This was nothing like playing for the Calavera Club. Miguel looked out into the crowd and saw only blinding white light. He could hear all of them, though, clapping and shouting just for him. He and Dante stepped out to center stage, and Miguel felt right at home. When he raised his hands, holding up Héctor's guitar, they all cheered. When he dropped them, they stopped. When he did it again, they did it again, and when he pointed to one spot out in the white void just one guy went absolutely nuts screaming, and everybody laughed, and he laughed, and it was wonderful!

Up in the loft, Maria gushed. "Look at him! He's a natural!"

"Maria!" Meche wheezed. "We need to get him out of there! Turn off the lights- why is he wearing a microphone?!"

Maria jumped out into the ropes and swung herself into a little seat. "I put it on him."

Imelda dove for Maria's collar and held tight. Her voice was a harsh, manic rasp. "You did what?!"

"Well they can't hear him if he's not wearing a mic!" Maria batted Imelda's hand away and swung herself back onto the catwalk next to Meche. "He'll be fine! I've been antagonizing Ernesto for years now. He can't do a thing to Miguel, and Domino won't start anything in public. He's probably down in the audience so drunk he can't see straight going-" She dropped her voice down into the deepest register she could muster. "Duuuh who's that on stage? I don't remember booking that act!"

To his credit, Domino was only buzzed, but still very confused. His hand hung frozen in mid-thought as he tried to puzzle out what was happening in front of him.

"… that's Miguel." He blanked. "That- how did he get- … did Calavera bring him here? Oh my goddamn-" He dropped back into his seat and guffawed. "That's fifty guys down the Number Nine for nothin'! Holy shit. Up there stealin' Ernie's show."

The statement sent Héctor sinking into his seat to hide his heaving ribs. He couldn't panic- Frida Kahlo did not panic at the sight of his grandson up on a stage in front of a crowd of maybe a hundred thousand people which included some who wanted him dead…

"He just- I- how-" Lost for words, Manny's mind spun out and crashed. "Mierde."

It wasn't much better in the balcony, because Manolo flat out kicked over Salvador's rifle lunging for Joaquin. "What is he doing out there?! You said he was safe!"

"He was safe! He was with De la Cruz backstage!" said Joaquin. "De la Cruz can't do anything to him!"
"Why didn't you tell me!?"

"If you had let me finish, I could have told you!" Joaquin huffed. "You know this 'everybody goof on Joaquin' bit is getting real old-"

Sal didn't even go for the rifle, instead grabbing for his radio. "All available agents to the auditorium! Eva, dispatch Glottis for an emergency extraction. Miguel is out here with us!"

And Miguel, oblivious to all of this, just smiled and held up the guitar. It was so much bigger than Chicharrón's! He felt so little on this giant stage with this normal-size guitar. He strummed and found it in perfect tune. "Let's play some music! Feliz Dia de Muertos, WOO!"

With his best grito and a flourish of chords, Miguel launched himself into Poco Loco. His first public performance with his great-great-grandfather, all the cool people he met that night- the memories all came back in a wave from his heart and out through this voice. Every note was clear and confident and loud.

At the same time, Maria put a hand to her ear. She gasped. "We have Ernesto, stage left! Meche I need you on a spotlight- Imelda, you go with Lupe on rigging!"

"What-"

Lupe grabbed Imelda by the crook of her elbow and yanked her off into the high loft. "Just pull on what I tell you to pull on, now hurry!"

"Everybody else get to your positions and be ready on my mark! Just like we practiced!" Maria perched up on the railing and leaned over the edge on tippy-toe. "Oooh this is going to be amazing!"

"Where should I put my shoes, ay mi amor, ay mi amor!" Miguel saw a flicker of silver out of the corner of his eye and immediately knew who it was. "You say, 'Ernesto de la Cruz'! Ay mi amor, ay mi amor!"

Maria waved Meche on. "Now, now!"

The spotlights spun to Miguel's left size; there was De la Cruz, caught trying to sneak out to him in the shadows. Miguel stepped back a short ways, guided by Dante's glowing green body. De la Cruz only startled for a split second before putting on a bright shiny stage grin, throwing back his shoulders, and singing…

Manny jumped when Héctor doubled over, stifling a laugh. "What- what is it?"

Rocking in his seat with booming laughter, Domino answered for him. "You got no mic, Ernie!"

Miguel smirked at the absolute nothing that came out of De la Cruz's mouth. And good! Singing together was his and Papá Héctor's thing! Miguel saw an easy shot and took it. "You make me un poco loco, un poquiti-ti-to loco, you're nodding and you're yessing, and can't hear yourself, I'm guessing? I'll count it as a blessing~"

The crowd exploded with laughter so loud Miguel could feel it through his feet.

"On the SPOT!" Manolo bragged from the balcony. "ON the SPOT!"

If De la Cruz thought he could out-perform Miguel? He'd have to keep up, because Miguel had his family guitar and all of Héctor's songs memorized. He transitioned into another tune, making it a medley and catching De la Cruz trying to sing the next line of Poco Loco. It made him stumble.

"This is gold. This is PURE gold!" Maria whistled up to Lupe and Imelda. "Let's get some stage effects going! You keep him in spotlight, Meche, I'm counting on you!"

Meche wrestled with the spotlight. "I really hope you know where you're going with this!"

When Dante jumped, Miguel jumped, not even thinking about why. When the stage rose up under his feet, he got it, and he danced right behind Dante, knowing that any time he jumped, Miguel would land with his feet on the ground, no matter how high up that ground happened to be. It walked Miguel up higher and higher, still singing his little medley while Ernesto tried in vain to keep up with him. It was like he hit every fog machine and trip wire that could possibly be on that stage. It was almost eerie, because the orchestra matched him perfectly. It was almost like they'd rehearsed!

Up in the balcony, Manolo was plucking his guitar and concentrating hard on the musicians down below, just… giving them a little nudge in the right direction. "Come on, come ooon… don't modulate on me here, Miguel…"

"Eva? Eva, come in…" Salvador hissed. "It's no use. I can't get anyone on the radio. Something is wrong."

"I've got my eye on him," Joaquin assured him. "We're okay! It's all okay- look, Miguel is tearing it up down there!"

Down in the front row, Héctor was completely transfixed. It was Manny that heard all the comments flittering around in the rows behind them. "This is way better than last year's show!" "About time they did something different." "Who is this kid?" "I don't know, but the living world missed out. He's got talent!" Manny would be proud of him if he wasn't completely terrified.

Miguel was getting tired, and the medley had gone on long enough. He started to wrap it up-

Lupe signaled to Imelda, and Imelda grabbed something and pulled hard-

And Ernesto de la Cruz tripped in the shadows and fell into an open trap door. He blinked out of Miguel's vision like a snuffed star.

Miguel huffed out a laugh. He felt… amazing. To keep his hands busy, he strummed the lead-up to the song he and Héctor had written together. The orchestra had gone quiet, which was fair. They had no way of knowing this one.

Héctor did. "Dios…"

"I'm gonna sing you a song I wrote with my great-great-grandfather…" He had an idea. "You probably don't know him, but he wrote 'Remember Me'."

The crowd, predictably, wailed in delight. Miguel grinned, because he was about to ruin Ernesto de la Cruz forever.

Up on that stage, Miguel played from the bottom of his heart. He played from the attic where his primos built his ofrenda, and the piano top where Glottis sang alongside him. The words came from Mamá Coco and Meche, from Lupe and Manolo, from Glottis and Manny and Héctor. They came from the gods and from his dog, from every soul that believed in him and kept him safe and happy right to this moment, singing and playing with every beat of his proud corazón. The orchestra picked up to keep time, and then fill in for the last few lines with a swell and a big finish with trumpets and strings.

The audience roared with applause. Even above the din, he would hear Manolo and Joaquin screaming congratulations- wait, Manolo and Joaquin? Were they watching him the whole time? Was Héctor? Now he was embarrassed. That was a very personal kind of performance. He smiled shyly and spoke normally, just for them. "That was for my family… my whole family. Gracias a todos."

He had no way of knowing that his great-great-grandfather was down in the front row, choking back proud sobs and gripping Manny's arm like his life depended on it. Or that his great-great-grandmother was watching him from the loft, silently beaming while Maria's women celebrated around her.

"Quick- let Ernesto back up!" hurried Maria. "I have to see him floundering from this!"

It was a different story down in the front row. Domino's applauded, as expected, and then pinched his lapels and spoke into his coat. "Ernie? Hey, good to hear you got your mic back. Yeah… yeah, let's wrap this up. Security to all backstage checkpoints."

Imelda pulled the appropriate lever, but Ernesto de la Cruz did not rise with the floor. The spotlight focused on a bare patch on the stage for three seconds before someone's clapping echoed through Miguel's microphone.

Miguel turned around, and De la Cruz was behind him, just clapping politely and laughing without any hint of mirth. "Yes, yes… an excellent song written by my grandson and I-"

Miguel whipped back on him with fire in his blood and red in his vision. Even Dante yelped and cowered away from him. "You're NOT my family, you hack!"

De la Cruz jumped back from him like he was a cobra, and for some reason, that just made Miguel even more mad. He was already angry for everything- the mountains of riches, his foul attitude, the fact that he was a murderer and a thief- but just the simple fact that he was flinching from a little kid like he was the victim in this made Miguel go for blood. He had SO many words he could throw together just to cut him down, but before he could, De la Cruz's face blanked… and realization dawned on him.

He spoke directly into his body mic. "Cut the lights."

The stage went black, and the audience screamed.

Maria gasped. "Lupe!"

"That's breaker five!" Lupe answered. "I'm on it!"

"Marisol, Betsabé, you're bodyguards! Go!" Maria ordered.

Miguel had a split second of a thought- who was talking?- before bony fingers clenched around his neck. All at once he realized that all the years he'd lived here, nearly everyone had treated him with gentle kindness, because the hands on him were nothing but dry, pointed, cold, and dead.

It was a good thing he had been singing. When he screamed, they heard it in the back rows.

"Okay," Joaquin drew his swords. "Time to kill people."

"We'll be back, Sal," said Manolo.

"Understandable," said Salvador. "Godspeed."

Domino slapped his forehead. He snarled into the mic. "Don't kill the kid, Ernie, jeeze- just hold him until I get there, for fu-"

Domino only just saw it in the low light: Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera jumping out of their seats and rushing the stage. Something about Diego looked weird in a familiar way. Something about his legs. They bent funny-

"Oh," he realized out loud. "Oh-oh-oh, Cally on stilts. Okay, that's on me. Now…" He followed their lead. "Let's fix that."