has been very busy thanks to what went down in Gravity Falls and the reveal of the threat that Department A poses…"

"Did you know about the Huntsman being back?" Eda asked him.

"Rose told Jake, and when he told me… well, the Dragon Council has gotten even more worried. And after meeting with representatives of the United States government, we've been debating whether or not it's time to not just reveal our existence, but the existence of the entire magical community as well."

Eda was shocked by this. "Whoa, okay, now that's big… like, major. What do you two feel about this?"

"Well… it would be nice for the magic community to no longer have to hide away from humanity," Susan said. "I mean, it worked with Jake's friends when they learned the truth about him. And thanks to you, it worked out with me and Jonathan."

Lao-Shi sighed. "In all honesty, I am… skeptical about this, but I am still open to it. But it does remind me of my predecessor's reasoning for her betrayal of the council. That being, she grew tired of the magical creatures being subjugated by humans and forced into hiding by them. She may have had a point, but she was going for the wrong reasoning behind it."

"She wanted to enslave humanity and kill everyone in her way, we don't play that kind of game," Susan noted.

"We have to be cautious about this," Lao-Shi said. "While there are humans that I think would accept us, I fear that there are other people who will not respond kindly when they learn of our existence and they could become a threat…"

"But aren't we dealing with that already?" someone asked.

The three turned to see Haley, who had shown up with the Hexsquad and Jonathan. "Sorry for intruding on the conversation, but it's just… well… you're afraid that people may not take kindly to us if we reveal ourselves, but we're already dealing with people like that everyday. And it's because people don't understand us and people are scared of what they don't understand."

"Haley…" Lao-Shi said, but Jonathan spoke up.

"I think Haleykins has a point," Jonathan said. "Why, hiding is what caused groups like the Huntsclan and these, these, Department A folks to rise up in the first place, since the rest of the world is ignorant of the crimes being committed against the magical community. They have no idea what is really happening, which allows these people to operate without their knowledge."

"And there's always going to be people like that," Eda pointed out. "People like the Huntsman or the Gates family, with a few exceptions of course. People motivated by hate. But hiding is not a permanent solution to that. Changing the public opinion is."

"Yeah," Gus agreed. "Maybe true coexistence is possible… though it won't be easy. Heck, didn't you humans have a thing about same-sex marriage? I remembered Luz mentioning it."

"Yeah, the tide of public opinion is moving in favor of same-sex marriage," Jonathan said with a nod. "Thanks to the efforts of human rights groups and civil rights movements despite opposition from religious organizations. Of course, same-sex marriage is not legal in all states yet…"

"But in New York it became legal just last year," Haley said.

"Last year?" Willow asked in surprise.

"Yeah, and it won't be the last state to legalize same-sex marriage," Haley noted. "And it's because of how this community refuses to be forced into hiding, because they want people to know they exist and that they deserve to be treated equally."

"Smart kid you two have," Eda said to Susan and Jonathan, smiling. "Oh, speaking of marriage, I did hear that Jake and Rose are engaged."

"Oh yeah, you've heard about Jake's engagement," Susan replied. "We're still looking for a date for the wedding."

"Yeah! I can't believe that our Jakers is going to get married," Jonathan said while tearing up. "I just… I just can't… I'm feeling old right now…"

"I did give my blessing on the matter, knowing how much Rose means to Jake," Lao-Shi said. "Even if she did distract him from his training in the past…"

"Yeah, and I'm Jake's official wedding planner," Haley said while bringing out her planner. "I've picked out Jake and Rose's favorite songs for their wedding and made the list of who to invite. Spud's already called being the best man, Trixie's the maid of honor…"

"Hey, if you need a wedding singer, I'm a-goo-goo-good for the job," Fu Dog offered.

"And don't worry Eda, I promise to send you an invite as well," Susan said.

"Well I can't wait to see it," Eda replied. "Hopefully it will be just as good as your wedding."

Meanwhile, Jake had brought Luz to a safehouse.

"So what is it that you need to show me?" Luz asked.

"This," Jake replied while turning on the light switch.

As the lights flare up, Luz saw that on a table were the remains of the creature that attacked the Canal Street Shop a few weeks ago. "Is that…?!"

"One of these robotic things that tried to kill me, Willow, and the Ninja," Jake replied. "Well, this one tried to kill the Ninja mostly…"

"This thing… this has to be an Exorcist!" Luz said while looking at the remains. "One of these things attacked Amity, and a bunch of them attacked another dimension called Mewni. To think that you've managed to beat one of them…"

"Actually, you're mistaken," Jake said, which got Luz to look up at him in confusion. "This isn't an Exorcist."

"W-What? This isn't one of Heaven's death machines?" Luz asked.

"It may look like one of the Exorcists, but the Exorcists are actually angels," Jake explained to her. "This, however, is just a robot. If it was a real Exorcist then me, Willow, and the Ninja wouldn't have been able to destroy it and it would have actually killed us all instead. But this thing was clearly built to evoke the image of the Exorcists."

"Who built it then?" Luz asked.

"Well, the Norrisville Ninja did have a theory about it," Jake said. "He believes that this was sent by his old nemesis, McFist."

"McWho now?" Luz asked in confusion.

Jake sighed as he went to open his laptop. "Well, basically, his name is Hannibal McFist, he is the gazillionaire owner of McFist Industries that's located in Norrisville, Oklahoma. To the public, he's a benevolent businessman who has his hands on all kinds of products and goods. Food, clothing, appliances, weapons, and robots," he said as he brought an image up.

Luz looked at the man in question, seeing that he was a stocky man with blonde hair, a bald spot, large eyebrows, and a pointy handlebar mustache. He was wearing a red tie, a brown suit, and a blue collar shirt. What caught Luz's eye was his mechanical arm with a brain in it.

"Okay… what is up with the brain arm?!" Luz asked in shock. "And with a name like 'Hannibal McFist' and that arm, how do people not realize that he is a supervillain?!"

"He's one of those 'villains-with-good-publicity' types," Jake responded. "In truth, the guy has made a deal with an evil Sorcerer to take down the Ninja. The Sorcerer was defeated, but it didn't stop McFist from continuing to make these bizarre robots to kill the Ninja, though they were actually made by a mad scientist named Professor Willem Viceroy III. They could be responsible for the robot that attacked us, but the Ninja admitted that he wasn't sure since it seemed different from McFist's usual robots."

"Well, if that thing was after the Ninja, then this McFist guy could be a lead," Luz said. "We should investigate this guy. Because these things have destroyed an entire world! If we want to stop more worlds from sharing Mewni's fate, then we have to find the source of these robots."

"I think the Ninja's already investigating McFist," Jake said.

"Then maybe we should go see how that investigation is doing," Luz insisted, which surprised the dragon guardian.

"For real, now?" Jake asked. "Are you really willing to drop everything and go all the way to Norrisville right now just like that?"

Luz just gave a confident smirk. "Yes."

Back at Mystery Mountain, Camila had decided to sit down on a stump bench and enjoy the scenery.

"This is a lovely place," Camila commented, looking around and enjoying the view.

"It is, isn't it, senorita?" someone asked.

Camila turned to see that coming over to sit next to her was a man with a top hat and yellow shades, dressed like he was in a ska band suit. "Um… can I help you?" she asked him.

"Oh I just thought a chica like you could use some company," he replied with a faux-sounding Hispanic accent while scooting closer to her. "You can call me Chavs, an el lover who saw a delightful-looking all alone. So what is your name?" he asked, moving his arm around her shoulder.

Camila looked uncomfortable by this and she moved his hand away. "Um, not really in the mood…"

"Come on, give Chavez a chance, mamicita," Chavs, or Chavez insisted, before he was suddenly pulled away from Camila by Abigail.

"She said back off!" Abigail barked at him, throwing him to the ground.

"Hey! What's the big idea?!" Chavs asked, angrily getting up only to get his arm twisted behind his back, which shocked Camila. "AAH!"

"Listen here, creep, when a woman says she doesn't want what you're offering, back off, or you might end up looking for a new arm," Abigail hissed aggressively at the man. "Do I make myself clear?"

Chavs looked frightened as he quickly nodded. "Y-Yes! I'll leave her alone!" he said while Abigail pushed him away, letting him run away while she went to sit next to Camila.

"Beat it," Abigail said to him, watching Chavs hurry away in fear. Abby turned to Camila, her threatening expression immediately softening. "Are you alright, Cam?"

"Yeah, thank you for that, Gail," Camila said gratefully. "You were kinda scary… but I appreciate it nonetheless."

"Trust me, I know his type, they rarely know the meaning of the word 'no'," Abigail replied before looking around. "So where are the kids?"

"Don't worry, I let Amity go ahead with Dana and Rudo, while Vee was taken away by some new friends of hers she met at our previous stops," Camila explained. "Where's Clara and the others?"

"Well, Clara decided to go somewhere private with Masha, and I think Nora's watching the rest of the kids," Abigail replied. "Mind if I relax here alongside you?"

"I don't mind," Camila responded, the two sitting together on the Stump Bench for the time being.

Abigail stared out at the redwood forest before them before glancing at Camila. She took a deep breath. "Say Camila… that guy hitting on you reminded me of something I have been meaning to ask: now that you're settling in Gravity Falls, have you thought about… dating again?"

This caught the Noceda woman by surprise. "Oh, um… gee, I haven't even thought about that, since it was never one of my priorities after coming back," she said while rubbing the back of her neck. "I don't think it's something that I'd be interested in, now or anytime soon. My focus is still on Luz and having a life with her, Amity, you, and Clara. I don't see dating as a part of that."

"Oh… that does make sense," Abigail replied, looking down to the ground. She seemed almost disappointed.

"I don't think I am ready to move on from Manny either, or if I'll ever be ready," Camila pointed out sadly. "And even if I was, the whole me 'technically being a shadow' thing might make dating weird."

"Yeah…" Abigail said while shifting her eyes away.

"But I will also just be so busy creating a new life for myself, looking for a job, and reconnecting with you and the kids that I don't think I'll have any time to date anybody," Camila said, not noticing Abigail's reaction. "Though that reminds me of when I was mistaken for Eda's wife back in the Demon Realm. I mean, can you imagine?"

Abigail shuddered at the thought of Camila being married to Eda and she quickly shook her head. "I would rather not…"

Meanwhile, Dipper and Candy were watching a geyser called Ol' Reliable, waiting for the geyser to set off.

"Man, this geyser sure takes its time," Dipper said while Candy read the brochure.

"According to this brochure, you can always count on the geyser to go off exactly when it's supposed to," Candy explained while Dipper watched her as she read. He decided now was the moment and he tried to find his words.

"Um, Candy…" he spoke.

"Yes, Dipper?" Candy asked, turning her head to look at him, suddenly making Dipper nervous.

"Um, y-you know… the geyser kinda reminds me of you," he said, which confused her. "Well… since you're both always reliable-"

"Stop," Candy paused him by placing her brochure in front of his mouth. "Mason, I know that you're trying to sound sweet and smart, but instead you're starting to sound like a dummy."

'Okay, I'm losing her…' Dipper thought nervously. 'Oh my god, oh my god, what should I do? What do I do?'

"Just be straight with her and go for it, kid. You got this."

Dipper was surprised by the voice he heard in his head. 'Am I hearing Grunkle Stan?'

"Well, your old man's voice in your head," spoke Stan's voice. "I am either a personification of your confidence caused by your hormones or that you're really hearing voices in yer head which means you've finally snapped… probably the hormones thing."

'So… I can do this?' Dipper thought.

"We believe in you, Dipper!" Mabel's voice echoed.

'Mabel? You're in my head too?'

"Stop doubting yourself and ask Candy out already!" Mabel's voice yelled at him.

"Best do it before you lose the moment completely," Luz's voice also echoed in his head.

"Just do it, kid! Just make a move!" Stan's voice encouraged.

"Do it for Gompers!" Mabel's voice mentioned.

"BAAH!" Gomper's voice echoed in Dipper's head.

Dipper shut his eyes, took a deep breath, and spoke. "I-I just think that you're really sweet and cool and smart and all and I would like it if you would be my girlfriend!" he confessed while his face was red.

Candy blushed heavily, caught off guard by Dipper's confession. "I… I would like that too," she admitted after a moment, smiling.

Dipper smiled as well. "Yes!" he shouted as he jumped up in joy.

The imaginary spirits of Stan, Mabel, Luz, and Gompers started to clap while surrounding him and Candy.

"Congratulations, kid," Stan said as he clapped.

"Congrats, little bro!" Mabel said with a smile.

"Congratulations, Dips," Luz said as she clapped as well.

"Baaah!" Gompers said before the four faded away.

Nearby the trio of Pacifica, Grenda, and Gus G were secretly watching this happen from their hiding place.

"Ha! Told ya my man would confess first," Gus said with his hand raised. "Pay up."

"Aw man, I was rooting for Candy," Grenda said as she paid Gus.

"Same," Pacifica responded with a sigh, doing the same. "But I am happy for them. Mabel will be too."

"Yeah, I'm so happy as well," Grenda nodded.

"They do deserve it," Gus said in agreement as they continued to watch Candy and Dipper. He chuckled as he saw how awkward Candy and Dipper still looked, both of them trying to figure this out. But they did look happy.

Meanwhile, in a part of Mystery Mountain called the 'Giant Spider Forest', Masha and Clara were taking a stroll together down a forest trail when they spotted a wooden spider statue just off the path.

"You think this effigy is for the spider-people?" Masha asked with a smirk. "Just think, they could be lurking around here, looking for prey…"

"Nice try, Masha, but I'm not scared of these so-called spider-people," Clara replied confidently until she heard a rustle in the bushes right next to her. "Yeep!" she shouted as she jumped at the sudden noise, grabbing Masha's arm.

The two turned as something came out of the bushes. To their surprise, it was just a rabbit. It looked at them and then hopped away.

"Heh, maybe there are spider rabbits in the woods?" Masha suggested, teasing Clara.

Clara blushed in embarrassment, though she tried to hide this by letting go of Masha's arm and looking down. "I-I-I was just… startled, not scared."

Masha chuckled. "Oh come on, Clara, I'm just messing with you, that's all. I already know how you don't scare easily."

Clara looked up to Masha, surprised. "You… you do?"

"Yeah," Masha replied. "You're pretty brave, from defending your mom's honor in Gatesfield to sneaking out with me to infiltrate the Historical Society and learn the truth to being willing to leave Gatesfield and travel across the country to help Willow. Not to mention you helped fight a math wizard," she listed off, Clara trying to hide her blushing from the compliments that Masha was giving to her. "No matter how in over our heads we get, you're always able to push on to see things through," she pointed out. "And I really do admire that about you."

Clara really liked hearing Masha say these nice things about her. Thinking it over, she decided that this was the time. This was the moment she was going to ask out Masha Moore. She took a deep breath, gathering her courage as she prepared to-

"So with that said… would you like to go out with me?" Masha asked her, stopping Clara.

"...Heh?" Clara asked in shock, before shaking her head and quickly replying. "I mean… y-y-yYES! Yes, I would love to go out with you, Masha!" She then started stammering, feeling embarrassed. "T-T-This isn't how I-I-I thought this moment would go…"

"Let me guess, you thought you were going to be the one to ask me out, eh?" Masha asked, smiling when she saw Clara's surprised reaction. "Yeah, I knew about your crush on me."

"You did?!" Clara exclaimed.

"You weren't exactly subtle about it," Masha pointed out. "Besides, it was totally expected for you to develop feelings for me since I am pretty irresistible," she joked, making Clara laugh.

"I-I had thought that, well, you had feelings for Vee…" Clara admitted, still embarrassed.

"Well… okay, I did have a small crush on Vee, since she was a cool and cute shapeshifter, which I am totally into," Masha shamelessly admitted. "But I dropped it when I realized that Vee wasn't interested in me, and there was already an even cuter blonde that I already had a bigger crush on…" She eyed Clara, who blushed as she felt Masha looking at her.

"Masha, I-"

"Why hello there, you two!" interrupted Darlene. The two girls turned and saw her coming toward them with an arm around Chavs. "My, enjoying yourselves, are we?"

"Oh um, yes, Ms. Darlene," Clara replied.

"Yeah, me and Clara are having a good time," Masha responded. "Who's that guy?"

"Oh this is Chavs, he's a very savvy guy, ain't ya?" Darlene asked her date, Chavs.

"Hehe, I know how to please you, Darlene," Chavs replied, now with a French accent.

"Now you girls better be careful, I heard there are spider people around here," Darlene told them. "And it can get kinda scary…"

"Do not worry, Darlene, I shall protect you with my life!" Chavs said while beating his own chest.

"Oh my, chivalrous, aren't ya?" Darlene said while walking away with him. "But I'm sure you'll protect me, sweetheart."

As they left, Clara's hand reached out to Masha's, her pinky finger touching hers. Masha's hand then grasped Clara's hand. The two looked at each other before they shared a smile.

Back with the Longs, Eda was explaining a situation to Lao-Shi, Fu, and the others.

"…and we haven't heard from the Inner Demon since he tried to blow up Hexside, but we know he hasn't been defeated for good," Eda was explaining. "So you think you could help us find a way to permanently stop this guy?"

"That guy sounds like one sick puppy," Fu commented, absolutely disgusted. "Of course we will help."

"This Inner Demon does sound like a serious threat," Lao-Shi said. "A human who rules over the Demon Realm is bad enough, but one who becomes a demonic spirit…"

"He is a monster," Skara said, staring at the floor with a serious look. "He targeted my friends and me. He even forced me to transform into a werewolf for the first time."

Jonathan looked surprised. "Wait, you're a werewolf too?"

"Wait, what do you mean 'too'?" Skara asked, looking up.

"Well it just so happens that I'm also a werewolf," Jonathan revealed.

Skara looked surprised. "No way, you're the second one I've met in this realm!" she exclaimed

"So that's a thing with you now, John?" Eda asked Jonathan, who shrugged.

"So does that make Jake and Haley part-werewolves, part-dragons?" Gus asked.

"Actually, it happened after they were born," Johnathan explained. "I got bitten by one as a result of me trying to get more involved in my family's business with the magical community, since I wanted to help out. I only turn during a full moon though."

"It was not easy the first time when we had to let him out," Susan admitted.

"I bet he does wonders with you as a wolf," Eda whispered to her.

"Eda!" Susan shouted, her face bright red as she slapped Eda's arm. But Eda only snickered at Susan's reaction.

Gus then decided to bring up something else. "Hey um, I was just wondering… is Jenny Porter still under the Dragon Council's custody?" he asked Lao-Shi.

"Oh yes, I have heard about her," Lao-Shi responded. "Do not worry, she is still incarcerated as we speak. Jake has told me about your ordeal with that woman, and you have my condolences."

"Thank you, sir," Gus responded to him.

"Yeah, but there is something we want to tell you about her, something that Mommy Dearest said when we were interrogating her for her crimes," Fu Dog mentioned. "Something about-"

"Hey guys," Haley said as she walked over, accompanied by some pixies that were flying around her. "These pixies flew up to my room and informed me about a talking otter that's in Central Park Zoo."

"Talking otter?" Willow asked while King's eyes widened.

"Wait, what did this talking otter look like exactly?" King asked.

The pixie spoke to Hailey, who understood it. "She said the otter was walking on two legs and wore clothing, oh, and had a scar across her right eye."

"That sounds like… Laura!" King exclaimed in shock. "How in the realms did she end up here?!"

"Laura?" Susan asked.

"King's date," Eda responded, looking worried. "Wait, I thought she was supposed to meet you in the Demon Realm?"

"We'll worry about that later, cause right now Laura needs my help!" King declared.

"We'll help too, King," Willow responded as she, Gus, and Skara stood up.

"Yeah, we'll help save your girlfriend, King!" Gus declared.

"Again, she's not my girlfriend," King muttered.

Lao-Shi turned to Haley. "Haley, why don't you assist them in saving their friend. Could be good for your training."

"Don't worry, grandpa, I'm on it." Haley replied with a determined look as she joined the kids. "I was trained for this moment…"

"Here's the key, Willow," Eda said as she handed Willow her key. "Once you guys get her out of there, take her and King to the Isles so they can go on with their date."

Willow nodded. "Thanks, Eda. We'll bring this back to you."

"I know you would," Eda responded before a thought came to her mind. "Now I wonder what Luz and Jake are up to." She then heard her scroll buzzing, causing her to get it out and check it. "Huh, looks like they'll be going on a mission together."

Back in the safehouse, Jake brough up a potion to pour into a cauldron while Luz watched.

"You know, I'm surprised that you don't make portal spells in the Demon Realm," Jake commented.

"Yeah, Aunt Lilith said some knowledge in the Isles were barred by accordance with the Emperor. There were even spell book burnings that happened after the Coven System was formed," Luz explained.

"Okay, that is seriously whack." Jake replied as he brought out one final ingredient, showing it to Luz. "Venom of the Krylock Demon. I'm lucky to have gotten this after dealing with an inter-dimensional game show host last week. Let me tell you, getting this venom is difficult as heck since Krylocks are interdimensional creatures that just don't show up every day," he said while pouring the venom into the pot.

"I can see why Willow had to take air travel back then," Luz commented. "Better that than chasing around some cobra-scorpion demon to travel to Gravity Falls."

After mixing the venom into the cauldron, he poured the potion into two flasks. "One to Norrisville, and the other for a way back home. This will be enough to make two quick trips."

"Great. Now enough talking, let's go give McFist a McFist full of dali knuckles sandwiches," Luz said as she punched her own fist.

Jake nodded while holding up the first flask. "Norrisville!" he shouted as he threw it up in the air, creating a purple portal. The two jump up into the portal…

Norrisville, Oklahoma

...and landed in an alley. "Are we here?" Luz asked.

Jake and Luz exited the alley, noticing the stores around with McFist's name and brand on everything. "Yup, we're here."

"Great! Now let's go find McFist," Luz said as her eyes glowed red.

"Whoa, hold up, LC Hammer," Jake told her, "Since we are in Norrisville, we should look up the Ninja first. This is his turf. And I may know where to find him."

Soon, Luz and Jake were in front of a house, Jake knocking on the door. Answering it was a short and chubby orange haired teenage boy with brown eyes wearing a teal pop-collar rolled-up sleeve jacket with a blue shirt with a squid on it, jeans, and red sneakers.

"Yo, we're here for a friend," Jake said to the boy, who looked him and Luz over.

After a pause, Howard turned his head and shouted into the house. "Randy! It's for you!"

Randy came to the front door. "Who's for me? Is it Theresa?" he asked, only to see Jake and Luz. "Whoa, Jake! And you're Willow's friend, um… Lucy?"

"Luz," Luz corrected him.

"Yeah, Luz!" Randy said. "Why don't you guys come in?"

After being invited in, Luz and Jake followed Randy and Howard into the living room. "Is this alright, inviting us in?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, like what about your folks?" Luz asked him.

"Oh it's no bruce, you don't have to worry about my parents," Randy said.

"Yeah, they're never on-screen," Howard added.

"So what brings you two to Norrisville?" Randy asked, sitting on a bean bag couch while Howard returned to playing a video game.

"Well, you remember that robot creature that attacked us?" Jake asked and Randy nodded. "Well, we want to follow up on whether McFist has anything to do with them or not."

"Yeah, like if it's possible that he manufactured them or something," Luz said.

"We were hoping that you could help us, considering McFist is your arch foe," Jake said.

"Well, you're right, I have been doing some investigating after that crazy almost-universe ending scenario adventure in Gravity Falls… which really lives up its name," Randy said. "But then I hit a little snag in the investigation…"

"Snag? We were having such a fun time at Whoopi World, playing Mega Smash Group Five, oh, and that date you went with Theresa Fowler this week…" Howard pointed out, causing Luz and Jake to turn to Randy.

"Okay, so I got a little distracted," Randy admitted. "Not to mention I had to learn the accordion for Theresa after I got back..."

"Well, since we're here, maybe us three could team up to look into McFist personally," Luz suggested.

"Another team-up?" Randy asked hopefully. Jake nodded and Randy leapt up, pumping his fists in the air. "Oh I am so onboard!"

Back in Mystery Mountain, Acorn was flying through the woods from Ghost who was trying to eat her again.

"You gotta try better, you damn cat!" Acorn said while sticking her tongue at Ghost.

"Stay still!" Ghost said while trying to catch the pixie with her paws. Acorn just flew ahead while Ghost kept chasing after her. However, Acorn stopped after spotting something. Ghost caught up to her, but rather than catching Acorn, Ghost also stopped when she noticed an abandoned vehicle in the middle of the woods.

"That's weird," Acorn said while looking at the car. "What's a car doing here?"

Ghost walked around, looking at the car and seeing it was completely abandoned. "There's no way it was just left here…"

Acorn then noticed another car. "Hey! Check this out!" she said, getting Ghost's attention.

The two went over to the car, seeing it was also empty. They then spotted another car in the woods, which led them to find another car, and another car, and another, and so forth…

Ghost looked anxious about all of this. "There's no way this is a junkyard…"

"We need to find Amity to tell her this," Acorn said, as she and Ghost turned around to run back in the direction they came from.

Meanwhile, at the mummy museum, Vee was still with the girls she had met the other day, all four of them getting to know each other better.

"So, uh, which part of Oregon are you three from?" Vee asked.

"Well I'm from Idaho, actually," Kendra said. "If I'm not from a corn town, then I'm from a tater town… my folks are potato farmers. We decided to drive around Oregon for a bit because we just came from Seattle."

"Well, my family were just visiting Log Land cause back in Portland, we are kinda obsessed with logs, since we use it to make carvings of stuff," Simone explained. "That's why our last name is Loggins."

"Wow, that's interesting," Vee said while turning to Emma Sue. "What about you, Emma Sue?"

"Uh… I'm gonna have to be honest, my mom wasn't really pregnant nor did she give birth," Emma Sue admitted. "It was just a cover to trade some pugs at the state border for some cash."

This surprised Vee, who wasn't sure how she should feel about that. "Is that… legal?" she asked.

"I don't know…" Emma Sue admitted. "But enough about us, what about you, Vee?"

"Yeah, where are you from?" Kendra asked.

"Oh, well, I'm from a small town called Gravity Falls," Vee answered, a bit shyly. "It is less than a day's drive away."

"Ooh, what's that town like?" Simone asked.

"It's the weirdest town in Oregon," Vee explained to them. "It even used to have the Mystery Shack, which was like a smaller version of this place, but it got shut down recently. The people there are also nice once you get to know them, though I will admit that I haven't lived there that long so there is a lot that I still don't know about-"

"Wait, you haven't lived there long?" Emma Sue picked up, making Vee realize her mistake.

"Yeah, it's um, my first 'real' home," Vee admitted to them, surprising the girls.

"What do you mean first 'real' home?" Kendra asked. "Are you saying that you were-"

"Homeless?" Vee asked, looking down a bit. "Y-yeah, I was. But not anymore! I'm… basically adopted now."

The girls all looked sympathetic toward Vee. They weren't sure what to say though, at least until Simon spoke up. "So like, are you traveling with your family now?"

"Actually, it's just me and my friends," Vee answered. "My parents are back in Gravity Falls. They let me go on this trip."

"What are your folks like?" Kendra asked.

"Oh, they're really great," Vee replied with a smile, thinking of Blubs and Durland and how incredibly good they were to her as her dads. "When they first met me, they realized the situation I was in and they wanted to help me. And they did help me. I'm still adjusting to a lot of things, but… I'm glad to have them."

"But you're okay now, right?" Emma Sue asked. "It could not have been easy…"

"Yeah, you were really lucky to have people to help you out," Simone said.

"It wasn't and I am," Vee admitted. "You know, one of the reasons I actually went on this road trip with my friends is because I wanted to make an effort to become more comfortable with socializing with new people. And that is how I ended up meeting you girls."

"Well, we're glad to have met you, Vee," Kendra said, patting her shoulder. "Especially after everything that you must have been through."

"Thanks. So… where are your folks?" Vee asked, looking around. "Are they around here?"

"They stopped in a rest area," Emma Sue said.

"Yeah, mine too," Simone said as they headed over to said rest area, which had several tables… all of them with nobody sitting at them.

"That's strange," Emma Sue said. "My folks didn't tell me they had moved…"

"Maybe they took a bathroom break," Vee suggested while Simone got out her phone, trying to call her parents.

"I can't get a response from my parents," she said while trying to call them, only to hear a cell phone ringing nearby. They followed the noise and found two phones left in the bushes. "Those are my parents' phones!"

"I can't get a hold of my parents either," Kendra said while trying to reach them on her own phone. "Where… where could they have gone?"

"There's no way they'd leave without us," Emma Sue said, looking worried.

Vee looked worried as well, "That is strange," she said while bringing out her own phone, deciding to contact the others.

However, unknown to the four, a shadow loomed over them…

Elsewhere, Amity was taking a picture of Dana and Rudo by the Fire Retardant Raccoon animatronic.

"Amity!" Acorn called for her, drawing the fae-witch's attention to them.

"Acorn? Ghost? What is it?" Amity asked them, turning to the pixie and the Palisman.

"There are… abandoned cars… in the woods!" Acorn said while taking a breather. "It's really weird!"

"You have to come and see what we've found immediately!" Ghost said.

Concerned, Amity nodded. "I'll go get Abigail and Camila," she said as she headed over to where the adults were sitting so she could tell them about the situation.

Soon Abigail, Camila, Dana, and Rudo followed Amity, Acorn, and Ghost to where they found the abandoned cars. They looked shocked to see so many of them.

"My god…" Camila said.

"I don't think this is a junk yard," Rudo commented.

"For once, you're right," Dana replied while looking at the cars. "Some of them still have people's stuff in them!"

"What happened to their owners?" Amity asked, both confused and worried.

Abigail had a very bad feeling about this as she stood there in silence. Her mind started piecing things together. The mummy museum, the rumors of spider people sightings, the abandoned cars…

And that's when it clicked.

"Gail?" Camila asked, noticing the look on her friend's face. "What are you thinking now?"

Abigail turned to everyone, her expression serious. "Everyone, listen up! This place is not safe! We need to get everyone out of here immediately!"

Everyone was shocked by this, including Camila.

"What is it, Gail?" Camila asked.

"I think we may be in a literal tourist trap. Camila, get the kids to the RV, I'll contact Nora and tell her to get the kids to the parking lot and the van," Abigail said as she texted Nora.

Nora was sitting down when she got a notification on her phone. She checked her texts and saw Abigail's warning, which made her suddenly stand up. Gus noticed his mom's worried look.

"Mom, what's wrong?" Gus G asked her.

"I got a text from Abigail," Nora explained. "She said this place isn't safe. We need to do a head count and head back to the parking lot now!" she said while head counting her son along with Dipper, Candy, Grenda, and Pacifica. "Alright, time to go!"

Abigail then remembered that there were a few people unaccounted for. "Crap, Clara and Masha went off on their own!" she said, looking worried. She pulled out her phone and started to call her daughter.

"We also need to contact Vee," Amity replied as she tried to call Vee on her phone. Unfortunately, she couldn't reach her. "Come on, Vee, why aren't you answering?!"

"Try tracking her phone," Dana suggested, pulling up her own phone. "Luckily her dads gave her one where you can track her with an app," she said while tapping on Vee's phone, getting a pin point on its location.

Meanwhile, Clara and Masha were still in the Giant Spider Forest when Clara got a call from her mom.

"What?!" Clara asked, looking alarmed. "Alright, I understood. We'll head back right away!" she said as she hung up and turned to Masha. "Come on, we can't stay here much longer!"

"Yeah, I got that from the sound of your mom's tone," Masha said as they got ready to leave.

"Hmm!" came a muffled sound not too far away.

The two girls paused, hearing something and looking around.

"What was that?!" Masha asked.

"I don't know, but I don't think we should stick around longer," Clara replied, pulling on Masha's arm.

"Hey wait," Masha said as she pointed to something she spotted just off the trail. She went to pick it up and show it to Clara. "Recognize this hat?"

The hat in question was one Clara recognized as belonging to Chav…

Meanwhile, Amity and Abigail rushed over to the mummy museum, having already sent Camila back to the RV with Dana and Rudo. Outside of the museum, they found Vee's phone lying on the ground.

"That's Vee's phone, but no signs of Vee!" Amity said.

"This went from bad to worse," Abigail said, worried.

"Sam, go look for Vee!" Amity told her shadow, who rose up from the ground.

"I'm on it!" Sam responded as she flew off into the woods, looking for Vee.

Meanwhile, at the Central Park Zoo, Hailey, King, and the Hexsquad trio were in front of the otter habitat. King looked in and noticed Laura, who was trying to hide and avoid attention.

"That's Laura!" King said while wearing his cloak. "Oh man, she looks scared. We gotta go save her, but how?"

"There's too many people here," Gus said, looking around.

"Maybe we need to scare them out or something," Skara suggested. "Like, lions on the loose!"

"Actually, there have been no lions in the Central Park Zoo since the thirties," Haley said while trying to formulate a plan. "But, we can cause an incident… and I think I know how! Gus, you're the illusionist, think you can fake a big maintenance issue?"

"Something that won't put people at risk? I'm on it," Gus replied.

"And once everyone's cleared out, we go in and save her," Willow said.

Shortly afterward, a zookeeper had just finished checking the monkey cages when he noticed the otter habitat was gaining attention. "Huh, the otters seem popular today," he said before being confronted by Haley.

"Sir, you need to get everyone out of here now!" Haley told him. "I think there's been a gas leak!"

"Gas leak?" he asked, only to see a cloud spreading nearby. "Dear lord, this is bad!" he said while going to his cart and holding up his radio. "Attention all park visitors! The Central City Zoo is now closed due to a maintenance issue! Please carefully head to the exit!"

The visitors looked concerned as they started to head toward the exit of the zoo. When Laura saw the people in front of the otter exhibit leaving, she sighed in relief.

Once everyone was gone, the kids made their move. Willow used her magic to block the cameras with plants, Haley kept a lookout, Gus continued to keep the zookeepers busy with his illusions, and Skara went with King to get Laura.

"Psst, Laura!" King called out, getting her attention.

Laura looked up and was shocked to see him. "King? Thank goodness you're here. This bear guy dropped me off here… is this the Demon Realm?"

"Actually, wrong realm," King responded as Skara helped him up on her staff. The two levitate over the barrier to get Laura. "Hop on before the zookeepers show up!"

Laura nodded and crawled onto the staff behind King. Then they began to levitate out of the otter exhibit.

"Don't worry Laura, we are getting you out of here," King promised. "Thankfully, everything seems to be going smoothly so far."

"You got that righ-" Skara didn't get to finish, a random pigeon hitting her in the face. "GAH!" she cried out, losing control of her staff for a moment.

"Skara!" King exclaimed as he and Laura hung on to the staff. Laura managed to hang on, but King ended up losing his grip and falling off the staff. "Weh!" he cried while landing in another animal enclosure.

"King!" Willow shouted as she and Haley rushed over.

"What's going on?" Haley asked as Skara levitated down.

"We got Laura, but then a bird hit me in the face and King fell off over there," Skara said, pointing to where King landed.

"King, are you alright?" Laura asked.

"I'm fine…" King said as he got up and found himself surrounded by four penguins. "Don't worry, I'm just surrounded by these harmless penguins."

"King, get out of there!" Haley shouted, looking worried. "Those penguins were recently rescued from a Hoboken gang that trained them to learn Bratva-style martial arts!"

"Bratva-what?" King asked

'Boys,' the lead penguin called out to three of his brethren in a language only they could understand. 'Looks like we got some fresh meat here.'

'RAAAH!' another penguin growled as he jumped up and kicked King in the stomach.

"Weh!" he cried out as the penguins showed aggression towards him. "Hey, wait! I thought you guys were supposed to be harmless-AAH!" he shouted as he was raised up and body slammed by one.

'You hear that? He thinks we're harmless!' the lead penguin laughed.

'The misconception of us works in our favor!' spoke the taller penguin while the smallest one elbowed King in the stomach.

"Hang on King, we'll get you out of there!" Willow reassured him as she began to prepare a spell, but then she saw Laura leap over the barrier with a stick in her mouth. "Laura!"

Laura jumped into the enclosure and landed in the water. It was cold, but she quickly swam toward the island in the enclosure and climbed up. "Hey!" she shouted, earning the penguins' attention as she held up her stick. "Leave him alone, or else you get hurt!"

The penguins looked at the otter, then they looked at each other and began to squawk in laughter. 'She thinks she can take us, boys!'

Laura then charged and hit the leader penguin with the stick, shocking him and the others. As they glared at her, she quickly rushed over to King, helping him up. "You alright, King?"

"Yeah… just a little beaten," King replied, noticing the penguins surrounding them. "But they don't look happy…"

More penguins came outside while the lead penguin got up, glaring at the two. 'Boys… show them we mean business!' the lead penguin squawked insanely as the penguins charged.

Laura kept her guard up as she swung her stick at the charging penguins. Her tail also swung to hit some of them, knocking them into the water. As two others came at them, she thrust her stick to knock them back. Some slide on their belly toward them, but she grabbed King and jumped up, landing on the sliding penguins and riding them while knocking out more penguins in their way before leaping off the penguins.

The loose cannon penguin got in front of them. He made an insane growl while foaming in the mouth and charging at Laura and King. "Watch out for that one! He's a loose cannon!" King told her.

Laura narrowed her eyes as she charged, using her stick as a pole to launch herself off the ground and kick the insane penguin away from them. The penguin kicked towards the leader, who tried to get out of the way but only got hit instead.

"Should we… do something about this?" Skara asked as she, Willow, and Haley watched the battle, trying to understand what they were witnessing.

"We should," Haley said while looking around.

"The cameras are still blocked," Willow reassured her.

Haley nodded and went into her dragon form, using it to swoop in and grab King and Laura. "Gus! We need to get out of here!"

Gus, who had the zookeepers running around the zoo thanks to his illusions, started sprinting toward them. Quickly the group began to make their exit.

Back in Norrisville, a charity gala was being held at the McFist Ballroom. A bunch of rich people were attending, from businessmen to stockholders.

One of those businessmen was a very unhappy Hannibal McFist.

"I still don't understand why I have to do these things, Marci," Hannibal McFist whispered while greeting guests with a nod. "I should be out trying to destroy the Ninja right now..."

"Now Butterface, hosting these kinds of events is a good way to help boost your public image," spoke his wife, a blonde-haired woman with a Canadian accent. She had blue eyes, red lips, and a beauty mark. She was wearing a light blue dress with a dark gray collar, buttons and a waist belt, with gray high heels and golden bracelets on her right wrist. "After all, we need this charity auction to raise money to fix Norrisville High's gym wing after the last Ninja and supervillain battle. Plus I've managed to invite the Foxworth Estate and I want you to make a good impression with them. Oh, there she is now!"

Coming over was a woman with long red hair, blue eyes, and a black evening gown with gray sleeves and black heels. With her were her two daughters. The oldest was about twelve and had brown hair, blue eyes, and wore a black jacket with a white bow, and black dress with black flats. The youngest was about nine and had red hair, brown eyes, and wore a black dress and mary-janes.

"Jennifer! Oh Jen, it's so nice to see you on this occasion!" Marci waved to the Foxworth woman.

"Marci, glad to see you too," Jen Foxworth replied, shaking Marci's hand. "And this must be your husband."

"Yup! This is my Hanny-Bear, Hannibal McFist of McFist Enterprises," Marci said as she hugged her husband. "Hanny-Bear, this is Jenny Foxworth, heir to the Foxworth fortune and world renowned pianist. Oh, and these must be your daughters!"

"Yup, meet Billie and Joelle, my daughters," Jen said. "You two, say hi to Mr and Mrs. McFist,"

"Hi!" the youngest one, Joelle, waved to them.

"So did you like, built everything in this town?" Billie asked.

"Why of course, after all I am a genius gazillionaire and philanthropist," McFist stated boastfully.

"Ooh, they are such lovely angels. You should meet our angel as well," Marci said as she called out for her son. "Oh Bashikins!"

"Yeah, ma?" asked Bashford Johnson, a tall and muscular boy who had brown hair, blue eyes, and wore a blue suit with a red tie and black shoes. He was seen eating from the catering table… without a plate or utensils.

"Why don't you join us and meet the Foxworths?" Marci asked.

"Aw, do I have to?" Bash asked.

"You listen to your mother, Bashford!" McFist told him.

"You're not the boss of me!" Bash shouted at McFist.

"Why you little-!" McFist was steaming mad until Marci cleared her throat. He turned to his wife, who gave him a glare. "I-I mean, sorry about that," he apologized. "Our son just got held back a grade. But I told him that if he doesn't graduate, he can either find a job or get sent to Henchmen Boot Camp…" he muttered.

"I'm sorry, what?" Jen asked.

"I mean, let's get this auction going!" McFist said as he led the Foxworths away. "Come on, let's auction off some stuff for the school's money and who-nows!"

"Um, I hope I don't sound rude, but… how'd you get that robot arm? And why does it have a brain in it?" asked Joelle.

"Joeline!" Jen told her daughter, but McFist didn't mind it.

"Well I'll be happy to explain!" McFist responded. "Now, I think it happened on a Tuesday…" But before he could answer further, he got a notification on his robot hand. "Uh… excuse me, I gotta use the bathroom, be right back!" he said as he rushed towards the restroom.

"Gah, a security breach in my factory," McFist grumbled as he sat in a bathroom stall and checked the notification. "Viceroy should be able to deal with this! Oh wait, he was invited to that convention as a guest speaker…"

Meanwhile, in another part of the country, a mad scientist convention was in progress. One of its attendees was a tall and thin black man with dark brown hair with a gray streak, black eyes, glasses, a beard, and a lavender lab coat over a purple shirt and lavender ascot, purple pants and black shoes. He was meeting with some of his fellow mad scientists when he recognized one and walked over to him.

"You must be Fiddleford McGucket, correct?" Viceroy asked the hillbilly.

"Yup! I am skiddly do-wop am!" McGucket replied.

"Hello there, I'm Willem Viceroy, and I am a huge fan of your work," Viceroy responded, shaking McGucket's bandaged hand. "Your Revenge-Bots has been a huge inspiration for me."

"Well it's nice meeting ya, feller," McGucket replied. "You know, I was just chattin' with this blue feller over here!"

Viceroy turned and recognized the person McGucket was referring to. "Oh, Dr. Dragon, right?"

"Actually, it's Drakken," spoke a light-blue skinned man with long black hair tied to a ponytail, black eyes with a scar over his left eye, thick unibrow, and a blue labcoat, black gloves, and boots. "And you must be Viceroy. I know about your work with McFist. Good stuff."

"Why thank you, that is especially an honor coming from you, the first supervillain to have won a Nobel Peace Prize," Viceroy said as he saw another mad scientist walking up to them. "Oh, is that who I think it is…?"

"Yup! He's the guy that invited me? What's yer name again? Rodney?" McGucket asked the balding scientist with glasses, a white labcoat, gray pants, and black boots.

"I have told you that my name is Aloyse Everheart Elizabeth Otto Wolfgang Hypatia Gunther Galen Gary Cooper von Roddenstein!" he declared with a German-sounding accent.

"...We'll just call you Rodney," Viceroy told him.

"Oh yeah, I've heard about your work," Drakken recalled. "Didn't you threaten to move the Earth into a new Ice Age and you got arrested for crimes against humanity as a result?"

"Yes, zhat is me," Rodney responded. "Thankfully my son, Orville, bailed me out… well, more accurately he broke me out."

"I don't get what the big deal was anyway, since your plan wasn't even that original," Drakken admitted. "I mean, some education senator already tried to do the same thing, all to keep up with the test scores!"

Viceroy gave Drakken a look. "You know, hearing your voice now, it kinda sounds familiar…"

Back to McFist, he was checking the security cameras with a hologram being projected from his arm. He found footage of the Ninja breaking into his factory along with Luz and the American Dragon.

"Dammit, I should've known the Ninja was responsible! And he has some accomplices," McFist growled. "Looks like I'll have to handle this myself…"

Inside the factory, the trio of Luz, Jake, and Randy were sneaking around. They were all now in their 'super' forms, with Jake and Luz having shifted into their winged forms.

"Stay close, cause who knows what we might encounter," Randy told them while holding up his sais. "Just look for anything that might tie these Exorcist things to McFist."

"Great," Luz replied as they went through the factory. "So what's your deal with McFist? Like, why does he hate the Ninja?"

"Oh, he doesn't like how much I, or at least, the Ninja, gets more attention than he does," Randy explained. "I could have exposed him once, but around that time the Sorcerer was turning people into his Stank Monsters by taking advantage of their distress, so I decided to hold off on that. But since the Sorcerer's no more, McFist has been my only threat. But I believe I may know a way to put an end to his grudge against the Ninja once and for all… but it won't be easy."

"What's that?" Luz asked, but before Randy could explain, they heard robotic voices.

"Our jobs are never easy!"

The trio stopped and looked around the corner, spotting some Robo-Apes, who were hanging around with some crates while drinking oil.

"When we're not working and catering, we are sent to fight the Ninja only to be destroyed on a weekly basis!" one Robo-Ape ranted.

"Tell me about it, brother," another replied. "McFist outta give us a raise to pay for our repairs!"

"We don't get paid for this kind of shit," another replied while drinking a can of oil.

"We don't get paid at all," another said.

Randy backed away along with Jake and Luz. "Alright, so these guys are in our way. We should find a way around them, because the last thing we need right now is a fight."

"Good idea," Jake agreed. "So all we need is to-"

"Excuse me, gentleapes," they heard Luz say.

The two boys realized that Luz wasn't next to them anymore, causing them to turn and see her talking to the apes.

"You guys don't suppose you know anything about a mechanical death-angel robot that attacked New York City and tried to kill the Ninja, do you?" Luz asked them.

The Robo-Apes stood up. "Who are you and how did you get into this building?!" one demanded to know.

"Oh? Not talking?" Luz smiled as she blinked, her right eye red.

"Guess I can beat the answers outta you!" Maya declared.

Jake and Randy watched as Luz beat up the Robo-Apes. Their expressions were of shock as they witnessed how violent Luz was to the apes. Randy covered his eyes while Jake winced, all while hearing Luz's maniacal laughter (or maybe Maya's). Luz even beat one Robo-Ape with another's dismantled arm, which was followed by an explosion…

"Dang…" Jake said as the head of a Robo-Ape fell at their feet.

"Have mercy!" one Robo-Ape cried before its head was smashed like a soda can.

"Whoo! Glad those things aren't alive, huh boys?" Luz asked while standing on a pile of the robo-apes. "Isn't this fun, Maya? We didn't have to hold back on robots!"

"Yeah, it is refreshing," Maya responded.

"Um, did Luz have another voice coming out of her?" Randy asked Jake.

"Oh yeah, I don't think you guys know Maya," Luz responded. "Guys, meet Maya, Maya, you already know these two through me."

"Sorry for keeping quiet," Maya said. "I usually let Luz talk more. I prefer action anyway."

It was then that one of the Robo-Ape's eyes suddenly glowed and began projecting a holographic image of McFist.

"Well, well, if it isn't the Ninja! Here in my factory, along with some winged-girl and an overgrown iguana," McFist said.

"Iguana?!" Jake exclaimed in offense.

"Alright, McFist, we know about your connection to those robot creatures that attacked me in New York City earlier this summer!" the Ninja accused, pointing at him.

"Nu-uh! You can't prove that it was me who was targeting you with a mecha-angel," McFist declared.

"You just exposed yourself, dumbass!" Luz shouted at him. "None of us mentioned it was an angel!"

"You better fess up, McFist, and make our job easier… or would you rather have me keep looking around for evidence?" the Ninja asked.

"Hah! You think I would just give away any information like a candy store, Ninja?!" McFist shouted, but then he suddenly turned his head. "Hey! Can't you see that I'm here right now?!" he shouted, which confused the three.

"Wait, are you… speaking to us from the restroom?" the Ninja asked.

"You're speaking from the bathroom, Ninja!" McFist spat.

"That doesn't even make sense!" The Ninja pointed out.

"YOU DON'T MAKE ANY SENSE-"

"HEY!" Luz shouted, getting in between them. "We don't have time for you two arguing like children!" She turned to McFist. "Alright, you rejected McDonalds mascot, you either tell us what we want to know, or I can track you down and rip that carpet out of your face, and shove one of these Robo-Ape's arms up your ass!"

McFist looked mildly disturbed by her threat. "And who are you?"

"That's on a need to know basis," Luz responded.

"Oh well, then you're all not going anywhere!" McFist declared as hatches opened up in the walls around them. "Because you all won't be getting out!"

Surrounding the heroes were more of McFist's robots. Robo-Apes marched up, followed by Robo-Lizards that crawled on every surface after making themselves visible. Jumping from the ceiling were a gang of robotic werewolves with chainsaws for their hands and sprouting from the ground were robotic mantises.

"It's like we're living in a Sonic game," Jake said while holding his claws up.

"It's never easy," Randy said while bringing out his sword.

"Why don't you boys let us take the lead," Luz said as she grinned, her and Maya cracking their knuckles. "Cause we're about to really cut loose..."

Slowly opening her eyes, Vee let out a groan.

"Ugh… what… just happened?" she asked before realizing that she was inside a cave. A cave filled with webs and cocoons. "What the…?!" She looked around and saw the dried husks of people hanging in the webs, causing her to panic. "What… oh Titan, what the hell?!" she freaked out before realizing she herself was in a cocoon. "GAAH!"

"VEE!"

Vee heard a voice and saw Emma Sue trapped in a cocoon above her.

"Emma! Are you alright?" Vee asked her. "Where are the others!"

"Hmm!" Kendra spoke up. She was webbed up to Vee's right side, though she was unable to speak thanks to the webs covering her mouth.

"We're here as well, Vee," Simone said while also trapped in a cocoon.

"Kendra, Simone!" Vee shouted. "Is everyone here!"

"I think those moving cocoons are where our families are," Simone said, pointing to some moving cocoons nearby.

"Why are we trapped in here?!" Emma asked.

Vee looked around at the dried out husks around them, noticing their similarity to the mummies they saw earlier. She started piecing it together. "The mummy museum… oh farts, I think I know where Mystery Mountain gets its mummies…"

"What?" Emma asked.

"Hmmhmm!" Kendra muffled in her gag.

"Wait, you mean… we're going to be mummies?!" Simone exclaimed.

"Took you long enough!"

The four girls turned their gaze and saw Darlene entering the cave, though Darlene looked different. In place of her lower body human legs was the body of a dark-furred, eight-legged spider.

"So you kiddos are awake," Darlene said with a grin. "Good. I was just finishing off Chavs, but I think I can make room for dessert."

"You… you're a spider-person!" Vee cried out in shock.

"What is your deal?!" Emma Sue shouted.

"Oh it's simple, sweetheart," Darlene said. "See, I'm what you would call an arachnimorph, but my species is also known as jorogumos. And you've all fallen for my trap. I have been using Mystery Mountain to bring my food to me for years. It started with pickup artists. I would manipulate them, capture them, feast on them, and then add their corpses to the mummy museum. But as you might imagine, if you eat the same thing over and over again, you get tired of it. So I started to diversify my tastes by feasting on families…" Her smile grew wider. "And you know, I actually preferred that! Especially the taste of children…"

"That's horrible!" Vee shouted in disgust.

"It's the circle of life, toots," Darlene said. "The strong eat the weak. Oh, and in addition to displaying the corpses of my victims to attract tourists, I also have a side gig with the cars they leave behind. Of course, I do have to get rid of the cars to cover my tracks. But what I do is that I would give them new license plates before selling or renting them. Because of this, I have a steady flow of both cash and fresh meat, which is basic capitalism for ya." She waved it off. "It's a good thing that my ex, Fu, has no idea about my operations… otherwise, Mystery Mountain would have a poochy mummy for its museum."

"Please, don't eat us!" Emma Sue cried out in fear.

"Listen Darlene, you don't have to do this!" Vee shouted, trying to get through to her.

"Oh I know that I don't have to," Darlene said while walking up close to the girls. "I do this because I want to. Here, allow me to slip into something horrifying." She uses her legs to pull her mouth open and over the rest of her skin. The girls looked horrified as they screamed, seeing Darlene folding up her human appearance, revealing her true, spider self underneath. "Hmm, who should I start with…" Her arm grabbed Kendra, hanging her above her mouth.

"HMMM!" Kendra cried through her gag, seeing that she was going to be eaten.

"Kendra!" the girls cried out.

"Hehehe, gotcha!" Darlene said while stopping herself, sticking Kendra back to her web wall. "Heh, nothing's more satisfying than giving your prey a little scare.. But don't worry, you kids will still be sucked dry, one by one…"

She crawled away from them and went into another tunnel. "Oh, and don't worry, your parents are still alive… for now. But I'm just gonna savor eating you girls first! Just as soon as I find a good marinade sauce for my little happy meals."

"Oh my gosh, we're about to be eaten!" Simone cried out.

"What do we do? What do we do?!" Emma Sue shouted, starting to panic.

"Hmm!" Kendra muffled.

"We have to get out here… help! Someone!" Vee cried out in a panic, feeling trapped again.

"Vee? Are you there?" asked Clara's voice, which Vee could hear nearby. Her eyes widened.

"We're here," Vee said, keeping her voice low.

Masha and Clara both came into the cave, where they were shocked to see Vee and the girls trapped. "Vee!" they shouted as they rushed up to them. "What is all of this?!"

"Shh, keep your voice down," Vee warned. "Darlene, that ticket booth lady, turned out to be an actual spider-person."

"Oh man, that actually would explain a lot," Masha said while bringing out her pocket knife. "Hang on, we'll get you girls out of here."

Masha cut Vee's cocoon, freeing the basilisk girl. Then Clara, Masha, and Vee worked together to free Emma Sue, Simone, and Kendra as quickly as they could. They heard Darlene singing, indicating that she was near.

"We should free their families next," Vee pointed out after they had freed Emma Sue and Simone.

"Don't worry, we'll get to them," Clara said as Masha freed Kendra and ungagged her.

"Oh my gosh, we need to get out of here!" Kendra cried out.

"First we need to free everyone!" Simone pointed out.

"Hey! What's with the noise?!" Darlene shouted, coming out of the tunnel and seeing what was going on. "Oh look, more food! And I didn't have to catch them…"

While some of the girls shrinked away at the sight of Darlene, Vee didn't. Instead, she knew what she had to do. "Go free your families! I'll handle her!" Vee shouted as she rushed towards Darlene.

"Vee, no!" the girls cried out.

"Don't worry, she can handle her!" Masha reassured them while going to cut open the cocoons where their families were.

Darlene looked amused as she saw Vee get in her way, standing in between her and the others. "Aw look, trying to play hero? What'cha gonna do?" she asked in a mocking tone.

"This," Vee said as she shut her eyes and reopened them, showing her true blue reptilian eyes. She took a deep breath, then started to drain the magic from Darlene.

"Aaay… what?!" Darlene was shocked, losing her balance and falling over. Much to her surprise, she felt weaker. "You… you're not human… which I didn't expect…"

"What is Vee… doing?" Simone asked, shocked as she and the other girls watched.

"Yeah, when could she do that?" Emma Sue asked.

"It's um, long story," Clara said after freeing Simone's parents.

"Oh thank Paul Bunyan, we're free!" Simone's dad cried out.

"Emma Sue! Thank god you're alright!" Emma Sue's mom said after being free along with her husband.

"We need to get out of here!" Kendra's dad exclaimed.

"Come on, there's an exit through here!" Masha shouted after freeing everyone, beginning to lead them out of the cave.

"Come on, Vee!" Clara shouted as Vee turned around and ran after them, leaving behind a weakened Darlene.

Darlene groaned as she noticed her prey were gone. "What?! NO!" she screeched, picking herself up. Despite feeling weakened, she was still able to use her legs to crawl herself out of the cave. She spotted Vee, Clara, and Masha escorting everyone through the forest. "Come back here so I can spray venom on youse!"

Vee looked back, seeing Darlene giving chase. "She's back up!"

"We need to split up! Draw her attention away from the others!" Masha suggested.

"Hey, you eight-legged granny!" Clara shouted at Darlene, getting her attention. "How much pesticide do you use to shave those legs?"

Darlene hissed at her. "You know, just fer that, I'll start with you, Blondie!" she shouted as she went after Clara.

"Run!" Clara shouted as she, Masha, and Vee ran away from Darlene, leading her away from the other girls and their families.

"Quick, to the sky tram!" Masha pointed as she, Clara, and Vee ran into the boarding station and jumped inside of the tram, Vee closing the door behind them. The sky tram starts moving down over the trees.

The three girls cheered inside. "Haha, yes!/Perfect!" Vee and Clara cheered.

"Ride like the wind, sky tram!" Masha pointed forward. But the tram didn't pick up speed.

"Welcome to Trambience, the world's slowest treetop tram ride. Enjoy the sights at 0.1 miles per hour," the recording spoke up.

"Come on, move it! We're trying to escape from that spider-lady!" Vee cried out.

"Can't this thing go any faster?!" Clara demanded.

"No, it can't," the recording said. "This is Trambience."

Below them, Amity and Abigail were still looking around for Vee when Sam flew back.

"Did you find her?" Amity asked.

Sam shook her head. "I did see the girls she was with though. They were running, saying something about a giant spider."

"A what?!" Amity exclaimed while turning to Abigail. "Abby, the girls are-"

"A spider-person!" Abigail pointed up and Amity saw the spider-creature jumping from tram to tram, heading for tram with Vee, Clara, and Masha inside. "We have to save them!"

Amity covered herself in her abomi-suit. "I'm on it!" she declared, starting to fly up to the tram.

Darlene made it to the tram where Vee, Masha, and Clara were. She started wrapping around the tram with her silk while the girls cried out and screamed for help inside.

"Now why don't you girls get comfortable," Darlene told them mockingly before she was surprised by a purple slime punch from Amity, causing her to stop. Darlene swung around until she landed on the large wires. She saw Amity standing on the girls' tram. "Now who are you?!"

"Your worst nightmare," Amity told her while landing on the tram. "I'm not gonna let you hurt my friends, you overgrown roach!"

"I'm a spider, you little eye sore!" Darlene shouted as she sprayed venom at her. Amity dodged the venom by flying up, shooting abomi-balls at her.

On the ground, some tourists spotted the fight going on at the tram while with a Mystery Mountain employee.

"Whoa, is this for real?!" one asked.

"Is that a spider-person?!" another asked the employee at the info booth.

"Uh… it's all special effects?" he replied nervously.

Amity flew around and delivered a punch to Darlene. The arachnimorph was hit back, forcing her to jump onto another moving tram. Darlene tried to jump up to tackle Amity, but Amity slammed her down to the trees with her Abomi-fists. Amity then launched herself to punch Darlene to the ground, knocking her to crash through the trees.

"Oof!" Darlene shouted as she got back up. "Why you little!" she hissed at Amity as she used her legs to punch at her, while Amity blocked them with her large abomi-gauntlets. Amity sent in a haymaker punch at the creature, sending her back. Darlene shot her webbing at Amity, who dodged them until one stuck her hand to a tree.

"Shit," Amity said while trying to get herself out, forming an abomi-blade to slice through the webbing. She cut herself out of the web just as Darlene launched herself to Amity. The fae-witch then swung her blade and sliced at Darlene's larger eye.

"AAAAH! MY EYE!" Darlene cried out. "You sliced one of my eyes!"

"You're not the first monster I've faced," Amity declared while getting into a fighting position. "Nor will you be the last."

"You think yer tough, kid?!" Darlene got up, hissing at Amity. "Why I'm gonna-"

BANG!

"AAH!" Darlene cried as she got shot in the back. She turned around and saw Abigail with her handgun.

"Get away from her you bitch," Abigail hissed while holding up her gun.

Darlene saw Abigail glaring at her. She then looks back at Amity, then at her oozing bullet wound. The only course of action she could think of doing now… was to run.

"Sayanora, ladies! I'm outta here!" she declared while crawling away.

"She's getting away!" Abigail shouted as she aimed her gun.

"Hold on, Abby," Amity said while flying over to her. "She's not going anywhere…"

Darlene rushed through the woods, making it down to the parking lot. She crawled through the legs of the Paul Bunyan statue, but then the statue started to move suddenly.

"I'm gonna make it, I'm gonna make it!" she shouted, only to see a large shadow over her. "What's huh?" She looked up and saw the Paul Bunyan statue falling over. "WAAAH!"

SMASH!

Sam, who had been the one who pushed the statue down, giggled as she saw Darlene's lower half and legs crushed underneath the Paul Bunyan statue.

"Oh… oh my god!" Darlene screeched in pain as she tried to crawl away free. "You all… will pay… for this…" She then noticed a vehicle backing toward her. "Ah, fu-"

SQUISH!

The RV ran over Darlene, completely squishing her head. The one driving was Camila, who opened the door and got out.

"Did I get it?" Camila asked as Dipper looked out and saw the dead spider-person.

"Yeah, I think you got her," Dipper confirmed.

Back in Norrisville in the factory, the fight in the McFist factory was in full swing.

Luz held up a chainsaw from one of the Chainsaw Werewolves she had slain earlier and used it to slice a Robo-Ape in half. She did the same to a Slaying Mantis. "YEAAAH!" she yelled as she cast an ice spell to freeze up the Robo-Lizards.

Jake flew up high to dodge the Slaying Mantises, shooting fireballs at them. He also blew flames at the Robo-Apes jumping at him, melting them down. "It's on like Donkey-whoa!" He dodged a Chainsaw Werewolf as Randy threw a sickle at the werewolf.

Randy yanked it back and swung the robotic wolf around to knock over the Slaying Mantises and Robo-Apes. Then he slammed it down on the Robo-Lizards. "Alright! The Ninja Heroes are beating it!" he declared while shooting an ice blast. "Ninja Ice Fist!" he shouted, freezing and shattering a Robo-Ape and Chainsaw Werewolf. "Everyone good?"

"Yeah," Jake said as he kicked the head of a Robo-Ape into some Robo-Lizards. "Beaten my share. What about you… Luz…?"

Luz stood over a large pile of the McFist robots. She was covered in oil while holding the chainsaw. It looked like she had just performed a robo-slaughter. She sighed. "That was a good workout," she said as she jumped off from her pile.

"That was great!" Maya said while turning to Randy "Your life must be awesome if you get to fight robots like these all the time!"

"Yeah… define awesome…" Randy said with an unsure tone.

"GRR! YOU THINK YOU THREE ARE ALL THAT!?"

All turned to the McFist hologram, which was coming from a sphere. "You may have taken down my robots, but I still have one trick up my sleeve! EX-03, come out!"

"EX-03…?" Luz asked as the three heard a door open. They turned and looked into a dark room… where they saw a pair of glowing white eyes… and a smile.

"Did anyone feel the tone changing suddenly…?" Randy asked as they saw coming out of the darkness… was a mechanical creature resembling the Exorcist.

"Yo, that's the same bot we fought before!" Jake said, backing away.

"That's one of those things that Amity and Willow fought?!" Luz asked while glaring at the creature. "And destroyed Mewni…"

"TARGETS ACQUIRED: EXTERMINATE!" the EX-03 cried out as it launched itself towards the three.

"Alright, let's-ACK!" Randy was suddenly kicked by the EX-03, launching him back to the wall. It then turned to Luz as it backhanded her over to the crates.

"Yo! This one's fast!" Jake said as he swiftly charged at the faux-Exorcist. He blew fire at it, but the robot instantly dodged the flames and kicked Jake in the back before he even knew it had moved behind him. He crashed to the floor and got up in time to see blades being fired at him from its wings. Jake dodged the blades, but did not react fast enough to see the Exorcist rushing him until it punched him in the face, sending him crashing into the pile of robots.

The EX-03 sensed Luz charging at it from behind and turned its face as it dodged her claw attack. It then grabbed her by the jacket and kneed her in the stomach as it threw her back. Randy tried to wrap his chains around the creature's neck, but the robot instead fully spread out its wings and launched itself up high. It quickly flew around in circles until Randy let go.

"WAAAH!" he cried as he fell before Jake flew up to catch him. "Thanks, D-Man…"

"This thing is kicking out butts big time," Jake said as the EX-03 fired missiles at them.

"Take cover!" Luz shouted as the trio split up to dodge the missiles, which chased after them. Luz flew towards a stack of discarded robots as one of the missiles followed her. When she suddenly flew up, the missile crashed into the pile and exploded.

Jake, while carrying Randy, attempted to dodge and outfly the missiles flying around him. Getting an idea, Randy began to throw ninja stars at the missiles.

"Ninja Stars! Ninja Stars!" Randy shouted as each missile exploded from the ninja stars.

Luz flew up and saw that the EX-03 was standing still, almost like it was… studying them. She drew spell circles and cast a fire spell, but the faux-Exorcist dodged the flames instantly, moving almost too quickly for Luz to keep track of. To her surprise, it leapt up towards her, extending its claws to slash at her. Luz, with her scaled arms and wings, tried to shield herself as the robot's claws slashed at her.

"GAH!" Luz winced in pain before she was hit again, sending her to the floor. Before she could get up, the creature landed on her with its taloned feet, pinning her to the floor. A part of its wings then detached and became a sword, which the creature prepared to bring down. Luz's eyes widened when she saw the blade, but before the creature could stab her, Jake tackled himself into it, knocking the robot away.

"Leave her alone!" Jake shouted while sending the faux-Exorcist crashing against the ground. He blew large flames at the robot, completely engulfing it with fire. For a moment, he couldn't see the creature. Then he heard… laughter. Mechanical laughter. To his horror, he saw the creature standing up amidst the flames, smiling at him while brandishing its now flaming sword.

"...I think I just made it scarier," Jake realized before the creature lunged at him, forcing him to doge the flaming sword as the creature swung it around. Though he did manage to knock the sword away, it left him vulnerable for a moment, allowing the creature to slam Jake to the floor and begin to punch him repeatedly. "Ah! Ow! Stop!" Jake cried in pain.

"Hey you!" Randy called out, getting the EX-03 to turn to him. The Ninja held up his sword. "Better stop, before I unleash my Ninja Kamas at you-" His kamas were shot out of his hands. "Alright, then my Ninja Sword will-" It also got shot by the robot's beam. "Ninja Spikes-" It got shot. "Ninja Eskrima-" Shot by the Exorcist. "Ninja Chain Sick-" Shot again. "Ninja Smoke-Bom-(shot), Stalling Wedge-(shot), Manrikiguasri-(shot), um… Ninja Ukulele?" He held up the ukulele, which also got blasted out of his hands. "Aw, come on! What kind of a McFist bot are you?!"

The EX-03 ran up towards Randy, grabbing him by the face before he could react. The next thing he knew, he was being slammed into the wall repeatedly and being punched in the chest. "Gah!" he cried out. "My insides are starting to hurt…"

"Yes… finish him off, EX-03!" McFist declared gleefully. "You'll never beat this thing, Ninja!"

Randy felt more bruised up than usual. This robot really was different from the others. Being shoved against the wall, he saw the smiling faux-Exorcist raise its fist and summon a knife, ready to pierce him in the throat. Randy managed to move his head aside just in time, but the Exorcist still managed to pierce his shoulder.

"GAH! Oh, shoob me on a… AAH!" Randy shouted in pain, feeling the blade pierce his shoulder. Using its blade, the robot lifted Randy into the air, making the pain even worse. As Randy screamed in pain, the robot tilted its head almost curiously. But before it could hurt Randy any further, Luz kicked the Exorcist away.

"Alright, time for you to go down!" Luz declared as she shot an ice blast at the robot. The robot dodged the blast and recovered its sword, using its heated blade to cut through her ice in order to get to Luz, who backed away while trying her other spells, the Exorcist either dodging them or deflecting them with its sword. The robot then let out an inhuman screech and flew at Luz, ignoring her spells and slamming into her.

Luz managed to stay on her feet as the creature stood before her. Luz then let Maya in the driver's seat, the girl extending her claws and her wings turning sharp. She began to strike at the EX-03 with her sharp swift attacks while dodging the robots' own attacks. She slashed and slashed, but despite her best efforts…

She saw no cut on the robot.

None of their attacks were working, something that both Luz and Maya acknowledged. The thing then screeched and shot blades out of its wings, causing Maya to fly back and dodge them though she still received a few cuts.

"Shit!" Maya winced, feeling her arm and leg cut. "Luz… I don't think we can beat this thing."

"I know," Luz replied.

"I think we know what to do to stop it…" Maya said and Luz knew what she meant.

Luz turned to Randy and Jake, both of them still dazed. "You two! Get behind me now!"

"What? What are you-" Randy asked while he and Jake struggled to get up.

"Just get behind me!" Luz shouted as Randy and Jake moved to get behind Luz as she faced the Exorcist.

The EX-03 roared as it charged at Luz, who stood still as she glared at the monster. She takes a deep breath, allowing EX-03 to get closer.

"WEEHH!" she wailed at the creature, which was pushed back by the sonic scream. Jake and Randy watched in shock as they saw Luz making this powerful wail. She kept it up, forcing the creature against the wall. It tried to resist and even tried to shoot at her, but the force of the scream caused its arm to split and fall apart. It screamed in agony as it tried to move against the scream.

The metal on its legs were shredded and taken apart. The creature's screen face cracked and shattered. Eventually, it got shoved back into the wall. It crashed and fell into pieces, its joints now damaged and falling apart. Its head and body exploded, leaving nothing but pieces.

Luz stopped screaming in order to catch her breath. She looked up and saw that the EX-03 was now defeated. Relieved, she fell to her knees as Randy and Jake went to comfort her.

"Yo Luz… are you alright?" Jake asked her.

"That was an amazing scream!" Randy waved his arm until he winced. "Ow! Shoulder still bleeding…"

"I'm… fine," Luz said before glaring at the McFist hologram, who looked shocked that she had beaten the faux-Exorcist.

McFist saw Luz glaring at him and he immediately shut off the holo-screen.

"Shit, shit, shit!" he cursed while getting out of the stall and rushing out of the restroom. He returned to the gala, where he tried to watch the auction without attracting any attention.

"Sold for five hundred!" spoke an orange haired slim man with a brown mustache and an olive jacket. He was Mort Weinerman, a McFist employee. Eventually he noticed McFist. "Oh and here's the man of the hour who made this all possible. Mr. McFist, everyone!"

The spotlight moved to McFist, who awkwardly waved to the audience. "Oh well, yes, that is me, Mr. McFist! And I see the auction is going well, ain't it, folks?" he asked as they clapped "Now as this charity auction is a McFist and Foxworth collaboration, I must say-"

CRASH!

The window shattered. McFist and everyone saw Luz in her altered form, flying towards McFist. He hadn't expected this, so he screamed and tried to run, but she swooped down and grabbed him, carrying him out of the window with her.

"AAAH! She's going to eat me!" McFist cried out as he was taken away by the flying Luz.

Everyone looked shocked by what just happened and for a moment the room was dead silent.

"Did he just… get captured by a flying bat teenager?" Billie asked.

"I don't know what I just saw, but I do know that this town is pretty great!" Joelle declared excitedly.

Back in Mystery Mountain again, everyone had regrouped, including the families that were rescued from Darlene. They were in the parking lot where Darlene's remains were covered by a tarp. Clara, Masha and Vee were recovering after having been freed from the webbed up tram, everyone being given snacks and drinks.

"Are you girls alright?" Amity asked while she, Nora, and Camila helped comfort the girls while Abigail talked to the other families.

"Yeah, we're fine," Masha said.

"Shaken, probably a bit traumatized, but this isn't even the weirdest day we've had," Clara said.

"I'm just glad this whole mess is over," Vee replied.

"Well, I am glad that you girls aren't hurt," Nora said. "Looks like Gravity Falls isn't the only weird town in this state…"

"Yeah, looks like Ford's journals need a new entry…" Dipper commented while eying the squashed spider.

"We were so worried for you girls, but thank god everyone is safe," Camila said. Of course, she couldn't say the same for that pickup artist, but she didn't want to bring that up in front of the kids.

"I wonder if Fu knew about this?" Nora asked.

"According to Darlene, he didn't," Vee said while turning to Amity. "Maybe you should text Luz and tell her what happened."

"I will," Amity said with a nod while holding up her phone to text Luz.

Meanwhile, Abigail was talking to the families the kids rescued.

"Thank your kids for freeing us, ma'am," said Simone's mom.

"Yeah, we could've ended up being lunch if it weren't for them," Kendra's dad said.

"It's no problem, but I should tell you all this," Abigail said to them. "Do not stick around Mystery Mountain any longer. We don't know if there are more like Darlene around here, so for your safety and the safety of your family, try to put as much distance between yourselves and this place as possible." She wrote down her info, handing it to the families. "Here, you can call me if you need me."

"Thank you," Emma Sue's dad said while his daughter and the girls went over to Vee.

"Hey Vee, you got some company," Masha said to Vee, who was sipping her drink.

Vee looked up, seeing the three girls coming over to her. "Oh, Simone, Kendra, Emma Sue…" she said nervously.

"Hey Vee, how are you doing?" Kendra asked.

"I'm… fine," Vee said shyly. "Thank you for asking."

The three girls looked at each other before Emma Sue spoke. "So… what was that at what you did to that crazy spider-lady back there?"

"Yeah, do you have, like, superpowers or something?" Simone asked.

"Um, well… the thing is…" Vee said as she looked at the girls before she looked down at the ground, hesitating. She then looked at her friends, then back at the girls. She sighed. "Well… it's not easy revealing this, but… I'm not exactly human, but I'm also definitely not a spider-person… I'm a basilisk."

"A… basilisk?" Emma Sue asked in confusion. "What's that?"

Vee took a deep breath and decided to change into her basilisk form to show them, surprising the girls as she did. When Vee saw their shocked faces, she winced. She shut her eyes, expecting them to be scared of her. The basilisk girl knew they hadn't been around her that long, so she had no idea how they would react, but she feared the worst…

"Oh… my… gosh…" Kendra said in shock.

"Vee… you're…" Simone said.

"So…" Emma Sue followed.

Vee kept her eyes shut, waiting for the tension to break.

"CUTE!" the three girls squeed in excitement, causing Vee to open her eyes in surprise. She saw their expressions. She didn't see hate or fear on their faces, just adoration.

"Wah…?" Vee asked in shock, not expecting this especially when they all ran up to hug and snuggle her. "W-W-Wait! What are you doing?!" she cried out while getting flustered, her face bright red.

"Oh you are so cute and snuggly!" Emma Sue shouted.

"And adorable!" Simone added.

"You're like, the coolest and cutest girl we know!" Kendra declared.

"You girls… aren't afraid?" Vee asked in surprise.

"Afraid? Vee, you helped save us. Why would we be afraid?" Kendra asked her.

"So… you girls don't mind if I'm not human?" Vee asked them.

"Girl, you stood up to that crazy spider-lady for us," Simone said, patting her head. "You're like a hero!"

Vee blushed, admittedly liking it when she felt Simon patting her head. "Yeah, I guess I am…" she said.

"Yeah!" Emma Sue added. "So, um…" She paused, sounding a bit shy. "I know this is sudden, but would you like to be my girlfriend?"

"H-huh?" Vee stammered. She definitely did not see this coming.

"No way, I want her to be my girlfriend!" Simone argued.

"Hey, I wanted to ask her out!" Kendra declared as they ended up fighting over Vee, who looked more flustered than she had ever been.

"Wow… Vee's better at this lesbian thing than we are," Clara commented as she and Amity watched Vee being argued over by the three girls.

"Yeah," Amity agreed. "But good for her."

Vee managed to regain her senses and she tried to get their attention. "Um hey, girls!"

"Yeah?" they asked, all turning to her.

"Um, actually, while this is really sweet and I'm honored, I'm afraid I have to… turn all you girls down," Vee told them. She saw their sad, disappointed expressions. "But don't worry, it doesn't mean we can't still be in touch and be friends. It is just that, well… I already have someone in mind that I want to ask out."

"Oh man, you're already taken," Simone said in disappointment. She then shrugged. "But I'm fine with just being your friend."

"Yeah, maybe my family will visit Gravity Falls someday and we can hang out, Vee," Kendra said.

"Hope you still have my email, Vee," Emma Sue said.

"Don't worry, I promise to get in contact with you girls as soon as I get home," Vee said with a smile, happy to have made some new friends who accepted her for who she really was.

"Aw, group hug!" Simone said as the three hugged their new friend Vee. "We're so glad to have met you, Vee."

"Yeah, same," Vee replied as she changed back into her human form.

And so, after saying their goodbyes, everyone got into their vehicles, Clara and Masha holding hands as the two sat down in the van. Once everyone was in their vehicles, they left Mystery Mountain and started to drive away.

"So what's going to happen to Mystery Mountain?" Acorn asked in the RV as they looked out the window.

"My guess… it will probably close," Amity answered with a sigh. "What a day…"

Once everyone had left, the employees of the now closed Mystery Mountain came over and saw Darlene's remains after moving Paul Bunyan's statue.

"So… whadda we do with this?" the info booth employee asked a ranger.

"...Burn the body," the ranger responded. "Along with everything in her cave and the mummy museum. We can't have this tracked back to us."

"But what if they show up?" another employee asked, causing the ranger from the tram to look nervous. "They'll want to hold someone accountable…"

"We'll think of something…" he said while they proceeded to burn Darlene's body just as a police car showed up. A local police officer got out.

"Alright, alright, let's get everyone's story's straight," the officer said before seeing Darlene's body being burned. "Dear god, what happened?!"

"Darlene got killed by some meddling tourists," the ranger explained.

"Well, that's a shame, Smith," the officer responded. "Especially after all the work we put into this… and of course, the others won't be happy when they hear about this."

"We know, officer," the ranger responded, tipping his hat over his eyes. "They're going to be calling blood…"

"Were there any witnesses?" the officer asked.

"Well, there were, sir," one employee said. "Many."

"But all we could do was play innocent over this," Ranger Smith said while watching Darlene's body burned. "We had to let them go, because those witnesses, they weren't… normal."

Back in the RV, Abigail and Camila were in the front seat, Abigail driving and checking the mirrors to make sure nobody was following them. "Looks like they're not going to try to stop us from leaving."

Camila looked to her friend. "Are you worried about there being more spider people?"

"Honestly, it's not just the spider people I'm worried about," Abigail admitted while keeping her voice low so the kids wouldn't hear. "I know that at least some of Darlene's co-workers must have known what she really was and what she was really doing. A bunch of guests vanishing on a regular basis would not go unnoticed by the rest of the staff. So they had to have been helping her and covering for her."

Camila looked shocked. "What?" she whispered before realizing something. "That could explain the 'New Mummies Daily' banner we saw in the museum… those employees had to know where those mummies were coming from." She paused, considering something. "But if Darlene killed so many people, wouldn't it have been easy for the local authorities to connect the disappearances to the tourist attraction?"

"It would… unless some of the cops were in on it as well," Abigail pointed out. "Honestly, we have no idea how many people were involved or how far up the conspiracy goes which is why I thought it was important to get the kids out of there, because it could have gotten messy and I didn't want to put them in any more danger." She looked back at the kids and sighed, noting Candy and Dipper sitting close to each other. She then turned back to the front. "However, I will call the agents about this so there can be proper investigation"

"Even so… what was their deal?" Camila asked. "Like, what could those people gain by covering for Darlene's actions? Especially if they were human…"

"My theory is that she probably promised to not eat them and supply Mystery Mountain with new attractions in return for their help," Abigail said. "Which would generate more tourism in the area and more money for everyone involved while also luring more victims in for Darlene to feed on. They might have even encouraged rumors about the spider-people so that any reported disappearances would be taken less seriously and could be written off as just part of the urban legend. But as far as I'm concerned, Darlene wasn't the only monster on Mystery Mountain…"

The two adults shared a look of concern about this, but right now they knew that they should be focusing on returning home.

Vee was laying on a cot in the RV when Amity walked up to check up on her.

"Hey Vee," Amity spoke up. "How are you doing?"

Vee sighed. "Honestly, Amity… I'm doing great!" she said as her head shot up. "After that experience, I feel more confident than ever about asking Star out! Especially since I was able to get several girls to fall for me by complete accident," she said with gumption.

"Really? That's great, Vee!" Amity replied proudly. "So what's the next step for you?"

"Well…" Vee said. "I think… I think I actually want to go back to the Isles to ask Star out."

This surprised Amity. "Really? Are you sure you're ready to go, Vee?" she asked, concerned. "Especially with Belos still in power…"

"Yeah, I'll admit, that's still a frightening concept for me," she admitted. "But you know, since leaving the Isles I helped take down a cult, I fought some Leprecorns, I was turned into wood by a lumberjack ghost, I escaped from Department A after almost being dissected, I helped battle a math wizard, and I was tied up by pixies. After all of that, I think I can handle returning to the Isles to ask Star out and go on a date with her. And if I don't do it, I'll just regret it later. Also, she isn't the only person I wanted to see," she said while looking out the window, thinking of Tres, Megan, and Ivy. "There's still the other Basilisks, my siblings. It isn't really fair that I get to live here where Belos can't find me while they are still at risk of being hunted down in the Isles. I don't want them to think that I have forgotten about them just so that I could be safe. And… I do want to see them again and I don't want my fears to get in the way. Maybe I could even convince them to come to Gravity Falls with me, since we do still have the portal door."

Amity smiled and looked out the window as well, thinking about what Vee had said. "That's great Vee. Really, it is. In fact… maybe when you go to the Isles, I can go back with you."

Vee turned to Amity, surprised. "Really? Are you sure?"

"Well, like you, I also have some unfinished business before I can even think about living with Luz and Camila," Amity responded, thinking about her family. "The stuff with my grandparents and my father… it needs to be resolved. Sooner rather than later. Staying in the Human Realm this week has been nice and maybe it was a break that I needed… but I've been putting off stopping my grandparents and saving my father for too long. That whole thing needs to end."

Vee nodded at Amity. "Yeah, I get that," she said.

Amity then noticed something outside the window. "Huh?" she asked, spying in the distance was a man who resembled the statue from Mystery Mountain. And next to him was a blue ox…

Paul Bunyan waved at the Amity, who blinked in surprise. After she blinked, Paul Bunyan and Babe were both gone, having disappeared. "Whoa… I think I saw Paul Bunyan."

"Um… what?" Vee asked in confusion.

Back in Norrisville up on the rooftop of McFist's factory, Luz had McFist by the ropes, dangling him over the ledge.

"Okay pal, you better talk cause I'm itching to mess up a capitalist," Luz threatened him.

"W-Who are you?!" McFist asked in fear.

"Your worst nightmare," Luz and Maya replied in sync, grinning sadistically at the terrified McFist.

"Luz, stop!" Randy called out.

Luz turned around, seeing that the Ninja and Jake had caught up to him. "Seriously, you don't have to do this. He's mostly harmless… most of the time."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but NINJA HELP!" McFist cried out while Luz looked disappointed. She pulled McFist back to the roof. "Get me away from her! She's crazy!"

"I'm not crazy… I've had my mother checked," Luz said. "But enough about me, tell us what we want to know, starting with the EX robot you had attack us."

"And how you sent two of those to New York City to get me and the Ninja along with Willow," Jake said.

"And the one you sent to Echo Creek, which attacked my girlfriend," Luz added with a snarl. "Like, what possessed you into making those things?!"

"Make them? I didn't make them!" McFist claimed.

"I… actually believe him," Randy admitted as the two looked at him. "I fight McFist's robots all the time. I know them. What we just fought wasn't anything like his or Viceroy's creations. You got it from someone else, didn't you, McFist?"

McFist looked at the Ninja, then he turned to Luz who gave him a threatening glare. "O-Okay, you win, I'll tell ya where I got it from! I received three of those EX model things as part of an exchange with the organization that built them. Viceroy programmed the EX-01 to track down and hunt down the Ninja. The EX-02 was programmed to do the same, but I think that one went rogue since, well, I couldn't control it. Viceroy wanted to keep the third model to study it before you blew it into pieces."

"So… you didn't send one to Echo Creek?" Luz asked.

"No, I think that one must have been from Department A," McFist mentioned, causing the three to look shocked.

"D-department A?!" Jake exclaimed.

"Are you saying you got these death machines from those modern crusaders?!" Luz shouted angrily, making McFist to wince.

"Of course, you called that thing an 'angel', that makes so much sense," the Ninja realized.

"Yeah, that Director Gates creeped me out, even if she has her own robot arm," McFist said. "She offered to help me settle my problems with the Ninja once and for all with the EX models. She said she would even give me a few EX models in exchange for some magical creature possibly around Norrisville. Just my luck, there was that potion witch you fought before, so me and Viceroy tipped off her whereabouts to Department A…"

"Jenny Porter…" Jake realized.

"Oh yeah, that crazy love potion making witch," the Ninja said.

"So all this time… the ones responsible for Mewni's destruction… was Department A…" Luz realized before she turned to McFist. "Were you aware of what they were doing?!"

"No! I've never even heard of Mewni!" McFist insisted. "All I know is that this director lady has a weird fixation on magical beings and that she has much cooler toys than me. Recently I even lost contact with Department A, heard they went under or something."

The trio gave a grim look, realizing that Department A was a much bigger threat than any of them realized.

"I think that's all we needed to hear… for now," Luz said.

"Great! Can I go back to the gala now?" McFist asked.

"I'll take it from here." the Ninja said as he grabbed McFist and began jumping from rooftop to rooftop while carrying him even with an injured but bandaged shoulder.

Back in the gala, the police were getting statements from the attendees when the Ninja swung through the broken window with McFist.

"Hey look everyone! It's the Ninja with McFist!" Mort Weinerman shouted, pointing up.

"Whoa, that's the Ninja?" Billie asked. "Why does he look banged up?"

"Hanny-Bear! You're alright!" Marci shouted as she ran over to hug McFist.

"Not to worry, citizens, I have brought McFist back… ow," Randy winced.

"Yes, thank you Ninja for saving me from that monster," McFist said, his robotic arm slapping his back which made him wince some more.

"Hey, watch the back, still got those battle scars…" the Ninja said, seeing the smirk on McFist's face. "Well, good luck with your gala. You are a great guy, especially when you told me that you were planning on giving away free McFist Tablets to everyone here!"

"We're getting McFist Tablets?" Joelle asked while McFist's face fell.

"Why, how generous of you, Hannibal," Jennifer said with a smile.

"Oh you know my Hanny, he's such a generous man, don'cha know?" Marci commented as everyone clapped their hands.

"Y-Y-Yes! That's exactly what I've planned!" McFist declared while trying to save face, secretly seething at the Ninja who made his leave.

"Well, I best be off, citizens! Ninja Smoke Bomb!" the Ninja declared, throwing a smoke bomb and disappearing in a cloud of red, smelly smoke, which those unfortunate enough to nearby start to cough.

"Ack! It smells like skunk farts!" Billie shouted.

"You surprisingly get used to the smell!" Randy's voice echoed.

Now the trio was settled near the suburbs, Randy summoning a medical kit to treat his, Jake and Luz's wounds while in their normal forms.

"That shoob of an Exorcist bot packed a punch," Randy said while Jake helped treat the wound on his shoulder. "What do we call it? Exorbot? Fake Exorcists? Or maybe Exes…"

"Exbots," Luz said while wrapping up the wounds on her arm. "Easier and simpler to say."

"I second that," Maya replied.

"Well, at least we now know what we're dealing with," Jake said after treating his own wounds. "This confirms it. Department A's the number one threat to the magical community right now."

"Yeah, the dots are all connecting now," Luz said. "Should've realized Department A has something to do with this…"

Randy turned to Luz, deciding to address the elephant in the room. "So now that we have this whole mystery unraveled about those Department A creeps, there's still one thing I'm wondering… since when could you do that totally awesome yet powerful sonic scream?"

"Yeah, I didn't know you could do that," Jake commented, also curious.

Luz fell silent for a bit before she decided to start explaining herself. "It's… something I recently picked up during my trip to the Underworld to fight this crazy goddess, Melinoe."

"Melinoe?!" Jake exclaimed, recognizing the name.

"You've heard of her?" Luz asked.

"More like know her," Jake said. "Ugh, she was a pain…"

"I've never met her," Randy admitted. "Just, what is she?"

"A goddess-fae who is the daughter of the Hades, ruler of the Underworld, and Maleficent, a dark fairy," Luz explained. "That bitch kidnapped my brother and Amity's brother. We organized a rescue party to go after them, even traveling through Hell just to get to the Underworld." She then looked down sadly. "Melinoe had a genie and a succubus as part of her posse. I faced the succubus, who turned out to be a true cambion, something which I'm not apparently. The succubus, Trini…she pissed me off so much I ended up shouting at her to oblivion." A look of guilt flashed across her face. "I think that's why me and Maya enjoyed fighting those robots so much. We could cut loose without worrying we would end up killing someone. Have you two ever… killed someone before?"

The two were shocked by Luz's story, though Jake ended up answering. "Strigoi vampires… they were slaying some dragons in order to get their blood. They mistook my dad for the American Dragon one time and, well, I used sun magic to kill them."

"Do you ever… feel guilty about it?" Luz asked him.

"Yeah," Jake admitted. "I knew that they would hurt me and my dad and I had to do something to stop them. The thing I've learned about being the magical guardian is that sometimes you have to make the hardest decisions… something I came to resent about this job." He looked down with a sigh. "But I know that I have a responsibility and that Haley will have to share that burden when she succeeds me."

Luz gave an understanding nod to Jake before she turned to Randy. "What about you, Ninja-Boy?"

"Well… there was this one time," Randy admitted, rubbing his injured arm and looking down at the ground. "Usually my battles follow the same formula. Either I find the weakness of the robot I'm fighting and exploit it or I find a way to destank the monster that I'm fighting. But then there are the exceptions… one of them was Jerry Driscoll. He was the husband of my science teacher and I… accidentally brought his skeleton back to life. Turns out he was this mad scientist who once created a doomsday device and he was just too dangerous, so I had to… return him to how he was." He sighed. "Let me tell you, that was a weird Halloween night…"

"Sounds like it," Luz said while looking at her own hands. "I guess we are all in the same boat, even if I'm not a superhero like you guys, I'm more of an anti-hero. But… it is nice to know that I'm not alone." She turned to Jake and Randy. "It is nice to have allies."

"Yeah," Jake said with a nod. "And we are not even the only heroes in the multiverse…"

"Wait… multiverse?!" Randy exclaimed.

"Yeah, I've actually been to other universes. Ones without an American Dragon or a Norrisville Ninja. I met this one kid who became part-ghost, another kid who can turn into aliens, two boy geniuses, a girl genius with her own dinosaur, a quirky blue teenage robot, a nanite dude…" Jake listed them off. "You guys thought you only had weird high school years?"

"Sounds like you went on a full tour of the multiverse," Luz commented.

"Man, I wish I could go on a multiverse adventure," Randy said.

"Maybe someday, but right now me and Luz need to head back to New York to report our findings," Jake said as he and Luz stood up, Jake pulling out the portal potion. "New York City," he said as he threw the potion in the air, creating a portal. "Catch ya on the flip side, Randy!" he said as he went through the portal.

"Nice teaming up with ya, Cunningham," Luz said as she raised her fist up, Randy bumping his fist against hers.

"You too, LC Hammer," Randy responded. "Tell Willow I said hey!"

Luz nodded as she also jumped into the pink portal, right before it closed.

And so, Randy made his way back home. Though he still looked bruised and scratched up, he was able to find his way back to his neighborhood and his house.

He sighed. What a day. But before he could walk up to his porch, he noticed someone hiding behind some nearby bushes. It was a redheaded bearded man wearing a dark brown cowboy hat, a green and white t-shirt, dark blue pants, white socks and brown boots.

"What the-?!" Randy asked. He blinked and then the Creep was gone, having not even made a sound. "That Creep just vanished…" Deciding to worry about that later, he went inside his house, finding Howard still on the couch playing video games. "I'm back!"

"Hey, just beat your high score and-" Howard turned and saw Randy's current state. "Holy toleto, you look like crap, Randy! What happened?!"

"It's a long story…" Randy said as he closed the door behind him.

"Randy?!" a female voice exclaimed.

Randy heard the familiar voice and he turned around to see a teenage girl his age with short purple hair that had three lavender streaks and a mini-ponytail. She also had dark blue eyes, white skin, and was wearing a yellow, Norrisville High Twirl team uniform that had v-shaped white and blue stripes on the v-neck, waist and end of her skirt. She also wore black and white striped stockings and blue sneakers.

"T-T-Theresa?!" Randy exclaimed, sounding nervous around the girl. "Whadahdat are you doing here?!"

"I just thought I would come over to see you and Howard and he said you were busy with some friends… so I was going to leave but I met your folks when they showed up, and they insisted that I stay here and wait for you…" she answered. "But what happened to you?!"

"Uh… well, I got into a tussle with a raccoon… a big raccoon," Randy lied before he realized something. "Wait, did you say my parents are here?"

"Yes, we are," said another voice.

Randy was shocked to see two women coming into the room. One had long blue hair, violet eyes, white skin, and wore a red blouse with a black long dress skirt and black shoes. The other was a red haired woman with slightly-tanned skin, green eyes, red lips, and a gray shirt with a white doctor's coat, blue pants with gray loafers. Randy awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. "Hey moms, weren't expecting you to be home…"

"I know, I'm just as surprised to see them on-screen," Howard said while focusing on his game.

"Oh my Randy-boo, oh my sweet star child! What kind of a raccoon hurt you like this and is that large bandage on your shoulder?!" asked the blue haired mom as she rushed forward to check on Randy. "Ruby, you're the doctor! Check his injuries!"

Ruby sighed at the overly dramatic antics of her partner. "Easy on him, Sapphire, let me check on his injuries," she said in a calm and cool manner, though she still looked concerned over her son's injuries. "Come on, Randy, let's head to the kitchen and make sure you didn't get rabies."

"Yes, mom," Randy said as he followed Ruby into the kitchen.

"Can I help in any way, Dr. Thomas?" Theresa asked.

"Yes, you may help carry my medical bag into the kitchen," Ruby said to Theresa.

"Anything I can do, Dr. Thomas and Mrs. Cunningham?" Howard asked, not taking his eyes off the TV screen.

"No need, Howard, we'll take it from here," Sapphire assured him as she and Theresa followed Randy and Ruby into the kitchen.

"Glad I asked," Howard said as he resumed playing his game.

Back in New York City, Luz and Jake were now heading back to the Long home.

"Man, what a day… least we got something out of it," Jake said.

"Yeah," Luz replied while checking her phone. "Got a text from Amity. She said she faced off against a spider-lady today… oh, and it looks like she's-" She suddenly bumped into someone due to not paying attention where she was going. "Oof!" she cried out before looking at the person she bumped into. "Sorry for that, ma'am."

"Hey, no worries," said a woman who appeared to be in her late twenties and looked to be of mixed descent. She had light-brown skin with dark-brown pixie cut hair, blue eyes, and a large blue raincoat with a hoodie, white t-shirt with black pants, and black flats. She was accompanied by two men. "You didn't mean to bump into me, but it's nice of you to apologize. Not many would do that, especially in New York."

"Well, I'm from out of town, but I get it," Luz responded.

"Come on, Lois, the chief's not getting any younger," said a tall black man in his mid to late twenties. He was holding up a camera while in a blue button shirt and green pants, red bowtie, and dress shoes.

"Yeah, we can't miss the train," said the other twenty-something year old man. He had white skin, curly black hair, blue eyes, glasses, a muscular physique that could be seen through his white button shirt and blue pants, and black shoes.

"Relax James, Kaleb, we'll catch our train," Lois told them. She then turned to Loiz. "Well, nice bumping into you at least, kid," she said as she and her friends hurried off.

Luz watched them run off, though there was something about Lois, something that she couldn't put her finger on. Unable to figure it out, she shook her head and continued to follow Jake back to the Long home.

Lois glanced back at Lois, frowning slightly. Kaleb noticed this. "You alright, Lois?"

"Yeah, it's just… that girl… I don't know," she admitted while looking down with an unsure look.

"We're home," Luz waved when she and Jake made it back to the Long house, entering the living room and showing off their banged up appearance.

"Luz! Jake! What happened to you guys?!" Willow asked as the two slumped on the couch.

"Long story short, we went to Norrisville to follow up on a lead about the Exorcist robot that attacked you and Amity, then we faced one ourselves," Luz replied while noticing someone missing. "King's not here?"

"He already left for his date," Gus said.

"Wait, you two went to Norrisville?!" Eda asked. She groaned. "Oh geez…"

"Yeah, we did a team-up with the Ninja," Jake responded as his mom handed him an ice bag. "Thanks, mom."

"Randy said hi by the way, Willow," Luz said as she turned to her mom. "Wait… have you been to Norrisville before, mom?"

"Yeah," Eda admitted. "During my time with the Longs, I heard about the Norrisville Ninja and the town's monster problem, so I decided to go check it out myself. I did recognize the Norrisville Ninja back in Purgatory, but I didn't want to bring it up since I do not have good experiences with ninjas…"

Susan nodded. "I think that was back in… 1985?"

Eda thought about it. "Yeah, that sounds about that. Let me tell you, the Ninja back then was a jerk… but that's a story for another time."

"Well now that you two are here, tell us what you've learned," Lao-Shi said to Luz and Jake.

"Yeah, did you learn anything about those Exorcists?" Willow asked.

"We did," Luz confirmed. "We learned that the Exorcists that attacked Mewni… are not real Exorcists, as in the angel. They're robots created by Department A."

Everyone fell into a shocked silence, especially the Boiling Isles residents.

"Dear Titan…" Willow said, looking livid. Skara noticed this and reached over to squeeze her hand gently.

"It… it all makes sense now!" Eda shouted, covering her mouth.

"G.B. Gates, the Archangels, the vision Hunter was shown…" Gus listed off.

"Yeah, McFist told us he got some of those Exbots from Director Gates," Jake revealed. "Though I don't think we ever saw them back in Purgatory."

"Yeah, it was just those agents," Willow pointed out.

"So that would mean… they're keeping those things elsewhere, right?" Haley asked.

"That's right, kid." Fu answered. "You don't keep powerful weapons in a prison."

"But it doesn't add up," Luz said. "Why was Department A so interested in getting the portal key if they had already traveled to Mewni?"

"The inter-dimensional scissors!" Gus realized. "Jenny had those but they don't work anymore, which meant she was stranded here."

"So they could have gotten access to Mewni with another pair of scissors," Willow continued. "But they would have become useless after Mewni was destroyed and that would have forced them to look for an alternative means of traveling to different realms."

"That would explain why they would hire that crazy Dr. Frakes lady," Gus replied. "And why they wanted to get the portal key."

"So… would that make Department A a much bigger threat than we realized?" Johnathan asked.

"With the Huntsman's revival and their actions in laying waste to an entire realm, then you are right on the money, Johnathan," Lao-Shi states with a grim look.

"So… what's our next move?" Susan asked.

"We'll discuss this with the Dragon Council," Lao-Shi decided. "The entire magical community needs to know about Department A and what they did. We need to get everyone looking for where Department A is hiding and where they're stashing their Exorcist robots so they can be betrayed before they get used again."

"We'll call in the works. The Elf Task-Force, the G.I. Goblins, Pixie Black-Ops…" Fu Dog listed off.

"And as for you, Luz," Lao-Shi said, turning to her. "I have something that could be of use to you for your Inner Demon problem."

Lao-Shi and Fu Dog led Luz to another room, where Lao-Shi dug something out.

"This is a magic snare," Lao-Shi said while holding up a yellow canister with purple mist. "It was made with the purpose of trapping invading dream demons in the dreamscape. It was once used against a chimera that was released to the dreamscape, thanks to an irresponsible student that let it out… JAKE!"

"I said I was sorry!" Jake shouted from the other room. "And I learned a valuable lesson from it!"

"So this thing will get me to trap the Inner Demon?" Luz asked.

"Yeah, just pull the cork and it will automatically suck the Inner Demon inside," Lao-Shi said.

"And when you leave the dreamscape, you can pop him in the real world," Fu Dog added.

"And then the Inner Demon will be destroyed, ridding the Isles of him once and for all," Luz declared while taking the canister. "Do you have anything else?"

"Well, there are dream charms, which allow you to travel to the dreams of other people, but we're fresh out of those," Fu said.

"Eh, don't worry about it. This Abomination teacher, Snope, has this dream medallion that allows him to do just that," Luz mentioned. "He will be helping me out, since he's been spending twenty-five years trying to stop that maniac. But thanks, you two. This snare is going to be so much help."

"We wish you luck in your battle ahead, Luz," Lao-Shi told her.

"Yeah, break a leg, kid," Fu added. "Preferably the Inner Demon's."

"Alright, time to scram outta here!" Eda declared in the living room while raising her staff. "King has already gotten a head start, but it's best we head back to the Demon Realm as well."

"It was so nice to meet you all," Haley told the witch teens. "I've never had magical friends around my age, but it was nice meeting Willow's friends."

"Yeah, and it was great to partake on a mission with a magical guardian!" Gus shouted.

"Well, it's nice to meet you too, Haley," Luz replied. "And your family. And hey, maybe I can introduce you guys to Cross once Belos is no longer a problem. Or you could just come to visit."

"It was also nice to meet another werewolf here," Skara said to Jonathan. "Maybe I should get you to meet my dad someday."

"That sounds nice," Jonathan said with a smile.

"Oh, we have to catch Jake and Rose's wedding when they decide on a date," Willow told her friends.

"Don't worry, we'll be sure to send you guys an invite!" Haley promised.

"Just don't be strangers the next time you guys come and visit, and bring Amity with you," Jake said as she and Luz fist bumped. "It was nice spending time with you, cuz."

"You too, primo dragón," Luz agreed. "Say hi to Rose for us."

Eda smiled, glad to have brought the kids over to meet the Longs. She then saw Susan walking up to her. "You know Eda, it has been a long time since we last saw each other, and though it has been great catching up with you, you never really explained one thing… why did you exactly stop keeping in touch with us?" she asked in concern.

"Yes, we were both concerned about your well being, Eda," Lao-Shi said. "We knew you could take care of yourself, but… we were still worried."

Eda looked at both of them and let out a sigh. "Well… I guess I do have some explaining to do." she admitted. "I really am grateful for what you guys did for me, I am. Though honestly, I ended up distancing myself from almost everyone that I cared about: my parents, my sister, Raine, you guys… all because of my curse. I know you were trying to help me, Lao-Shi. But you see what the curse has already done to me." She stroked her graying hair. "I didn't want you to know how bad it was getting… and how bad I was getting, so I felt like it was for the best that I kept my distance, for both of our sakes."

"I decided that I was content to be alone… though King and Luz changed that," she mentioned while turning to Luz, forming a smile. "And by then, I had decided to stop running from my life in the Boiling Isles. That was why I lived with you for a while and why I explored the Human Realm for a few years after that. I was… running from my problems and trying to avoid the consequences waiting for me back home. And I really went through a rough patch before I finally decided to start living on the Isles again. And I think you could have helped during that rough patch, but I didn't want you guys to see me like that. But even after that, I was scared of what you might think of me. And I didn't want to be a burden…"

"Edalyn," Lao-Shi said as he walked over to her. "When I first took you in, you were but a child that was in need of help. You were never a burden to us. You were… and still are family."

"Yeah, you are the best sister I've never had. And it's thanks to you that me and Jonathan are together," Susan said while holding Jonathan's hand.

"I know what it's like to be in and out of places, as someone who travels around," Fu admitted. "But hey, don't be afraid to ask us for help anytime."

Eda smiled before she went to hug Susan, Lao-Shi, and Fu. "Aw, you guys!" she said as they hugged her back. "I promise to visit more and to be better at staying in touch." Her voice then became low. "And you guys are my family too. Thank you for everything…"

After the hug, Eda said her goodbyes to the other members of the Long family before she used the portal key to activate the portal door. But before everyone could leave, Lao-Shi spoke up.

"One more thing that I almost forgot, and it concerns young Augustus Porter," he said as Gus turned around "I never got to finish what I was about to say earlier, in regards to your… birth mother. She said something that may be of your concern… about the love potions she used on your father."

Gus looked confused. "What's there to know? She made that stuff to drug up my dad."

"Except she didn't actually make the love potions," Fu Dog pointed out. "She admitted to her crimes, but when asked about the love potions, she admitted that she never did make one successfully. At least… by herself."

"She claimed that another witch taught her how to make love potions and became her supplier. She said that she met this witch at the IFWOT." As Lao-Shi said this, Eda's face looked even pale. "She said the woman who showed her how to make a love potion was Head Witch named… Terra Snapdragon."

And it was like that, Eda's face wasn't the only one that looked pale...

At the Porter residence, Perry had managed to make it home. 'I hope Eda and Raine made it out alright,' he thought to himself.

Once he was inside, he sighed in relief. As the door closed behind him, he heard footsteps. "Gus?" he asked, wondering if Gus made it home. "Gus, are you in here?" When he got no response, he went up to his son's room. It was empty.

But then he felt a hand on his shoulder, followed by a vine wrapped around his neck.

"Perry Porter," Terra Snapdragon whispered from behind, causing Perry to gasp before the vines covered his mouth. "So nice to finally meet you!" she said with a smirk.

Well... this may be the new longest chapter yet.

The Roadside Attraction arc was meant to be one chapter, but then we ended up splitting it into two. Which allowed us to expand on the reunion with the Long family in order to properly do it justice, as well as give Luz and Jake an opportunity to team up on something. So we've decided to have that team up involved a trip to Norrisville, which isn't something we planned on until we decided to split Roadside Attraction into two chapters.

And yeah, this does give us an opportunity to kill off Darlene, unlike the original episode that should have done it(but hey, Disney censors may come into play). It really bothered us that she got away scott free continuing on preying more men, especially when considering that she's a serial killer. So we've decided to play up her villainy in this chapter and have it so that she's not a karma houdini, while also acknowledging the liklihood that she was not working alone...

We did, however, planned on having Norrisville in Book Three, and we still intend to go back there in Book Three, which Eda has hinted at her own visit to Norrisville being set up for that. But it also gave us an opportunity to sooner reveal something we did plan all along…

Department A being responsible for the Exbots.

That's right, the Exbots were the creation of Department A. These robots were even originally called Archangels before we decided to call them Exorcists to highlight the Hazbin Hotel inspiration. So yeah, Department A is responsible for laying waste on Mewni.

Now as for Terra helping Jenny was also something we've planned all along from the beginning. Which is why we included the flashback to when Perry was captured, to remind the readers what Terra said it's nice to finally meet him, that now has more context.

And for something fun, we also have a little "Oliver and Company" reference by having Jenny Foxworth from the movie all grown up with two daughters named Billie and Joelle, a nod to Billy Joel who starred in the movie. Another reference would be Paul Bunyan, who got his own Disney short in 1958, and is part of the "Disney's American Legends" anthology on home release.

Also, Randy having two moms is a headcanon that we've seen a few times and thought that it would be fun to include. Why does only one of Randy's moms is named Cunningham is because, well, Oklahoma didn't legalized same-sex marriage until 2014. I named them Ruby and Sapphire as a neat Steven Universe reference.

One more thing, is that Jonathan being a werewolf is a reference to how he would have apparently been revealed to be a werewolf in the actual show had it not been canceled. In this AU, we decided to make that the result of him knowing about Susan being a dragon the whole time and wanting to partake in helping out the family.

And also to make things clear. While I did say that Lois would be a reference, it isn't the actual Lois Lane, just the expy. Meet Lois Noceda, along with her friends, Kaleb Ellis, and James Bolton.

Another Moringmark reference is from his old Gravity Falls comics where Emma Sue's family smuggled pugs for cash.

Now to answer reviews:

Spantidem7: Well, now you know that the Exorcists aren't the same as the ones from Heaven. These Exorcists are robots…

BlueKnight-X2: Well, not DC and Marvel heroes…

Crosshot: Yeah, it was a Lois Lane reference, though this Lois is an expy. And we can't give away too much spoilers… and sadly no, Gus and Perry aren't going to reunite… yet.

Matteso585: 1) It's never planned. 3) Well we're still adapting from the Reunion Falls AU comics. 4) It didn't… the Collector is already Fae-like, just more powerful.

Franco Almiron: Well, we never said Lois Lane is in this AU, just her expy counterpart.

Ultimate-drax: Spoke too soon…

Philip Clark: Fixed it, thanks. Man, sometimes both bands just sound similar.

Shuffollower: Well, Amity does know some basic magic, and learning plant and ice magic is something she learned from her training with Lilith, who wanted her in the Emperor's Coven at the time. Amity knows other spells, but they're not her strong suit. Hence why she only uses fire and light spells most of the time. It doesn't need to be built up, it's just that Amity does know some spells but she doesn't really use them much. Gus G's guitar though, yeah it was something he got from the DD&MD adventure.

Krypton Joy Writes: Oh there will be some extra chapters, we're still not at the "Hollow Mind" event…

Blue Tagg: A reference to MAWS's Lois, who in this fic is Lois Noceda.