Several of the Pixfare residents were gathered around a casket and a tombstone that read 'Felix Cutter – Friend and Inventor'.
Ming gave a eulogy to the crowd. "Some of us knew him as Felix. Others as Flik. But we all knew him as a true friend. And though he may now be gone, he will always live on inside of us, reminding us to be our best selves, to do the right thing, and to always fight for what we believe in. So we shouldn't think of today as a goodbye. Just as a way of saying, 'Felix, we'll be listening.'"
Starting to cry, Laura Reed hugged Clark. Patty comforted her grieving daughters.
Sister Julia approached the grave and placed his telescope by the tombstone. "I'll miss you so much, my dearest Flik." She said through her tears. "But at least you're in a better place."
Unbeknownst to them, Felix was still tied up in the hold of the Spirit of Adventure. "Wait, no. Please don't. Wait! Please! Please!" He pleaded.
Katherine shushed him, grabbing his jaw. "As your patient, Rivera must have told you all manner of secrets. Where is the guitar?"
"I don't know anything about a guitar."
Katherine sat back. "No, you don't, do you? It's her weakness. Now, tell me, does she have any others?" Felix didn't answer. "Very well." She got in his face again. "I don't mind squishing an ant."
"No! Wait! wait! Please!"
"That's more like it. Now, tell me, Ant, what is her weakness?"
Héctor came running into the shoe store and greeted Ms. Cordwain at the counter. "Hey. What's wrong that you couldn't tell me on the phone?"
"I can leave." She said excitedly.
"Wait, wait, wait. You can cross the town line?" He asked, surprised.
"Si." She took out a small vial and showed it to him. "I got it from Wood. When I pour this potion onto the object I hold most dear, that object becomes a talisman that allows me to cross the town line and still remember who I am."
"And who are you looking for?"
"A missing member of our family."
Héctor put his hand on hers. "What will you enchant?"
"Well..." Ms. Cordwain turned around and revealed a hidden safe behind a painting. She unlocked the safe and pulled out a well-worn pair of shoes.
"I'm coming with you." Héctor said, determined.
Ms. Cordwain sighed, disappointed. "I wish you could, but there's only enough of this potion for one person." He nodded, understanding. She put the shoes back in the safe and closed it. "I'm afraid that I'll have to go alone." She stepped out from behind the counter and they hugged.
"Have you told the family?"
"No. I plan to surprise them. So not a word about this to them." She said firmly, to which he nodded in agreement.
Later, at the school, Héctor entered the music classroom and began setting up when he saw Katherine standing in the corner, holding a sheet music page. "Uh, sorry, señorita, class isn't until Monday."
Katherine turned to face him and put the paper away. "Oh. I'm not here for a music lesson."
Héctor's eyes widened as he suddenly recognized her. "You. You're that explorer's daughter." She smiled sinisterly. A couple of dogs appeared beside her. Héctor backed away and ran for the door, but Katherine followed him. A row of music stands stood between them. "The one who wanted to capture Pepita."
"Oh, he still does. But I'll settle for you."
Héctor pushed the stands, making them fall on top of Katherine. He ran out of the room and down the hallway.
"After him!" Katherine ordered the dogs and they obeyed, following him. She freed herself from the pile and rushed into the hallway.
Héctor quickly began to dial his cell phone.
Ms. Cordwain was working in her store when she heard her cell phone ring. She picked it up and answered it. "Hola, Héctor."
"Imelda, I'm at the school." He explained, scared. "There's a woman here. She broke in. She wants to kill me."
On her end, Ms. Cordwain mostly heard static crackling. "Que? Héctor, you're breaking up. Who's at the school?"
"That pilot's daughter."
"Héctor?"
"She has dogs."
"Héctor?"
"Hello?" The line cut out and Héctor hung up the phone, frustrated.
"Héctor?"
Hiding in the supply closet, Héctor heard pounding on the door. The knob soon began to jiggle. He stood back against the wall, still scared. The door soon opened to reveal Ms. Cordwain.
"Héctor?" Relieved, he rushed towards her and threw his arms around her. "It's ok, it's ok. It's ok." She calmed him down.
"Where is she?" He asked, looking around.
"I don't know. Cálmese, I'm here now." They hugged again.
At the Parr's apartment, Hilary sadly looked off into the distance from her bedroom window.
Jack entered the room, holding a plate. "Hey, kid, you hungry? I managed to wrangle up a Pop-Tart." He offered.
"No thanks." She turned away from him.
Jack glanced at his mother, who gave him a sad look. He put the plate on the bed next to Hilary and headed back to the living room, where Laura Reed and the rest of the funeral attendees were gathered. "Well, that went well."
"Jack-Jack, you're doing all you can do." Laura Reed assured him.
"That's what makes me feel awful."
"Guys." Bart spoke up, holding hands with his wife, Betty. "The toys have been thinking. We have to ask. When do we go back?"
"Back where?" Jack wondered.
"Our home."
"You want to go back?" Laura Reed asked.
"We fought hard to get here." Jack mentioned.
"Yeah, but with what Derek did to Felix, Pixfare ain't as safe as we thought."
"We're going to find him." Jack assured. "There's only so many places he can hide."
Laura Reed shook her head. "We've dealt with him before. We'll do it again."
"Yeah, but it's not just him. The curse is broken." The others turned their attention to them. "There's a whole world full of people beyond the town line that don't know who or what we are. Ever think of what might happen if one of them were to come visit us?"
Jack and Laura Reed looked at each other, concerned.
"He's right." Michelle agreed. "What if they see, you know, magic? Like a woman turning into a bear, for example?" She asked, glancing at Ellen. "Folks weren't exactly understanding back in our world."
"Okay, let's not worry about what-ifs. No one is here." Jack tried to convince them.
"Yet." Bart argued. "Maybe they come, maybe they don't. But that doesn't change the fact that while we might enjoy things like penicillin, we're a bit homesick."
Héctor and Ms. Cordwain walked along the main street, heading back to the shoe store.
"Where are you going?" He asked.
"The shop."
"Why?"
"Well, let's just say there are many shoes in there that I could use to make sure that woman never comes near you ever again."
"Imelda, no. We need to report this to the sheriff. They'll take care of her. You're so close to finding our relative. Please, don't let your hatred for this woman get in the way of that."
"But she tried to harm you."
"But why? I mean, what happened between you two?"
"Héctor, it's really not your concern."
"She attacked me. It most definitely is my concern."
Ms. Cordwain nodded and sighed, knowing she had no choice. "Many years ago..." She began telling him the story. They kept walking until they arrived at the shoe store.
"That's why he came after me. " Héctor realized. "But, what about her? I mean, what did she do?" Ms. Cordwain hesitated, but he touched her hand. "Imelda, you know you can tell me anything."
"It didn't end well. That's all that matters."
Ms. Cordwain unlocked the door and they entered, only to find, to their shock, that the place had been completely ransacked.
"Dios Mio. What happened in here?"
"Muntz. This is why she attacked you." Ms. Cordwain realized, walking through the mess.
"To get you out of the store. What did they want?"
Ms. Cordwain noticed that the safe had been opened. She rushed to check it, only to find that it was empty.
From a nearby rooftop, Katherine was spying on the two through the window with her telescope. Charles came up to her, carrying the shoes in his hands.
"You have them, Daddy?"
"What are they, Katherine?"
"They're the end of Rivera's hope. Now she's trapped here."
Inside the shop, Ms. Cordwain began smashing things with her boot in a fit of rage.
"Imelda! Imelda, ¡basta! Basta! Por favor!" Héctor touched her shoulders, trying to calm her.
"Héctor, you're right. I have to retrieve what's mine." She headed towards the exit.
He started to follow her. "Let me help you."
"This is my fight."
"And this is my fault. If Katherine had never attacked me, you never would've left the shop."
"How do you propose we get the shoes back?" Ms. Cordwain yelled. "Have you faced those two before? How exactly are you gonna help me?"
"Well, I'm not just gonna sit here and do nothing!"
"No. You're going to go back to the school, lock the door, and wait for me to deal with this problem."
"And if I don't? You'll beat me with your shoe until I have no choice?"
"No. I trust you'll do as I say. Héctor, por favor. Katherine has maybe cost me the chance of finding our relative. I don't want to lose you, again!" Her voice started to get emotional. He stared at her, speechless. "Here, look." She pulled a gun out of one of the drawers and handed it to him. "I want you to take this, just in case Katherine is stupid enough to come after you again. Point this, pull this trigger, and the gun will do the rest for you, all right? All right?!"
"Si. Si." He nodded. She started to leave, but he touched her shoulder. "Wait. Promise me that you going after Katherine is just about getting the shoes back."
Ms. Cordwain just stared at him, still full of emotion, and walked out the door without answering.
Later, Héctor was straightening up the mess of stands and chairs in the music classroom. Amongst the pile, he found a whistle. Curious, he searched the library and found a book titled 'Dog training and behavior', and looked through it. He found a page on equipment and discovered that it was a dog whistle. "Katherine came here on their blimp." He realized, smiling.
Héctor walked around the docks, looking all over for the Muntz's blimp, but couldn't find it. "Where is it?" He wondered to himself. Looking up, he noticed several seagulls perched on something invisible. Héctor took out the whistle and blew into it, and heard the sound of dogs howling. He grabbed a handful of bird feed from a nearby container and threw it at the base of the 'blimp', revealing the ramp leading onto it. "Ah-ha. Found you."
Héctor carefully walked up the ramp until he crossed an invisible barrier and was amazed to see the actual blimp for himself. He searched around the different rooms when he heard a muffled voice.
"Hello?"
"Uh... hello?"
"Down here!" Héctor followed the sound and opened the door to the storage room where Felix was being held captive. "Héctor! Oh, thank goodness!"
"Felix! You're…you…you're okay?" Héctor stammered, shocked to find him alive.
"Yes, I am. Can you, uh…" Felix gestured to his hands which were tied up with ropes.
Héctor grabbed a nearby sword and cut through Felix's binds. He untied his legs himself and climbed out of the room.
"Go. Find Imelda. Tell her I'm here. Bring her back to the blimp." Héctor instructed.
"Wait. You're not coming with me?" They heard the sound of footsteps approaching.
"Go. Go, go, go!" Héctor rushed Felix out. "There's no time to argue."
Felix obeyed and ran out of the blimp, leaving Héctor behind.
Clark and Laura Reed were doing the dishes when they noticed Hilary sitting on her bed and dialing the phone.
"Who's she calling?" Clark whispered to her.
Laura Reed walked over to the other phone in the kitchen and picked up the receiver. They were shocked to hear a recording from Felix's office phone on the other end.
"You've reached the office of Felix Cutter. I'm sorry I can't take your call right now. I'm either with a patient..."
Hilary sadly hung up. "Or dead."
Clark sat next to her on the bed. "It's okay, honey. Things will get better, I promise. You just gotta hang in there."
"Doesn't feel that way."
"I know. I know."
Laura Reed sadly watched them from the kitchen, feeling bad for Hilary. Dug suddenly entered through the front door and rushed over to where Hilary was sitting.
"Dug!" Hilary perked up.
"How did he get in here?" Laura Reed asked.
Jack entered the room. "I brought him. Patty and I had a chat. Felix knew how much Hilary loved this dog. We decided she should have him." He turned to Hilary. "That is, if you're up for taking care of him, Hilary."
"Yeah, I am!" Hilary smiled as she and Clark happily petted Dug.
Jack and Laura Reed smiled, but then looked down and saw dirty paw prints on the floor.
"Hilary, why don't you take Dug outside and clean him up?" Jack suggested.
"Okay. Come on. Come on, boy, come on! Let's go! Come on, boy." Hilary ran out the door with Dug.
"Alright, look. I know there's a lot to work out logistically, but..." Jack started explaining.
"No, no, no." Laura Reed interrupted. "I think giving Dug to Hilary is a great idea." Clark nodded in agreement. "It's just, six people and a dog in this loft. Things may get a little..."
"Cramped? I know. We'll get creative."
"Or... we could get our own place." Laura Reed suggested.
"You wanna do what?" "You wanna move out?" Clark and Jack both said at once.
"Whoa! It was just a suggestion." Laura Reed said defensively.
Jack looked shocked. "After 28 years, isn't this what we've all been waiting for? To be together, under the same roof?"
"Yes. I just imagined a bigger roof... with water features." She said, remembering their house back in their world. Jack laughed. "Being here in Pixfare, we have a chance at a fresh start. Let's take it."
Héctor put the gun on a counter and began to search the room for the shoes. He found a locked box on a shelf, but no key. He eventually found the key on one of the shelves and used it to open the box. Inside, however, there were only a few pieces of gold.
"Looking for these?" Katherine stood behind him, holding the shoes.
"Those don't belong to you."
"Oh, they do, now."
They both glanced at the gun. Héctor tried to grab it, but Katherine was faster.
"Uh-uh." She chuckled sinisterly, examining the gun. "Oh. Dear naïve Héctor, you should've stayed with your music. Real life can get so..." She aimed the gun at his forehead. "Messy."
"I'm not afraid of you, and I'm not leaving without those." He pointed to the shoes.
"Well, I admire your loyalty, but helping that woman?" Katherine placed the shoes on the counter. "I'm afraid you're fighting a lost cause."
"She needs those shoes to find our relative."
Katherine put the gun down. "What makes you think they want to be found? Hmm? I'm doing them a favor."
"Haven't you hurt Imelda enough?"
"Oh, I've hurt her?"
"Yes, she told me what you did."
Katherine came up to him until their faces were close to each other and began telling her side of the story.
"I'm sorry that happened. But vengeance? Vengeance won't undo it."
Katherine held the gun again. "You make it sound like it was some sort of accident. Is that what she told you?
"She didn't say."
"No, of course not. Of course she'd leave out the most important detail."
"And uh, what would that be?"
Katherine told him the whole truth.
"No." Héctor shook his head in disbelief.
"Oh, yes."
"No!"
"Yes." Katherine lifted his chin with the gun. "She will do anything. Anything to hold onto her power." She walked to the other side of the room and pointed the gun at him. "Now, what makes you think this time will be any different? And tell me something, pal, why would you want to fight for a woman like that?"
"Because I love her and our family. Because her heart is true. And yours? Yours is rotten."
Héctor slammed an oar that was hanging from the ceiling into Katherine's head. She stumbled backward and fell into the storage room where Felix was held. Héctor grabbed the shoes from the counter and ran out.
"You have no idea." Katherine said to herself and then got up.
Héctor almost made it out of the blimp, before Katherine cut him off.
"How did you..."
"Oh, I know this blimp like the back of my own hand. I suggest you give those back to me now."
"Or what?" Ms. Cordwain's voice came from behind.
Katherine turned around to face her. "Oh. You look different in this world, Rivera. Like the tyrant I met so long ago. Skin and all."
"And yet, you still can't kill me."
"Let's have it, Rivera." Katherine challenged her. "You gonna call your flying cat?"
"Oh, no. I don't need Pepita." Ms. Cordwain laughed and then hit Katherine upside the head with her boot, causing her to fall back. She then furiously began to beat Katherine with her boot.
"Imelda! Hey! Let's go. Let's go!"
"No, not yet, Héctor." She hit her again.
He held up the shoes. "These are what you came for."
"You're wasting your breath, pal." Katherine said. "She can't resist. She has to prove that she's the boss."
"You might want to turn away, Héctor. This isn't going to be pretty." Ms. Cordwain again began to beat Katherine.
"Do it. Do it! Kill me." Katherine taunted. "She has to show you how powerful she is!"
"No, Imelda. This is what she wants. To destroy every bit of good in you."
"She deserves it, Héctor." Ms. Cordwain held her boot to Katherine's throat.
"No! No, she doesn't. There's good in you. I see it. I've always seen it. Por favor, show me I'm not wrong." He pleaded.
Ms. Cordwain hesitated for a moment, then let go of Katherine. "You take your little blimp and fly far away. I never want to see you again." She smacked Katherine in the face, then turned to Héctor. "Let's go."
He took her hand and pulled her away from Katherine.
At the Diner, Clark and Laura Reed were looking through the real estate available in Pixfare.
"I really liked this one." Laura Reed pointed to one option.
"I don't know, the yard looks kinda small."
"You gonna say that about every house we look at?" She noticed the troubled look on his face. "This isn't about the houses, is it?"
"We buried a friend this morning, Helen, and it made me realize, I don't wanna die here."
"But our home, Bob? It doesn't exist anymore. The robots are back, Evelyn's in power..."
"Which is exactly why we need to return. To make things right, to fight..."
"That's all we've ever done! We have a chance here, a chance to be together."
"But what if we don't belong here? Isn't it worth it to fight for what we really want?"
"Unless we don't want the same thing."
In the apartment, Hilary, Dash, and Violet were drawing at the table, while Dug lay near their feet.
Jack entered the room and came over. "Plotting your escape from Shawshank, guys?" He joked.
"No, they're blueprints. We had some ideas about what to do if Laura Reed and Clark move out. Look." Hilary explained.
"You wanna make her room an arsenal?"
"Yeah, you know, for weapons and stuff. To protect us - from Derek."
"He's not going to hurt you. I'm not going to let him." Jack assured her.
"He hurt Felix. What if he wants to take me back?"
"That's not gonna happen." There was a knock at the door, which caused Dug to bark and whimper.
"Dug? What is it?" Hilary asked, curious.
Jack answered the door. "Felix?" He looked shocked to see him alive.
"Hi."
"What happened?"
"It was Evelyn. She kidnapped me."
Also surprised, Hilary got up and came to the door. "Felix?"
"Hilary!" They tightly hugged. "It's alright. I'm fine. I'm fine."
"Hilary, we were wrong. Derek didn't do it." Jack realized.
"I knew it! Maybe we should let him know."
"Yeah. Something tells me, either way, we're gonna pay the price."
Ms. Cordwain pulled up in front of the town line in her car, with Héctor in the passenger seat. She turned off the car, but they didn't get out yet.
She held up the shoes. "These would have been lost, if it wasn't for you, Héctor. I would've been lost. After everything we've been through, after everything I've done, why haven't you given up on me?"
"I made the mistake of leaving once, and it took my life and made me miserable. I'm not doing that again. Nothing's more important than family."
They both smiled at each other and soon got out of the car. They approached the town line. Ms. Cordwain poured the potion onto the shoes, making them glow with magic. Héctor helped her put them on.
"Okay." He smiled, excited.
"Here we go." Ms. Cordwain carefully stepped across the painted line, while he nervously watched. A surge of magic pulsed through her body. She turned around to face him and smiled. "Héctor."
With a huge grin, Héctor edged closer to the line and grabbed Ms. Cordwain's hand. "It worked."
"Yes, it did. It did."
Héctor let out a loud grito. "Now you can find our missing relative."
"I do wish you were coming with me, mi amor."
"So do I. But you'll find them, and when you do, I'll be here waiting for you when you get back."
They leaned in to kiss when suddenly, there was a gunshot. Héctor fell forward across the line, causing the magic to surge through him. Ms. Cordwain caught him in her arms.
Behind them, Katherine pointed the gun in their direction. "I wouldn't count on it."
"Héctor?! Héctor? Héctor!" Ms. Cordwain shouted, frantically as she lowered him to the ground.
He looked up at her with a confused expression. "Who's Héctor?"
Ms. Cordwain looked at the blood on her hands, horrified. "Oh, no. No, no, no, no!"
Katherine spoke up. "Oh, don't worry, he'll live. He'll just have no idea who you are."
"What you've done cannot be undone!" Ms. Cordwain shouted.
"Well, now you finally know how it feels! Well, go ahead, Rivera, do your worst!"
"Oh, I intend to." Ms. Cordwain took off her boot and was about to strike it at Katherine when a car suddenly barrelled down the road towards them. "Héctor!" Ms. Cordwain grabbed him and rolled them both out of the way, but the car ended up hitting Katherine.
She ended up unconscious on the other side of the road, while the car swerved and crashed into a large boulder. Ms. Cordwain glanced at the car, which had a Pennsylvania license plate.