At the Noceda residence, Azura was in her bedroom packing her things to go on a trip to San Diego to visit Comic Bust with her Mami. While packing her stuff which included her spell books and cardboard sword, she was on a FaceTime on her scroll with her beast keeping teacher/aunt, Viney.
"Okay Azura, remember, the beeper is a very unpredictable creature." Viney explained while Azura was packing. "Pretty sure you know that."
"Yup." Azura said.
"You know they're so unpredictable that nobody can predict when they will hatch out their egg." Viney continued. "You are listening, right?"
"Sorry Aunt Viney." Azura said. "I'm currently packing for my flight to San Diego with my Mami."
"Ooh sounds nice." Viney remarked. "But seriously, pay attention."
"It's okay, I know how to handle a beeper egg." Azura assured her aunt. She looked toward an orange egg with yellow polka dots. "It'll be safe at home where my Mom and brother are."
Viney looked skeptical. "Are you sure? Because, what if it hatches while you aren't here?"
"My mom faced Grometheus remember?" Azura retorted. "She can handle it."
"Okay, but remember that egg is housing a pretty mild yet still feisty creature." Viney said. "They're usually rabid and wild."
Emira then showed up on screen and wrapped her arms around her wife. "Just like me." She began to purr in her wife's ear, causing her to blush.
"Emira, I'm on a call with our niece." Viney laughed.
"Hey Azura!" Emira called out. "If you see Uncle Edric, remind him to not fall in one of the machineries again when he's taking his students on tour of the Abomination factory!"
"Okay, I will if I see him! Bye Aunts." Azura hung up before hearing a knock.
"Azura, we're leaving soon!" Luz yelled from the other side of the door. "Please tell me you've gotten everything!"
"Yup." Azura said.
"What will you do about that egg?" Luz asked. "I know it's a beeper and it could hatch any day."
"Also, don't walk around barefoot." Viney warned her niece. "They like to nibble plastic for some reason. Such as pens, rattles and even fake jewellery. They sometimes like to nibble skin as well if they're desperate."
"Just like me." Emira whispered.
"Okay, I'm hanging up!" Azura declared before hanging up on her aunts, already having enough of Emira's unsubtle innuendos.
After she did, she began to ponder what to do with the egg that stood on her mantle next to her unborn Palisman. On the one hand, she could take it to San Diego with her and her mother, but then it might hatch and cause chaos. But she could leave it with her mom and Manny, but then it might hatch and that would probably prevent her with connecting with her brother. So, she was stuck in a mental conundrum. If only there was a way to make a clear decision.
Downstairs in the living room, Luz was just finishing packing her stuff while Amity walked about with a clipboard, ticking some stuff.
"Okay, Azura book for flight?"
"Check."
"Spare clothes?"
"Check."
"Notepad?"
"Amity, I got this." Luz assured her wife. "No need act all organised."
"Luz, last time, you forgot your toothbrush and I had to flyover on Ghost from Connecticut to San Diego to get it to you." Amity said. "I was almost shot down."
Luz chuckled nervously. "Yeah, sorry about that." The wives then turned to look at their son, whom was reading some human history books to study up his human history.
Amity looked to her son with guilt plastered on her face. "I should have been more sensitive to what was going on with him. Am I really qualified to spend time with him this weekend?"
Luz gave her wife a smile. "You are, sweet potato. You two just need some alone time. And eventually, you'll be having that healthy mother/son relationship. Maybe you could take him to work as a means to bond with him."
"Okay." Amity said.
"Azura!" Luz yelled out. "You got this. Have a nice time." She and her wife shared a kiss on the lips just as Azura got down with her stuff.
"Alright Azura." Amity approached her daughter and adjusted her hair. "Don't forget to hide your witch ear and be sure not to cause any mishaps in San Diego."
"I won't, Mom." Azura assured her mother while the grown witch kissed her forehead. "Definitely won't." She played with her bag, like she were hiding something.
Azura and Luz exited the house to go through the portal door. "Mami, did you get your toothbrush?"
"Yup."
They heard the sound of the portal door opening and the two Nocedas walking through. Amity then noticed a box of tooth floss on the desk and groaned. "Shoooooooot! Luz! Well, I'm not getting shot from radar again." She turned to her son, whom was knee deep in his book.
She walked towards the couch and sat down next to him. There was some awkward silence between them since Amity didn't want to say anything that might upset him.
She looked to her Palisman, Ghost, whom was snuggling to Stringbean. Luz would have taken Stringbean, but she didn't want her to get caught.
The Palismen looked to Amity with concerned looks on their faces before they motioned her to talk to him.
Amity sighed and looked to her son. "So….What are you reading?"
There was an awkward silence before Manny looked to his mother with a deadpanned look. "It's a book about human history."
"Oh, learning for human school, right?" Amity asked.
"Yes."
"I mean…You know humans aren't as tolerant as we are, right?" Amity asked.
"I know." Manny replied.
Amity looked to her son. "You know I'm not judging you, right? If you want to go to human school, you can. I just thought I'd warn you."
"I know." Manny said before jumping off the couch and walking to his room.
"Don't you want dinner?!" Amity asked.
"Not hungry." Manny said before exiting the room.
Amity stared sadly at her son before turning to the Palismen. "How was that? He spoke back to me. It's off to a good start. Right?" Ghost gave a half and half gesture while Stringbean shape shifted into a hand and did the same. "Well, it's an improvement."
Meanwhile in the Milton hotel, Luz and Azura were in their respective beds sharing some pizza from room service. This is what they had been doing ever since the long flight from Connecticut to San Diego. They just sat down, watching some TV where a TV presenter was interviewing an author known as Dipper Pines whom was advertising his new book.
The TV presenter was a British man with stubble on his face, blondish ginger hair and a bit of an overweight body. While Dipper was a man in his late 40's with messy brown hair, a blush on his nosem a scar on the corner of his left eye and was dressed in a red buttoned shirt with green pants.
"So let me get this straight, this new book of yours, A Haunting in Gravesfield, is based off of the alleged witch sightings and monsters that are seen throughout the town of Gravesfield?" The man spoke in a high and loud voice that some might say is annoying.
"That is correct." Dipper replied.
"And just to confirm, there are no hauntings in Gravesfield?"
"Absolutely not." Dipper said. "I've searched every nook and cranny and I found nothing."
"Not hard enough, buddy." Luz remarked.
"For a man who claims to be a supernatural hunter part time, he is bad at hunting them." Azura remarked.
"By the way, what is with that ridiculous suit? Did your wife give it to you?" His audience laughed while Dipper just narrowed his eyes at the presenter.
"Yes, my beautiful wife, Pacifica, did pick this out." Dipper replied. "And she also thinks you're not funny. And I have to agree. My Dad's standup is funnier than yours."
"OOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH!" Luz and Azura exclaimed.
"Bad at paranormal investigating but amazing at a comeback!" Azura remarked.
"Yup." Luz agreed. "By the way, Azura, was it a good idea to bring that egg along?" She pointed to the egg that was rested on the lamp desk of the room. "I get this is for a school assignment. But Uncle Hunter had a ton of scratches when it hatched during movie night when he was doing the project."
"I know they hatch unexpectedly." Azura said while eating her pizza. "But what's the worst that can happen? By the way, this pizza's dairy free right?"
In that moment, Luz and Azura froze in horror as they heard the sound of their stomachs growling. They gave each other nervous glances before running towards the singular bathroom.
"I am your mother and I need to go first!" Luz cried.
"I am your daughter and I am vulnerable!" Azura cried.
The next day, Manny was sleeping in bed when he suddenly smelt griffin eggs. He slowly opened his eyes and jumped out of bed. "Griffin eggs?"
He walked out his bedroom toward the kitchen where he saw his Mom was cooking some breakfast. He was baffled by what he was seeing in front of him but shrugged his shoulders and walked toward her.
"Mom?"
Amity smiled at her son. "Mijo, so glad you're awake! I'm making your favourite, griffin egg on toast."
Manny seemed baffled. "What are you doing?"
"Making breakfast." Amity replied. "Why?"
"It's the weekend." Manny replied. "And it's 6:35 AM."
Amity seemed surprised but then shrugged her shoulders. "So it is. Well, doesn't matter, I'm up and making breakfast. Have a seat."
Manny sat by the breakfast bar, still with a baffled look on his face. Usually on workdays, Amity would be awake at 6:35 so she wouldn't be late. But weekends were days when she would sleep the day away, so to see her wide awake at a time like this was surprising.
"Do you have something planned?" He asked.
Amity shrugged her shoulders as she sat across him. "Not really. Do you?"
"I don't know." Manny replied. "Nothing."
"Well, I'd love to do something!" Amity exclaimed happily. "But I guess nothing is something! Unless there's somewhere you wish to go! How about the human library? Or…We could go to a human cafe later today? Just the two of us!"
Manny didn't know how to feel about what his mom was doing. He had seen her try hard and he had heard stories about how she had tried hard to impress his Mami and be an awesome girlfriend.
"I guess we can visit Grandpa Alador." Manny suggested.
Amity was at first surprised but then shrugged her shoulders. "Okay, yes! I guess we can visit Grandpa Alador. Sure! Why not?"
"And maybe check the breakfast." Manny suggested.
Amity was at first confused but then panicked when she heard the sound of something catching ablaze. "Ah! The griffin eggs!" Amity jumped off her seat and ran toward the stove to stop the fire. "AAAAHHHHHH!"
Then, Stringbean flew in and turned into a whale. She grabbed the Palisman and used the blowhole to put out the fire.
Manny didn't know how to feel about what his mother was doing. On the one hand, he was at least grateful for her to trying to love him, but on the other hand, he felt that she was only doing it because she had to as a mother.
Back in the Human Realm, San Diego Comic Bust was about to begin. Many of the guests were arriving already outside the huge stadium dressed in costumes dedicated to Azura, Anne-Phibia, Doctor What, Ghost Harrasers and Suspicion Island.
Inside the huge area, many stands were already being set up. With celebs, comic book writers, authors, artists, cosplayers and even people selling cool props and costumes.
Luz was just preparing the photos she'll have to sign to some of her hardcore fans while Azura was just waiting around in her costume. Which was the main character of the hit web comic/hit animated series, Anne-Phibia, Anna Hoonchow. Which consisted of a torn up school uniform, messy hair, a long purple skirt and no shoes.
"You sure you'll be fine on your own for a bit?" Luz asked.
"You know I'll be fine." Azura assured her Mami before showing her fire spell.
"Azura, put that fireball away." Luz said before looking at her feet. "I don't think it'll be safe wearing no shoes. Believe me, I had a piece of glass stuck in my foot one time when I went barefoot."
Azura took off her foot to reveal a pair of dog socks. "Fake feet. Don't worry." She put the fake foot back on.
Luz smiled. "Ah, that's a relief. You sure you're gonna be okay to be on your own for a while?"
Azura smiled at her mother. "I'll be fine. Oh and if I get a black eye, I definitely didn't get into a fight with toxic Anne-Phibia fans."
Luz didn't look convinced. "Uh huh, sure. Oh and keep your backpack closed but open enough so the Beeper can get some air."
A few minutes later, the Comic Bust was at full swing. Many of the guests had arrived to talk at panels, guests were signing autographs and cosplayers were crowding around.
Azura had stopped at one of the stands to admire the weapons that were on display. One of them being a sword and a pretty cool battle axe.
"So you spent your time forging weapons from fiction?" Azura asked.
The man had a large brown beard, a bald head and a tattoo of a unicorn on the back of his head. "Yup. It's a fun hobby. I've been doing this for years. This one is my personal favourite." He picked up a sword. "This sword is from the show Battle of Thrones. It was held by one of the protagonists, Jon Rain."
Then, a dark blonde haired girl wearing a green coat, a red shirt and blue shorts walked past Azura. But stopped when she noticed something.
"That is amazing!" Azura exclaimed. "I never watched the show myself but…Regardless, still cool."
"I hope so." The man said. "This thing is so detailed that it took me 2 weeks to get right."
The girl walked up to the stand with a skeptical brow raised. "Uh….You do realise that the handle is a grey wolf, not a dire wolf?"
The man looked shocked before narrowing his eyes at his creation and screamed. "You mean I spent all these weeks being isolated from my family only to get it wrong?!"
The girl shrugged her shoulders. "Pretty much."
The man sniffled. "I'm gonna take a break. And don't steal anything." He began to walk away while Azura and the girl stood in place.
The half witch narrowed her eyes at the girl. "You didn't have to be that harsh."
The girl nervously chuckled. "Sorry. I sometimes prefer to be honest. I get it from my Dad."
"Right." Azura responded.
"Oh my Gosh, is that Anne-Phibia?!" The girl exclaimed. "I used to be a fan of that show. I still am by the way. Though, not looking forward to the live action reboot which I heard they're announcing the cast off by the way."
"And what are you dressed as?" She asked.
"Rosy Thompson from the revival of Doctor What." The girl replied. "She's my personal favourite companion! Do you like Doctor What?!"
Azura stared at the girl with an indifferent expression. "You don't have a lot of friends do you?"
"I do!" The girl argued. "They're just….Usually my Dad's friends or my Mom's friends or my sister's friends or my sib's friends."
"Uh…" Azura had no idea what to say. "I mean, you still have friends in someway."
She shrugged her shoulders. "I guess so. By the way, my name's Gwen."
Azura held out her hand. "Azura?"
Gwen chuckled. "Azura? Why would anyone name you Azura?"
"My moms named me because Azura is what brought them together." Azura replied.
"Oh, right." Gwen said. "I just never met anyone named after a fictional character before."
"Well, now you have." Azura said. "You know, I heard they're announcing the cast of the Anne-Phibia reboot soon. Wanna check it out?"
"Really?" Gwen asked, a little surprised by Azura's offer. "Sure. I hope they get someone good."
"Yeah me too." Azura said.
When they got to the panel, they saw a man on stage wearing glasses and a white beard. "And the person who will be portraying Masha Wayright is, Rachel Zegler!"
"What?!" Azura and Gwen exclaimed in anger.
They began to march out of the panel in anger. "Rachel Zegler?!" Gwen exclaimed.
"Her?!" Azura asked angrily. "She knows nothing about Anne-Phibia!"
"I know! She said that Anna was the bully and Masha was the victim!"
"Oh come on!" Azura exclaimed. "I thought James Gun knew better."
Gwen sighed. "You know, let's not get angry about this. After all, it's a work of fiction and we still have the source materials."
"Yeah, that's true." Azura said. "I mean, could you imagine if we were a bunch of sad geeks complaining in our girl caves instead of doing something productive with our lives?"
"Believe me, my Dad said it was unhealthy." Gwen said. "Anyway, do you wanna talk about Anne-Phibia? Okay, I'll go first."
"I didn't say yes but okay." Azura said.
"Well, I got into it after seeing a rerun of the first episode on TV." Gwen explained. "And from then on, I was addicted to the show's lore and characters. Plus, I discovered the web comic from a few friends. How about you?"
Azura shrugged her shoulders. "Well, my Mami's friends with Marcy Wu so that might explain it."
Gwen laughed. "Yeah right."
Azura raised a brow. "What? It's true."
Gwen snickered. "Next you're gonna tell me you're the daughter of Luz Noceda."
Azura just gave a sly grin. "I might."
Meanwhile at Luz's stand, she was currently talking to a fan. "Your books mean so much to me Ms Noceda." The fan had green hair and a pointy nose and a non-binary pin on their chest. "They really helped me to learn to love myself."
Luz gave a smile as she finished signing the picture of her. "Thank you Riley. Your love for my work means a ton."
Riley gave a smile before departing with their signed autograph. Luz rested her back on the chair before placing a sign on the stand that read 'back in 15.'
She got out of her seat and began walking the convention to find anything of interest. She then got a notification from her phone and raised a brow. "Rachel Zegler as Masha! She knows nothing!"
"LUUUUZZZZ!"
Luz turned to see a woman of Taiwanese descent in her late 30's to her mid 40's, sprinting towards her with a huge smile on her face.
Luz gave a huge smile back. "Marcy!" She spread her arms out, ready to hug her.
But as she got close, the Taiwanese woman tripped and crash landed on her face on the hard ground. "Oh my Gosh! Marcy!"
Marcy shot up with a dumb grin on her face. "I'm okay!" She then saw that her nose was bleeding and just shrugged. "Oh, my nose."
At the concessional stand, a woman in her mid twenties with dark blonde hair with a scowl on her face named Amelia walked to the front with a wad of napkins.
"Why can't you be more careful Ms Wu?" Amelia asked in annoyance.
"Sorry Amelia." Marcy sniffled. "But you know me."
Amelia sighed. "Well, good thing I don't have to be here for long. I'm moving to Connecticut. My Dad and my siblings are here. And when they're here, it's trouble."
Marcy and Luz sat down across from each other. "So Amelia still hasn't spoken to her parents?" Luz asked.
Marcy stuffed some tissues up her nose. "Well, whatever the reason, it still sucks. So how are you? How's your wife? How are your kids? Oh, do you wanna see my new baby daughter?"
Luz chuckled. "One at a time Mar-Mar. But yeah, me and Amity are still together and guess what? Azura's left her studying to hang out with me!"
"What?!" Marcy exclaimed. "Really?! Wow, I thought she was going to be a shut-in and I wouldn't get the chance to meet her."
"Well, she's just busy doing her own things." Luz said. "But I intend to hang out with her in a bit."
"You know it's a shame I haven't met your wife." Marcy remarked. "It's almost like, I'm starting to doubt she actually exists."
"Oh yeah, she does exist." Luz replied. "She's just busy." That is one of the reasons, but Luz was kind of scared that Marcy might freak out about Luz being married to a witch. Though she seems pretty understanding, she still didn't want to take that risk.
"Uh, workaholics." Marcy groaned. "I'm a workaholic but at least I get to spend time with the people I care for."
"Well, Amity's just busy trying to connect with Manny." Luz explained. "He's recently been diagnosed as autistic and Amity comes from a place where that doesn't exist so….She's just…"
"Ah, she doesn't know how to communicate." Marcy said. "You know, I can recommend a friend of mine. She's a child psychiatrist. She helped my first adopted daughter with getting through her transition."
"Thanks but we already got one." Luz said. "And wait, you have a new daughter?"
"Yup." Marcy opened up her phone and showed a picture of what looked like a six month old baby with mash potatoes over her head. "This is my baby girl, Yunan. It's Greek for…Scourge." Marcy gave a side ways glance. "And as you can tell by the picture, she's already at that stage."
"Aww! She's playing with her food already." Luz gushed.
"No, she just dropped it." Marcy replied. "She's already getting clumsy just like her mom."
"Ah." Luz replied. "How did she drop them to make them…Never mind. Are they here?"
"Home with a babysitter." Marcy replied.
"Ah." Luz said. "You know that Dr Pines guy was in my hometown according to an interview?"
"Is it with that chubby obnoxious British guy?" She asked.
"Yup."
"Yup. And he keeps saying there was nothing." Marcy replied. "Man, if he ever had a paranormal show it would….Just end up like the same amount of paranormal shows where they search apparent haunted locations and end up not finding anything."
"Yeah, they always annoy me." Dipper interjected.
Luz and Marcy screamed when they realised that there was a man standing in-between them. And it wasn't just any man, it was Dipper Pines. Author of many supernatural books based off of supernatural events and conspiracy theories.
"Mr Pines, we didn't mean to disrespect you or anything." Luz assured him while the man just gave a smug smile.
"No, we were just saying how you're kind of bad at…."
"It's okay Ms Wu." Dipper pulled out a chair and sat in-between the two women. "I'm not here to scold people for discrediting me. Which is fine because as far as I'm aware of, there are no supernatural threats or alien threats."
"What about Frogvasion?" Marcy asked.
"Well I wasn't there and as far as I'm aware of, it was a gas leak." Dipper retorted.
"Yeah…Gas leak." Marcy made a sideways glance.
"You're making an awful lot of sideways glances." Luz remarked. "Oh and sorry, we haven't introduced ourselves. I'm…"
"Luz Noceda." Dipper interjected. "And Marcy Wu. My kids are fans of your works."
"Oh." Luz reacted in surprise.
"Did not expect that." Marcy remarked.
"Yeah, my kid, it really helped them Luz with learning to love themselves." Dipper said. "Thank you. It was hard on them since they came out."
Luz smiled. "I honestly get that a lot. And it still warms my heart."
"So what are you doing here?" Marcy asked. "Trying to find if San Diego's haunted until you don't find anything." Marcy then froze. "Wow, I did not expect me to have that much sass."
"I'm honestly here for a convention." Dipper replied. "Signing autographs and spending time with my kids. And looking out for my kids." He looked over Luz and Marcy's shoulder to see the woman over the concession stand looking shocked.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Amelia exclaimed.
"Hey Amelia!" Dipper yelled out.
"Dad!" Amelia cried before walking away.
Dipper sighed. "Amelia, can we just talk?" Dipper got off his chair and tried to follow his daughter. "Your sister and sib are here! Can't you say hi to them?"
Luz and Marcy watched on with disbelief. "Woah! Who knew that we'd meet Amelia's Dad?" Marcy remarked.
"And he turned out to be Dipper Pines." Luz smiled. "Speaking of kids, I wonder how my daughter's doing?"
Meanwhile, Azura and Gwen were in their own montage messing around in the convention. They started off by admiring the art someone made, getting autographs from TV starts; Though, Gwen kind of took a while because she couldn't decide a good picture to have of them, cheering or booing for new announced content and having some food.
At one point, someone was bullying a geek for liking something they didn't. Gwen tried to interfere but got pushed to the floor. Azura reluctantly casted a fire spell and set their shoelace on fire. He ran away in fear and out of the convention.
And at one point, Azura and Gwen were drinking tea while in onesies. Azura in an otter one while Gwen was in an axolotl one.
Unbeknown to Azura and Gwen, when they were watching previous Doctor What, Doctor doing a talk about his role as the Doctor, Azura's backpack started shaking.
Back in the Demon Realm, Edric was giving his students from Eda's school of his Dad's factory. They were currently in the main section and were standing on a platform where they saw many witches engineering and building ships, boats and air vehicles.
"As you can see class, many of these Abomination inventors are constantly building and trying to improve the products of Blight industries." Edric explained. "Many of which are currently used to power the city and building boats to travel from one island to another."
Amity and Manny arrived by riding on Ghost together. They jumped off the staff and on the platform, in front of Edric.
"Hey sis!" Edric said. "That kids is top Abomination engineer, explorer and little sister, Mittens Blight."
Amity groaned. "Edric! Please, I have my son here."
"Hey Manny." Edric said.
"Aunt Emira says to not fall off the platform again." Manny said.
"Yeah. Fell in a giant Abomination pot…" Edric rubbed the back of his head. "…That took a ton of showers."
"We're just visiting, Dad." Amity said. "Is he in his office?"
"Yeah and he is pretty annoyed about something." Edric explained.
Amity sighed. "Titan. Come along, Manny. Your presence might cool him down." The two began to walk toward the office while Edric looked over the railing.
"Hey kids look down there!" Edric cried out. "It's my ex! Marshall! You're not getting your socks back!"
Marshall, a witch with dark skin and dreadlocks narrowed his eyes at Edric. "Please don't lean over the railing, Ed, you might get hurt."
"Oh don't lean over the railing or you might get hurt." Edric childishly mimicked his ex. "That's you!" Suddenly, Edric fell over the railing and into the giant pot and landed with a giant crash. "Ow! My bones! I wish it wasn't empty! Owwww!"
Meanwhile in Alador's office, Alador was looking at a blueprint of the branding glove. He took a huge whiff of it and even licked it. "What's the matter with you?"
His daughter and his grandson walked in the office to stare at him with a baffled look as to what he was doing.
"Uh….Dad?"
Alador turned around to greet his daughter with a smile. "Ah, Amity and Manny. What brings you here?"
"Just wanted to see you." Manny replied.
"Human engineering I suppose?" Alador asked.
Manny shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Just felt like it."
"Well, I'm glad you're here because I just needed to ask if you touched the rebranding glove blueprint?" Alador asked.
"No." Manny replied.
"Dad, what's wrong?" Amity asked.
"Something just feels wrong with it." Alador replied. "I mean, the parts are the same but…Everything just smells wrong and everything tastes fresh."
"Were you planning to destroy it again?" Amity asked.
"No but now that you mention it…" Alador grinned before grabbing a mic. "…Workers, I feel like destroying the branding glove again so let's get to it."
Amity turned to her son. "Hey Manny, you wanna do something fun? How about we rebuild the branding glove and then destroy it?"
Manny just sighed. "No thanks. I think I'll be fine here."
Amity seemed a tad disappointed. "You sure Manny? It gets very explosive."
"No thanks, I'm fine." Manny looked away from his mother and sat down on a nearby chair to read a book on human history. "You go ahead and waste your building talents on something you won't use."
Alador cringed. "Ouch but fair point. Anyway, let's destroy the glove. Come on Amity!"
"Actually Dad, you start without me." Amity said. "I just, need to talk with my son."
Alador shrugged his shoulders. "Okay." He left his office so his daughter and grandson could have a private discussion.
Amity walked toward her son and gave him a soft smile. "Mijo."
"Mom?" Manny responded.
"Are you okay?" Amity asked her son. "You know it's okay to tell me if you're okay. Keeping your true feelings is very unhealthy."
"That's funny coming from you." Manny retorted.
Amity seemed alarmed. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"You only feel like you need to connect with me because I'm your son." Manny said. "And I'm just a burden in the way of your happiness."
"No! No! Manny, that is not true!" Amity exclaimed.
"I wish I could understand you." Manny said. "Those were the exact words you said to me when we were stuck in the bathroom at Abuela's house. Those words stuck with me. Did you even ask how those words would make me feel? They make me feel like I'm something else. Just a creature that shouldn't exist. I'm sorry for existing if that's what you want me to say."
Amity had tears falling from her eyes over his words. She had no idea how much her words have hurt her son until now.
"Manny…"
"Look, I don't think anyone's helping Uncle Edric." Manny said before getting off the seat. "So I'm gonna help him." He walked out of the room, leaving Amity alone with her thoughts.
Meanwhile in the Human Realm, Gwen and Azura were sharing a box of fries together after a long montage.
"Wow, I can't believe I had so much fun with you, Gwen." Azura remarked.
"Me neither." Gwen replied. "By the way, were we just in onesies having tea together?"
"Don't question things in a montage." Azura replied. "It's a bit of a family thing." She began to itch her ear as Gwen spoke.
"You know, I had so much fun that I forgot that Rachel Zegler was playing Masha in that Anne-Phibia remake." Gwen said.
"Rachel Zegler!" A boy around 14 years old with blonde hair exclaimed. "My Mom's not gonna be happy about this!" He jumped off his seat behind Azura and Gwen to complain to his Mom.
"That guy seemed pretty angry." Gwen remarked. "Hope we don't see him again." She then noticed something funny about Azura. One of her ears was pointy. "Hey, cool ear."
Azura froze and panicked when she realised that her witch ear was showing. "Ah! Don't look!"
Gwen seemed awfully surprised. "Woah! Woah! What's wrong?"
"It's just….You weren't supposed to see it." Azura said.
"Why? You have a weird body part." Gwen replied.
"Look, it's not just that!" Azura protested.
"Oh I hear you." Gwen said before showing her hands to reveal she had six fingers. "But it's nothing to be ashamed of."
Azura stared at her human friend with a shocked expression. "Wait, you don't mind? And also, you have six fingers? How am I just noticing?"
"I don't mind." Gwen replied. "In fact, I like that you have a pointy ear. It's good to know that there are some people with weird deformed body parts and I'm not alone."
Azura was grateful to Gwen that she didn't react badly to her ear like she feared most people would. Thought albeit for a reason she didn't expect, she was still grateful.
"Thanks. I was a little scared you would have thought I was something else." Azura said.
"Like what? An elf?" Gwen laughed. "Nah. Elves are some of the most self entitled jerks on the planet."
"Wait, what?" Azura reacted.
"Uh….Forget what I said." Gwen began sweating. "I said something stupid. What? Elves don't exist! Neither do Minotaurs! Or Manotaurs!"
"Manotaurs?" Azura reacted.
Gwen looked around the convention to see any sign of anyone listening and fortunately for her, no one was. "Azura, come close."
Azura moved an inch closer toward Gwen all while a green paw with small red polka dots poked out of her bag. "What's your secret?"
"Okay, I haven't told you this but my name is Gwendolyn Pines." She explained. "My parents are Pacifica and Dipper Pines."
Azura's eyes went wide. "Wait, you're related to that phoney supernatural detective?"
"He's not a…" Gwen had unknowingly slammed her wrist on the table. "…He's not a phoney." Gwen whispered. "He's a great supernatural hunter. Look, he says that there aren't supernatural beings in Gravesfield, but he has seen some. Mutant rats for one. He keeps saying he doesn't find anything because some just want to live in peace. He has huge respect for the supernatural."
Azura looked surprised. "So he's a pro?"
"Better than those losers on Ghost Harassers that's for sure." Gwen then began to mimic one of them. "Hey look, that ball just moved funny! GHOOOOOOST!"
Azura laughed at Gwen. "That's pretty much all of them. So, what do you do with supernatural creatures?"
"Oh, depending on what they are, we either leave them in peace or if it's a threat then we take it to our secret lab to study them and imprison them. No matter what they are."
Azura have nervous glances. "Wow, lucky Stringbean isn't here." She mumbled.
"Sorry, who?" Gwen asked.
"Huh? What did I say?" Azura asked just as her bag was knocked over and something ran out of it. "Oh, Stringbean. She's my pet snake. A rare breed so if you encounter her, don't take her to the lab."
Gwen gave a smile. "Don't worry. Dad accidentally did that to a rare species of sponge once." Gwen cringed. "And he might have put it on the endangered lists. Do you have photos of your pet snake?"
Azura began to reach for her backpack. "Actually, I might have…" When she opened the bag, she was seeing her Earth phone and broken egg shells. She panicked and zipped her bag shut.
"Something wrong?" Gwen asked.
"Um…Actually, oh look at the time!" Azura exclaimed. "I have to go! Mami's waiting for me! She wants to go while Mom is waiting. Okay! Bye!" She jumped off the chair and began running, leaving Gwen alone.
"Huh, that was strange." Gwen remarked before getting a FaceTime call from Riley. The screen unlocked to reveal the green haired person whose autograph Luz signed.
"Gwen, this might interest you." Riley said. "But I am seeing something right now. Some strange creature hiding under the table. Wait! Now it's running! Quick Gwen! I'll contact Dad about it!"
Gwen's eyes lit up. "A creature in a crowded location?" She gave a huge smile. "Oh, this is going to get exciting!" She reached into her pocket and pulled out a tracking device that looked similar to a PKE Meter. "I'm gonna retrieve it no matter what!" She stood on her chair while doing an action hero pose. Then, she accidentally fell backwards off her chair and crash landed on her back. "Ow!"
Back in the Demon Realm, Manny and Amity were having lunch at Jill's Sandwiches. They were currently waiting for their order of sandwiches. They were sitting by the window in complete awkward silence because once again they had no idea what to say to one another.
"Sooo, human school?" Amity remarked.
"Yup." Manny responded awkwardly.
Then, the owner, Harriet Blockerhon, approached the two with their sandwiches. "Here you go, your club fairy sandwich and for the young man, a griffin egg sandwich with griffin meat on top." Harriet walked away. "What a lovely mother and son, hope nothing bad is going on between them."
The mother and son gave some awkward looks. Amity wanted to apologise for the mean things she said and how those words stick with her son. How they make him feel like he wasn't right for this world and how they made him feel like a burden.
"Manny…I never meant to say those words to you." Amity said.
"Yet you did." Manny said. "You never apologised."
"Well, I am now."
"Do you actually mean it though?"
Amity narrowed her eyes at her son. "Manny! I mean it! Those words….Were just coming from a large bout of stress. I mean, we were dealing with an egg in the bathroom and Cousin Amy so…"
"So you think it makes things better?" Manny asked. "You're right. I wish I was easy to understand. So I can feel like you actually love me."
Amity's heart dropped at her son's words. This gave her some new insight as to how her behaviour towards him made him feel. It made him feel like a freak and unloved.
"Manny I…."
Manny just got off his seat with his sandwich to seat in the booth next to the one he was previously sitting in across from his Mom.
Amity was at first going to follow but then stopped when she was hearing Harriet having a scroll call. "Rentley, I don't know if I can keep this up any longer. Your mother is getting suspicious and your cult loving boyfriend is asking me too many questions." Harriet sighed. "Rentley, I just want you to be safe and be sure about this….Okay buddy, I might not like what you do, but you're my precious little man and I love you. I love you forever."
That moment of motherly love between a different mother and son got Amity's lips to tremble before she began to cry her eyes out. She didn't cry as loud to make sure she didn't ruin everyone else's lunch.
Meanwhile in the Human Realm, Marcy was just packing up her stuff while Luz was looking out for her daughter. "Sorry I can't stay for long Luz. But I promised my kids I'd be home before dinner."
"That's cool." Luz assured her.
"And I don't want to miss my train because last time I was late for my train my pants ended up stuck in the sliding door and I accidentally tore them off while walking to my seat so….Yeah, there were people filming." Marcy chuckled. "Why did I wear my newt underwear?"
Luz chuckled. "They were cute, don't fret."
"Well, see you in Oregon." Marcy and Luz shared a quick hug before the Taiwanese woman began to run. But then tripped and landed on her front. "I'm okay!" She quickly got back up and began departing toward the exit.
"I should probably call Azura to see if she's okay." Luz said before pulling her phone out.
"Mami!"
Luz turned to the direction of the crowd where she saw Azura forcing her way through the crowd in a desperate panic. "Mami! Sorry, jerk! Out of my way!" She stopped in front of her mother and began panting.
"Azura…Mija is everything okay?" Luz asked her daughter.
She shot up. "Egg…Hatched…Gwen…Dipper's….Kid!"
"Azura, take deep breath and explain everything clearly." Luz said. "Because as far as I'm guessing the egg hatched and some kid named Gwen happens to be Dipper's daughter."
Marcy meanwhile was checking her handbag for all her things. "Okay…Money, phone, picture of my daughters, train ticket and my trusty pen!" She pulled out her pen and pushed it a few times. "Made of some of the finest plastic. Not sure why I announced it out loud but, hey who." She put the pen back in her bag. But as she did, the newborn beeper climbed its way into the handbag without the grown woman knowing.
Meanwhile, Azura caught her breath and had finished explaining everything to her mother. "So, let me get this straight, you befriended a girl who also happened to like Anne-Phibia and she turned out to be the daughter of Dipper Pines and all the times he said he never encountered supernatural beings was just a lie to hide them from the public eye. The egg hatched and you need to find it before Gwen finds it and does whatever she wants with it."
"It's true, Mami!" Azura groaned. "Well, I'm going to fail beastkeeping."
Luz pattered her daughter's back. "Don't worry, Azura I…Wait, does Dipper know about the door?"
"I don't think so." Azura replied.
"Okay." Luz replied. "Where is it now?"
"I don't know." Azura replied. "But we better find it before Gwen does."
Suddenly, Gwen arrived. "Azura I…Wait, is that your Mom? You weren't kidding, it is Luz Noceda."
"And you're Gwen, right?" Luz asked.
"Yes, Gwen Pines." Gwen replied. "Daughter of Dipper…Anyway, that's enough. You wouldn't happen to have seen a funny little cat creature running around?"
"Uh…No." Azura replied as she began to sweat. "What funny cat creature?" Azura nudged her mother in her side, to get her to lie about it.
"I never heard of such a funny cat creature!" Luz lied over dramatically. "It's probably one of those hot cosplayers!"
Gwen just shrugged her shoulders and have a frustrated groan. "Oh brilliant." She then got a call from her sib that she answered. "What's up Riley?"
"I saw the creature, it entered the bag of Marcy Wu and she's currently leaving the stadium."
"Thanks Riley." Gwen said. "Gotta go. We're after a cat." She began running toward the exit to catch up with Marcy while Azura and Luz stood frozen.
"Okay, this is bad." Luz said.
Azura began to panic. "Oh Titan! If they discover it then the Beeper will be taken to their secret laboratory or worse, a government one! And I'll end up failing my beastkeeping class!"
"Hey, you won't!" Luz assured her. "But you know, it's pretty lucky that creature didn't cause that much damage. Come on, we gotta get Marcy now!"
"How?" Azura asked.
"I have an idea. You stop Gwen from getting to Marcy while I get some coffee."
"Mami!" Azura exclaimed.
Luz gave her daughter a grin. "Trust me."
Meanwhile, as Marcy was exiting the building, she walked past Riley, whom was standing by the vending machine, spying on her.
"Gwen, she's close to leaving the building." Riley said on their phone.
"Okay, I'm coming!"
Then, Riley hung up on their phone and gave a smile. Unbeknownst to them, Luz was approaching with a steaming hot cup of coffee in her hand.
"Okay, Luz, trip right beside them and spill the coffee on them." Luz said. "That's the plan." Suddenly, she tripped on someone's foot and crashed landed right beside them while the coffee just splashed on a cosplayer in a cardboard suit.
"Oh! Come on!" The guy in the suit exclaimed before trying to walk with his suit being soggy.
Riley noticed Luz right beside them and raised a brow. "Ms Noceda?"
"Hey, Riley right?!" Luz exclaimed. "I was just walking with some coffee in my hand and I tripped. How are you?"
Riley looked awkward being around their idol for a moment before sighing. "Ms Noceda, there's something I wish I told you about something before. About why your books meant so much to me."
Meanwhile, Gwen was running towards Marcy to try and catch up to her. But before she could, a bunch of people that were just entering the stadium got in her way. She forced her way out of their way and continued to chase after Marcy.
Azura meanwhile, was not far behind Gwen. She had to force her way through a bunch of people and even punched a random guy.
Just as she was closing in on Gwen, she suddenly got knocked down by a man in a cardboard suit that looked like some kind of robot, knocked her down due to steaming hot coffee all over them.
Azura shot back up and saw that Gwen was closing in on Marcy. Azura knew that if she tried to tackle Gwen then, she would get to Marcy and the Beeper. Azura unfortunately had to use this plan as a last resort even though it might get her caught.
She made chase to Gwen just as the six fingered teen was closing in on the animator. Azura subtlety drew a spell circle, causing Gwen's shoelace to catch fire.
It didn't take long for Gwen to notice the fact her lace was on fire and quickly panicked. "Ah!" After a few seconds, she managed to get that fire out.
When she looked up, she saw that Marcy was just exiting toward the car park. She flicked her finger in Marcy's direction and continued to make chase to her, until she was stopped by Azura when she placed her hand on her shoulder.
"Azura?" Gwen reacted in surprise.
"Listen Gwen, I think you and I would have made great friends." Azura said.
"Aww thanks I….Wait, would have?" Suddenly, Azura punched her in the face, knocking her out.
"Sorry, Gwen." Azura said before continuing to make chase to Marcy. When she got outside, she saw that the car park was heavily crowded with many of the cars already parked. "Oh Titan! I hope she forgot where she parked. Or is she taking a taxi?"
Suddenly, a taxi drove past the half witch and she saw Marcy was sitting in the back seat adjusting her hair. The artist noticed Azura and gave her a wave. "Bye Azura, sorry we didn't see each other."
Azura groaned and stomped her foot. "Oh come on!"
A man with a cap standing by a cab, gave her a wave. "Don't whine about it, my cab's available."
Inside the stadium, Luz and Riley were sitting down together talking about their experience. Riley was currently crying while Luz was giving them a sympathetic look.
"Dad, kept calling me 'he' for a short amount of time." Riley cried. "I mean Mom was more supportive and Dad tried his best, but he still kept calling me he."
"Is he trying?" Luz asked them.
"He is trying to call me they/them!" They cried. "But I sometimes feel like he doesn't want me to. Sometimes I feel like he wish I was easier to understand. I know he still loves me, but…Does he love me for who I am?"
Luz gave them a sympathetic stare and sighed. She could see the similarities between them with her son and Dipper with her wife.
Azura then came up to her mother while panting. "Mami! She got away!" She then saw Riley and had to come up with a lie. "As in that cute girl I saw!"
Luz was at first baffled by what Azura meant but then understood completely. "Okay, sweetie. Don't worry, you'll see her again some day. Let's just get in our car and go home. And Riley, I'm glad I listened to you. Your relationship with your Dad will improve, I promise." They smiled at their idol while she walked away with her daughter.
Outside the stadium, Luz and Azura were running towards the car. "We gotta get her before she gets to the train station!"
"We don't get there in time!" Luz said. "We gotta get to her place before she does."
"How?!" Azura exclaimed.
"You know a car journey from San Diego to Los Angeles is shorter than a train ride?"
"No." Azura replied.
"Well now you know." They made it to their rental car. Luz slid on the front to the driver's side. But she fell off as she got to the end.
"Mami…."
"Sorry." Luz said. "Always wanted to do that. Don't worry. We're going to get that Beeper in no time!"
"You do LA is traffic central right?" Azura asked.
Luz's determined smile vanished and groaned. "¡Por el bien de Titán!"
Meanwhile at Camila's house, Camila was reaching her hand out toward something while Masha was trying to hold Vee back.
The basilisk was snarling while Masha was trying to hold her back from attacking her mom. "Vee…This is your mother. Remember? Let her touch the egg."
"Masha, are you sure this is a good idea?" Camila asked.
"She needs to get used to other family members besides me and her." Masha said.
"Leave the child alone!" Vee snarled.
"Vee, it's your mother!" Masha kissed their wife's head. "She's your child's future grandma. Remember?"
They heard a knock at the door. "Ah, someone's at the door!" She moved her hand away from the egg. "Gracias mano del destino."
Vee exhaled. "How did I do?"
Masha gave a smile. "Slightly better. You still need to get used to it."
Camila opened the door to see Amity standing on the porch. "Amity! Mija!" She and her daughter-in-law shared a hug and Camila kissed her on the cheek. "What are you doing here? Where's Manny?"
Amity sighed. "Camila, I just wish to talk."
Camila could tell from her expression that Amity was upset about something. "Okay, Mija. Come in."
As they walked toward the kitchen to talk, Amity gave Vee and Masha a wave. The in-laws did the same thing all while cuddling the egg.
The witch and her mother-in-law walked in the kitchen and sat down across the kitchen table from each other. "So what's wrong Mija?"
"You know how in the Human Realm, you told me Luz wasn't born to what humans consider to natural standards."
"Uh huh." Camila responded. "She's classed as neurodivergent but they don't say if she's ADHD and autistic."
"How did you handle it?" Amity asked. "How did you manage it?"
Camila looked down at her tea as she reminisced how Luz's childhood was. "I knew Luz was not like other people. People thought she was like this because she was struggling to cope with Manny's passing but she was always like this even when he was alive. But, the societal pressures I had put on me all because of how different Luz is, were too much and I tried to gently put it on her. I thought she was struggling at school but she was trying to succeed, in her own way. The teachers didn't admire her creativity."
"Do you regret trying to send her camp?" Amity asked.
"Yes and no." Camila replied. "I regret signing her up but if I didn't, she wouldn't have ended up in the Demon Realm and she wouldn't have met you." She patted Amity's hand causing the witch to smile. "An amazing wife, daughter-in-law and mother."
Amity looked down in shame. "Mother huh? Camila, I've been so horrible to Manny. I've been trying to show him how much he means to me but…He can't seem to forget about what I've done. I just want him to know I love him. How do I show it?"
Camila gave her daughter-in-law a sigh. "Mija, you're probably trying too hard. Sometimes it takes a while for children to forgive their parents for making bad decisions. Luz took a while to forgive me for the mistakes I made, but she did after we sat down and talked. I said how much she meant to me and how I never meant to make her feel like she wasn't special. It was after things calmed down. So maybe talk to him when things have calmed down."
"But what should I say?" Amity asked.
"What do you want to say?" Camila asked her daughter-in-law. "Whatever you want to say to him, say it." Amity hung her head down while Camila stood up and began to stroke the back of her head. "You'll figure it out, Mija." She kissed the top of Amity's head to give her some assurance. Amity just looked off into the distance, wondering if she can reconnect with her son after the talk Camila gave her. Will everything she wants to say to him work?
Back in LA, Marcy had arrived home after being dropped off by a taxi. "Thanks Darryl and please quit sending those love songs to Anne, she's not interested."
The cab drove off and Marcy approached the front porch of her house. She opened the door to be greeted by a scream.
"Mommy!" The girl that was running up to her appeared to be a toddler around three years old and of Chinese descent. This was Marcy's daughter she gained from surrogacy named Sasha. Named after one of her closest friends of course.
Marcy held out her arms to her daughter. "Sasha!"
Then, the little toddler tripped and landed on her face. "I'm okay!" Sasha said.
Then, from around the corner, Marcy's herpetologist friend, Anne Boonchuy had just put her notebook into her bag. "Hey Mar-Mar, how was the convention?"
Marcy picked up her three year old daughter and began to hug her. "Same old same old. People saying how much my creation meant to me and saying how much they love my work…" As she continued to talk, the weird creature crawled out her bag and began to stroll around the house without anyone noticing. "…And I also heard about Rachel Zegler's casting as Masha. Does Sasha know?"
"I do now!" Sasha exclaimed.
"I meant Aunt Sasha, sweetie." Marcy said.
"I haven't called Sasha yet." Anne dialled Sasha's number. After a few seconds, she answered the call.
"RACHEL ZEGLER?!"
"Yup, she knows." Anne said as she hung up. "Well, I better get going. Hope Polly and Wally didn't cause too much mess. Those kids sure do get into a lot of trouble when I'm not around. Let me know when you need me to babysit again, okay?"
"Sure Anne." Marcy said.
In the kitchen, a teenage girl of Taiwanese descent, was trying to feed her baby sister. "Come on, Yunan. Just have a bite." Then, the baby slapped the spoon out of the girl's hand and the food splattered on her face. "Eww!" The teenage girl was none other than Marcy's oldest daughter, Olivia Wu. She stood up and began marching out of the kitchen. "Mom!" She then suddenly tripped. "I'm okay."
She stood up and looked at what she tripped over and cringed. "Uh! Anne…" She picked up a green furry cat beast with green fur and red polka dots. "…What have I told you about leaving your stuff about?!" She tossed it aside.
Meanwhile, Marcy had approached a Japanese girl around nine years old playing video games on the couch. This was Marcy's second oldest surrogate daughter, Anne Wu, named after her other childhood best friend. She kissed her forehead, causing her to be a tad distracted.
"Mom!" She exclaimed. "You're distracting me!"
"Now come on kiddo, put that game on pause and help me with dinner." Marcy said.
"But Mom, I'm close to beating the high score!" Anne argued.
"Unfortunately dear, you're going to have to…." Marcy's eyes went wide. "…Oh no way! Is that Super Marion Car 8?! Oh! You are not beating my high score." She vaulted over the couch and grabbed the nearby controller. "Sorry dear, you're not beating my high score! Oh and Olivia, keep an eye on your sisters!"
Olivia sighed. "Okay Mom." She then turned to Sasha and picked her up. "Hey Sasha, could you keep an eye on your Yunan while Mommy is distracted and while I have a private phone call with Tad."
"Okay, Olivia!" Sasha began to skip until she suddenly tripped. "I'm okay."
Somewhere in LA, Luz and Azura were currently stuck in traffic. And Luz was quite an angry driver. "Come on! We're four minutes away, how is traffic this bad?!" She honked the horn. "Come on you moron, the light is green! What are you playing at?!"
Azura shrugged her shoulders. "Mami, cálmate."
"Don't tell me to calm down, Azura!" Luz exclaimed. "Uh! You know if you left that thing at home then we wouldn't be in this mess which would mean your mother and Manny would be handling it and now we have this thing in the Human Realm and it's lucky no one made MewTube videos about it being around the convention." She honked the horn again. "Come on you estúpida, idiota, tonta, tonta!"
Azura shrugged her shoulders. "Well, at least Gwen isn't here to make this situation difficult."
Then, Azura heard a knock on her side of the car and saw Gwen riding a bicycle. She pointed at Azura, gave her a wave and then made a slitting throat gesture before riding off.
"Uh oh." Azura said.
"Yeah I see it, someone wants to get in the line!" She honked her horn again. "You're building up traffic!"
"No Mami, Gwen's here!" Azura said. "And she's on her way to Marcy's and she looks like she's mad about me knocking her out."
Luz cringed. "Oooooh, that's definitely not good. But how does she know where Marcy's is?"
Meanwhile, Gwen was riding her bicycle towards the direction of Marcy's until she was getting a phone call from her Dad. "Oh shoot." She answered the call. "Hello?"
"Gwendolyn Martha Pines!" Dipper shouted angrily on the phone. "Riley told me you're in Los Angeles! How did you get there?!"
"I chased down a train and jumped on it." Gwen replied. "More specifically, Marcy Wu's train because she…"
"Riley told me! He…They, were very cooperative. Look Gwen, what you're doing is reckless and stupid. So when you're done with this, you're going to be so grounded!"
Gwen sighed. "Okay, Dad. I understand."
Meanwhile in at the Wu kitchen, baby Yunan was playing with her plastic spoon and bowl while Marcy was still playing video games with her daughter and Sasha was watching her sister.
"Come on, Yunan!" Sasha said. "Eat your food!"
But Yunan just continued to play with her plastic stuff. Then, the beeper jumped on the table startling the sisters. But instead of being terrified, Sasha and Yunan were enamoured with the strange creature that was nibbling the plastic spoon that Yunan tossed at it.
"Mommy, cat!" Sasha exclaimed. "Mommy, cat!"
"Don't touch it sweetie, I'll deal with it!" Marcy said.
"It's green!" Sasha cried.
"Must be a rare breed." Marcy remarked. "Again, don't touch it. Olivia, could you deal with that cat?"
Then Olivia arrived downstairs and approached her mother. "Mom, you were at the convention today?"
Marcy noticed that her daughter was in front of her and gave her a hard stare. "Were you upstairs chatting to Tad?"
Olivia sighed. "Sorry Mom. But Tad sent me this. This was sighted at the convention." She showed her mother a video of what looked like a weird cat creature running through the convention.
Many spectators were watching with intrigue and fear. "What is that thing? Oh my gosh! It's nibbling the plastic sword!" They filmed the creature nibbling the plastic sword before moving on to a plastic battle axe.
"What kind of axe is that?" Anne asked.
"That's what you're focused on!" Olivia exclaimed.
"What? I recognise it from somewhere." Anne said.
"Why are you showing me this?" Marcy asked.
"Watch."
Marcy continued to watch the video and her eyes widened when she saw what happened next. She saw the creature running towards her and straight into her handbag.
"How did I….Well, that explains why my credit card was chewed up." Marcy said. "I thought I chewed it again for a second."
"Hey Mom, you're in it!" Anne exclaimed. "And that creature is….Wait, didn't Sasha say there was a green cat?"
The three Wu's eyes widened as they stood up and slowly turn around to see the weird cat creature from the video chewing the plastic spoon while baby Yunan was just laughing.
Sasha turned to her mother and pointed at the green cat. "Mommy, cat!"
Marcy held her hands out. "Sasha, sweetie, do not panic. Please, for Mommy's sake, do not panic. Anne, Olivia, help me out." She and her daughters began to slowly approach the kitchen in order to retrieve the cat creature. But then, the three tripped and landed on their faces.
"I'm okay." Marcy and her daughters said simultaneously. The three jumped back up and continued to approach the kitchen. "That's it, good little cat creature. I'm just gonna take you off the table and call a good friend of mine. He may be a little flamboyant but he is a close relative of a friend of mine. So we're gonna keep things calm."
Then, Marcy heard a knock on the door. "Marcy, it's Luz!"
"And Azura!" Azura exclaimed. "Nice to meet you by the way! I wish we could have met under appropriate circumstances."
"Luz?" Marcy reacted. "And nice to meet you too Azura. But this isn't a good time!"
"Ms Wu, don't panic!" Azura said. "But that creature inside your house is my school project."
"Whhaaaat?" Marcy reacted.
"What is it?!" Olivia exclaimed. "Some abominable creature you made for some messed up science project?!"
"Look, just let us in." Luz said. "My daughter is learning beastkeeping."
"What are these words?!" Olivia exclaimed.
"Just let us in or otherwise…"
Suddenly, the sword of wood shattering was heard. They turned to the direction it was coming from which happened to be the back door where they saw a foot sticking out.
"Sorry, sorry, I wanted to make an entrance." The girl on the other side of the door said.
"Uh, that door is unlocked." Anne said.
"And the front door is unlocked as well." Marcy informed the Nocedas.
Luz and Azura quickly burst through the door while Gwen burst the door open with her foot stuck in the door and her laser gun aimed at the creature.
But instead of being frightened, the beeper just continued to chew the plastic spoon. Azura drew a spell circle, causing Azura some alarm.
"Woah! Woah! Woah!" Marcy exclaimed in shock. "What the heck is going on?!"
"Ms Wu, you need to stay calm!" Gwen said. "That creature is…Wait Azura, what is that circle you have just drawn? And what is that strange cat creature?"
Azura stared hard at Gwen and the Wus. "You guys might want to sit down, because it's a very long story that gets very detailed."
"And Marcy, I'm really sorry about this." Luz said.
Back in the Demon Realm, Manny was sitting on the couch staring into space while Amity watched on. She had given him plenty of space and had a deep think about what to say. She approached her son and sat down next to him.
"Mijo, we don't need to talk right now." Amity said. "I'm not even going to try and beg for forgiveness. I just, want you to tell me how you're feeling or if you wish to know something. But just so you know, I'm willing to listen Manny."
Manny briefly looked away from his mother for a second before exhaling. "Mom, why do you hate me?" Amity gasped in horror with what she heard. "Is it because of my attitude? Is it because I'm changing? Is it because of what I have? Do you hate me just for existing?" Tears began to fall from his eyes. "If you want me to get rid of it, I'll try and find a way! I'll try and find a way I promise you I'll…"
A tearful Amity instead pulled her son in for a massive hug that surprised him. "Manny Caleb Noceda, I am so sorry! I never meant to hurt you! I don't want you to change who you are! I don't want you to fix what you have! Because if you did, then you wouldn't be Manny anymore, you'll just be someone else I can't recognise. I might not understand what you have…" Manny's tears became more prominent as he tightened his grip around his mother. "…And I know that you don't understand what you have but I'm willing to learn about it. Because you're my son and I love you so much! And I don't mean to say that because you're in my way, I mean it because I love your geekiness, your willingness to do something different from your peers and how much you remind me of your mother. I love you Manny Noceda, and I'll love you for a long time." She kissed her son on his forehead.
Manny cried harder as he pressed his face to his mother's abdomen. "I love you as well, Mom." The mother and son continued to tearfully hug each other not saying anything, except letting their love show.
Back in the Human Realm, Azura and Luz were explaining everything to Gwen and the Wus. And by everything, I mean practically everything about Luz's life. "…And so, this little buddy is part of a school project I need to complete. And when hatched, I need to return it in approximately four days. So, that's why I need it back."
"Any questions?" Luz asked.
Gwen and the Wus had their mouths wide open. Olivia was the first to raise her hand high. "Wait, so the supernatural is real?"
"Vampires and werewolves?!" Anne exclaimed.
"Giraffes are demons?!" Marcy exclaimed.
Gwen snapped her fingers. "I knew there was something inherently evil about them! Kamilopardaliphobia my butt, Riley!"
"So, sorry about all that." Luz said.
"And sorry for soccer punching you." Azura said to Gwen.
"Oh that's fine." Gwen said. "I wouldn't have taken it in if I didn't know it was school project."
"By the way Gwen, how did you know where I lived?" Marcy asked.
"I flicked a tracking device on you." Gwen replied. "It's just on the back of your left shoulder."
Marcy looked to her shoulder and flicked it off. "So it did."
"Well, me and Azura must be on our way." Luz declared. "Me and Azura have a plane to catch."
Azura picked up the beeper which was nibbling one of Yunan's plastic toys. "Hey, Yunan doesn't mind this being gone right?"
"Nah, it's her least favourite." Marcy replied. "Oh and Luz, I have a million questions to ask you but I don't want to delay you getting home so I'll just send you an email. Wait, do you have computers in the Demon Realm?"
Luz smiled. "Nah. But I do. They just have an orb which substitutes for the internet there."
"See you when I see ya, Azura." Gwen said.
"You sure you don't want a lift?" Luz asked.
"Nah, I'll just stay here until either my Mom or Dad pick me up to scold me in front of this family." Gwen replied. "Sorry if they get loud."
"Just as long as it's not at Yunan's bedtime." Marcy replied. "She's feisty like her namesake."
Later, Luz and Azura walked out of the house with the beeper in the half human's arms. "There, there little fella. We'll be home soon enough."
Luz gave a smile at her daughter. "You know something Azura, I'm glad we've done this."
"I'm glad we rescued this creature as well." Azura said.
"No, I mean." Luz said. "Spending time together. You know with all the studying you did we never got to hang out at conventions. I would have taken Manny but I didn't wanna overwhelm him and your Mom really can't handle bumping into sweaty geeks. I feel like I'm almost reconnecting a bit."
Azura smiled at her Mami. "Thanks Mami. Wish we could have done more at the convention."
"There's still New York." Luz assured her. "But right now, we have a flight to catch."
"Wait Mami, I forgot to ask, how are we going to get this past customs?" She motioned to the beeper which continued to chew the plastic toy.
Luz's eyes widened as she took a deep breath. "That means we need to drive for four days. With that by our side." She inhaled before exhaling with a mighty scream.