Amity was outside of the house preparing to leave for the day with Azura the Abomination blimp. "Azura, we're leaving soon so you better be ready!"
"Okay Mom!" Azura said from inside the house.
Amity was laying on the skateboard that she was using to get out from under the vehicle that she was adding the final touches to.
She then felt like, she was being pulled out and saw that it was her wife who had done it, looking at her like she had broken something.
"What?" Amity asked.
"You've been working on that engine for a while." Luz remarked.
"Yes, I have." Amity responded before shuffling back under the vehicle. But Luz only pulled her back out.
"Amity." Luz chided.
"What?!" Amity exclaimed.
"Amity, you can't keep avoiding Manny like this." Luz said.
"What do mean I'm avoiding Manny?" Amity asked. "He's avoiding me more like."
"Well you're both avoiding each other." Luz argued. "I get you don't understand what he has but hiding isn't going to help."
"Help what?" Amity asked her wife angrily. "Cure him?!"
"I don't want Manny to be cured, I want you to like each other again." Luz argued.
"Luz, don't you dare assume that I hate my son." Amity said.
"I'm not saying you hate Manny, you're just becoming distant." Luz said. "And I'm afraid that he might grow to resent you."
"Luz, I just….Don't think it would be a good idea for me to be around him." Amity said. "I mean, I will be there for him. Especially when he gets into Hexside."
"Oh, so you're only going to be there for his future?!" Luz exclaimed while crossing her arms. "Wow, sounds a whole lot like Odalia."
Amity eyes went wide and stood up angrily as her eyes turned purple. "Don't you dare compare me to her!"
Luz backed away nervously. "Amity…Amity…I'm so sorry."
"You better be!" Amity exclaimed while narrowing her eyes at her wife who only stared back in fear.
"Uh…Moms?" Azura interjected.
Amity and Luz turned to their alarmed daughter whom appeared to have seen the two arguing. Amity calmed down and turned to her daughter. "Ready to go?"
Azura, despite being a little startled by her moms arguing, something that was rare for them to do. "Yeah. Sure, I am."
Azura jumped in the blimp with Amity following behind. She took one last glance to her wife before jumping on the blimp. "Okay Azura, to Abomination Island!" Amity pushed a few buttons and pulled a few levers before it took off.
Luz watched as her wife and daughter flew off on the blimp and sighed sadly. She walked inside where she saw her son reading a human history book. He looked up from his book at his mother with a deadpanned look on his face.
Luz sighed. "Mijo, don't look at me like that. Your Mom and I were just having disagreements." She then saw the band aid on his cheek and walked up to him. "Oh, I almost forgot, it's time for this to come off." She removed the band aid from Manny's face to reveal that the scratch from his aunt had now been turned into scar. Three claw scars that stood out a lot. Luz just tried to look on the bright side of things and smiled at her son. "Well, look at us. We're scar buddies now." She points at her scar on her eyebrow.
"Mami, is Aunt Ronda okay?" Manny asked. "I don't care that I have scars. Is Aunt Ronda okay?"
Luz sighed. "Well, how about we check? And maybe after we could watch some of the worst episodes of Doctor What and nitpick."
"Okay, yeah." Manny said reluctantly before jumping off the couch to get ready.
Luz had been watching her son for ten years. She loved how enthusiastic he was about his geeky stuff but ever since Ronda attacked him and the disconnection he was feeling between his Mom and the fact he was autistic had made him feel very saddened. And it wasn't just him, Luz felt like her son was vanishing and he was gonna grow up not just resenting his mother but himself.
Meanwhile on the blimp, Azura and Amity had been flying for over 24 minutes towards the island. Azura had never heard of such a place and began asking her mom.
"Abomination island?"
"Do they not teach you at Hexside?" Amity asked.
"No, they haven't taught me that." Azura replied. "Wow, I guess I missed that."
"Okay, Abomination Island or otherwise known as Firth's Island, named after Cornelius Firth, the practitioner for Abomination magic." Amity explained. "You see Azura, before people were using Abomination, everyone just assumed it was some kind of pest that needed to be rid of because no one did not know what to do with it. It wasn't infectious, it was just, annoying. But one day, while on a boating trip, he got caught in a storm and was shipwrecked. A few days after being shipwrecked away from his family and friends. One day, he was almost attacked by a slitherbeast that appeared to not be afraid of fire. He didn't have much for defence except a pool of the slime. He did what his instincts told him and drew a spell circle that made the pool of Abomination come to life. He imagined a monster to scare it off and he did. But in that moment, he found out that the sludge could do so much more. So for the next three months he experimented with the Abomination and found all the excellent things that could be done with it. Including cement, an umbrella and even defence mechanisms for all the creatures that try to eat him."
"Wow." Azura remarked. "You think I might be able to do it."
"It took Cornelius some time so….We'll take as long as you need." Amity said.
"Even though I have school tomorrow?" Azura pointed out.
"Hmm? Oh yeah, you do. Yes, that's right." Amity said like she forgot. "School, because that's important."
Azura felt that something was wrong with her Mom and gave her a suspicious stare. "Mom…"
"We're here." Amity declared as the clouds moved aside to reveal a huge island that looked to be shaped like the pinky toe. There was fauna by the bone that was where the nail would have been and there appeared to be a town on it as well.
The town part intrigued Azura. "Mom, is that a town?"
"Yes it is." Amity said while they landed on the dock. "Welcome to the town of Sentience. Ah, there's the dockmaster." But the dockmaster turned out to be an Abomination. Azura looked around the dock for any sign of a witch but none were there.
Titan, there weren't any witches. There was just Abomination after Abomination. There were some manning stands, some walking along the docks and some even had a spouse and kids.
"Mom? Are these…"
"Oh yeah, there's a reason why." Amity said. "Sentience Island is the name of a place where we send all sentient Abominations when they come to life."
"Why can't we just keep them in Bonesborough?" Azura asked. "They must feel like they're being segregated."
"We had our worries about that as well." Amity said. "But, they were just happy to be away from somewhere where they wouldn't be seen as slaves."
Then an Abomination customs officer came with a clipboard and handed it to Amity. "Thank you, Mark."
"They have names?!" Azura asked.
"Of course they do." Amity said as she began to write on the clipboard then she showed the Abomination her Palisman and her book. "Sweetie, show him your books."
Azura pulled out her bag and all the books she had before putting them back in. "You sure you aren't just naming them randomly?"
"No, they come up with their names." Amity said. "So, if I call someone an unfortunate name please understand this was the name they chose." A random Abomination walked past Amity that waved at Amity. "Greetings An Unfortunate name. How's A Big Mistake?" An Unfortunate Name gave a thumbs down. "Oh that's a shame. Give Your Wife my blessings!" An Unfortunate Name bowed before walking away.
"How do you understand each other?" Azura asked.
"I don't know." Amity said. "Anyway, let's go."
They began walking through the town where so many Abomination citizens were either staring or minding their own business. Azura was amazed by how much this town was very lively and lived in this town was. Abominations were eating bugs at restaurants, Abominations were cleaning windows, Abominations were getting into fist fights that only lasted a second because the opponent got their fist stuck in their rival's stomach and other Abominations were playing with their Abomination kids.
Amity briefly stopped when a little Abomination was on the ground crying. Then, a bigger Abomination got down on their knee and rubbed their child's knee, causing it to smile and laugh as they felt better. They picked up their kid and began to carry them over their shoulders.
Amity stared at the sight with sadness for a brief moment while Azura watched on. "Mom?"
Amity shook her head. "Never mind. Come on, this way." She lead her daughter further into town and toward toward the forest known as Cornelius' Forest.
"This forest is where Cornelius lived during his survival." Amity said. "And this is where he discovered how powerful Abominations can be."
"Mom, you sure this will work?" Azura asked. "Because a part of me worried this might go wrong."
"It won't don't worry." Amity assured her daughter. "Sooner or later you'll be able to unlock your Abomination powers without anything going wrong."
Once Amity and Azura entered the forest, an Abomination Police Officer known as Officer Officer hung a poster by the entrance of the forest despite the purple sludge getting over it. The poster read 'Wanted. Cereal Killer. 600,000 Slugs. Wanted for burglary and Abomination slaughter.'
Then the same criminal that was on the poster known as Cereal Killer ran into the forest trying to get the mother and daughter.
The Clawthorne residence was the old Clawthorne house that Eda and her sister lived in growing up. Ever since her parents passed away, Lilith had inherited the house but gave it to Eda and Raine instead so they could raise Ronda once she was born.
Luz and Manny arrived outside the house with Luz looking optimistic while Manny looked like he was staring at the ground in regret.
"Manny, don't worry about it." Luz said. "I bet Aunt Ronda will be happy to see you."
"Will she?" Manny asked sadly.
"And I think Grandma Eda and Grandy Raine will be okay with it." Luz said.
But when they got inside the house, Eda and Raine were sitting across from Luz on the couch with their arms folded while Manny was staring at the wall with pictures.
"No." Eda and Raine said simultaneously.
Luz laughed nervously. "I probably misheard that. Eda?"
"No." Eda said.
"Raine?"
"No." Raine said.
"What?" Luz asked.
"Luz, as much as I think a visit from Manny might lighten Ronda's mood, but…She just feels so guilty right now." Eda explained.
"I just came here to assure him that she's okay." Luz said. "He's been feeling so down and guilty that I'm scared that he might start hating himself. He's just finding ways to blame himself for everything that I'm afraid he'll go down the same path I did when I blamed myself for helping Belos."
"Luz, I hate to be cynical, but he kind of did." Raine said.
"Raine, Ronda should have been more responsible." Eda said. "He didn't force her to stop drinking…"
"But he enabled it!" Raine exclaimed.
"Raine, this isn't going to help." Eda said. "Look at the kid, he's broken. He's wallowing in his own self pity and it's damaging his mental health. And more importantly, her avoiding Manny is similar to me when I avoided my Dad after I hurt him and it damaged my relationships with everyone I loved until Luz came into my life. I don't want her to go through the same thing I did."
"Please, Raine, just let him see her." Luz pleaded with them.
"We'll be by his side just in case." Eda said.
Raine was hesitant but then sighed. "Okay, fine. But at the first instance of her turning, you're out."
"Fine by us." Luz said.
The three looked to the young Noceda whom was staring at the family pictures that were on the wall. He was looking at Eda holding the newborn Clawthorne in her arms, a photo of Ronda taking her fist steps and walking to her ZiZi, her and King making the Weh sound together and her mugging her ZiZi without them noticing. Then there were pictures of her with Manny throughout multiple moments through his life.
He saw a picture of her holding him when he was first born, a picture of him at 4 and her at 15 pulling funny faces at each other, another of them two performing Abomination magic together and one of him at 10 and her at 20 with her giving him a noogie while he playfully struggled to escape her grasp.
He slowly turned around to see his Mami, grandma and Grandy coming over to him gently. "Okay kiddo, you can see your Aunt." Eda said.
"But we're going to be by your side in case anything happens." Raine said. "Okay?"
"It's okay." Manny said. "I can handle it." He began to walk up the stairs slowly as possible while Luz, Raine and Eda followed behind.
Inside her bedroom, Ronda was busy on her scroll calling contacts. "Look Mr Bateman, I know you need your fix but I can't right now….You saw the reports….Well find a new dealer!" She slammed her scroll on her desk in anger. "Uh…This can't get any more frustrating."
She heard the sound of her bedroom door opening, causing her to sigh. "Mom, ZiZi what is it?" When she turned around, she saw her nephew standing right in front of her bedroom door. She froze in horror as her nephew gave her a tired smile.
"Hey Aunt Ronda." He said.
Ronda froze in horror as she stared at her nephew. She saw how tired he looked and the very distinct scars on his cheek.
She held on to her heart and turned away so she wouldn't be facing him. "What are you doing here?"
Manny began walking toward her. "I came here to see you."
"Stand back!" Ronda demanded. "Don't come anywhere close!"
"But Ronda…You don't need to blame yourself." He said. "That wasn't your fault."
"I should have said no." Ronda admitted. "I should have said no to that test but because I didn't…You got hurt."
Manny began to slowly approach his Aunt. "Ronda, please." He pleaded.
"Stand back!" Ronda demanded before tossing a book at her wall. "Please Manny, don't come anywhere near me!"
"Ronda, look at me!" Manny said. "I'm not even angry."
"I know you aren't." Ronda said. "Just stay back."
"Ronda, please!"
"I said STAY BACK!" She turned aggressively to face him, her eyes turning orange. Manny slowly stepped away from his aunt, terrified of how she yelled at him.
Then, Ronda began to scream as she fell off her chair and her bones began to crack. "Aaahhh! Run!"
Manny was just petrified as he watched feathers burst from his aunt's body. He just couldn't move in that moment. Even when his Grandma in Harpy form burst the door down. "Oh no."
Raine summoned their violin while Luz had Stringbean in her hand just in case. "Luz, get Manny out." Raine commanded.
"Manny, come on!" Luz grabbed her son by the arm and pulled him out of the room.
"Ronda, everything is gonna be okay." Eda assured her as she took off her hook hand and replaced it with a false hand. "Me and your ZiZi are going to help!"
Luz quickly slammed the door shut and turned to her petrified son. She gave a nervous smile. "She…Wasn't ready." A crow suddenly appeared perched on the window. It cawed to get her attention.
"Luz."
Luz picked up the phone. "Alador?"
"Hey listen, have you seen Mittens?" Alador asked his daughter-in-law. "There's a problem at work and I need her assistance."
"Sorry Mr Blight, she's out with Azura."
"Titan." Alador groaned.
"Maybe I might be of assistance." Luz said.
"Alright. It's really not that big of a problem so yeah you could help out. It's just an Abomination spillage." Luz froze at that piece of information.
"Ooooohhhh." Luz responded.
Back on Cornelius' Island, Amity and Azura had walked further into the forest. They had been walking for 20 minutes which was tiring and scary for Azura as she doesn't know how deep into the forest they were going. But thankfully, there was a path they were following so they could find their way out once this was done.
They found a perfect spot in the centre of a circle. Azura used her magic to set up a tent for them in case it might go on for a little longer while Amity had placed small pot of Abomination on a small log for when she was ready to train.
"Okay Azura, in case we're here for longer, do you have spare clothes?" Amity asked.
"Yes and I got my scroll in case someone calls." Azura said. "Whether it be Mami or my friends."
"And Hecate?" Amity gave her daughter a knowing look causing her to blush.
"Mom…." Azura hid her face behind her hands to hide her blush.
"I see it, Azura." Amity said teasingly.
"Can we just start training?" Azura asked her mother.
"Okay, okay." Amity said. "Now, you know how Abominations are supposed to work, right?"
"Yes." Azura replied. "It's a mixture of the right ingredients, your magic and your brain."
"No wonder you're top student." Amity rubbed her daughter's head. "So, remember concentrate on what you want, draw that magic from your heart and picture what you want to see in front of you. For example…." Amity drew a spell circle and summoned an Abomination from her own little pot and summoned an Abomination that towered over them.
Then, she changed the Abomination into a giant hand, then it turned into some art of her and Luz dancing, then another of a dog and finally a sentence that read 'Luz Noceda, will you marry me?'
"You see, Abominations are capable of a lot of things." Amity said. "Give it a try. It doesn't need to be perfect. Just try something simple."
Azura took a deep breath. "Okay, Abomination rise." The pot exploded into pieces causing Amity and her daughter to freeze.
"Okay, we can try again with my pot." Amity said. "But please, don't destroy it."
"I'll try not." She said before trying again. "Okay, Abomination Rise." But instead of rising, it jumped out of the pot and latched on to Azura's face like some sort of alien.
Amity quickly used her magic to remove the Abomination from her daughter's face. "Okay, we can keep trying."
Meanwhile at the Blight Abomination and Miscellaneous Junk factory, a factory Alador founded after his divorce from Odalia. Not only does he invent Abominations for the new Government along with a ton of inventions that will benefit everyone, including the sigil remover.
Manny sat in the office of his grandpa reading a book about human vehicles and all their workings. Ins & outs included.
Luz and Alador were down in the main factory area where Alador was trying to keep some Abomination in the container while Luz was putting pressure on the door to add extra weight.
"Where's everyone else?" Luz asked her father-in-law.
"Some Abomination became sentient and somehow mutated into a monster that is set on destroying Bonesborough." Alador said. "Though I question how it is possible."
"Maybe it's because you keep the discarded waste Odalia had in the forbidden section of the storage facility." Luz replied.
"Well what was I supposed to do with it?! Just dump it in the Boiling Sea?!"
"Humans do that stuff all the time!" Luz argued.
"But how did that Abomination get in the storage?!" Alador asked. "I've been wondering that for the last 20 minutes."
Then, an Abomination tentacle burst through the window and threw a piece of debris toward them. "Alador, did you have a plan?!"
"I did!" Alador replied. "It involved by daughter bolting the door while I keep holding the Abomination in. It was supposed to be easy." He then heard a crack and collapsed on his rear. "Oh, there it goes again."
Luz ran toward her father-in-law. "Alador, you okay?" Luz asked.
"Wait, Luz, the door!" Alador exclaimed.
The two looked at the door to see that the goo wasn't leaking out at all. It was kind of bolted up all thanks to Luz's putting her pressure on it. "Huh, guess I didn't need my daughter. Could you help me to my office?"
"You sure I shouldn't call Ed or Em?" Luz asked.
Suddenly, a tentacle crashed through the window revealing it was holding Edric and Emira in its grasp. "Don't worry Dad, we got this." Edric said.
"We don't!" Emira argued before she and her brother were pulled back outside.
"Be safe kids!" Alador yelled out. "And remember, sentient abominations don't like boiling water!"
And so Luz began carrying her father-in-law to his office where they began to have a conversation. "So, how is Azura?"
"She and Amity went to Abomination Island to unlock her Abomination powers." Luz replied.
"Is she doing this after, that whole Jakob Krej incident." Alador said.
"His name's Widebent." Luz explained. "There's another student who goes by Jakob so everyone kind of gets it wrong even the school."
Alador froze. "Oh man, I feel bad for yelling at his Dad about how bad his son was. He was so confused and baffled."
They entered the office where they saw that Manny was sitting on Alador's chair, still reading the book about human vehicles. "Hey Mijo, how's the book?" Luz asked.
"Well, it's pretty intriguing to learn how humans can fly without magic." Manny replied. "Listen Mami, about human stuff…"
Alador then looked to a file cabinet. "Wait, Manny, did you by any touch my blueprints?"
"No, why?" Manny asked. "It was like that when I came in."
"It's just that the blueprint has the instructions to rebuild the branding glove." Alador asked.
Luz narrowed her eyes at her father-in-law. "Why do you keep blueprints of the thing that withheld your magic?" Luz asked.
"Every once in a while we decide to rebuild it just to destroy it." Alador replied. "It's a load of fun. So, how are you at the moment Manny?"
Manny shrugged his shoulders. "Indifferent, I guess."
Luz saw how depressed her son looked and knew that he needed some space. "Hey Manny, me and Grandpa are going to talk in private? Could you please give us some space?"
Manny sighed sadly. "I feel it's best anyway." He left the office just as Luz and Alador sadly watched.
She placed her father-in-law on his chair while he summoned his scroll. "I'm gonna call Emira's wife. Hope Puddles delivers my back pillow. She always delivers on time."
Luz sat in front of her father-in-law in sadness. "Alador, have you ever felt someone you loved misunderstood your own child?"
"Well, Odalia misunderstood Amity and the twins." Alador gave his daughter-in-law a worried look. "Is there something wrong with your marriage?"
Luz sighed. "I don't want there to be a problem. It's just I feel there's a problem between Amity and Manny."
"Oh yes, Manny's artistic talent!" Alador exclaimed while reaching into his drawer. "I mean, I can finally throw away this awful drawing he made of me, him and Darius." He showed Luz the terrible stick drawings of him, Darius and Manny and a heading that read 'Me and my Grandpas.'
"Okay, that's a little mean." Luz remarked. "But it's nice you keep it."
"Well compared to my wife, I love my grandkids." Alador said.
"And no, Manny is not artistic and I don't mean it as mean criticism since art is a really subjective topic. I mean, Manny is autistic not artistic."
"Oh yes, the human condition." Alador said with a smile.
"Well, I'm afraid that Amity misunderstanding his condition is causing him to resent her." Luz said. "What should I do?"
Alador began to think about the situation. "Well…I don't know if I have an opinion about this sort of topic. What did she do?"
"Well, she yelled at him when he was having a panic attack, she told Ronda to back off and one time when we were stuck in the bathroom, she told him that she wished he was easier to understand." Luz explained.
"Wow…I didn't expect Amity to be less understanding even after what happened between her and her mother."
"She is not like Odalia." Luz argued. "She and Manny are just in a rough spot in their relationship. They just need a moment alone together."
"Then why aren't they?" Alador asked.
"Well, she is helping Azura to try and unlock her Abomination powers." Luz said.
"But Azura can't do Abomination." Alador reminded his daughter-in-law. "Why is Amity doing everything she can to help her?"
"Well, she just needs to unlock them." Luz said.
Alador looked doubtful. "Does she? Or is she great as she is?"
Luz looked off in the distance as she pondered if Azura was really as great as she was and Amity was only doing this because of other reasons.
"Oh and wasn't Manny's enrolment to Hexside today?" Alador asked.
Luz panicked. "Oh, no! Oh Increíble! Idiota, Luz!"
Manny entered the office. "What's wrong, Mami?"
"Your enrolment into Hexside!" Luz exclaimed before she summoned Stringbean. "Come on Mijo, hop on."
"Mami, about school…"
"Don't worry Mijo, you can tell me when we arrive." Luz said. "Just hop on."
Manny reluctantly jumped on his mother's Palisman and they took off to Hexside. "Should we help the others with that Abomination?" Manny asked.
"We're going to be…." Suddenly, a tentacle grabbed the Palisman and pulled them.
At Cornelius' Island, Amity and Azura had decided to engage in an Abomination montage. Azura tried to once again make the Abomination rise but its hand only poked out to do a thumbs down gesture.
Then, Azura tried again but it only caused the pot to shoot up into the sky like a rocket before crashing down without it shattering.
Then, she tried again but the pot just barked like a dog and made Ghost run away in terror and fear.
Then Azura once again tried again but after a few seconds, nothing happened. Until a random tree branch fell on top of her.
A few minutes later, Azura was now having a bandage wrapped around her head by her mother. "Okay, okay, don't know how or why that branch fell. Azura, did you forget anything important?"
"Maybe a majority of the names of the family members we hardly see." Azura replied.
"Yeah, you're fine." Amity said. "So, that means we might have to stay here for a while."
"How long?" Azura asked.
Amity walked toward the tent to unpack some clothes. "I don't know. Maybe three months. It took me a long time to activate my powers."
"How king was that?" Azura asked.
"Oh a painful two hours." Amity's response made Azura freeze.
"Two hours?!" Azura exclaimed. "But I've been doing this for four hours and nothing!"
"Well, Azura like I said, we're going to stay here until we do." Amity said. "Because I'm not going to fail you, I promise."
"But what if I can't do it?" Azura asked. "You said I don't need to be powerful to be great."
"Well, maybe I was lying." Amity said. "No! No, I wasn't lying! I do think that!"
Azura stared at her mother in concern. "Mom, maybe I don't need to be powerful."
"What?! Won't you be disappointed?!" Amity asked her daughter.
"I don't know. Maybe…"
"Then we'll keep going!" Amity interjected. "I'll make sure I won't disappoint another child."
Azura froze. "Wait! What do you mean?"
Amity quickly tried to defuse the situation. "Forget what I said. It's just nothing. Really! I swear it's nothing!"
Azura began to approach her mother with a concerned expression on her face. "Mom? Is there anything wrong?"
Amity looked to have a crazy look on her face. "Everything is fine Azura! Everything is fine." But Ghost looked to Azura and shook her head.
"Mom, Ghost doesn't think you're okay as well."
Amity was about to argue back but then sighed sadly. "I guess you can see my problem, huh?"
Azura sat down with her mother. "Mom? Is this about Manny?"
Amity wiped a stray tear. "I'm such a disappointment, Azura. I mean to Manny anyway."
"Mom, you love Manny." Azura said.
"Of course I do." Amity said. "It's just, I'm terrified."
"Of his condition?" Azura asked.
Amity stuttered. "I…I….I…I don't know!" Amity admitted. "I don't know. I really don't know. I've tried everything to communicate with him and to connect with him and show him that I care for him. But all I do is get angry and then he gets angry and that makes him resent me more and more. Maybe I'm terrified of his condition and how I don't understand it. It's like I keep seeing him as something else."
"Not like your son?" Azura asked.
Amity groaned. "I don't know! I just don't want my kids to hate me! And I'm maybe a little scared that you'd eventually do the same with me! So that's why I planned this trip so you wouldn't resent me. Now, I realise that it was a dumb idea of me to do."
Azura gave her mom a concerned look but then that looked turned to determination. "Mom, you are not a disappointment! And I will become an Abomination master just to prove it!"
Amity sighed. "Mija, you don't need to prove yourself to me."
"No Mom! I can do it!" Azura argued as she stood. "And I don't care how much you resist! I will do it!"
Amity was about to argue with her daughter again but just gave up and looked down in shame. "Great job Noceda. Great job."
Meanwhile, at Hexside, Manny and Luz were in Principal Terrace's office where she was currently scolding a student. "I don't know why you need to be a menace in this school! But this is a school where we don't harass, discriminate or bully other students. So why do you keep doing it, Jakob?!"
But the Jakob she was yelling at was a round headed demon with a blue head, huge eyes, round nose, a fluffy tail and claws. "What have I done Principal Terrace?" The young demon spoke in a sweet, innocent and adorable voice. "I would never vandalise Evelyn's locker calling her a Gwimwitch and going to her house and start calling her a half-a-witch."
"You said it!" Principal Terrace exclaimed while pointing her finger at him. "When will you learn your lesson?!"
Jakob Krej looked like he was about to cry. "Why do I always get blamed for Widebent's cwimes?"
"Get out before it's the detention pit!" Terrace demanded angrily.
Jakob sobbed a bit as he exited the office leading Luz and Manny to feel sorry for him. "Oh poor kid." Luz remarked.
"What can I do for you Mrs Noceda?" Principal Terrace asked.
"We're here to talk about Manny's enrolment." Luz said.
"I see." Principal Terrace remarked. "Now Manny, it is a shame you got held back a few years but I'm glad you're joining finally."
"Yeah, I guess." Manny said glumly.
"Now, your Mami says you know two spells." She said.
"Yeah." Manny said.
"Are you excited about being at Hexside?" Principal Terrace asked. "It's an amazing school. Much better than Glandis. I mean, you wouldn't believe it. They interfered with my career and always wanted me to partake in musicals. Thank Titan Hexside appreciates my credibility!"
Manny shrugged his shoulders. "I guess…."
Luz noticed that something wrong was with her son. "Mijo?"
Manny looked away from his mother in shame. "I'm sorry, Mami."
"Mijo? Why are you apologising?" Luz asked.
"Manny, do you feel like Hexside isn't for you?" Terrace asked.
"Mijo?" Luz asked to her son whom was looking terrified.
"Mami, I don't want to go to Hexside." Luz said.
Principal Terrace became annoyed. "Oh come on! Why do you wanna go to those soul suckers at Glandis?!"
"I don't want to go to Glandis." Manny admitted. "I wanna…Go to human school."
Luz looked at her son with a surprised expression while Principal Terrace had her mouth wide open. "Okay, that is surprising. Do you mind if I drop something to symbolise my shock?"
"Go right ahead." Luz said. The principal picked up a mug filled with her coffee and dropped it.
Back on Cornelius' Island, Azura was currently trying summon some Abomination out of a pot while her mother watched on. She had been at this for an hour and once again, there was nothing going on.
The half-human did her best but unfortunately every time she summoned it, the pot just tipped over causing the Abomination to leak.
"Oh Titan!" Azura exclaimed.
Amity got up and began to walk to her daughter. "Azura…"
"No Mom, I got this!" Azura assured her mother before she tried again but it only caused a hand to show.
Then, Azura froze by what the hand was doing. "Okay. That's rude."
"Azura, you don't need to do this." Amity said.
"Mom, I don't want you to feel like a disappointment!" Azura argued.
"Just let me be." Amity sighed. "You can't do Abomination and that's fine."
"No Azura, I don't care about not being a disappointment." Amity said. "I only care…" She looked over her daughter's shoulder to see an Abomination. She gasped with glee at the sight. "Azura! You did it!"
Azura quickly turned around with excitement. "I did?! Oh my Titan I did it!"
Amity smiled. "I guess it feels good to not be a disappointment. Go ahead, give it commands."
"Okay! What should I do?!" She asked with excitement.
"I don't know, do something simple!" Amity exclaimed with an equal amount of excitement.
"Okay…Abomination, wave." The Abomination waved at them. "Okay! Okay! Abomination, stand on one foot." The Abomination stood on one foot. "Okay! Okay! Abomination pick up your pot." The Abomination picked up the pot.
"You did great Azura, I'm so proud." Amity said to her daughter. "Though, I would have been fine with you not having Abomination powers."
Azura smiled at her mother. "And I'm proud of you for helping me out. But I think you should talk to Mami at some point about what you told me."
Amity sighed. "I don't know. Me and your Mami had a fight and…"
"Mom, Mami will forgive you." Azura said. "Let's just go home after this. Okay Abomination, return," but the Abomination just stood in place motionless as it stared at the Nocedas. "Uh…Abomination, return?" She drew a spell circle and tried the command again but nothing happened.
Then the Abomination tipped the pot, revealing some Abomination goo. In that moment, Azura and Amity realised that this wasn't an Abomination. This was a sentient Abomination.
"Azura, get behind me." Amity commanded.
"Okay." Azura got behind her mother while summoning a fireball.
Amity made a few spell circles. "I don't know what you want but back off."
The Abomination known as Cereal Killer grinned as it began to approach them. "Okay then, Abomination, kneel!" She managed to get the Abomination on its knees before it stood up and tossed a shard at Amity.
Thankfully, Azura jumped out and summoned a vine from the ground to protect her mother. Then, the young Noceda summoned a fireball and some ice and then clashed them together to evaporate it into steam.
Cereal Killer jumped through the smoke to try and catch the Nocedas but unfortunately, they vanished. It surveyed the campsite and then began to dig around the tent for any sign of them but couldn't find them.
But unbeknownst to them, Azura and Amity were on Ghost just above it. "Okay, what was that?" Azura asked. "Why is that sentient Abomination after us?"
"I don't know." Amity said. "Maybe it's Cereal Killer."
"A serial killer?!" Azura exclaimed.
"No, Cereal Killer." Amity reiterated. "They're a thief and committed Abominationslaughter."
"Oh my Titan!" Azura exclaimed. "Wait, how is that possible? You know what, never mind, we got to get out of here."
"I'm not leaving while they're still out there causing havoc." Amity said. "Who knows how many Abominations they'll kill."
Azura sighed. "Good point. So I assume that you still don't care about being a disappointment?"
"Not right now." Amity said. "I thought of a plan." She dived down into the forest while on Ghost to the forest.
The Abomination continued to look around the forest for any sign of Azura and Amity but unfortunately couldn't find them. They looked up where they could have avoided them until Amity showed up out of nowhere and sliced its head off with one clean sweep with her staff.
It quickly put its head back on and turned toward Amity with a growl. Its hands shaped changed into fists and Amity did the same thing. The two clashed their fists with each other for a brief moment till Amity drew a spell circle and yanked the beast on its rear. She quickly summoned an Abomination spear and tried to stab them until it hit her with a mallet, causing her to crash into a tree.
Amity quickly stood up and cracked her neck just as Cereal Killer jumped up high in the air and tried to smash her with its enlarged fists. Amity quickly used her magic to flick them to the right, causing them to crash into a tree.
It stood up and growled before it felt a fireball hit it. It looked to its left to see Azura standing there with a smug grin on her face.
"I might not be able to control Abomination." Azura said as she summoned a vine. "But I can kick your slimy purple a-"
"Azura!" Amity interjected. "Language!"
The Abomination threw a shard at Azura whom quickly dropped on her front and rolled to the right as it tossed shards on the ground.
Then, Amity tried to attack her by stabbing it in the chest with Ghost but then the Abomination tossed her aside, causing her to fall off the edge of the island with Ghost following behind.
"Mom!" Azura screamed before throwing more fireballs at the Abomination. But instead of being affected, it was standing there like some sort of Slasher villain as the fires engulfed it.
It turned to Azura and began to march towards Azura with malicious intent. Azura tried trapping it in her vines until it managed to force its way through the vines.
Azura tried shooting some ice shards at the Abomination but it only stabbed it ain't its chest and abdomen but its body just swallowed the shards like it was nothing.
"Oh Titan!" She then realised that she was close to the ledge of the cliff and her eyes went wide. "Oh Titan."
Cereal Killer smiled as it cracked its non existent bones and turned its hand into a blade. Azura looked to the ledge of the cliff with fear and reluctance but then sighed. "Okay, guess I'm gonna do it." She held her breath and jumped off the ledge.
The Abomination raised a brow before running toward the ledge to see if Azura was down there but fortunately it couldn't see any sign of her.
In its brief moment of zero spacial awareness, it suddenly felt like it was being held into place by something. He looked up to see Azura and Amity appear while they were flying on Ghost an exhaling just like they held their breath as it was revealed that Azura was holding the a discarded invisibility glyph.
The Abomination roared angrily at them. "You should have learnt one thing Cereal Killer, you should never mess with the Noceda family!" Azura exclaimed. "Just ask people like Odalia Blight, Emperor Belos and Kiki-"
But before Azura could finish, Cereal Killer fell off the cliff and into the Boiling Sea. Azura and Amity were in silent shock by what had happened. They watched as the Abomination struggled to swim in the Boiling Sea but just melted into nothing.
Azura and Amity gave each other some concerned stares. "He was a criminal."
"Yeah, I don't think they'll miss them." Amity said. "Hopefully. Let's get our camping stuff together and then get on the blimp and then go home." Amity took off and she began flying her and Azura back in the campsite.
Meanwhile, Manny was sitting on the couch watching some Doctor What on the orb. Specifically, some of the worst episodes of the show. But unfortunately, he wasn't in the mood to nitpick the worst episode. Fifty-Five Orphans.
Luz walked out of the kitchen while on her Earth Phone. "Yes…Yes…Thank you Mr Thornton….Yeah, we'll get him to enrol soon." Luz hung up. "Okay Mijo, good news, I have gotten you an interview and an enrolment date. And it's at my old middle school. Surely you'll make more friends than I ever had before I came to the Demon Realm. So, why human school?"
"I just…You know, after reading so much about the Human Realm, good and the bad, I wanted to live it." Manny replied. "Besides visiting my Abuela and other family members."
"But the Demon Realm has so much stuff about itself that the Human Realm doesn't." Luz pointed out.
"Yeah, well….I've lived here and essentially seen everything." Manny replied. "Human Realm, despite all the bad things it's done has so much more interesting things in it. Such as armadillos. What is an armadillo?"
Luz smiled at her son as she noticed that he was smiling for the first time in today. "I think you'll like them, Mijo."
But then Manny's smile vanished as he stared at his Mami. "Mami?"
"Yes, Mijo?" Luz asked her son.
"Does…Mom hate me?" Manny's question made Luz gasp. "I mean…Does she not want me to be her son anymore after everything I've done?"
Luz pulled Manny in for a hug. "Mijo, no. No. No. No. Your Mom loves you. She's just having a hard time trying to understand this new thing about you. She just gets angry."
"I don't understand myself either." Manny admitted. "It's making Mom yell at me. She yelled at me when I got scared and she yelled at me when I got frustrated at her."
"Well the last part is understandable."
"You were there Mami!" Manny exclaimed. "She said she wishes I was easy to understand."
"Mom didn't mean it." Luz assured her son. "She's was just stressed with everything going on. Besides, I know what it's like to feel like when one the most important women in your life doesn't get you." She remembers how she felt the same thing with her mother when she was young.
"Are you autistic too?" Manny asked.
"That I don't know." Luz admitted. "But I know I'm not normal. And you're not normal. We're weirdos."
"Us weirdos have to stick together, right?" Manny asked with a smile.
Luz grinned at her son. "You're right, Mijo." She kissed his forehead while the two shared a hug. "You and Mom are gonna be okay. You'll get there. Trust me."
Later, after Amity and Azura returned home, Luz and Amity were in their bed. Luz was reading a letter while Amity was on her scroll.
They had been silent for about ten minutes after they had gotten in bed together due to not knowing what to say about the argument they had this morning.
The Wives both sighed. "I'm sorry for what happened." They said simultaneously.
"No Luz, I'm sorry for avoiding Manny." Amity said. "I just didn't want to be seen as a disappointment."
"Amity, I'm so sorry for comparing you to Odalia." Luz said. "I was just angry and scared for what was going on with you and Manny."
"By the way, we should have discussed about his new school arrangements." Amity said.
"Is that a bad idea?" Luz asked.
Amity sighed. "I love Manny, Luz. He is my son after all. So, if that's what he wants then I'll allow it. What about the humans? He knows how judgey they are, right?"
"I'm pretty sure he's aware." Luz replied. "Sorry, I did that behind your back."
"And I'm sorry I just ran away to deal with my personal problem than help Manny." Amity sighed. "Azura still can't do Abomination. So that trip was entirely pointless."
"I agree." Luz said.
"I just wish there was a way I could…I don't know, help Manny." Amity said. "Show him that he means so much to me without trying hard."
Luz in that moment had an idea. "Amity, I just got an invitation to go to Comic Bust in San Diego this weekend."
"And?" Amity asked.
"While me and Azura are in San Diego; Seeing the sights, doing cosplay, getting autographs from people like Marcy and Pines; While you and Manny are at home just talking, getting along and repairing things."
Amity looked reluctant but sighed. "Okay, Luz. I'll do my best. Him and I will have a healthy relationship when you get back."
Luz kissed her wife on the cheek. "Thanks Amity."
Suddenly, Azura walked in on her mothers. "Mom, we have got a massive problem. Some Abominations wanna talk to us about Cereal Killer." Amity froze while her wife stared at her in confusion.
"Cereal Killer?" Luz asked.
"We'll talk about this later." Amity replied. "Get my bail money just in case."