Luz Clawthorne Book 3: We've Only Just Begun

by JP-Ryder

Book 3 of the Luz Clawthorne series. Two months have passed since the Day of Unity. Luz is living a new life in the Human Realm, spending more time with her birth mother and the god-family she never knew she had. Yet despite this... the Fates aren't done yet with Luz Clawthorne. Not by a long shot.

4. Chapter 147: Ready Player Vee

Hey guys, we'd like to apologized for being super late on the chapter.

This December, well it's on me, really, that I've been a little slacking off. The work days was very extra for the last two weeks, I came home without the feeling of writing, or drawing. I feel like those manga artists that had to take breaks due to stress and health issues, which I can assure you that I am healthy, just tired… and potentially sleep depraved…

Also, we have archived the Q and As into a new story, so check it out under the guise "LC Presents: Looking for Answers", where you see the Q and As posted and archived as well as getting new answers. That is where we'll post new Q and As from now on.

Anyway, we're back with a Book 3 chapter.

Disclaimers the same, get to reading

---

Chapter 147: Ready Player Vee

It was the middle of the night at the Noceda household.

Down in the basement, Luz and Amity were both sound asleep, the two of them sharing a bed. They were cuddling, of course. Just like they had when they had shared a bed in the Owl House. And they would have slept peacefully throughout the entire night… if a loud cry hadn't come from upstairs.

"Mama!"

Phil's cries got Luz and Amity to wake up, with the latter immediately sitting up in bed.

"Phil?!" Amity cried out, her tone and expression worried as she leapt out of bed. She turned to Luz, who was also getting out of bed.

"Alright, let's go check him up," Luz responded with a yawn before she and Amity went upstairs.

Once upstairs, the two girls headed into Phil's room. Inside, they found him awake, sitting up in bed, and crying.

"M-Mommy…" Phil sobbed as Luz and Amity rushed over to him.

"Phil, baby, we're here," Amity assured him as she went over to hug him. Phil hugged her back as Luz sat by his bed with them, watching Amity embrace her son.

"Yeah, we're here for ya, boyo," Luz assured him, patting his back. "Tell us what happened."

Ghost came into the room as well, jumping onto the bed and climbing into Phil's lap.

Phil sniffed. "I had a scary dream…" he admitted, causing Amity to frown.

"Oh…" she said.

"What's going on?" Camila asked as she came into the bedroom, having also been woken up after hearing Phil's cries. "Is Phil okay? What happened?"

"Phil woke up from a bad dream," Luz informed Camila.

"Oh, poor baby," Camila said as she came over to help comfort Phil.

"Was it the same bad dream, Phil?" Amity asked him.

Phil hiccupped and nodded. "Y-Yes, mommy."

"Wait, same?" Luz asked in confusion. "You mean… he's had those nightmares before?"

Amity sighed and nodded. "Phil has had these… recurring nightmares for a while back on the Boiling Isles."

Luz and Camila both shared worried looks.

"What exactly is this recurring nightmare about?" Camila asked, causing Phil to whimper slightly.

"When I asked him, he described it as being in… some kind of dark void." Amity explained for her son while still comforting Phil. "He mentions seeing ghosts and being stuck in place… that's all he was able to tell me."

"Has Phil gone to see someone about those bad dreams?" Luz asked while she reached out to gently hold Phil's hand. After a moment, she felt him gently squeeze her hand back.

"Well, when I told my mom about Phil's nightmares, she told me that she knew someone from the Oracle Institute that could help him," Amity said. "He is a counselor named Dr. Midnight. I went to see him and ask if he could talk to Phil. He agreed and I take Phil to see him whenever he has these nightmares." She looked at her upset son and lifted him onto her lap, bouncing him gently. "There, there, Phil…"

"Does he need to see Dr. Midnight right now?" Luz asked her.

"Not at this moment, no," Amity responded. "But in the morning… I'm not sure."

"Perhaps he could talk to the therapist that Luz is seeing," Camila suggested.

"Oh yeah," Luz replied. "I mean, he is a human, but I think he could help."

Amity thought about it before she gave a nod. "It could be worth a try," she said while seeing Phil had managed to calm down. "Do you want me to stay with you until you fall back asleep?" she asked her son.

"Uh-huh," Phil answered with a nod.

Amity smiled gently at Phil before turning to Camila and Luz. "You two can go ahead and leave, I can take care of Phil," she said before addressing Luz directly. "I'll return to bed once Phil is asleep."

Luz, however, hesitated. "I… think I should stay as well," she decided. "We can go back to bed together."

Amity was surprised by this, but she looked grateful as Luz sat with her and Phil on the bed. Camila stayed silent as she watched them for a moment, but then she gave a smile and left the room to return to bed.

---

Later that morning, as the sun began to rise, Star Butterfly was fast asleep in her tent. As the first rays of sunlight began to hit her face, she slowly opened her eyes.

She woke up with a yawn, rubbing her eyes as she began to sit up. "What time is it?" she asked while looking at her makeshift stone clock that told the time. "Early, neat."

A few minutes later, she got out of her tent while depressed in a navy-blue t-shirt, red plaid pajama pants, and red boots. She walked past the other three tents that made up their campsite. Said tents housed her father, River, and the twins, Mary and Mosely. None of them were awake yet and Star didn't intend to wake them up either.

No, she had very different plans.

Star began her morning exercise routine. She started by doing some stretches; stretching out her arms, followed by her legs. She rotated her body a few times, before taking a deep breath.

She then brought out her earphones, putting them in before turning on her MP3 player (something she got from Wendy as a gift) so that she would have some music during her personal training montage…

'Hey, hey, bye, bye, bye!

Bye, bye, bye, bye!'

She dropped down and started doing some push ups. While listening to the song, she then switched to sit ups, lifting her torso up while keeping her feet down.

'I'm doin' this tonight, you're probably gonna start a fight!'

Next, she did some air punches as she put herself in a boxing position. She continued to punch the air like she was shadow boxing.

'I know this can't be right, Hey- baby, come on, I- loved you endlessly, and you weren't there for me!'

She jumped up and grabbed a low-hanging tree branch, using it to do her pull-ups while holding onto the tree branch.

'So- now, it's time to leave, and make it alone!'

Star then set up some wooden boards that she began bunching a few times before bringing her foot up in the air and bringing it down on one of the boards, breaking it in half.

'I know that I can't take no more,

It ain't no lie

I wanna see you out that door!

Baby, bye, bye, bye- BYE, BYE!'

Star then began to jog through the woods, still wearing her earphones. She ran through the forest and past the lake, some of the local animals noticing her jogging past them, but she ignored them as she turned around and began to jog back toward where her camp was.

'Don't wanna be a fool for you! Just another player in your game for two. You may hate me, but it ain't no lie~ Baby- bye, bye, bye(Bye, bye)!'

Several gnomes had gathered in a clearing as they began to circle Star, who got into a fighting stance.

"Ready, Star?" asked one of the gnomes.

"Give me your best shot," Star responded with her fist up.

The gnomes then started throwing acorns at Star. The blonde Mewman immediately reacted, dodging a few of them and punching a few others out of the air. When one acorn was aimed for the face, she opened her mouth and took a bite out of it before spitting it out.

"Is that all you got?" she asked the gnomes with a smirk.

'Don't really wanna make it tough, I just wanna tell you that I had enough! Might sound crazy, but it ain't no lie, -baby, bye, bye, bye!'

After she finished with the gnomes, Star put herself into a new stance. She separated her feet and placed her fist down while holding her position. She then let out a grunt…

"Grrrrrr," she said as she spread her feet apart, her fists tightening as her teeth gritted. She then let out a yell. "Gyaaahh!" she screamed as she raised her fists up. After she did this, Star paused and looked down at herself, having expected a change. When she saw no change, she sighed and mumbled to herself. "Again…"

She did this a second time, unleashing a grunt and a yell, but nothing happened. "Come on! You did it before!" she said to herself as she tried again and again to do the one thing she hadn't been able to do since the Day of Unity…

…only to keep failing as she found herself unable to transform into her Butterfly form.

---

After she finished with her routine, Star walked back into her camp, looking very tired and very sweaty. At camp, she saw that her father and the twins were not only awake, but also cooking up some breakfast.

"Ah, good morning, Star! You came back just in time for breakfast!" River declared.

"We managed to catch some squirrels," Mosely said.

"Any bird eggs to go with it?" Star asked as Mary held up a plate for her.

"Scrambled or omelet?" Mary asked her.

"Scrambled," Star said as she was given some cooked squirrel meat and scrambled bird eggs. She sat down to eat her breakfast, taking a bite and giving a satisfied hum. "Mmm, good…"

"You know, Star, you look really sweaty after your morning exercise," Mary commented while eating her breakfast. "You're starting to smell too…"

"Don't worry, I plan on taking a shower at Vee's place again," Star replied.

"Showers… boy, do I miss them," Mosely said with a sigh while looking down.

"Yeah, me too…" Mary responded while also looking down. "Even if we probably never actually showered before. You know, considering that our memories are fake."

"Yeah," Mosely agreed before turning to Star. "Man Star, I am quite jealous that you get to shower at your girlfriend's place. I mean, the only baths we get are in rivers and lakes."

"I don't see how that's a problem, I bathe in the rivers and lakes all the time," River declared while biting a dead squirrel's head. "I think that's why my mum called me River…"

"Well it doesn't really have to be the case for you two," Star pointed out. "Mary, Mosely, you two don't really need to live outside of civilization. You guys have a mom and a sister." She paused. "Don't you think it's time for you two to go to see them?"

The twins looked at each other before falling into silence. They were quiet for the moment before Mary spoke up.

"Star, we only have memories of a mom and a sister…" Mary reminded her.

"Memories that Abigail and Clara don't share," Mosely added. "For god's sake, we shouldn't even exist in this world. Yet, we do…"

"We're… not so sure if we would be able to integrate ourselves into their life or not," Mary said, both she and her brother having looks of uncertainty. "Like, how would we even do that? How would we even introduce ourselves?"

"'Hey mom. Hey, Clara, it's us. Mary and Mosely from that fake reality that Bill Cipher created in order to trap you forever. Can we move in with you?'" Mosely quoted before looking down. "Can you imagine how awkward that would be?"

"And we're still trying to deal with the fact that our life that we thought we had with Abigail and Clara… it wasn't real," Mary said in a somber tone. "We love our mom and our sister…"

"But is that love even real?" Mosely questioned.

Star looked over at them while setting her plate aside. "I think I understand what you guys are going through," she said. "When I reunited with River, it was pretty awkward at first for us. When I saw him… I didn't know how I should respond. I didn't know how to feel about him or how he would feel about me, especially since things with Moon went so… bad. But Vee encouraged me to give him a chance."

"That's right," River replied. "Despite everything, I think we made it work."

"And you know that I could help introduce you to your mom and your sister," Star suggested. "It could make things easier."

Mary and Mosely turned to look at each other.

"Well, it's not a bad idea," Mary admitted. "But I guess we're still worried that revealing ourselves will only hurt everyone involved. That's the worst case scenario."

"The best case scenario is that even if we're accepted by Abigail and Clara… it's not going to be the life we had in the bubble," Mosely said.

"The life we remember we had in the bubble," Mary added. "We will always have memories that Abigail and Clara don't."

"Well, that may be true… but there is still a chance to make new memories with Abigail and Clara that you could share," Star pointed out.

"Fair point," Mary said. "And we'll consider it. But… not right now."

"Yeah," Mosely said with a nod. "Honestly, I am still trying to figure out how much of 'me' is really me, since the memories that created my identity never actually happened, so… who even am I?"

Mary just sighed and Star looked at the twins, feeling nothing but sympathy for both of them. A few minutes later, Star finally finished her breakfast.

"Well, I'll be seeing you guys later. Right now, I gotta go hit the showers," she said before standing up.

"See you later, Star," River said, waving at her daughter as he watched her go.

"You once, once again, we just wanted to say how much we appreciate you and Star letting us camp out with you guys as we figure things out," Mary told River.

"Yeah, we owe you guys a lot," Mosely said.

"Oh, think nothing of it," River dismissed. "After all, if we hadn't met you two, we wouldn't have a great battle here in these woods!"

He gave a sigh as he thought back to the day he and Star first met the twins…

---

Star and River were both trying to catch fish with their own makeshift fishing lines.

"You think we'll catch something, River?" Star asked him.

"In due time," River replied. "Fishing is a good way to teach patience. You wait for the fish to take the bait, but while we wait, let yourself become one with nature before you accept nature's bounty."

Star gave a nod. "Um, yeah. Become one with nature," she said, though she didn't entirely get it as she followed her dad's advice. Yet as she fished with her dad, she found herself enjoying the peace and quiet…

"AAAAH/HELP!"

…which was interrupted when Star and River heard some nearby cries. The two got up and ran to find the source of the screams. They soon came across two teenagers running through the woods, running from… a monster.

"Help! It's gonna eat us!" Mosely cried out as he and Mary kept running from a large, moose-like creature that resembled a woolly mammoth, but with large antlers along with tusks, and a large snout with large hooves.

"ROO-HOO, ROO-HOO!" it roared as it chased after the twins.

"Hurry!" Mary shouted as she and her brother ran for their lives… at least until she saw Mosely trip and fall. "Mosely!"

Mosely rolled onto his back and looked up to see the woolly moose coming down on him. He screamed and raised his arms around his head in a futile attempt to protect himself. But before the large hooves stomped on him… the woolly moose was knocked to the side by both Star and River, the former blasting the moose with her hand while the latter just body-slammed himself into the moose.

"Raah!" River shouted as the large, prehistoric elk was knocked off its course.

As Mary went to help up her brother, Star walked over to the two. "Are you two alright?"

"Y-Yeah." Mary replied before she saw the woolly moose getting up. "It's getting up! It's getting up!"

"I got it!" River shouted as he jumped toward the monstrous moose, raised his elbow up, and brought it down on the creature, which cried out in pain.

The large moose managed to shake off River as it got up. However, once River was clear Star held her wand-hand to blast green magic at the moose, hitting it in the head. While the moose shook its head, River jumped back up, grabbing the moose's neck with his arms and pinning it down to the ground.

"I got you, you foul creature!" River declared as he kept punching the moose with his bare hands. He then held it still so that Star could blast it again with her hand.

After a few moments of punching, blasting, and struggling, the woolly moose finally fell into unconsciousness, the two Butterflys proudly standing before their defeated foe.

"Great job, River," Star commented.

"You too, Star," River replied before turning to the two teenagers they had just saved. "Now then, are you two alright?"

"Y-yeah, thank you two," Mary said gratefully.

"We don't know what would've happened if you hadn't shown up," Mosely added.

"Really?" River asked in confusion. "Seems pretty clear-cut to me. That moose was proudly going to maul you both!"

"Um, forgive my father," Star said, looking a bit embarrassed. "But just what were you two out in the woods in the first place?" she asked the twins. "In fact, I don't think I've seen you two around here before…"

The twins looked at each other, not sure how to respond or explain to themselves. Or even if they should explain themselves. After a moment, Mary rubbed the past of her head, looking a bit sheepish in front of their saviors.

"Well… it's a long story…"

---

"And the best part is that we got a meal that day, hehe," River said.

"Yeah, who knew that moose meat was so good?" Mosely asked.

"I'm pretty sure we actually ate the last member of its kind," Mary pointed out.

---

Back in town, Greasy's Diner was filled with the usual breakfast crowd… and two newcomers.

"Entry log: we are now entering our second day in Gravity Falls, Oregon," Lois said into a recorder while sitting in a booth with Kaleb. "Me and Kaleb are going to be continuing the search for our friend, James Bolton, who disappeared while en route to this town. Our best lead for this case is a foul-mouthed local who knows more about this town than we do. Right now, me and Kaleb intend to meet up with her in a diner called Greasy's. Not sure if the owner's name is Greasy, but this place does know how to make a good fresh batch of coffee…"

"You know," Kaleb said while chewing on his food. "These pancakes taste like coffee…"

"Entry log end, Lois out," Lois said as she ended her recording and put the recording away. She kept glancing outside the window, which Kaleb noticed.

"Hey, are you okay?" Kaleb asked her.

"Yeah, I'm just… anxious," Lois said, fidgeting in her seat. "James is still missing and this kid… she better not stand us up…"

Kaleb looked over at Lois and was about to say something, but then noticed something through the window. "Hey, I think I see her outside right now," Kaleb said, pointing out the window at the approaching trio of Luz, Amity, and Phil.

"Finally," Lois said with a bit of relief.

Moments later, Luz came in, Amity and Phil walking in behind her.

"Good morning, Greasy's Diner!" Luz loudly declared as she walked over to the counter. "Yo, Susie, how's it hangin'?"

"Luz," Lazy Susan said dryly before noticing Amity, causing her to perk up. "Ah, Amity, how's it going?"

"Pretty great, Ms. Wentworth," Amity replied politely while carrying Phil.

"Oh, is that the same kid from Halloween? I thought I recognized ya," Lazy Susan greeted. "He's a cute one."

"Hi!" Phil waved to her, smiling.

"Hi to you too!" Susan told Phil. "What's your name?"

"This is Phil. He's… my baby brother," Amity claimed.

"Luz, Amity!" Lois called out as she waved at them, earning their attention. "Over here!"

"Hey, Lois," Luz said as she and Amity walked over to Lois and Kaleb. "Hey, Kaleb."

"Good morning," Kaleb greeted.

"Yeah, good morning," Lois said quickly. "I am glad to see you two… although I was not expecting you to bring another kid," she said while glancing at Phil. "He's not here to help find James, is he?"

"Oh no, that's Phil," Luz told her. "He's ou… um, Amity's baby bro."

"I'm taking him on an outing," Amity explained.

"Are we going to eat here?" Phil asked Amity, looking up at his mom.

"No, Phil, we already ate," Amity reminded him as they, along with Luz, went to sit in Lois and Kaleb's booth.

"Okay, so now that we're all here, let's get over the plan to find James," Lois said, sounding a bit impatient.

"Right," Luz replied. "So for starters, our current lead are the horseshoe prints that we found which would have been around the car that we think your friend was using before he vanished. Whoever was on that horse could have either taken James or knows what happened to him."

"So how do we find out who owns the horse?" Kaleb asked her.

"Well, the best place to start is with the town's local farmer, Sprott," Luz pointed out. "He takes care of and rents out a lot of animals, including horses, so he could give us a lead."

"Great," Lois replied, already starting to stand up. "Then let's go. Where is his farm?"

"Wait, Lois," Kaleb said. "We haven't even paid the check yet…"

"Hey, Luz," Amity said to her girlfriend, getting her attention. "I want to spend the day with Phil because of the nightmare he had the other night and was even thinking of seeing if I could get an appointment with your therapist, but that means I can't come along with you, Lois, and Kaleb. I hope that's okay."

"Don't worry, it's fine," Luz assured her girlfriend. "I'll just see you and Philly later, alright?"

Amity nodded and she kissed Luz on the cheek. "Thanks, batata, we'll see you later."

"Bye-bye!" Phil waved to Luz as he and Amity got up and began to leave.

Luz watched them leave the diner before she turned to Lois and Kaleb, who were currently paying the check for breakfast. Lois looked after Amity and Phil. "Cute kid," Lois noted before looking at Luz. "So… does she have to watch him because her parents are busy?"

"Something like that," Luz replied.

"Um, I do have one question though," Kaleb spoke up. "I hope you don't mind my concerns, but… don't you two have, like, school?"

"Nah, we don't have school at the moment," Luz admitted.

"Really?" Kaleb asked her in confusion.

"What do you mean by that?" Lois asked her. "Is this like a Gravity Falls thing or is it just a you and Amity thing?"

Now Luz was starting to get impatient. "I mean that I'm free to help you guys out and isn't that the most important thing?" she asked them.

The two journalists shared a look before turning back to Luz.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Kaleb said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Okay, Luz," Lois said. "Take us to Farmer Sprott."

---

Meanwhile, at the house shared by Sheriff Blubs, Deputy Durland, and their adoptive basilisk children, Vee was in the hallway in front of the door of the bathroom, listening to the sound of the shower being run inside.

"How's the shower, Star?" Vee asked through the door

"Pretty good, Vee!" Star responded from inside the bathroom.

Vee opened the door and saw that Star was already behind the shower curtains. She walked over to the sink and placed a pair of clean clothes on it.

"I've placed some fresh, clean clothes for you on the sink! You won't miss them," Vee told her.

"Thanks, Sweet Vee!" Star shouted from behind the curtains.

Vee blushed at the nickname, but decided to leave Star be. She left the bathroom, closing the door behind her before she saw her siblings waiting for her in the hall.

"Hey Vee, were you trying to get a peek at your girlfriend?" Megan teased her.

"Oh haha, very funny, Megan," Vee said dryly, rolling her eyes at Megan's joke.

"What does she mean?" Tres asked.

"Oh, it's just that one time when Star came to shower here, Vee went in to give her some clothes," Ivy explained while trying not to snicker. "Only to accidentally walk in on her before she got in the shower…"

Tres's eyes widened as he realized the implication. "You mean… Vee saw her-?!"

"Yup," Megan said as she couldn't help but giggle. "And there was another time when Star ended up slipping and falling on top of her as she was coming out…"

"Oh, would you two please stop?" Vee hissed scoldingly at her siblings. Her face was bright red, betraying her embarrassment. "It's not that funny…" she muttered.

"Relax, Vee, we're just messing with you," Megan replied.

"Can we just change the subject?" Vee asked, her embarrassed blush not going away.

"Um… what are your guys' plans for today?" Tres asked his siblings, changing the subject for Vee's sake.

"Oh, I'm going to hang out at the mall today," Ivy said. "Thinking of chillin' out with my fellow mallrats down there."

"Mallrats?" Tres asked.

"Not in a literal sense, just humans who hang out at the mall all the time," Ivy clarified.

"As for me," Megan spoke up. "I'm going to help out our dads at the station. Someone's gotta help organize the offices. It is a mess there."

"I see," Tres said before turning to Vee. "What about you, Vee?"

"Well, me and Star plan on going to the arcade together," Vee said.

"Arcade?" Tres asked her in confusion, arching an eyebrow.

"Oh, it's a place where humans go to play all kinds of games," Vee explained to him. "It has video games, a pinball machine, skee ball…"

"I… have no idea what any of those are," Tres admitted.

That gave Vee an idea.

"Then why don't you join us then?" she suggested. "It's one of my favorite places here in town and I think you'd get what an arcade is if you come with us. And it could be fun."

"Really?" Tres asked. He did seem curious, but he also looked a bit reluctant. "I'm not so sure, Vee. I mean, I don't want to be a third wheel between you and Star…"

"It will be fine, really," Vee assured him. "Plus, I wanted to spend more time with you while you're here anyway. I mean, I have no idea how long you are going to be here before you have to leave for the Isles…"

Tres thought about it for a minute and eventually relented, shrugging with a smile. "Alright, I guess I can go with you to this… arcade."

Vee smiled. "Great! I knew you'd come around."

"You two are going to have a lot of fun," Megan told her siblings, smiling at them. "I just know it."

"When are you going back to the Isles anyway, Tres?" Ivy asked.

"I haven't decided yet," Tres admitted. "But as long as I'm here, I might as well make the most of it…"

---

Sometime later, after finishing up her shower, Star came out of the bathroom while wearing the clothes that Vee had given her. These clothes consisted of a blue and white long-sleeve shirt with gray jeans.

"Alright, I'm ready!" Star announced as she went to meet up with the basilisk siblings, finding them all gathered together.

"Hey Star, guess what? Tres agrees to hang out with us today," Vee informed her. "Hope that's okay."

"Nah, it's cool," Star replied. "Honestly, I was hoping that I could talk with him at some point so he could tell me about how everything has been back on the Boiling Isles. How Raine and the others are doing."

"Yeah, I can do that," Tres nodded in agreement.

"Great!" Vee cheered, looking thrilled that they were all on the same page together. "To the arcade then!"

While Tres's expression was a bit harder to read, Star couldn't help but smile at her girlfriend's happiness.

After all, Vee was adorable.

---

Meanwhile, just outside of town, Luz had brought Lois and Kaleb to Farmer Sprott's farm and petting zoo. While they looked around, Kaleb couldn't help but stop and admire the animals being kept there.

Lois turned and saw Kaleb, but rather than chastise him for wasting time with the animals while they were looking for James… she smiled. "Feeling nostalgic, Nashville?" she asked him.

"Nostalgic?" Luz asked. "Nashville? Wait, you're telling me he's originally from Tennessee?"

"That's right," Kaleb replied while petting the goat, who was enjoying his gentle petting. "I grew up on a farm back there. I spent a lot of time helping out my family around the farm, whether it meant feeding the animals or harvesting the crops."

"A honest farm upbringing, I can respect that," Luz said with a nod before she turned and saw Sprott coming out of the barn. "Yo, Sprott!"

"Hmm?" Sprott asked while turning to Luz. With him was a teenage girl. When he saw Luz, his eyes widened and he jumped back. "Luz Clawthorne?! Stand back! I'm not allowing you to borrow one of my animals again!"

"Again…?" Lois questioned while turning to Luz. "What does he mean?"

Luz laughed nervously while rubbing the back of her head. "Let's just say, I kinda… 'borrowed' a horse last year for Founders Day," she said before looking back at Sprott. "But I'm not here to take one of your horses or any of your animals, Sprott. Honest."

"Who is she?" asked the teenage girl with Sprott. She had blonde hair, slight-tanned skin, and brown eyes. She wore a white shirt, jean overalls, and beige boots.

Though Luz had never met her before, this was the same girl that Gus G. met at the Halloween event at Sprott's farm.

"That's Luz Clawthorne, local trouble-maker," Sprott warned the girl.

"Hey, I'm trying to reform my image," Luz said as she walked over and noticed the girl. "I don't think I've ever seen you in Gravity Falls before. Are you, like, Sprott's relative or something?"

"Why yes," she replied as she extended her hand to Luz. "My name's Charlotte, I'm his niece. Isn't that right, uncle?"

"Um, yes," Sprott said quickly. "She came to stay with me for the fall."

"Well, welcome to the neighborhood, Charlotte," Luz replied, shaking the girl's hand. "Name's Luz, and I'm here to ask your uncle questions about his horses."

"Who are they?" Sprott asked with a suspicious tone as he gestured to Lois and Kaleb. "And why in pray tell do you want to know about my horses?"

"This is a missing persons case," Lois said as she and Kaleb came over.

"B-but you're not a suspect, Farmer Sprott, or Mr. Sprott if you wish," Kaleb quickly added. "We were just wondering if there was anyone who may have recently borrowed or rented out any of your horses. Or if any of them have gone missing…"

"Hmm, not that I recall," Sprott replied. "I've counted all of my horses just this morning and they're all accounted for." He then remembered something, his eyes widening. "Oh! Actually, I do recall that one of my horses went missing on Founders Day…"

"You did?" Luz asked him, looking hopeful.

"Yeah, it got stolen by some weirdo who came outta nowhere," Sprott mentioned "A man named, well… Quentin Trembly."

"Who's… Quentin Trembly?" Lois asked in confusion.

Luz, however, looked disappointed and she sighed. "That's a long story…"

---

At the Gravity Falls middle school, the bell rang and the students in Mr. Englund's class began to get up and head to their next class. This included Gus Porter.

"Have a good weekend, everyone," Mr. Englund said as he saw his students leave. "Remember to do your readings before Monday. I don't want anyone to be behind."

Gus left the classroom and walked down the hallway to his next class, but he was more focused on the book he was reading than anything else. This did leave him vulnerable, especially with the headphones in his ears… and this was noticed by a group of bullies that spotted him.

"Is that him?" asked the leader of the bullies.

"Yeah, that new kid," the other bully replied. "A real teacher's pet."

"This should be fun," the leader said with a smile.

"Wait, but doesn't he hang out with the Clawthorne girl?" another of the bullies asked, his voice genuinely nervous and fearful.

"Hey, she ain't here, is she?" the leader asked and the other boys didn't answer. "So he'd be easy pickins.…"

The leader leads his group to go sneak up on Gus, who wasn't aware of his pursuers. The bullies were about to grab him… until one of them was suddenly thrown off the floor and into the lockers by an invisible force.

"Oof!" the leader cried out as he looked around for his attacker… only to see nobody else there. "What the…?! What the hell?"

"Are you all-AH!" one of the bullies cried out as he felt his hair getting pulled and his face getting slapped by an invisible hand, almost like there was something on top of his head… even though they could see nothing there.

"Guys?" the last one asked as he watched in shock before he got pushed into the lockers as well, all the while Gus wasn't even aware of what was happening behind him, too focused on his book as he made a turn.

After the trio of bullies were beaten, they were dragged into an open locker by the invisible force. Once all three of them were in, the locker was slammed shut.

---

Meanwhile, Amity had brought Phil to an unmarked office building, where she had been told she could find Luz's therapist in.

"This is the place, Phil," Amity told him as she opened the door. Inside the building, she noticed that a lot of the rooms were either empty or unfinished. Eventually, she did find one office that was finished and she walked in.

The office had blue walls and gray carpeting. She saw chairs and a couch along with a desk and a bookshelf filled with books and ornaments. What also intrigued them were the Halloween decorations still up. Jack'o-lantern lights, skeleton plaster on the wall, some paper bats hanging from string connected to the ceiling, and a Halloween bucket of candy.

"Looks like they haven't taken down their Halloween decorations yet," Amity noted before seeing Phil look nervous. "You okay, Phil?"

"Yeah…" Phil said while making an attempt to hide behind his mom's legs.

Amity smiled gently and patted his head to reassure him. "Don't worry, this is going to be no different than talking to Dr. Midnight. If your mom recommended them, I'm sure that they must be nice, right?"

"I… guess so," Phil replied.

"Oh? Someone's already here?" a voice asked.

The two turned and saw someone coming into the office. He was a tall, slim man with slight-tanned skin. He had short black hair and was wearing glasses over his brown eyes. He also wore a blue blazer jacket over his cyan button shirt, a brown scarf, dark blue pants, and black shoes. He is holding up a hat and umbrella. "I am sorry for the state of my office, I haven't had the chance to take down all of my Halloween décor yet. Procrastination is a bad habit of mine, I'm afraid."

"You must be Dr. Hopper," Amity indicated. "Luz has told me a lot about you."

"Luz? Ah, you must be that friend of hers," he replied. "In fact, she notified me that I should be expecting you. Amity, right?"

"Yes, Amity Goodfellow Blight," Amity replied before pointing to Phil. "And this is Phil. Say hi to Dr. Hopper, Phil."

"H-Hi," Phil replied, a bit shyly.

"Hello, Phil," Hopper greeted with a wave before he cleared his throat and introduced himself to them. "My name is Dr. Dominic Hopper, and Luz has told me a lot about you, Amity."

"Really? How much has she told you?" Amity asked him.

"Well, I can't go into everything because of doctor-patient confidentiality," Dominic said. "But… I do know about the Demon Realm and the Boiling Isles." He smiled at Amity. "You don't have to worry about hiding the fact that you're a witch from me. This is a safe space. In fact, I've spoken to your friend Mr. Porter a few times as well."

"Really?" Amity asked, looking a bit surprised that Luz had filled Dr. Hopper in. "Were you surprised to hear all about it? I mean, another dimension filled with witches and demons? It must have sounded extraordinary."

"Oh, it is," Dominic admitted. "But despite that… it only surprised me slightly," he said while setting his hat and umbrella to the side before he went to set up his things on his desk. "I have been in this business for a long time, Ms. Blight. I have heard and seen… many incredible things. You could even call this kind of thing my specialty. In fact, when I was brought into Gravity Falls after the Weirdmageddon incident to talk to some of the survivors. I was fully brought up to speed on everything that had happened."

"Is that so…" Amity said while holding Phil's hand, a bit cautious.

"I understand any reservations you might have, but I can reassure you that while the government may have brought me here, my true loyalty is to my patients," Dominic tried to assure her. "Nothing will leave this room, I can guarantee it."

Looking at the good doctor, Amity was a bit skeptical at first. But after a moment, she decided to trust him, especially since Luz had told her that he was fine.

"Well, Luz told me that you'd be a fine therapist to speak with," she said. "I wanted to see if you could talk to Phil."

"Ah, so this is about the young lad?" he asked while looking at Phil. "Your… son, is that correct?"

"Yes," Amity confirmed with a nod. "Luz didn't know about this, since she hasn't been living with us back on the Boiling Isles, but Phil has been having, well, recurring nightmares…"

"Hmm, why don't you take a seat, and start from the beginning?" Dominic suggested, gesturing to the couch as he sat at his desk.

Amity nodded and led Phil to the couch, where they both sat down. She then took a deep breath. "Well, I should probably start by giving you some context…"

---

Elsewhere, at the Gravity Falls arcade, the trio of Vee, Star and Tres walked in.

"Welcome to the Arcade!" Vee declared while introducing Tres the arcade. "A wondrous tavern where you can play all the games to your heart's content."

Tres looked around at all the different arcade machines and at all the brightly colored screens that were making loud noises. He had never seen anything like this and he found himself experiencing slight sensory overload.

"This is a lot of crystal ball games…" Tres commented.

"Overwhelmed?" Star asked him.

"No, just… surprised," Tres claimed while looking around at the games. "So, um what do we play first? That game?" he asked while pointing to the 'Insert Tokens!' game.

"No, that one's a scam," Vee informed him while grabbing his hand and leading him further into the arcade. "But come, my dear brother, let me give you the tour…"

Tres shrugged and smiled as he let Vee lead him. "If you insist…"

---

"Go, Vee, go!" Star cheered while Vee was playing an 'Alien Vaders' game where she played as a starship blasting alien bugs coming toward her on the screen. Tres looked confused by the game's mechanics, but he did notice that Vee seemed to be having fun anyway. Although he kept staring at the starship she was playing as in particular.

Next, Tres found himself at an air hockey table with Star. He held up his paddle while looking across the table at Star, who was giving him instructions.

"You use your paddle to hit the puck with the goal of guarding your slot and trying to hit the pick into my slot to win points," Star said before she hit the puck towards Tres. "Go!"

Tres looked at the puck sliding across the air table toward him before he used his paddle to hit it. The puck slid back across the table for Star to hit and it went back and forth until Tres missed a shot and the puck went into a slot. The disguised Basilisk was caught by surprise as he picked up the puck from his end.

"That's one point for me," Star said with a slightly smug smile.

Tres looked at the puck, then placed it on the table, his face becoming more determined. "I wouldn't celebrate just yet," he said as he resumed the game.

Later, Tres found himself playing a driving game with Vee and Star. Specifically, they were playing a popular racing game called 'Sugar Rush'. Vee and Star were trying to out-race each other, while Tres was… well, he was trying to leave the starting line, but he kept hitting the sides of the track because he felt weirded out while using a steering wheel, a gas, and a brake.

"Definitely not like the ratworms," he muttered.

"You'll get used to it over time," Vee replied as she steered left.

"Ah! I got hit!" Star said with a laugh, which was shared by her girlfriend.

Tres, however, was just getting more frustrated. "I could have sworn that my character just shot me a dirty look…" he muttered.

Next was skeeball, where Vee and Star were rolling the balls into the holes to earn tickets. Tres tried out the game, but kept rolling for lower points.

"Dang it," Tres muttered.

"Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it with enough practice," Vee said while scoring a thousand points, causing Tres to stare at Vee in shock.

"How did she get so good at this?" Tres asked Star, who just shrugged and smiled.

After skeeball, Star got to beat up some robot leprechauns with a hammer in a new game called 'Smack-A-Chaun' where she smashed the hammer down on the leprechauns that kept popping up. Tres looked slightly disturbed when he saw the look of hatred in Star's eyes she had while smashing the leprechauns.

"Die, ya Leprecorns!" Star declared as she smashed another.

"Leprecorns?" Tres asked. "I thought they're leprechauns?"

"It's a long story," Vee said sheepishly while watching her girlfriend go loose.

Next Vee and Star played a game of 'Fight Fighters', Tres watching from the sidelines as the two fought against each other through their characters.

"Aw yeah, come on Rumble!" Star declared while playing as Rumble McSmirkish.

"Not when Vlampa does her finishing move," Vee said as she saw her stats boost. "Spinning-Goat Kicknado!"

Once Vee did the combo, Vampla used her move to finish off Rumble.

"AIIIEE!" Rumble shouted as he fell while the game cheered for Vampla.

"The winner: Player One!"

"Alright! Score another one for Vee-girl!" Vee cheered for herself while Star smiled at her girlfriend, not even mad that she lost.

"Dang, I thought for sure I'd win this time," Star said. "That's about 6-4 you've beaten me in this game."

"Aw, you keep score of all the times I kicked your butt," Vee replied with a smile before turning to Tres. "Say Tres, want to try out this game?"

"I… guess," he said as he walked over next to Vee, who inserted more coins into the machine, resulting in a character screen popping up. "So who do I choose?"

"About any character you want," Vee replied.

"Then… I choose that guy," Tres decided as he chose a large man dressed as a large reptile while Vee picked her usual character.

"Vampla vs Co-Bro!" the game announced. "'FIGHT!"

"Um, so how do I control them?" Tres asked her.

"Simple… smash the buttons!" Vee said as she smashed the buttons on her console. Seeing this, Tres did the same, randomly smashing buttons as the characters started fighting each other.

Star smiled while watching the two siblings play the game together. It was then she heard someone call out to her.

"Star?"

The blond turned and her eyes widened. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Hey, Star," Hunter said as he along with Boscha, Willow, and Skara came over to her, the Hexsquad now being in the arcade. "We weren't expecting to see you here."

"I mean, it is one of Vee's favorite places in Gravity Falls," Star said while gesturing to her girlfriend, who had just soundly defeated her brother.

"Ha!" Vee laughed triumphantly before she turned and saw the Hexsquad. "Oh!" she said as she focused her attention on them. "Willow, Skara, Boscha, hey."

"Hey, Vee," Willow greeted.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Vee asked while looking at the three girls. "I think the last time I saw you three was… at the wedding, right?"

"Actually, you saw me after that," Boscha reminded Vee. "When you and Star were both on the Boiling Isles."

"Oh yeah," Vee said, remembering that. She then turned to Hunter. "And… I'm sorry, I don't think we've actually met before."

"Yeah, I don't believe we have," Hunter replied, extending his hand. "My name is Hunter. I know Star."

"Well, I'm Vee, Star's girlfriend," Vee greeted him, shaking his hand. "Nice to meet you."

"So what brings you guys down here?" Star asked them.

"Well, we decided to check around town while we were staying in the Human Realm," Skara answered. "Gus recommended some of the hot spots here, including this arcade."

"Yeah, we were curious what the Human Realm's arcade was like compared to the one we have at the Isles," Boscha said while looking around. "Gotta say, it's a lot more… flashier than the CB games."

"Yeah, I get the same feeling when I compare this to the stuff back in Mewni. The only prizes we got from there was corn," Star replied. "So Boscha, how is Tom doing?"

"Oh he's doing great, though he's still healing from trying to do heavy training," Boscha replied. "What about you? How are you doing?"

"You can tell him that I'm doing fine as well," Star replied.

"Say, why don't I show you guys around?" Vee offered. "After all, I know all of the games here."

"It's true, she knows every game here," Tres mentioned. "And she's annoyingly good at most of them."

---

Meanwhile, in the woods near where James' car had been found, Luz had returned to the scene of the crime with Lois and Kaleb, looking for anything she might have missed the first time.

"See anything?" Lois asked while looking around.

"Nope," Kaleb said while looking at the tree that the car had crashed into.

"Not in my area," Luz replied while looking around. "I'm sorry, Lois, I was really hoping that visiting Farmer Sprott would be more helpful."

"It's fine, Luz," Lois said with a determined tone. "We just gotta keep looking." She then turned to look at Luz. "What about that Quinten Trembley fella? You think he might have something to do with this?"

"No, I don't think so," Luz replied with a sigh. "According to Dipper, he isn't the type to kidnap someone. If he did find James in a car crash, he would've patched him up himself, or taken him to the hospital…" Luz paused to think about it. "Actually, I don't know much about him, really. Only Dipper and Mabel met him, so I'll make a note to ask them about him."

As they continued their search of the area, Kaleb decided to bring something up to Luz. "So… from what I can tell based on what the farmer and the waitress said, you… don't appear to have the best reputation among the adults here. Or is it just those two?"

"Nah, you're right," Luz replied. "Let's just say, I… used to be a little menace around here. A punk girl who loved to prank a lot of folks around here… which led to me getting banned from a lot of places."

"Why am I not surprised…" Lois said dryly.

"Hey, I am trying to be better now," Luz claimed.

"Is that why you're not in school?" Kaleb asked. "You weren't, like, expelled or anything, were you?"

Luz paused while looking at Kaleb. She sighed. "No, I wasn't expelled," she told him. "I actually never attended any of the schools here. Let's just say that… I wouldn't really fit in a… 'normal' school," she admitted while looking down. "I mean, I have gotten an education, just an… unorthodox one."

"Unorthodox education?" Lois asked, stopping her search to look over at Luz and Kaleb. "I think I can relate to that."

"Wait, you can?" Luz asked while turning to Lois.

"Yeah, back when I was growing up, I had to move around a lot due to my dad's job," Lois explained to her. "Because of that, I wasn't really able to get a normal education, since I never stuck at one school for very long."

"Move around? Why's that?" Luz asked her. "What kind of job did your dad have?"

"To put it simply… I'm a military brat," she admitted, which surprised Luz.

"Really?" Luz asked with a small smile. "You know, a friend of my mom's, Nora Gordon, is also a military brat. You should go talk to her, I'm sure you two would have a lot of stories."

"I'll keep that in mind," Lois replied, sharing the smile.

"But now I do have some more questions about you two," Luz told them. "Like… how in the heck did you two, an army brat and a farmer's son, get into journalism?"

Kaleb was the first to answer. "Well, yes, I did grow up on a farm. I was raised by my foster family, actually."

"Foster family?" Luz asked in surprise.

"Yeah, I was adopted," Kaleb admitted. "I love my folks, of course, even if I'm still curious about where I came from and what my birth family was like," he said while giving a distant look before remembering Luz's question. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to get off track."

"No, no it's cool." Luz responded, very understanding. "I'm a foster kid myself. I get it."

Kaleb smiled before he continued. "As for the journalism thing, I got my first journalism experience while writing for my school paper in my hometown. Writing the paper with my classmates made me realize just how much good I could do if I went into journalism."

"Yeah, the same with me," Lois said. "I wanted to get into journalism to do some good… and to get to the truth."

"The truth?" Luz asked.

Lois nodded. "That's what I've always been after," she said. "The truth. I always believed that people should know the full story, that they should know if they are being lied to. And that's why I got into journalism: to break the truth to people. And there are so many stories out there that need to be reported on. Like corrupt political figures and wealthy CEOs exploiting their customers. This kind of stuff needs to be exposed…" She gave a sigh. "But unfortunately, right now, our paper's prioritizing Powerline stories more than anything else."

"Powerline?" Luz asked. "You mean that new Super that popped up on the East Coast a few months ago?"

"Yeah, have you heard about him?" Kaleb asked.

"Who hasn't?" Luz asked with a shrug. "Dipper has told me about him and all the theories that are going around about him. Some think he's a government experiment, some think he's an Atlantean, some think he's an alien… you know that kind of stuff. What about you? What do you guys think about him?"

Before Kaleb could answer, Lois spoke up.

"I think that he's… just a guy," Lois admitted. "A guy who is trying to do the right thing and help people with no expectations of reward. I think he is genuinely trying to be noble, I'm just annoyed by how much attention he is getting over other stories that I'd like to do."

"Yeah, I agree with that statement," Kaleb replied with a nod. "There are a lot of stories that need to be told, but our chief-editor wants us to focus almost exclusively on Powerline."

"Sure, I get some journalists writing stuff about Powerline? But every journalist? I don't want to do what everyone else is doing. I want to tell the stories I want to tell and I want to do it when I want," Lois pointed out.

"And it is a waste," Kaleb agreed. "Because you would be so good at writing the stories that you want to write. You're a fantastic writer, Lois."

"Thank you, Nashville," Lois said with a grateful smile. "At least somebody at the office gets it."

As they talked, Luz looked between the two of them and began to pick up on something between them, especially with how Kaleb clearly admired Lois and was complimenting her.

"Wait, are you two dating?" Luz asked them, catching them off-guard with her question.

"W-What?!" Kaleb and Lois asked in surprise, both of them turning to Luz.

"N-No, we're not," Lois denies while blushing.

"Y-Yeah! We're just friends and colleagues," Kaleb responded, also flustered.

"Really? Cause I was picking up this vibe and-" Luz started to say before she stopped when she noticed something behind the two journalists. She sighed. "Oh great…"

"What?" Lois asked.

"Hello, Luz," someone whispered behind Lois and Kaleb.

Hearing the whispering voice, both Lois and Kaleb turned around to see a mysterious-looking person in a large, green checkered trench-coat standing there. But where his face should be was hidden by the shadows of his trenchcoat collar, leaving only his bright, wide grin visible, consisting of larger teeth with one gold tooth. He sported a small brown bowler hat, brown gloves, and black pants with fancy shoes.

"What the hell?!" Lois asked in surprise, stepping back.

"Who are you?" Kaleb asked, about to step in front of Lois before Luz walked past them and towards the trench coat wearing man. She had very little patience for this.

"What do you want, Mr. Whats-His-Face?" Luz asked, which confused the two journalists.

"Word around the woods is that you're looking for someone missing," he explained to her. "And I'd like to offer some help with your search."

"Oddly generous of you," Luz told him. "But how do I know you're not trying to take my face like you tried with my mom?"

"Hey, I'm an honest salesman… well, honest as I can be," he said while beginning to unbuckle the buttons of his coat. "Besides, I'm not interested in your face,"

"Oh, fuck you." Luz flipped him off.

"But I thought I would do you a favor, ask you if I might have a face of whom you're looking for," he told her as he opened up his coat, revealing what was inside his coat for Luz, Lois and Kaleb to see…

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Lois asked, appropriately freaked out.

"Good lord…" Kaleb said as his eyes widened.

Inside his coat, Mr. Whats-His-Face's collection consisted of a bunch of disembodied faces.

Unlike Lois and Kaleb, Luz had a very calm look, like she had dealt with this guy dozens of times, and she turned to the two journalists. "Hey, do any of these faces look familiar to you?" she asked them.

The two adults looked at the faces, still freaked out. They didn't know what to make of this, especially because of Luz's almost nonchalant reaction.

"Um… I don't see… James in there," Lois said while having a nervous look. "Do you, Kaleb?"

"He's not there," Kaleb replied, looking shaken. "Where did you get all of these faces?!"

"I'm a deal-maker," Mr. Whats-His-Face said with a shrug. "I provide a legitimate service, actually. And I have faces that celebrities would die for."

"Yeah, 'legitimate'," Luz said, rolling her eyes. "But it looks like their friend's face isn't even there."

"Hmm, perhaps you all can check out my other faces back at my place," Mr. Whats-His-Face said as he held up a key. "What do ya say?"

Lois and Kaleb shared worried looks while they turned to Luz, who narrowed her eyes at Mr. Whats-His-Face. Despite her better judgment, they decided to put their trust in Luz. She was the local, after all.

"Just don't pull anything," Luz told him.

"Oh don't worry, I don't plan on a… face-off," he replied, which made Luz groan.

---

Back at the Gravity Falls arcade, the Hexsquad had spread out to try different games. While Star and Tres went off to talk to each other, Vee went around the arcade to check on the witches.

"How's playing b-ball, going, Boscha?" Vee asked, seeing Boscha at the basketball arcade machine, throwing balls into the hoops.

"I'm actually getting the hang of this," Boscha replied as she shot another ball in the hoop. "It's like a less intense version of grudgeby."

"Maybe you could bring it over to the Boiling Isles," Vee suggested, getting Boscha to think.

"Hmm, yeah," Boscha considered. "I could…"

Vee smiled and left Boscha to her game before walking over to Willow and Skara. "How about you two?"

"This game's awesome!" Skara declared as she and Willow played together on a two-person version of 'Step Step Revolution.' She and Willow were dancing in sync, following the arrows on the screen.

"Yeah, I think we're really getting the hang of it!" Willow replied as she and Skara clapped hands while dancing.

Vee checked their current score and her eyes widened. "Uh, wow, you really are," Vee said in shock before she walked over to Hunter, who was standing in front of one arcade machine, staring at it. "How about you, Hunter? See anything you like?"

"Um, maybe" Hunter said as he pointed at a dark arcade machine, with a large screen and blasters hooked up to it. "What is… Hero's Duty?"

"Oh yeah, that's one of the newer games they have here," Vee explained. "It's a sci-fi first-person shooter game where you shoot Cy-bugs who have infested a barren wasteland of a planet."

"First-Person shooter?" Hunter asked in confusion. "What's that?"

"Oh it's like a genre of video games where you shoot at enemies from the perspective of the character you play as," Vee explained to him.

"Huh… maybe I should try this out," Hunter replied as he walked up to one of the blaster guns and held onto it.

"I can be your player two to help show you how to play," Vee offered him.

"Sure, that'd be great," Hunter said, accepting the offer.

Once Vee put the quarters into the machine, she tapped the start button and the game lit up, beginning the opening cutscene.

"On a planet with no name, a top secret experiment has gone horribly wrong…"

The opening cutscene showed a solar system of planets being pin-pointed, then cut to a dark tower surrounded by a cloudy sky. Then it cut to a lab inside the tower, where cybernetic green and black bugs were swarming everywhere, chasing screaming scientists.

"You are humanity's last hope," said a blonde female character with green eyes and Caucasian skin. She wore a cybernetic helmet and armor while holding up a large gun as she faced the players. "Our mission: destroy all Cy-Bugs. You ready, rookies?"

"Yes, Sergeant Calhoun, ma'am!" Vee declared while she and Hunter held their guns up.

"Let's take them down!" Calhoun shouted as the screen showed a swarm of Cy-Bugs coming their way.

"How do I shoot?" Hunter asked.

"The trigger, press the trigger," Vee told him while she took aim, Hunter doing the same as he slid his finger to the trigger of the blaster.

"Three… two… one… GO!"

The two started the game on the first stage, where they were approaching the tower. They saw a swarm of the cybernetic insects coming down at them, with the other soldiers around them shooting at the bugs. Hunter and Vee joined them, Vee easily gunning down Cy-Bugs while Hunter struggled. He honestly felt a bit overwhelmed by the game's graphics and techno-music. Not to mention, he couldn't help but shake a sense of deja vu as he played the game.

"Don't let them eat your weapons, they become what they eat!" Calhoun warned them as a larger Cy-Bug ate the weapon of a soldier, causing it to grow guns from its body.

"I got this one!" Vee declared as she shot the larger Cy-Bug. This went on for a while, until one Cy-Bug attacked Hunter's side of the screen. He tried to shoot it, but then realized he was unable to pull the trigger anymore while a countdown appeared on the screen. It began to dawn on him what had just happened.

"Did I… just die?" Hunter asked in shock.

"Don't worry, you'll get another chance, Hunter," Vee said as she kept shooting at the bugs. "Just put in another quarter."

Hunter looked at his screen, staring at the countdown. He also stared at Vee as she blasted apart Cy-Bugs. And then he realized why the game had felt familiar to him. The militaristic nature of it all… it reminded him of the Emperor's Coven. And that made him feel very uneasy. Sighing, he returned the gun into its holster and turned around, Vee noticing him leaving.

"Hunter?" she asked him as she stopped playing the game. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine," he claimed. "You don't have to stop for my sake."

"Hey, I started playing to help you, it's honestly not even one of my favorite games here," she said while setting her gun down, abandoning the game as she went after Hunter. "You look like something's-"

"Bugging me?" Hunter asked.

"No, I was gonna say you looked like something's 'bothering' you," Vee corrected.

"Oh… sorry, I guess I expected a pun but maybe I've just been hanging out with King too much," Hunter admitted with a sigh. "It's just that… playing that game hit… a little too close to home for me."

"Too close to home?" Vee asked him. "How so?"

Hunter looked up at Vee, feeling conflicted. He briefly hesitated, unsure whether he could tell Vee about his time in the Emperor's Coven or not. But after a moment, he figured that it wouldn't hurt to tell her.

"I guess that game just… reminded me of my time in the Emperor's Coven," Hunter revealed. "It kinda made me feel like I was back in boot camp…"

"Oh… wait, you were in the Emperor's Coven?" Vee asked in surprise.

"Yeah…" he replied, looking down. However, before he could elaborate any further, they heard Willow speak up.

"Hey, everything alright?" Willow asked, as she, Skara, and Boscha walked up to them.

"We're good, Hunter's just taking a break," Vee replied.

"Yeah, no worries," Hunter said while Boscha spotted something that caught her eyes.

"Hey Vee, what is that game?" Boscha asked as she pointed to another arcade machine. It was a blue machine with a yellow eye coming out from the top. On the side and on the top of the machine was some artwork of a dragon that breathed fire, with some words in the flames…

"Dragons, Dragons, and More Dragons?" Vee asked while reading the title of the machine. "Huh, never seen this one before…"

---

Meanwhile, Star and Tres were at the arcade's snack bar, enjoying some nachos as they caught up with each other.

"So Eclipsa and Ludo are both doing well?" Star asked him.

"Yeah," Tres replied. "True to her word, Eclipsa has been letting some of the werecats who lost their homes stay in her temple. Really, she's decided to open her temple up to anyone who needs someplace to stay, though it is mostly werecats. As for Ludo, I heard he has been making some progress with the oracles at the Oracle Institute. Of course, he's… still a little… out there, but there's still some progress."

"Well, it's great to hear that they're doing better," Star responded. "I'll be sure to check up on them the next time I visit the Boiling Isles."

"When do you think that will be?" Tres asked.

Star just shrugged. "How about the others? Like Eber, Steve, Bunker, and Bindell?"

"Honestly… I haven't been in touch with most of them," Tres admitted while looking down. "I know Steve has been recruiting a lot of the former scouts for something he's working on, while most of the other former CATs have been… really busy lately."

"Oh. Well, I guess that does make sense, since they're forming a new government and all," Star replied.

"It's… more than just that, really," Tres said. He looked around before sighing. When he spoke again, his voice was lower. "There's been a lot of problems going on back in the Isles…"

This surprised Star. "Problems? What kind of problems?" she asked him.

"Logistical problems," he answered. "Right now, we are trying to keep the infrastructure of the Isles intact while we root out corruption. But… there are complications. Since the Day of Unity, a lot of our raw materials and other resources have all just seem to… vanished."

"Really?" Star asked. "That is concerning…"

"But it doesn't stop there," Tres continued. "A lot of our navy has just disappeared. While we know some of our ships were destroyed by those giant Titan robots during the Day of Unity, that can't account for all of our ships. A lot of them are just… gone. And without our naval defenses, the Boiling Isles is more vulnerable to raids and hit-and-run attacks from pirates and marauders. And we have seen a greater number of those since the Day of Unity."

"What?!" Star asked, getting up. "You guys got pirate attacks?! That… that sounds awful."

"I know," Tres said as he motioned for Star to sit down and quiet down. "We have been relying on our heavy hitters, including members of LOWTH, to help defend the Isles from these pirates and marauders. But we are still spread pretty thin right now. And these attacks… they aren't stopping. These raiders have realized the same thing that we have: that the Boiling Isles is more vulnerable now than ever. And they may not be the only ones who take advantage of this…"

"What do you mean?" Star asked.

"With the fall of the Emperor's Coven and Belos dead, many of the treaties he signed with our neighbors are null and void," Tres explained. "And now our neighbors are beginning to take notice."

"And what about the remaining Belos loyalists?" Star asked. "Do you think they are behind any of this?"

"It's possible," Tres admitted. "The supply shortages, the disappearance of our navy, and even the increased number of pirate attacks may all be connected to the Belos loyalists who have either fled the Boiling Isles or gone into hiding on the Isles. If they are behind this, they are probably trying to put more pressure on Raine and the others as more crises keep piling up." He looked down. "But then there's another issue…"

Star sighed. "Of course there is," she said.

Tres looked up at Star as he continued. "Witches and demons are leaving the Boiling Isles in growing numbers," he revealed.

"Wait, what?" Star asked, genuinely shocked.

Tres nodded. "They're terrified that without Belos and the Emperor's Coven, the Boiling Isles is going to plunge into a new Savage Age, especially because of these increased attacks by marauders and pirates. These witches and demons just don't have faith in Raine and the others, believing they are better off on another Titan. And less witches means we have less healers, less builders, less workers… less people that could help repair the Isles."

Star shook her head, looking worried about all of this. "Man. You know, I never actually thought about how hard it would be to build a new government after the old one has been disposed of. How are Raine and the others going to deal with any of this?"

"Right now, we are trying to negotiate with our neighboring isles for extra supplies and extra hands," Tres mentioned. "Hopefully, it'll be enough…"

---

Back to Vee and the Hexsquad, Vee had decided to play this new arcade game. She watched her character travel through a dungeon, fending off skeleton bats.

"Go, Vee, go!" Skara cheered.

"Watch out for that bat!" Willow warned.

"Wow, this looks really different from the other arcade games," Boscha said.

"Yeah, it almost looks more like a movie than a game," Hunter added.

"It plays differently too," Vee grimaced, having to hit a button in time to react to different obstacles and dangers that popped up on the screen.

Vee's character, a knight in silver medieval armor, attempted to fight off the skull-bats with his sword. However, the bats managed to latch onto him, tackling him down as the skullbats started to eat him. When they flew away, they left the character as nothing but bones.

"Dang it!" Vee cursed. "That's the second time I died in this game!" She then took a deep breath as she calmed herself down. "It's a multiple choice type of game, so I just need to focus on doing the right thing at the right time," she said as she prepared to play again.

Vee's character continued on and this time he managed to fend off against the bats. After that, her character continued to travel through the dungeon, only to end up falling into more death traps.

In one scenario, the character got himself surrounded by vines. He attempted to fend them off, but there were too many of them and they tangled him up before squeezing the knight to death…

Another death happened when the ceiling threatened to crush Vee's character, Vee unable to escape in time before she was pulverized.

In another instance, the character found a treasure chest and went to check it… only for the chest to reveal that it was a Mimic before it took a bite out of him, leaving only his legs behind.

"Ugh, I hate shapeshifters," Vee groaned.

Vee looked more and more frustrated with each time that she saw her character get killed off. She watched him get stabbed, maimed, incinerated, burned alive, fall into a pit, get poisoned, fall into a pit, get eaten, infected, knocked out and dragged away by a lizard in a crown, turned to stone, crashed into a wall, and fall into many, many pits…

"Gah! What is this game?!" Vee shouted in anger, surprising the Hexsquad. "No matter what, I keep losing!"

"Hey, what's wrong, Vee?" Star asked as she and Tres walked over, having overheard Vee's frustration.

"It's this new game that I keep losing at," Vee groaned while pointing to the game.

"Yeah, and so far we have seen zero dragons in it… which feels like a bit of false advertisement," Hunter added.

"Huh, I've never even seen this game before," Star said as she stepped closer to get a look at the art on the machine.

"I'm going to try this again! Last quarter!" Vee declared as she went to insert the coin.

But as Star got a good look at the art on the machine, she checked out the sides and saw something that the others hadn't noticed. A pair of eyes with a long nose and a wide grin… and long white eyebrows. She gasped when she saw the face of the character…

"Oh my cob…" Star realized as she turned around. "Vee, don't insert that-"

She heard the sound of a coin going into the machine.

"-coin," Star said too late as the game's screen changed to static before electricity began to crack from the machine and surround them. Everyone gathered close together.

"What's happening?!" Skara asked while hanging onto Willow.

"Is this normal in your arcades?!" Willow asked.

"No!" Vee cried out as Star and Tres joined the group.

"I don't think that game's normal…" Boscha said before she looked down and cried out. "YAAAAH! HUNTER!"

"What…?" Hunter asked before he realized that his own legs and hands were disintegrating into pixel cubes. "WAAAH!"

"YAAAAH!" they all screamed as Vee, Star, Tres and the Hexsquad were turned into pixels before being drawn into the machine.

"What's happening to us?!" Tres asked before they all got sucked into the game…

…and just like that, they were gone.

---

Vee started to open her eyes, groaning as she woke up.

"Ooh, guys?" Vee asked as she looked around, seeing Star, Tres, Hunter, Boscha, Willow, and Skara all in the same room as her. "Is everyone alright?"

"I think so," Star replied as she helped Vee up. "But where are we…?"

"Is this the… dungeon from the game?" Hunter asked, looking around as he helped Tres up.

Sure enough, they were in a very medieval-looking dungeon, the walls made out of stone and the room lit up by torches.

"How did that happen?" Skara asked while Willow helped her and Boscha up.

"Games don't just suck people in like that… right?" Willow asked.

"Unless you live in Gravity Falls…" Vee said before they heard another voice.

"Bet you weren't expecting this, were you?"

Recognizing that voice, both Vee and Star's irises shrank.

"No…" Star said in shock.

"What?" Boscha asked before a cloud of blue smoke appeared before them and they heard the cackle of laughter.

"YAHAHAHAHAHA! Greetings all that is math!" declared the lavender-skinned wizard with a long white beard and eyebrows. He was wearing his signature teal cloak with a high collar and a black skullcap with the cyan gem on top. "I, Probabilitor the Annoying, am back with a vengeance!"

"Aw, crap," Star and Vee said, both of them sounding equally annoyed.

---

Meanwhile, Luz had brought Lois and Kaleb down… to the Crawlspace.

"What… is this?" Kaleb asked in surprise while Lois looked around in shock. Both of them were wearing cloaks over their heads to avoid unnecessary attention.

"It… is this…?!" Lois asked while taken aback from seeing all of the magical creatures either walking amongst them or bartering for items at the different stands.

"The Crawlspace," Luz said while they followed Mr. Whats-His-Face through the crowd. "The paranormal black market underneath Gravity Falls."

"This was here the whole time?" Lois asked Luz, still processing everything.

"My lair is straight ahead," Mr. Whats-His-Face told them while leading the way. "And please, keep your voices down."

"This is… fascinating," Kaleb commented, adjusting his glasses while looking around at the magical creatures. He had on his face just a look of sheer… awe. "Unicorns, gnomes, pixies… I never thought that…"

"Magical creatures are real…" Lois said while staring at some nearby pixies, who looked at her weirdly before flying away. "Magical creatures are real," she repeated to herself.

"Come on, treat yourself to a jar of hands!" a goblin said while advertising his merchandise.

"Riddles! Get yer daily riddles here!" a troll said while at a riddle book stand. "Solve one of my daily riddles and get a discount!"

"You wanna pass off as human in the outside world?" asked a fuzzy monster advertising a diverse selection of ears. "Then you need ear attachments! Buy them while they're hot!"

"What the hell…" Lois said as she looked around. She was unable to focus on one thing, since there was immediately another weird thing that demanded her attention. She quickly found herself becoming overwhelmed and she ended up hugging herself. "This… this has to be a dream, right?" she asked as she pinched herself, making her wince. She blinked and realized that she wasn't in a dream. "It's not a dream…"

It was real life.

"Hey, you alright there?" Luz asked her out of concern, causing Lois to turn to her.

"I… I don't know," Lois admitted, looking down. "I don't know… how to handle all of this…"

"Well, your friend seems to be taking it well," Luz said as she pointed to Kaleb.

"Check these plants out…" Kaleb said as he walked over to a group of plants… only for one of them to sprout eyes.

"Hey! Those are my kids you're talking to!" the plant shouted at him while the other plants blew raspberries.

"Oh, sorry," Kaleb awkwardly apologized before walking back over to Lois and Luz, noticing Lois's uneasy look. "Wait, are you alright, Lois?"

"I…" Lois said as she looked up at Kaleb and saw the concern for her on his face. As she looked at him, she found herself calming down a bit and she took a deep breath. "Sorry, I'm just so overwhelmed by this… whole place. I can't believe that… magic is actually real…" She looked down. "And why is that I have no problem accepting that someone like Powerline is real, but this is almost too much for me…"

Luz gave the woman an understanding and sympathetic look. "I know how overwhelming this is," she said. "Being suddenly thrust into a world of magic. It is harder for adults to wrap their minds around than it is for children. It is a lot and I guess Supers are easier to accept because there is usually a scientific explanation for them, not a magical one. Or at the very least we try to give a scientific explanation to Supers."

"How… how long have you known about all of this?" Lois asked while looking up at Luz.

"About the Crawlspace?" Luz asked.

"About magic," Lois said.

"Oh, that," Luz said, sounding awkward. "Well, the thing is, I've been raised around stuff like this my whole life."

"Wait, really?" Kaleb asked.

"Yeah, not in this realm," Luz admitted, which confused them.

"What do you mean 'this realm'?" Lois asked her.

Luz sighed. "Alright, so since you already know about magic, I guess I should tell you… I was raised by a witch and for most of my childhood I've grown up in the Demon Realm."

"Demon Realm?!" Lois and Kaleb asked in shock, earning some looks from nearby shoppers.

"Yes, the Demon Realm," Luz replied, keeping her voice low and motioning for them to do the same. "But before you make any assumptions… no, it's not Hell, it's a separate thing. Of course, I actually went to Hell once… and the Underworld of the Greek pantheon…"

"Um…" Lois started to say.

"But that is beside the point," Luz interrupted. "My point is that I've lived around magic all my life. Magic is normal to me… and I've developed some magical powers myself," she said as she drew a spell circle, causing a ball of light to drift from her hand and float up toward the ceiling.

"Whoa…" Kaleb said in an impressed tone as he watched the ball of light float up. Lois also looked impressed.

"My girlfriend, Amity, is also a magical being. Specifically, she is a witch-Fae," Luz admitted.

"Witch-Fae?" Lois asked in confusion.

"Yeah, she is a witch who gained Fae powers, to put it simply," Luz explained. "I'm on a similar boat as a human who evolved into a witch… Titan… gal."

"This is… a lot to take in…" Kaleb admitted.

Lois realized something as she looked at Luz. "Wait, why didn't you tell us all of this earlier?" Lois asked Luz.

"I didn't tell you for several reasons," Luz said. "First, I don't know you two long enough and well enough to trust you. Second, I wanted you to take me seriously. If I started talking about magic and witches immediately after we met, would you have listened to me?"

"Probably not…" Lois admitted.

"Third, I didn't want to get you two in trouble, and I didn't want to risk overwhelming you guys until I had, since not everyone reacts to learning that magic is real well," she finished listing off. "So for those reasons, I wanted to put off you guys learning about magic for as long as I could, but… now you two know." She sighed.

"Wait, now I'm more worried about James," Lois said with an uneasy look. "He could have been dragged off by a magical creature of some kind… like, you mentioned that Hell exists, what if he got dragged to Hell?!" She paused, horror dawning on her face. "Oh my God, Hell exists," she said. "Kaleb, there is an afterlife. There is an afterlife and there is a Hell…"

"Okay, I probably shouldn't have mentioned Hell," Luz sheepishly admitted. "But I don't think he was dragged off to Hell…"

"But you do think that a magical creature might have had something to do with his disappearance, right?" Kaleb asked.

Luz sighed and nodded. "Yeah," she admitted. "I do."

Lois then had another realization. "So if this whole thing is real, then… then that Frogvation could definitely have been real as well…"

"Oh yeah, it was real," Luz admitted. "I was there."

This shocked Lois, who stared at Luz with wide eyes. "Are you kidding me?! You were there to witness the Frogvasion?!"

"Well, I was one of the heroes that helped to stop it," Luz admitted again "Well, 'hero' is not a term I'm comfortable calling myself as…"

Lois stared at Luz in shock, but then quickly got over that shock as she realized the huge opportunity before her.

"Hey, how about if I could interview you about it later?" Lois offered. "Like, explain to me your part and-"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down," Luz interrupted her. "Look, an interview isn't a good idea, alright. The government has tried to cover up that Frogvasion and we have people here in Gravity Falls as well trying to keep the truth of the town from getting out, especially with our NMAT Act."

"NMAT?" Kaleb asked in confusion.

"The 'Never Mind All That' Act, a law that makes it illegal to talk about the town's magical events that happened over the summer," Luz explained. "It's one of the reasons why I tried to hide the truth from you two at first. This is a pretty sensitive thing to talk about."

Lois actually looked horrified by this. "So… you guys just… keep the truth hidden?"

"Look, I know it's typically not favorable to lie, I should know since the Demon Realm just overthrew a liar, but this is probably for the better," Luz admitted. "Gravity Falls is actually a lot safer when fewer people know its secrets, especially since I know that not everyone would accept co-existence with magical creatures. I've even met some of these people myself and they'd rather see magickind gone…"

"What are you doing here, False-Face?!" a female voice asked.

Luz heard a commotion and she, Lois, and Kaleb turned to see that Mr. Whats-His-Face was having an encounter with the Hand Witch.

"Oh it's you again, you finger-lickin' freak," Mr. Whats-His-Face said while pointing to her with disdain. "I got no business with you, Hand Witch!"

"Yeah? Well, I don't have business with someone who picks the noses of the faces he collects!" the Hand Witch shouted back as a few onlookers stopped to notice the scuffle.

"Lies! You came from a house of lies, woman!" Mr. Whats-His-Face told her. "It's you who has a gross obsession with hands!"

"My hand collection is manageable and healthy, unlike you who keeps the faces of the people you've made deals with," the Hand Witch told him. "I can see why you can't get a girlfriend."

"Just like how you couldn't tie down a man for yourself?" he countered, which made the Hand Witch go irate.

"Why if I had my hand-gun on me, I would mess you up real good, ya Osmond wannabe!" the Hand Witch shouted as she and Mr. Whats-His-Face got all up on each other before they suddenly got pulled apart by Luz.

"Alright, alright, break it up, you two!" Luz shouted while she was in her Titan form, something that surprised Lois and Kaleb. "This isn't the time and place, guys."

"She/He started!" the two shouted while pointing at each other, making Luz sigh in annoyance.

Luz turned to Mr. Whats-His-Face. "Just take us to your place…"

---

Eventually, Mr. Whats-His-Face took the trio to his place, opening the door and letting them in.

"Welcome to my home," he said as he flicked the lights on. "Hope you don't mind the décor…"

Lois and Kaleb looked around as the lights came on… and both of them became utterly aghast at all of the faces mounted on the walls.

"Oh my God…" Lois said, torn became shock, disgust, and fear.

"Dear lord…" Kaleb said, just as horrified. "Why would you have all of these faces?!"

"This can't be legal!" Lois shouted while pointing at Mr. Whats-His-Face. "What kind of operations are you running here? Some kind of sick, Texas Chainsaw Massacre thing?!"

"Whoa, whoa, nothing of the sort like, honest," Mr. Whats-His-Face said while turning to Luz. "Hey, maybe you can try to convince your friends…"

"Hey, don't rope me into this," Luz replied while looking around. "I'm just making sure there isn't anyone here that I know…"

"Seriously, how are you not more bothered by this?!" Kaleb asked Luz. "He is killing people!"

"Woah, woah, woah, I do not kill anyone," Mr. Whats-His-Face said defensively. "And my business here is totally legit. I provide a valuable service."

"Really?" Lois questioned with a narrow look.

"Look, it seems obvious to me that you two don't know how things work around here in Gravity Falls," he told them. "There are a lot of reasons that some people might want a new face. Some want to look good on picture day, some want to look better for their first date, some hate how they like but they don't want to go through plastic surgery. Point is, lots of people want a new face… and perhaps you two would be interested."

Lois and Kaleb stepped back as he came closer to them and they were able to see his face… which resembled a more handsome version of Kaleb, with a big chin, fluttering eyes, and no glasses. "I could give you the face of a handsome gentleman who doesn't need glasses," Mr. Whats-His-Face told Kaleb before turning to Lois, who saw that his face looked like hers, just more angular with high cheekbones, fluttering eyes, and long eyelashes. "Or how about a beautiful face for a homely girl like you?"

"'Homely'?!" Lois shouted, offended.

"All I am offering you is a chance to trade out your old face for a new, better face," he said. "Here, I can show you the process is harmless." He raised his gloved hand, reaching for her face as Lois saw the pentagram on his glove.

"Hey, wait, get away from me!" Lois shouted before she felt her face getting peeled off…

But before he could finish the job, Kaleb rushed over and grabbed Mr. Whats-His-Face by the arm. "Don't you touch her!" he shouted.

"Ow! Ow! That hurts!" Mr. Whats-His-Face shouted, feeling Kaleb's surprisingly tight grip on him while he was holding Lois's face.

Luz was going to interfere, but realized she had been beaten to the punch.

"Kaleb! Make him put me back!" Lois's face shouted, surprising Kaleb.

"Lois?!" Kaleb asked in shock, seeing Lois's face in Whats-His-Face's hand. He then turned to look at Lois's body… and saw that the place where her face should be was blank. He felt sick for a moment before he turned to glare angrily at Whats-His-Face. "Put her face back right now!"

"Ow! Ow! Okay, okay!" he told him. "Just let me go! Let me go!"

"You'll put it back if I do?" Kaleb asked with a narrow look.

"Yes!" Mr. Whats-His-Face shouted as Kaleb gave him a look before letting him go. The demon winced in pain before quickly placing Lois's face back to her head. "There, happy?!"

"Are you alright, Lois?" Kaleb asked her while Lois felt her face.

"I'm fine, just glad this experience was brief," Lois responded. "I never want that to happen again."

"I still don't see what the outrage is over," Mr. Whats-His-Face said while feeling his arm. "I'm not hurting anyone."

"You took my face without my consent, you creep!" Lois told him off.

"Yeah, that was pretty creepy, dude," Luz said, crossing her arms.

"Come on, it's not like she was bleeding from the process," he claimed. "I'm not the bad guy here. I'm not like that Headless Horseman who goes around collecting heads…"

Luz immediately caught onto this.

"Wait… what do you mean by that?"

---

Back in the video game dungeon, the Hexsquad and friends faced off against Probabilitor.

"Well, well, looks like you've all fallen into my trap!" he declared while pointing at Vee and Star. "You two and…" He gestured weakly to Tres and the Hexsquad. "…whoever you people are."

"Man, I thought we had finished dealing with you!" Vee told him off.

"I got this, Vee," Star said as she held up her hand and sent a magic blast toward him.

"Ah-ah-ah!" Probabilitor said while summoning a graph-grid shield that blocked the blast and sent it back at Star, knocking her over.

"Oof!" Star shouted as she fell back, Vee and Tres rushing over to help her up.

"Rude for attacking when I wasn't done speaking! Talking is a free action," Probabilitor declared.

"Alright, just who is this guy?" Tres asked, narrowing his eyes at Probabilitor.

"Yeah, I have never seen him before," Willow commented.

"Long robe, carries a staff, glitter in his pockets… he's a wizard, is he?" Boscha asked.

"That's Probabilitor the Annoying," Vee explained. "He's a math wizard, a character from a game called Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons. Dipper and his grunkle Ford accidentally brought him into our realm that kidnapped them so me, Star, Luz, and the Gatesfield teens had to save Dipper and Ford from him by playing his crazy game. We won by making him forfeit."

"Yes, I will get to those two mothers eventually," Probabilitor grumbled to himself.

"But how are you here?" Star questioned as she pointed to him. "I thought we sent your ass back to your little math dimension."

"Yes, yes, I was forced to return to my dimension," Probabilitor admitted. "But ever since that humiliating defeat, I've been looking for a way to return to your 3-D world to enact my revenge on those who defeated me. I needed an anchor between my world and yours, so I created this magical arcade machine as that anchor. And while I don't have everyone I want revenge on right now, you two," he said as he pointed at Vee and Star. "Will be a good start!" he declared as he raised his staff and it began to glow…

PUNCH!

He immediately got jumped by Willow and Skara, the former punching him in the stomach and the latter kicking him in the side. He immediately dropped his staff as he fell.

"Oof! What the-?!"

Probabilitor didn't get to finish as Willow and Skara continued beating him while he was down.

"Don't let him get up!" Willow shouted while jumping up and slamming her elbow down on him.

"Yeah! Witches before wizards!" Skara declared as she changed into a werewolf and bit down on his cloak.

"Ah! No! Bad girl! Help!" Probabilitor screamed as he got beaten up and mauled by the two.

The rest just watched in quiet shock at Willow and Skara going to town on Probabilitor, Vee looking surprised to see Skara transformed.

"Well, he went out easily," Hunter noted.

"Pfft, typical wizard," Boscha said with her arms crossed.

"I did not know that Skara's a werewolf…" Vee admitted.

"Oh yeah, it's a thing from her dad's side," Star admitted while Tres went to grab Probabilitor's staff, smiling as he picked it up.

"I got his staff so he won't be able to use it against us," Tres said while looking closely at the staff. "What is this thing as the headpiece?" he asked while Willow and Skara continued to beat Probabilitor to a pulp.

"Please, have mercy!" Probabilitor cried out while Skara bit off a piece of his cloak while Willow elbow-slams him on the back, making him cry in pain. "OOOWWW! MY BACK!"

After several minutes of agony for Probabilitor, Willow and Skara finished, getting up and looking down at the beaten wizard.

"That should take care of him," Willow said with her arms crossed.

"Yeah! This is what happens when you mess with the Hexsquad!" Skara declared as she changed back into her witch form.

"So… that means we get out of the game, right?" Vee asked as she looked around, expecting something to change. But instead, they heard Probabilitor's weak laughter.

"Hehehe… foolish algebrats," he chuckled as he turned his head toward them, though even that small movement caused him pain. "I'm not even the final boss…"

"Uh… what?" Hunter asked.

Probabilitor forced himself up before he held up a crystal ball. "You see, I can't actually send you back. The only way for you to leave the game is to beat the game. So if you ever want to leave, you will have to get to the end of this dungeon, surviving traps, puzzles, obstacles, and monsters before ultimately facing off against this dungeon's dragon, Whyvernis, and rescuing Princess Unattainabelle from her imprisonment!"

As he explained this, the crystal ball showed them the dungeon's many levels, which contained all of what he said: various monsters, obstacles, traps, some puzzles, a red dragon who surrounded itself with treasure, and a princess inside of a bubble.

"Oh hero, come and save me… or whatever," said the jaded princess in her entrapped bubble. She was a brunette haired young woman with blue eyes and peach skin, and hair covering her left eye. She wore a golden crown and a rather revealing outfit consisting of a see-through gown over a black one-piece with black boots. She had a very bored expression on her face as she was more focused on her phone.

"What the- hey! You're not supposed to have your phone!" Probabilitor pointed out through the crystal ball.

"Give me a break, I thought I was off the clock," she said as Probabilitor snapped his fingers, causing her phone to disappear. "Hey!"

"Now then, if you wish to get out of my game, defeat the dragon and save the princess!" he declared. "And now I must assign you your character classes!"

"Our classes?" Boscha asked in confusion.

"Yes! You'll have to play the roles assigned to you in order to finish the game!" Probabilitor declared as he snapped his fingers, causing a 'poof' effect.

After some coughing, Star waved the smoke around her away and looked down to find herself with her fur top, skirt, boots, and axe again. "I'm a barbarian again?"

"Looks like we're the same characters," Vee responded while dressed in her high priestess wardrobe, including her staff.

"What am I supposed to be?" Hunter asked while appearing to be in white armor, with golden accents. He held up a sword and a large shield which he had trouble carrying. "Gah! Why is the shield heavy…?"

"Looks like you're a paladin," Vee said before turning to Tres. "And it looks like you're a sorcerer, Tres."

"A what?" Tres asked while looking at himself. He was still holding the staff, but now he appeared to be wearing a dark-blue robe with a black sash around his waist, a hood over his head, and a crystal necklace around his neck.

"Guys… why am I the one holding a crystal ball?" Boscha asked while wearing a golden headdress around her head, her third-eye showing. She was also dressed with a purple cloak, a yellow sleeveless tunic, a green sash, black shorts and her arms and legs covered in wraps. She held up a crystal ball.

"Boscha, you're an oracle class," Vee said.

"An oracle? But… I don't know anything about oracle magic!" Boscha shouted.

"Am I in the plant coven?" Skara asked while finding herself wearing a large skull over her head, multiple leaves coming out of the skull. She also wore an organic green poncho with a green top underneath. Her midriff showed as she wore an organic green loincloth while also wearing white shin-guards and going barefooted. She finished the look off with a green cape and a wooden staff with a deer skull on top of it.

"Well you do look good in green," Willow said as she donned a silver plated armored top while having silver shoulder pads and arm gauntlets. She also had a white one split dress wrapped around her waist, silver boots, and a large spear.

"Thanks, you look good too." Skara replied, both girls blushing at their outfits.

"Alright, we got Star the Barbarian and Vee the High Priestess back in the adventure!" Probabilitor declared. "As for the rest of you: Tres the Sorcerer, Hunter the Paladin, Boscha the Oracle, Skara the Druid, and Willow the Amazon. Now that each of you have your character classes, it's time to play my game!"

BONK!

"Ohh…" Probabilitor was knocked out by a hit to the back of the head by his own staff, courtesy of Tres, who stood behind him.

"Finally," Tres said, sounding incredibly annoyed. "No wonder he's known as 'the Annoying'."

"Yeah, guy was super insufferable the last time we met him," Star replied.

"So… what now?" Hunter asked. "If beating him up more presumably won't get us out of the game, do we have to play through or not?"

"I don't know," Willow said.

Vee was quiet for a moment, thinking to herself. After a moment, she spoke up.

"Probabilitor sucked us all in since I put in that quarter in the machine," Vee pointed out while looking around at the dungeon "Maybe… we do have to go through with this game in order to get out. Whether we like it or not, we probably do have to see this through."

"Well… I guess with all of us together, going through this dungeon probably shouldn't be too hard," Boscha pointed out. "Besides, this way I can tell Tom and my friends that I beat a dungeon, just like they did."

"So what are we waiting for? Let's go save the princess and get out of this game!" Star declared.

"Yeah!" the rest of the gang (minus Tres, who did not have their same level of energy) cheered.

And so, the newly formed party of dungeon adventurers went further into the dungeon, ready to face whatever danger awaited them…

---

On the first level, they came across three doors. As the stood in front of the doors, the hallway around them started to collapse in on itself, the floor giving way beneath their feet.

"Which door, Vee?!" Hunter asked.

"Um, this one!" Vee chose as she went to open a door for the gang to enter through. Behind them, the hall completely fell apart…

---

The Hexsquad and friends found themselves in a very wide hallway with three suits of horse armor in front of them.

"What are we supposed to do?" Star asked.

"Quick, pick one of them to hide!" Vee shouted as she grabbed Star's hand and got on one of the suits of horse armor with her. Hunter and Tres get on the second suit, while Willow, Skara, and Boscha got on the third. Once they were all on the sets of horse armor, each suddenly levitated off the ground and began to travel through the dungeon.

"So far, so good," Hunter commented.

"Just try not to crash onto any walls or pillars of fire!" Vee told them.

"Wait, what?" Tres asked.

Seeing a pillar of fire rise up ahead, the heroes had to steer their horses to avoid the flames, then steer them again to avoid crashing into a wall. It went like this for a while…

---

The group traveled to a part of the dungeon where the only way to continue was down a river. And the only means of transportation were barrel rafts and paddles.

"This… does not look safe," Boscha commented.

"Just remember to get in sync," Vee said as she got on a raft with Star and Tres while Hunter and Boscha got on a second raft and Willow and Skara got on a third. "And try to avoid crashing into things or falling into the whirlpools!" Vee shouted as they set off.

"Not nervous or anything…" Hunter said as the gang went down the river. It went pretty smoothly at first, at least until they saw a sign for 'ye rapids'…

"YA!" they cried out as they began to go through the rapids.

---

After that, they found themselves facing off against a black knight who tried to attack them while on horseback.

"Dodge!" Vee cried out as she jumped to the side as the knight swung his sword at her while riding past her. Fortunately, Vee had seemed to memorize the right moves from her previous failures before they got sucked into the game.

While Vee dodged the sword, Willow held up her spear and she threw it at the knight, hitting him by the back. "Got him!"

"AAAAIIIIEEEE!" the knight cried out as he fell from his horse then disappeared.

"Nice aim, Willow!" Boscha told her as Willow went to grab her spear.

"Thanks!" Willow replied before she paused. "Wait… I didn't just kill a guy, right?"

---

On the second level, they entered a windy room where a great many objects were being blown at them. While most of them just dodged the items, Hunter used his sword to knock the objects away while Star used her ax to fend off the objects, Tres trying to perform a spell with his staff.

"Um… spell ball!" Tres shouted as he blasted the wall with a spell.

"What did that do?" Skara asked.

"I created a way out," Tres pointed out, indicating the hole in the wall that they began to climb through.

---

In another room, Boscha noticed a cauldron and a table of potions. She walked over to check the potions, noticing that one of them said 'drink me' on it. "Yeah, not falling for that," Boscha said, rolling her eyes as she looked around. "This entire dungeon is definitely a curse-hazard safety violation…"

"BLEEECH!" a large phantom cried out as it came out of the cauldron, forcing everyone to prepare to defend themselves.

"Would this be another violation?!" Skara asked as she held up her staff, which shot a green blast at the phantom, but the blast only went through the phantom and caused some moss to grow in one corner of the room.

"Fuck it!" Boscha shouted as she threw the potion into the cauldron. "Let's get out of here!"

The gang quickly ran out of the room, just as the cauldron exploded.

---

Soon they were at another boss battle, this time with a giant bat.

"Bleh! Bleh!" the bat cried out before Star struck it down with her ax. "AAAAAHHH!"

"That takes care of him," Star declared while cleaning her ax.

"Come on!" Vee declared as they went to the next level.

---

The Hexsquad had just gone through a series of obstacles and traps. They were near the end of a hallway, but suddenly a trap door opened and a bunch of tentacles with eyes at the end came out, forcing the heroes to fend them off.

"Take that!" Hunter shouted as he swipes at the tentacles.

---

Next, they had to make it across a room where parts of the floor were glowing with blue electricity. They could only step on the parts of the floor that were not glowing or else they would be electrocuted. Behind them, the room was slowly being consumed by blue static.

"Hurry!" Tres shouted..

---

In another room, they had to make it through some thorns that were quickly growing. Fortunately, Tres managed to burn through the thorns with a fire spell, creating a path for them through the room.

"This way!" Tres shouted as he led the group through the room.

"You're actually getting pretty good with that staff, Tres," Vee noted.

"Yeah," Tres said with a smile. "I know."

---

Later, they ended up in a volcanic-looking room where they fight off against some lava men.

"My druid powers aren't working!" Skara shouted as Willow slashed at the lava men with her spear.

"How's it working with that crystal ball, Boscha?" Hunter asked.

"Not good," Boscha said while shaking the crystal ball. "Gah! How does Selene do it?! I can't summon spirits with this!"

"Head's up!" Star shouted as she slashed one of the lava men in half as he was going after Boscha. "Come on! Let's get out of here!"

---

"It's that dang lizard!" Vee shouted in anger as she pointed at the lizard wearing a crown and royal garb. He held his staff up to attack the heroes.

"For me, for I am-" the Lizard Prince started to say before he got hit in the face by Boscha's crystal ball, Boscha having thrown it at him like a grudgeby ball.

"I say we just gang up on him!" Boscha shouted.

Nobody argued with this as they rushed the Lizard Prince and began attacking him while he was on the ground.

"Wait! Stop! NOOOO!" the Lizard Prince cried out as he got relentlessly beaten by the Hexsquad and Co. "MERCY!"

---

Later, the gang had managed to find a resting stop where they could stop and take a break without worrying about or having to deal with traps and monsters.

"How far do we think we are to the end?" Skara asked as she and Willow rested together, with Skara leaning against her girlfriend.

"I don't know," Willow admitted. "I hope we're close…"

"Me too," Skara said with a sigh.

Star, who was sitting down, looked around at everyone. The only one who wasn't resting was Tres, who had offered to stand guard in case something did try to attack them while they were at their rest stop. But she did notice that while Willow and Skara were sitting together and Hunter and Boscha were also together, Vee was by herself. So Star picked herself up and moved herself closer to Vee.

"Hey, Vee, how are you handling all of this?" Star asked her while Vee gave a sigh.

"It's… definitely more exhausting in real life than it is when it is just a video game," Vee replied, "Dealing with the traps, monsters, boss battles… I definitely would not have gotten this far if I was just by myself, but having you guys to accompany me through this dungeon really helps." She paused. "Even if I'm the reason we got us in here…"

"Hey, don't blame yourself, Vee," Boscha told her, overhearing this. "There's no way you'd know that game was, well, cursed." She shrugged. "Believe me, we have all accidentally used a cursed item at one point or another."

Vee looked around at the rest of the Hexsquad, who all sheepishly nodded, some of them looking embarrassed as they remembered their own incidents with cursed items, though it definitely made Vee feel better about her mistake.

"Still, I don't like having to resort to violence, even if it is the only way for us to get out of here," Vee said as she looked down.

"I know," Star said, knowing how uncomfortable her girlfriend was with violence. She reached out and gently touched her arm. "But if it helps, maybe try to imagine that this is just a session of FCLORP instead," she suggested, trying to cheer her girlfriend up.

"Yeah, I guess," Vee replied before looking over at Skara. "And at least I've gotten to learn more about some of you guys. Like you, Skara, I had no idea that you were a werewolf."

"Yeah, that actually used to be a secret on the Boiling Isles," Skara admitted. "But it isn't anymore. It was something me and dad tried to hide… but, I'm actually glad that I don't have to hide it anymore. I mean, I was kinda scared at first. Scared about what might happen to me or my family. But I know that it doesn't change how my friends think of me and I feel… like I can really be myself without having to hide any part of me anymore. Maybe it is because I now have a sister who is also a lycan, but she is a werecat so she can't hide who she is. But she isn't ashamed of what she is and… neither am I."

Vee smiled at Skara. "That's really great, Skara. I'm pretty glad that you feel more uncomfortable with that part of you."

"Thanks, Vee," Skara replied, smiling back.

After that, Vee fell silent, thinking to herself. Thinking about how Skara had apparently revealed what she was to all of her friends. It must have taken courage to take such a huge risk… but she also must have trusted her friends. And these witches… they were friends of Luz, Amity, and Gus, who all had no problem with her being a basilisk. So perhaps they would have no problem with her being a basilisk either. And it would be nice, having more friends who knew what she really was… and still accepted her.

"I… think I'm ready to let the rest of you guys know something about me," Vee said as everyone looked up at her. "See, I'm not actually a human…" She briefly hesitated as she found all eyes on her. "I'm… and try not to panic, and Willow already knows that I'm… I'm…" She looked over to Star, who realized what she was trying to do but gave her a smile of encouragement while nodding at her.

Vee smiled back, then took a deep breath. "I… am a basilisk," she said as she looked around at everyone to see their reaction… and the only one who looked surprised was Hunter.

"Yeah, I figured," Boscha casually responded with a shrug.

"Yeah, same. It was kinda obvious," Skara admitted.

"Wait, it was?" Vee asked, blinking in confusion.

"We already knew that Tres was a basilisk," Skara pointed out. "And he came here to see you."

"Huh, I guess it wasn't that hard to connect the dots," Tres said.

"So you all knew?" Vee asked.

"Well, maybe not Hunter," Willow said as she pointed to him.

Hunter was looking down, processing this new information… and remembering something that Lilith had told him. "It's you," he said while looking up at Vee.

"Um, what?" Vee asked, slightly confused.

"The basilisk that Lilith said she met in the Human Realm," Hunter told Vee. "It's you."

"Wait, you know Lilith?" Vee asked him, looking a bit uncomfortable at the mention of Lilith. "How do you know her…?"

Hunter's eyes widened as he realized just how awkward this really was. He looked down. "I-I guess you don't know much about me as well," he said, his voice low.

"You mentioned that you used to be in the Emperor's Coven," Vee brought up.

"Y-Yeah," Hunter said with a nod. "But I'm not just… a scout. I was… the Golden Guard, and… a Grimwalker, made from the blood of my mother… Lilith."

"What?!" Vee asked in shock, her eyes widening. "L-Lilith's son? Golden Guard?!"

She stared at Hunter in horror, realizing that sitting across from her was not only the son of Lilith, the witch who had helped to oversee the Basilisk Revival program, but also the Golden Guard, the right hand aid to the Emperor… the poster boy of the Emperor's Coven…

In a way, Hunter represented everything that she wanted to get away from when she left the Boiling Isles

"I-I'm not the Golden Guard anymore," Hunter tried to assure her, but then he stopped himself. He saw how uncomfortable Vee now looked just being near him and he fell silent, looking down with a guilty expression.

An awkward silence fell over the group, since nobody knew what to say after this revelation…

---

Back with Luz, Lois, and Kaleb, they had managed to get themselves out of the Crawlspace. While Mr. Whats-His-Face had mostly been a dead end, he had accidentally given them a new lead that they were now discussing while still in the woods.

"So… according to Mr… literally Whats-His-Face," Lois said. "On Halloween night, he saw the… Headless Horseman riding off with someone on the back of his horse…"

"Which means… James was taken by the Headless Horseman," Kaleb realized. "The actual Headless Horseman!"

"If he's real, then… oh God," Lois said as she covered her mouth, remembering the original story. "Please don't tell me he could be dead…"

"James…" Kaleb said as he looked down with a look of guilt from not being there to save James.

Luz, meanwhile, was pacing back and forth. She looked… confused. "None of this makes any sense," she said as they turned to her.

"What doesn't make sense? The Headless Horseman being real?" Lois asked.

"No, he's real alright," Luz told him. "But he wouldn't kill James. In fact, he shouldn't even be here."

"How do you know that?" Lois asked her.

"Because I met him once," Luz revealed.

"Of course you have," Lois said with a sigh.

"I met him one Halloween in Sleepy Hollow, New York," Luz explained. "He actually turned out to be the spirit of Brom Bones. He's a prankster ghost, murder ain't his M.O. He's not some Jack the Ripper-type."

However, Lois didn't look convinced. "But that face stealing maniac said he saw the Headless Horseman," she pointed out.

"On the other side of the country?" Luz asked Lois while shaking her head. "I'm telling you it can't be him! What reason would a prankster ghost have to go around kidnapping people?!"

"How do we even know if that's even the same Headless Horseman?" Lois pointed out. "Like what if the one who took James isn't the same one that you met before?"

Luz paused, the realization hitting her like a train…

"So… what's the plan now?" Lois asked when Luz didn't immediately answer, since she was still thinking about what to say.

Luz lowered her head as she thought before she came up with a realization. "This… is actually a good thing," she said.

"What?" the two journalists asked her.

"Well, now that we know who most likely took James, it'd be easier to look for him," Luz suggested. "I can ask my contacts to keep their eyes open for the Headless Horseman, because if they find the Horseman, they could find James. This could actually help, since we are still looking for someone more specific."

"Yeah, that… actually does make sense," Lois replied. "I mean, how hard could it be to find a guy with no head?"

"I'm… still concerned about James," Kaleb pointed out. "I mean, we all know the legend of Sleepy Hollow. We know the story about the Headless Horseman, and we know how it ended for the man he chased at night, Ichabod Crane. He was never seen again," he pointed out as he turned to Luz. "Even if this Headless Horseman may be someone you know, Luz, we should still be careful. I know you said that he's just a prankster, but if that is true… what happened to Ichabod Crane?"

Luz looked at Kaleb as his question sank in. She then looked down, realizing that she had no answer…

---

Back in the dungeon, the group had resumed their journey, but an atmosphere of awkwardness stung hung over them. Star and Tres were up in the front along with Vee while Willow, Skara and Boscha walked in the middle and they saw Hunter hanging in the back by himself, away from the rest of the group.

"Alright, anyone else thinks this is a bit…?" Boscha asked in a whisper.

"Awkward? Yeah," Skara responded in a whisper while looking between Hunter and Vee. "I think someone should go to talk to Hunter."

"Yeah, I'll do that," Boscha said before Willow spoke up.

"Actually," Willow said. "I think I would like to try to talk to him."

"Hmm, alright, good luck," Boscha said as Willow went behind the group to talk to Hunter. Boscha was left with Skara, the two sharing a look.

"So… Vee's a basilisk," Skara mentioned to Boscha.

"Yeah," Boscha replied. "Though, if you knew, how come you never said anything about it?"

"Well, I guess I understood her reasons for wanting to keep it hidden and I didn't want to out her," Skara admitted. "What about you?"

"Well, when I saw Vee while she was on the Isles, she was with Star, Tres, and two others that I assume are also witches," Boscha explained. "I actually thought they were all humans at the time. But then later I learned that Tres was a basilisk, so I put two and two together and realized that Vee was one as well. And I never said anything for the same reason you did. Her not telling us before now was perfectly understandable, since she barely knows us." She looked over at Skara. "So you were never scared of her? Despite the Greater Basilisk that attacked our school?"

"Nah," Skara said, shaking her head. "I was never scared of her." She then looked down. "And I can definitely relate to her about wanting to hide who she really was. Since for the longest time I hid my lycan heritage because of a fear of rejection among my peers."

Boscha nodded and looked down, staring at her reflection in her crystal ball. She frowned, since she briefly saw the face of Nicole looking back at her. "My family… does have ties to her," she said, keeping her voice low. "You saw how Vee reacted when she learned who Hunter was and who his mother was. How do you think she would react if she knew my former mother was Nicole Hieron, the witch who was in charge of the Basilisk Revival program. Sure, I had no idea what she was doing back in Hieron Labs but…" Guilt flashed across her face. "I may be a Saltstar now, but I still feel like I carry some of the weight of Nicole's actions…"

"Hey, what Nicole did had nothing to do with you, Boscha," Skara assured her.

"Maybe not, but even if I had known what she was doing then, what would I have done? I don't think, back then…" Boscha started to say, but Skara interjected.

"Don't worry about that," Skara told Boscha. "That is completely hypothetical, so just try to focus on the now." She was silent for a moment. "Maybe you could… talk with Vee?" she suggested.

"I'm not sure…" Boscha reluctantly admitted.

"It could do both of you good," Skara said. "I don't know how she'll react, but if there are some things you want to get out of your chest, well… might as well."

Boscha considered her friend's words as she looked ahead about Vee, wondering if she should try to talk to her or not.

Behind them were Hunter and Willow, who were also talking about Vee.

"You know you don't have to fall behind everyone else, Hunter," Willow told him.

"I… don't want to make things more awkward or uncomfortable with Vee," he said, looking down as they walked. "I want to give her plenty of space. I… I don't blame her for being afraid of me."

"Hunter, I don't think she's afraid of you," Willow said before Hunter continued.

"You know, I used to have my own prejudice against the basilisks, even after mom talked to me about it," he admitted, sounding ashamed. "I completely bought into the propaganda about them up until the Day of Unity. I don't have that prejudice anymore, but Vee has every right in not wanting anything to do with me. I was… part of the problem."

"Hunter… Vee doesn't even know you," Willow pointed out. "I mean, this is the first time that the two of you have even been in the same space together? She's wary about you, sure, but she didn't even know you as the Golden Guard. She knew you from the propaganda, just like how you would have known her from the propaganda. What she doesn't know is who you are behind the armor, including your background and your desire to be a better witch." She reached over to pat Hunter's shoulder. "You shouldn't hold yourself responsible for what your uncle did… or even what your mother did. Because you're not them."

Hunter looked up at Willow before looking over at Vee, thinking about what Willow had said.

Meanwhile, Boscha had decided to catch up to Vee, who noticed her.

"Oh, hey Boscha," Vee said to her. "I… don't think we've really talked that much. One-on-one, I mean."

"Yeah, we haven't," Boscha responded while looking down. "Um… there's a lot that you don't know about me, actually."

"Yeah, you're right," Vee admitted. "But from what I've seen, you seem to be a cool witch girl. And we have something in common that nobody else does."

"We do?" Boscha asked in confusion.

"I mean, we're both dating people originally from Mewni, right?" Vee pointed out.

Boscha chuckled and smiled. "Yeah, that's true," she admitted.

Vee smiled as well. "You also seem to be pretty much good friends with Luz and Amity."

"Yeah, well… it wasn't always like that," Boscha admitted, her smile falling as her tone became awkward. "In fact, not too long ago I was a completely different witch. I was a spoiled brat, a common jerk jock archetype and, well, I looked down on nearly everyone. And… if you really know me, if you knew my family, you'd probably be just as uncomfortable around me as much as you are with Hunter."

"I mean, you're not that witch anymore, right?" Vee asked her, though she looked a bit concerned. "I mean, what could you possibly have done?"

Boscha sighed and hesitated for a moment before she came clean. "It is less about what I did… and more about what my… former mother did to you, to Tres, to the others…"

Vee was confused by this, but then she looked real hard at Boscha… and her eyes widened. "Oh my Titan," she said, noticing the resemblance between Boscha and a certain other witch.

"Yeah," Boscha said. "My last name used to be Hieron…"

"And your mother…"

"My former mother… was Nicole Hieron," Boscha revealed, her expression guilt-ridden. "I have disowned her, but you need to know that I had no idea what she and her company were actually doing…"

Vee was silent for a moment… but then she smiled.

"Hey, hey Boscha, relax," Vee assured her, prompting the triclops to look up at her. "Maybe you were Nicole's daughter… but you aren't Nicole. I am not going to hold a grudge against you for anything your mother did."

"Yeah, even I don't have a problem with you, Boscha," Tres admitted, since he had been listening in to the conversation.

"You guys aren't mad? Or scared?" Boscha asked them.

Tres almost laughed. "Right, like I would be scared of you," he said. "Honestly, you should have been scared of us. Because if we did want revenge for what Nicole had done to us by going after you, then it would have been-"

"Tres, stop it," Vee said disapprovingly.

"Hey, just making a point," Tres said.

Boscha did realize in that moment that both Vee and Tres could have very easily killed her if they had wanted to, long before she even knew what either of them really were. But… they hadn't and Boscha did feel a sense of relief that they didn't hold a grudge.

"So you… really don't have a problem with me?" Boscha asked.

"Of course not," Vee said.

"That is great to hear," Boscha said with a nod. "So… what about Hunter?"

"Hunter? Oh…" Vee said, looking down.

"Look, I get it," Boscha said. "I am not saying you have to become best friends with him or anything. But if you don't hold what my mom did against me, maybe don't hold what his uncle and his mother did against you."

"Uncle?" Vee asked in confusion.

"Oh yeah, Belos is his uncle," Boscha revealed. "Well… kinda. His whole deal is complicated, but maybe that's something you could ask him about."

Vee looked back at Hunter, who noticed her looking at him. The two locked eyes for a moment before quickly looking away, Vee looking back at Boscha.

"I… I guess I could," Vee admitted.

After they went a bit further, Vee finally decided to walk back to where Hunter was in order to talk with him. He and Willow noticed her coming over to them.

"Hey Hunter, you got a minute?" Vee awkwardly asked.

"Y-Yeah," Hunter responded, though he sounded just as awkward.

"I'll, um, leave you two alone," Willow said before she walked ahead to rejoin Skara, leaving Hunter and Vee with each other.

The two were quiet for a moment. Then, as he looked at Vee, Hunter took a deep breath and finally said what he needed to say.

"Vee… I just want to say… I'm sorry," he apologized. "I'm sorry for everything my uncle, my mother, and the Emperor's Coven did to you and your siblings. And I'm sorry for being a part of it as well."

"I… I appreciate you telling me that, Hunter," Vee responded. "Though, I wanted to ask, what exactly is your relationship with Belos and Lilith?"

Hunter sighed. "Belos is… my uncle, and Lilith's my mom. Well… not in a traditional sense, it's a lot more complicated."

"How complicated?" she asked him.

"I'm a Grimwalker," he revealed to her. "I'm basically a clone of Belos's actual nephew Caleb Clawthorne, who died… a very long time ago, during the Deadwardian Era. And Lilith, well… Belos used her blood to make me, since he needed the uncorrupted blood of a living descendant of his brother to keep me stable, to keep me from deteriorating. Of course, he didn't tell Lilith any of this…"

"Oh my… oh man," Vee said in shock. "That is really messed up on Belos's part."

"Yeah, it was really messed up. Especially since I almost ended up killing Lilith and Belos didn't say anything about it," Hunter said with a sigh. "It was one of the reasons why I needed to get away from him."

"How… do you feel about him now?" Vee asked.

Hunter didn't answer right away. Instead, he hesitated. "My feelings on my uncle are… complicated," he muttered. "But I do owe Lilith. She saved my life, gave me a chance to be… a normal kid. And after the Day of Unity, I moved in with her. Well, her and Hooty. We are finally getting the chance to be mother and son."

"That… sounds nice," Vee admitted. "You know… Lilith saved my life once. She also helped to save Megan's life from Hieron Labs. Though, despite all of that, I'm still unable to forgive her for knowing about the basilisk program and not helping us when she could have… and I'm not sure if I'll ever be comfortable with forgiving her."

"I… I guess that is fair," Hunter admitted.

"And… I guess the two of us are kinda alike," Vee pointed out.

"How so?" Hunter asked.

"Neither of us should exist," Vee pointed out. "We are both the results of Belos trying to bring back the past."

"Yeah…" Hunter said, looking down. "Do you know who you are based on?"

Vee looked at Hunter strangely. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"I…" Hunter said before shaking his head. "Forget it."

"Uh, okay," Vee said before the two of them fell silent for a moment. "So… just how is Lilith doing these days?"

"Pretty good," Hunter admitted while looking at Vee. "Besides us spending a lot of time together, she has been working on making sure that the people who tortured you and your siblings will be held accountable for their actions."

"Really?" Vee asked.

"It's true," Tres said as he walked back to join them. "Lilith is working hard to bring in any scout and alchemist who were involved with the Basilisk Revival program. She's putting in the effort to hold those witches accountable and that includes herself."

"Huh, that's… pretty good of her," Vee admitted before they heard Star speak up.

"Guys," Star said as they all turned to look at her. "We're here."

---

The group entered the treasure room. Appropriate to its name, the room was filled with gold, other valuables, and Princess Unattainabelle, who was still trapped in her bubble while playing cards with the large dragon that was keeping her.

"Ugh, how long is this going to take?" the princess asked in a bored tone while looking at her cards. "You got any threes?"

"Uh…" the dragon said as he looked at his cards. He did indeed have threes. He then noticed the Hexsquad and co at the entrance. "Oh look! The, uh, trespassers trying to rescue you!" he pointed out, dropping his cards.

"We're here to rescue you, princess!" Star declared as everyone prepared to fight.

"Great…" she said, looking completely disinterested. "Just get the key from the dragon, Whyvernis, to free me, so I can finally get out of here…"

"And I am Whyvernis!" the red dragon declared as he huffed flames from his nostrils and showed that he had the key hanging around his neck. "If you want the key, you will have to defeat me first!"

"Still confused why this game only has one dragon, though this is still going to be a very awkward story to tell Cross…" Hunter admitted as everyone prepared themselves.

"Let's get that key!" Vee declared.

Whyvernis roared as he blew flames at the group, prompting the group to scatter and take shelter behind the pillars and piles of treasure that decorated the room. Tres came up to shoot a spell ball at the dragon, hitting him in the face. Whyvernis responded by swinging his tail at Tres, who would have been hit if Hunter hadn't tackled him to the ground.

"Hey, get off me!" Tres shouted, trying to push Hunter off of him.

"You have to get down!" Hunter cried out.

"But I can't shoot the dragon when you're in the way, idiot!" Tres shouted before they both fell silent when they saw the dragon looming over them. Hunter and Tres then both clung to each other and screamed as the dragon breathed flames down at them.

"Hang on, guys!" Vee shouted as she waved her staff, creating a shield that stopped the dragon's flames from hitting them. Willow threw her spear at the dragon, but one of the wings blocked the attack, swiping the spear out of the air.

"That didn't hit him?!" Willow shouted while Skara held her staff to blast green spells beams towards the dragon, but to no effect.

Boscha also kept rubbing her crystal ball. "Come on! Shoot ghosts or something! At least zap this big guy away from us!" she ranted at the crystal ball.

"Is there a way to beat this guy, Vee?" Star asked.

"I never made it to this level!" Vee shouted before she turned to Princess Unattainabelle. "How do we defeat Whyvernis?"

The jaded princess let out a sigh. "Well, obviously, since your weapons are useless against him, you need a special weapon to kill Whyvernis. Like that sword stuck in that large ruby over there," she said as she pointed to the ruby, which was behind Whyvernis.

"So that means one of us has to get past him," Star said.

"Yeah," Hunter said while holding up his sword and shield. "We just need to keep him busy long enough for one of us to get that sword."

"I'll go," Tres volunteered.

"Great, then we'll keep big red here occupied," Boscha said as she held up the crystal ball. "Time to switch things up grudgeby-style!" she shouted as she jumped up and threw the crystal ball at him, the ball hitting Whyvernis in the snout.

"YEOWCH! That hurts!" Whyvernis cried out while rubbing his snout. He spotted Boscha and narrowed his eyes at her, but before he could breathe flames on her, he got hit by a green blast from Skara's staff. "Gah!"

"Pick on someone your own size!" Skara shouted before she saw the dragon's tail about to swing down on her and Willow.

"Skara, jump!" Willow shouted as the two jumped away to avoid the tail. The tail swung at them again, but they also dodged yet away. Then Whyvernis blew flames toward the two girls, who locked arms as they danced around to avoid the attacks, Willow holding Skara's hand to swing her away from the flames as Skara held her staff up to shoot another green blast at Whyvernis, hitting him in the eye.

"Ah! My eye!" he cried out, rubbing his eye.

"Star, Hunter, aim for his wings!" Vee shouted as Hunter held up his shield while Star held up her ax.

The two threw their shield and ax towards the wings of the dragon. Though their weapons just bounced off the wings, it did get the dragon's attention and he blew flames at them, but fortunately Vee conjured up another shield to protect them from attack.

While this went on, Tres managed to go behind the dragon, where he found the magic sword stuck in the ruby. He went to grab the sword and struggled to pull it out.

"Come on, come on," Tres said as he struggled to pull it out. "Ugh, please don't tell me this is one of those 'only the pure of heart can pull this sword out' type of shit," he grumbled before just giving up on pulling it out. "Fuck this," he said as he blasted the ruby with his staff, shattering it into a million pieces. He grinned in satisfaction before picking the sword up. "Got it!"

"Now, Tres!" Vee shouted as Tres ran up to the dragon, who spotted him. Whyvernis then blew flames at him, but Tres blocked them with the sword. He then dodged the tail and some more flames as he drew closer to the dragon…

"Eat this!" Tres shouted as he threw the sword straight towards the Whyvernis's chest, stabbing him in the heart.

"AAAAAAAAAHHH!" Whyvernis cried out as he held his chest where the sword got him. "Egad! You've gotten me! Final words… I did had threes…! AAAIIIIEEEEEE!" he screeched before he twirled around and fell into the nearest pile of treasure.

"You did it, Tres! You got him!" Star cheered.

"Quick, get the key!" Vee reminded them as they went to retrieve the key from around the dragon's neck, pulling it off

After they grabbed the key, they went to the princess's bubble prison, Vee inserting the key into the lock. Once the key was turned, the bubble popped, freeing the princess.

"Finally!" Princess Unattainabelle declared once she was free from her entrapment. She looked at her rescuers and sighed before she began the obligatory congratulations. "Well done, besting the dungeon and freeing me of my imprisonment, brave warriors. Honestly, I'm surprised you all made it here alive. Thought you'd all be dead…"

"Are you sure your name isn't Princess Apathetica?" Boscha asked, rolling her eyes.

"Nah, she's from another castle," Unattainabelle pointed out.

"So, what, do we get prizes? Like this gold?" Hunter asked, gesturing to the treasure around them.

"Honestly, all you get is a high score. Like, you can't really bring video game currency into your realm," Unattainabelle said.

"But is the dragon okay, though?" Vee asked, pointing at Whyvernis.

"Oh, he's fine, he'll be back up once the game is reset," she told her before remembering something else and turning to a specific member of the group. "Oh, and I guess that since the sorcerer here was the one to slay the dragon, I'm obliged to grant him a… kiss."

This surprised Tres. "A… a kiss?!" he asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, I know, it's a cliche," the princess said with a shrug. "But you are the one who slayed the dragon, so…" she said as she went to plant a kiss on his lips.

Tres didn't immediately kiss back, since he was still surprised by this turn of events.

But then… he closed his eyes and kissed her back almost aggressively and it was the princess's turn to be surprised, since she hadn't been expecting Tres to be so aggressive as he brought her closer to him.

This also surprised the gang, but what shocked them and the princess more than anything else was when Tres reached down to grab her ass.

"Hmm!" the princess moaned through the kiss.

"Tres!" Vee shouted in alarm, causing Tres to open his eyes and see the gang's shocked looks.

"What?" Tres asked after breaking the kiss, before realizing his hand was on Unattainabelle's butt. He suddenly remembered himself and he let go of the butt. "Oh! Um… wow, I didn't know what had gotten into me."

"Yeah, what the heck, man?" Star asked him. "You can't just go around touching ass on the first kiss!"

"S-Sorry! I… I never experienced that sort of thing before, really," Tres quickly attempted to explain himself quickly while bushing. "I guess, this is a new thing for me, you know? I did see this kind of thing on the human CB. Some kind of, um, movie I saw that did this."

"Well, you still really shouldn't have done that," Willow said. "I mean, she probably feels uncomfortable from that…"

"Oh don't worry about me," Unattainabelle said while placing her onto Tres's shoulder as she stood behind him. Her previous apathy and disinterest was gone. "I've never experienced something like that before. Oh~ I bet the Street Fighter bitches don't get action like that…" she said with a lustful look.

"Uh…" Tres said awkwardly while Vee covered her eyes.

"Oh Titan, not in front of me!" Vee cried out.

"What is the game's rating?" Hunter asked.

"Definitely not rated E," Star replied.

But before things could get even more awkward, the Hexsquad and co all suddenly got zapped out of the game. When Unattainable saw that Tres had disappeared, she sighed in disappointment.

"He was the most exciting thing to ever happen around here," she said to herself. "I mean, I've had to kiss plenty of heroes, but a hero has never kissed or touched me like that before…"

"Looks like you are the one who now has an unattainable hero, hehe," Whyvernis said while laying on his back.

"Oh shut it, Vern!" Unattainabelle barked at him.

---

Meanwhile, outside of the game, Gus Porter was in the arcade, looking around.

"They told me I could meet them here, but… where are they?" Gus asked, looking around some more until he heard the sound of electricity crackling. "Huh?" he asked as he turned to the Dragons, Dragons, and More Dragons game. He walked closer, narrowing his eyes at it… before the screen suddenly turned out and all of his friends came flying out of the machine. "What the-?!"

"GAAAHH!" the Hexsquad, Vee, Star, and Tres cried out as they came out of the game, now back in their normal attire.

"Guys?!" Gus exclaimed, seeing them all on the floor of the arcade. "Are you alright?!"

"Just… glad to be finally out," Star said as she got up and then helped up with Vee.

"I never want to travel by arcade machine again," Willow said as she and Skara got up.

"Guys, are you all alright?" Gus asked them once again as Hunter got up.

"Hey, Gus," Hunter said as behind him Boscha and Tres both got up, Tres actually looking disappointed that he didn't get to keep his staff when he left the game. "Guess what? We got out of the game!"

"Um, what…?" Gus asked in confusion. "Wait, did you guys have an adventure without me?"

"It's not like we asked for it," Boscha said as she brushed herself off.

"At least we don't have to deal with that math wizard anymore," Skara mentioned.

"Oh I wouldn't say that!"

The gang turned and saw the arcade machine screen buzzing. Some static came from the screen… and it took the shape of Probabilitor.

"What?!" Vee exclaimed.

"I'm guessing that's the math wizard," Gus said.

"Oh come on, we kicked your ass in there!" Willow pointed out in frustration.

"HA! Foolish players! It was my plan all along for you all to beat my game!" Probabilitor claimed. "Yes, totally my plan! Either you lose the game and I have my revenge or you win the game and I am free to follow you all out of the machine! Either way, I win!"

"You gotta be kidding me," Boscha said.

"So we just unleashed this crazy wizard in our world?!" Star exclaimed. "Shit…"

"YAHAHAHAHA! You won't get the drop on me this time!" Probabilitor declared as his hands glowed. "I will have my revenge, starting with you all!"

However, before he could make good on the threat, the plug of the arcade machine was suddenly pulled out. Not by anyone there, but by invisible hands.

Immediately Probabilitor felt that something was wrong.

"Say what?!" Probabilitor asked before he looked down and saw his whole body starting to disintegrate into pixels. He then turned and saw that the plug had been pulled. "No, no! Not again! My anchor, the connection has been broken! Now I'm nothing but geometrical polygraphs! I'm going to my dimension again! The odds weren't in my favor…!"

And so he broke down into bits of pixels, disappearing back to his dimension. Once he was gone, the heroes didn't react right away. Instead, they just stood there, staring at the spot Probabilitor had been just moments before.

"What just happened?" Tres asked in confusion.

"It looks like the game got unplugged," Vee said as she pointed to the plug.

"Wait, it was really just that easy?" Boscha asked in disbelief. "All we had to do to stop him was… pull a plug?"

"And we didn't even do that," Star pointed out. "How did the plug get pulled out?"

"Maybe someone tripped on it," Hunter suggested.

"However the plug got pulled, I think we better keep the machine off," Vee suggested.

Everyone else nodded in agreement… except for Gus, who was still at a complete loss about what just happened.

"What the hell was that?" Gus asked his friends. "Like, what kind of video game adventure did you guys go on without me?"

"Apparently that math wizard is someone Luz fought previously," Willow explained. "He wanted revenge, so he created an elaborate trap. We had to beat his game to come back here."

"We had to face monsters, knights, villains, traps," Skara listed off. "You know, the usual. Tres slayed the dragon."

"Wait, dragon?" Gus asked while looking at the title on the arcade machine. "Was there more than one?"

"Nope, the title is a lie," Hunter said.

While Gus caught up with his friends, Tres went over to Vee. "Hey um, sorry that things got… um, awkward, at the end of the game. With me and the princess…"

"Hey, as long as we don't talk about it, we're cool," Vee said. "But let's never talk about it again, got it?"

"Oh, sure-" Tres tried to say before Vee grabbed him and pulled him close.

"Never again," Vee said, her tone dead serious.

"Got it," Tres said, sounding slightly nervous.

After letting go of Tres, Vee walked over to Gus. "So did you just get out of school, Gus?"

"Yeah, I was going to meet up with you guys and play some games. Though, maybe we could just head home," Gus said as he looked at the tired group. "You guys look like you've been through a lot."

"Yeah, I think we have had enough of video games for a while," Hunter said while everyone else nodded in agreement.

"At least I got a story to tell my dad," Star said as they began to head out of the arcade.

---

Once they were out, Vee turned to the Boiling Isles witches. "Well, me and Tres should be heading home. Sorry that this day turned out, well…"

"Weird? That's perfectly on-brand for Gravity Falls, according to Luz and Gus," Willow pointed out. "But it wasn't all that bad."

"Yeah, me and Willow got to beat up a math wizard," Skara pointed out.

"So I'll see you guys around then?" Vee asked.

"Probably," Willow said.

"Hopefully," Skara added.

Vee smiled at them before she turned to Boscha and Hunter. "And, um, I hope to see you two again as well."

Boscha just smiled at Vee, while Hunter actually looked surprised.

"Yeah, me too," Boscha admitted.

"Yeah," Hunter said with a nod. "Maybe we can all hang out together next time… without having to go on a death-defying adventure."

"Or at the very least, if you're going to go on another death-defying adventure, don't leave me behind next time," Gus pointed out, joining the conversation. He then looked between the three, sensing that he was missing something. "Wait, did I miss anything else?"

"Um, I told Skara, Boscha, and Hunter that I'm a basilisk," Vee told Gus.

"Wait, they didn't already know?" Gus asked in confusion.

After they finished their conversation, the trio of Vee, Star, and Tres began to leave.

"Bye, everyone!" Vee shouted back at the Hexsquad.

"Yeah, good night!" Star shouted with a wave. She then turned to Vee and Tres. "Do you think this will be a recurring thing?"

"What, hanging out with them?" Vee asked.

"I mean fighting Probabilitor," Star pointed out. "This is the second time we've had to fight him."

"I hope not," Vee admitted. "The last thing I want is a rogues gallery like Luz has."

"Eh, I wouldn't worry too much about Probabilitor," Tres said with a shrug. "He was a pathetic excuse for a wizard anyway…"

---

After getting out of the woods and making it back to town, Luz, Lois, and Kaleb prepared to go their separate ways.

"Sorry that we couldn't have had more luck in finding James today," Luz told them.

"Hey, it's fine," Kaleb assured her. "I mean, me and Lois are definitely disappointed… and worried."

"Each day that James is missing means that it's more likely that something bad might've happened to him…" Lois said, looking down.

"Yeah, but… let's not think about that now, alright?" Luz told them. "If I hear back from my contacts and anything about the Headless Horseman comes up, I'll let you guys know."

"Right, and me and Kaleb are going to do our own investigation in the meantime as well," Lois said, surprising Kaleb.

"Wait, we are?" Kaleb asked, looking at Lois.

"Of course, Nashville," Lois said. "We need to learn as much about this town as possible…"

"Yeah, I'd say be careful about that." Luz told her. "You could get in trouble for snooping around."

"Please, like that'll stop me from getting to the truth," Lois declared with a look of pure determination.

However, Luz just looked at her with a deadpan expression before she looked up at Kaleb. "Is she always like this?"

"Yeah, she pretty much is," Kaleb admitted awkwardly.

A moment of awkward silence passed between the three of them.

"Well… I better get going then," Luz said, breaking up the silence. "I have to go meet up with Amity and Phil." She turned around and was about to leave, but then she paused. "By the way, now that you guys know that magic, demon realms, and stuff exists, I guess it's good to let you know one more thing," she said as she turned around with a smile, something that confused Lois and Kaleb. "Phil isn't Amity's little brother… he's her son."

Lois and Kaleb's eyes widened like dinner plates while their jaws dropped.

"Well, goodnight," Luz casually told them as she walked away with a whistle, leaving behind the two shocked journalists, who could only say only one thing…

"WHAT?!"

Their shouts echoed throughout the town, causing some birds to fly away.

---

Meanwhile, back at the Porter home, Gus brought the rest of the Hexsquad into his home.

"Hey dad, we're back!" Gus announced.

"I'm in the kitchen!" Perry shouted.

Gus and his friends went into the kitchen, where they saw Perry making dinner. Or at the very least he was attempting to make dinner. He was… still learning how to make human meals.

"Hey, Gus, hey everyone," Perry responded with a smile. "How was school today, Gus?"

"Pretty great," Gus responded. "Although I missed out on a pretty crazy adventure."

"Oh, and what was that adventure?" Perry asked the Hexsquad.

"We ended up inside of an arcade machine because of a math wizard," Willow responded.

"Inside a machine? What do you mean by that?" Perry asked, stopping his meal preparations. He looked intrigued as Willow began her explanation.

While Willow explained their adventure to Perry, Hunter saw Flapjack flying up to him and he smiled. "Hey, buddy," he said before Flapjack chirped at him. "Yeah, it was quite the adventure. I'll tell you about it later. But how was your day?" Flapjack chirped in response, causing his eyes to widen. "Wait, seriously? How did you even-" He heard his scroll buzzing and he pulled it up. His eyes widened when he saw the notifications. "I'm, um, gonna go ahead and wash up, be right back!" he told the others before he headed to the bathroom.

"Wonder what he's in a hurry for?" Skara asked Boscha, who just smiled.

"Oh, I think he just probably really needed to go after being stuck in the game," Boscha told Skara. "After all, there weren't any bathrooms in that dungeon…"

---

Once Hunter was alone inside of the bathroom, he read his texts before texting back…

Hunter: Hey, I'm here now.

A few moments later, Hunter got a response.

'Hey, how are you doing in the HR?'

Hunter: Today has been a little crazy.

'Crazy how?'

Hunter: It's… difficult to explain, but I'm glad to get to talk to you right now.

'Yeah, me too. How long are you going to be in the Human Realm?'

Hunter: We haven't decided yet when we're coming back, but I don't think it's going to be more than a few days. It will probably depend on how long the girls want to stay to catch up with their friends.

'And they are your friends too. Don't forget that.'

Hunter smiled.

Hunter: Don't worry, I haven't. How is everything back on the Isles?

'Pretty good. Things haven't changed since you left. Lilith and Hooty are doing fine too, in case you're wondering.'

Hunter: That's good to hear. I should probably talk to my mom when I get back. I met Vee today.

'Who's Vee?'

Hunter: A basilisk.

'Oh… yeah, I can see why you would want to talk to your mom about that. Did she know Vee?'

Hunter: Yeah, she did. And Vee hasn't forgiven her either.

'I mean, I think that's fair.'

Hunter sighed before texting back.

Hunter: Yeah, it is. By the way, before I come back to the Boiling Isles, would you like to come to Gravity Falls? I think you'd like it here.

'Really? I mean, I'd like to, but aren't you worried about your cousin finding out? If she does, she is never gonna leave you alone about it. Remember what Cross told you. Don't let Luz know and don't let Zee know. Otherwise they will not get out of your business.'

Hunter: I know, but don't worry, Luz has no reason to believe that I have a new boyfriend. It isn't even on her radar.

'Okay. Talk more later?'

Hunter nodded and sent one final response.

Hunter: Talk more later.

He sent his boyfriend a heart symbol and then put his scroll away before leaving the bathroom to rejoin the rest of the Hexsquad.

---

Elsewhere in Gravity Falls, in the Gates household, Clara and Abigail were currently eating together.

"So did you learn anything from school today, Clara?" Abigail asked while they were both eating Thai food from Thai Go.

"We did learn about this guy, Nobuo Fujita, during state studies," Clara replied as she ate. "Apparently, he was a naval aviator from the Axis Party that attempted an air strike that would start forest fires near a city here in Oregon, a city called Brookings. But even then, he wasn't tried as a war criminal after the war. In fact, in the 1960s Brooking invited him to visit and as a token of friendship he gave his four hundred year old katana to the city. He was even made an honorary citizen before his death in the 1990s."

"Huh, that is surprising," Abigail responded, intrigued by what her daughter had learned. "But it is nice that the town would invite him despite all of that."

"Yeah, I think it was done not just as a gesture of friendship, but a gesture of peace as well," Clara replied before they heard a knock on the door.

"I got it," Abigail said as she stood up and headed for the door. When she opened the door, she saw that there was nobody standing on her front porch. "Hello?" she asked, looking around. However, she didn't see anyone around, making her scoff. "Must be pranksters-" She stopped when she looked down and noticed a card on her front porch.

Confused, she bent down to pick up the card and inspected it. When she opened it up, Abigail was suddenly hit with a spray of confetti that went all over her face, some of it even going into her mouth.

"Pfft-blech! Ack!" she coughed out. After coughing a few more times, she wiped her face and looked at the inside of the card. "What in the…?"

The inside of the card depicted a pink-furred cat clinging to a tree branch. Written above the cat was 'hang in there'.

Abigail stared at the card for a moment, then looked around once more, checking to see if anyone was there or not. Despite not seeing anyone, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched…

"Mom? Who was it?" Clara asked from inside the house.

"Just… nobody, dear," Abigail responded. She shook her head, put the card in her pocket, then went back inside, closing the door behind her.

---

Meanwhile, back with Luz, she was waiting for Amity and Phil, who both came out of the office building that Dr. Hopper's office was in.

"Hey, you two," Luz said with a wave as they came over to her, she and Amity sharing a kiss once they were reunited. "How was your day with Dr. Hopper?"

"I think it went pretty good," Amity responded. "Phil enjoyed talking to him."

"Really? How was Dr. Hopper, Phil?" Luz asked her son.

"He was nice," Phil replied while holding up some drawings. "He let me draw and color. Wanna see?"

"You should see them, Luz," Amity advised as Luz was handed the drawings.

Luz began to look through the drawings. "Huh, these look good… wait," she said as she looked closely at the drawings. One of them depicted a black and bluish void with white smoke-like drawings going up and down. But another drawing stood out to her even more for how… eerily familiar it was to her.

"Ams… doesn't this look like…?" Luz asked as she pointed to the drawing of a statue of three gray women with a green spot on top and green lanterns on each side.

"Yeah," Amity nodded in concern, her face betraying her… guilt. "The statues from the petrification ceremony… Phil said he saw them in his nightmares. He called them the 'gray women' or the 'stone women', but I didn't realize what he meant until now…"

"Oh man," Luz said in concern as she looked down at Phil… who was looking down at his shoes, since he knew what they were talking about. She then looked up at Amity and noticed her guilty expression. "Ams, are you…?" she paused, realizing what Amity had to have been feeling. The guilt for what happened to Phil the first time. And she realized that they shouldn't talk about it here, not in front of Phil. She reached out and gently touched Amity's shoulder. "Hey, we can talk about this later, okay? If you want to, of course…"

"Yeah, I agree," Amity said with a nod as she looked up at Luz. She then decided to change the subject. "So… how was your day with Lois and Kaleb? Did you have any luck in finding their friend?"

Luz sighed. "Today was a mixed bag, unfortunately," she said. "Farmer Sprott was a dead end and we still don't know where he is… but we might know who took him," she explained. "The Headless Horseman."

"The Headless Horseman?" Amity asked in surprise. "I remembered you once mentioned him, but didn't you say he was just a prankster?"

"Yeah, but now he's apparently going around kidnapping folks. Well, that's only if he is the same Headless Horseman that I know," Luz admitted. She then remembered something else. "Oh, did you get a text from our friends?"

"What about?" Amity asked.

"They hung out with Vee, Star, and Tres at the arcade today," Luz explained. "Apparently, they ended up going on a video game adventure and I am officially jealous…"

---

Meanwhile, back at the Gravity Falls arcade, the owner flipped the sign at the door, deciding to close the arcade for the day.

Once the owner finished locking up, the dancing character on the screen dance game saw him leave. "Okay, they're gone!"

On the screen on Fight Fighters, Rumble and his opponent, Joe Zambique, stopped fighting each other.

"That was a mighty day, Joe. See you tomorrow?" Rumble McSkirmish asked.

"Sure, pal," said Joe Zambique, the Mozambique character dressed in normal clothing.

The two of them walked off-screen together while a lot of the other characters around the arcade did the same, expressing relief that the day was over and they could all leave their games…

---

…for Game Central Station, the main hub where all of the video game characters could congregate while not in their games. The hub was lined with gateways that led to the different games and from one of those gateways emerged the cast from Fight Fighters.

"See you tomorrow, everyone! Dr. Karate, next time I won't be beaten!" Rumble declared while Dr. Karate just rolled his eyes as he floated away.

"Oh, Rumble!" shouted a female voice.

The blonde fighter turned to see another character walking up to him and he smiled ".GIFfany, you're here!"

"I'm so glad that you got off your shift, honey~!" declared .GIFfany, an anime-inspired character with light tan skin and very long straight pink hair. She wore a large pink, blue, and yellow bow that resembled a computer ribbon cable. She had reddish pink eyes and wore a white sailor school uniform, also known as a seifuku, with blue trimmings and pink bow, the collar of her shirt having the same color stripes as her bow. She also wore a blue pleated blue skirt and white thigh-high socks with two pink stripes near the top and pink Mary Janes. She ran up to hug Rumble's arm. "I missed you so much! Although I did notice you have been fighting Vampla and Suggestica a lot more…"

"I already told you, they are just work friends, .GIFfany, you have no reason to worry about them," Rumble assured her as they walked together before they saw someone sitting on some of the hub's benches.

"Hey, Rumble!" shouted the yellow, long nose marsupial/rodent man that was made up of low-resolution polygons. He was wearing a black open button shirt with pink and blue flashes. He had blue eyes, two front teeth, a black nose, pink hair, blue shoes (with one of them torn), and a long tail. "I see you and your girl are out."

"Oh, uh, Gwimbly," Rumble said, looking a bit awkward. "Haven't seen you since your game went out of order…"

"You look like you've gotten some rough patches," .GIFfany pointed out.

"Nah, I've been doing mah own thing, so I'm thriving," Gwimbly claimed as he got up. "And if you want, I can do my iconic Gwimbly victory dance for five dollars. I won't do it for nothin'," he said while turning back with his arms crossed before he changed his mind. "Okay, maybe I can do it once for nothin'. Ooo-ooo-ooh!" He shook his arms around as he did his truly iconic victory dance. "Okay, maybe I can do one more fer nothin'. Ooo-ooo-ooh!"

Rumble and .GIFfany just winced out of awkwardness, feeling bad for the homeless video game character…

Coming out from the Hero's Duty gate were Calhoun along with her men. "Alright men, enjoy your down time until morning. We got more bugs to eliminate," she told them, as she spotted someone she knew. "Oh, hey Shadow."

"Calhoun," said the anthropomorphic hedgehog with black fur and red streaks on his locks. He had red conjoined eyes, a beige underbelly, and was wearing white gloves and black, yellow and red shoes. "I'm just wondering if you've thought about my offer to join our 'Tragic Backstory Anon' group for characters programmed with hardcore, edgy, tragic backstories. There is still a place for you in our group"

"I'm still thinking about it," Calhoun said. "Where does it take place?"

"In the break room over at the Spider-Man arcade game," Shadow said as the two walked together, passing by another pair of video game characters who were watching the video monitors around the hub.

"Ooh, here it comes now," said a blue hedgehog with green conjoined eyes, beige underbelly with white gloves, and red and white sneakers as he saw himself appear on the monitors.

"Remember, Sonic Says," spoke the blue hedgehog on the monitor. "If you leave your game: stay safe, stay alert, and whatever you do, don't die. Because if you die outside your own game, you don't regenerate. Ever. Game Over. And that's no good!"

"So? What do you think? Isn't that a cool PSA?" asked Sonic the Hedgehog.

"Hmm, not as cool as the ones I used to do," said the brown haired, Italian man with blue eyes, wearing a red cap with the letter 'M'. He wore a red shirt with blue overalls, white gloves, and boots. His also had a brown mustache. "Don't do mushrooms or you go to hell, I used to say."

"Hey Mario!" shouted some stormtroopers who were waving at the plumber.

"Hiya fellas," Mario greeted them before noticing Sonic's expression. "Don't be jealous, I've been in this business since 1983."

"Yeah, you're a real timeless classic alright," Sonic said while rolling his eyes.

Meanwhile, a static surge protector, who appeared as a blue bald man with glasses and the outfit of a security officer, was writing notes from his notepad while talking with some game characters.

"Alright, looks like you're new here," he said to them. "Of course, your game got unplugged but got out just in time. You can remain here until your game is plugged back in. So until then… welcome to the neighborhood."

"Thanks, I guess," said Princess Unattainabelle, who was with Whyvernis and the hero character along with the other monsters from the 'Dragons, Dragons, and More Dragons' game.

"So… where to now?" the hero asked.

"The nearest tavern?" Whyvernis suggested.

"Yeah, I could use a drink," Unattainabelle said.

---

Long ago…

It was night on the Boiling Isles.

A serpent-like creature slithered through the woods. As it moved between the trees, it heard some nearby voices. It stopped, identified the voices, and quickly went into the bushes. Peeking through the bushes, it saw some witches passing by its hiding spot.

"Did you hear that?"

"Aye, we must be careful. Who knows what goes on in these woods…"

The creature waited for the witches to walk away. Once they were out of sight, the slithering creature waited for a few more moments before it came out of the bushes and continued down its path. It came across a clearing with some animals in it, including a deer-like beast with a finger for a head and antlers. The fingadeer noticed the creature, but before it could run away… the fingadeer fell to the forest floor in a weakened state, looking… drained.

Sometime later, the slithering creature returned to a cave. A cave that it called home. As it slithered inside, the creature heard a voice calling to them…

"Quinyx? Is that you?"

Slithering in front of them were two other creatures… basilisks. One basilisk was swamp-green with olive spots, blue hair with cyan eyes with black iris and yellow pupils. The other had a round face with a cat-like mouth with pale, cream colored scales with a white fin hair and tail, and reddish eyes with yellow irises.

"Where have you been, Quinyx?" asked the green basilisk. "You know you shouldn't be out there this late without us, young one."

"Sorry dad, mom," said the basilisk named Quinyx. "It won't happen again."

"Well, we're just glad that you're safe," the cream-colored basilisk, the mother, responded. "Now come on, we've made dinner."

"Oh, um, I actually already had a snack," Quinyx admitted, which their parents didn't like to hear.

"My dear, young serpent, you've already spoiled your dinner?!" their father chastised them.

"Sorry, I was on my way and got hungry," Quinyx apologized.

"Oh dear, what are we going to do with you?" their mother said while shaking her head.

A few minutes later, Quinyx joined their parents for dinner. They gathered around a flat stone tablet that they used as a table and Quinyx saw their father bring in some food to their table, a large, cooked cockatrice on a plate.

"Time to eat up, Quinyx…"

---

Vee's eyes opened as she woke up and sat up in her bed. Much to her surprise… she was shaking. Why was she shaking?

She took a moment to catch her breath as she looked around her bedroom and thought about her dream… or was it a dream?

Eventually, Vee spoke.

"Who the hell is Quinyx?"

---

Alright, a fun video game adventure for all ages.

Now, this idea for this chapter started with having Luz go into an arcade machine and meet different video game characters. The idea evolved into this over time and the famous video game characters were saved for the end so the chapter would be more focused. Plus, we have Sonic and Mario together in the Station, something that we've made it happened since Wreck-It Ralph failed to do so, twice.

Though it should be pointed out that Calhoun and the characters from Sugar Rush wouldn't be the same ones from the canon movie counterpart. Obviously, they're copies of a different program.

Our main goal for this chapter was to have Vee and Hunter to meet and interact. Something that we've realized that they haven't done so in Book Two. So now, this was practically due to have them meet for the first time.

Dr. Hopper is the current therapist Luz sees rather than Ms. Andrews. Because we've decided that having this new character out rather than Andrew, since Luz and Amity would actually recognize her.

For music reference, the song that played in Star's montage is "Bye, Bye,, Bye" from *NSYNC.

Also .GIFfany and Rumble being together is based off of what Journal 3 has stated about her. Showing that she has survived the destruction from the game and sets her sights on Rumble. Now the two are together, at least she found love. We also threw in Gwimbly from Smiling Friends as a video game character in the LCU, based on the memes of him existing in our timeline.

We also would like to remind readers that the Q and A for the Total Drama expies has been moved to "LC Presents: Finding the Answers", where you can find the answers there into the archive, and latest chapter has that. You'll find the answers, and the next batch there. Our next batch for the Q and A will be the Survivors of the Torsa Villa, consist of:

Chelsea Krakow

Jageera Kipling

Jemma Milk

Pam Fangs

Pawla Whiskabee

Tony Stripes

You can either submit your questions about them here, or at "Knowing the Answer". Or you can PM us if you have any additional questions.

Review Section:

Matteso585: 2) The hostages are more valuable alive then living.

Crash X Fusion: Yeah, we fixed that retcon.

Blue Tagg: You'll see more on why later in the story.

Shuffollower: Well, 'Breaking News' is more on relating to the journalist characters, Lois, Kaleb and James, that appeared in the chapter. It's a title we've thought up that would fit in a chapter centered around them.

Spantidem7: Well you don't have to worry about the time jump thing. We've only organically made Book 3 a time skip similar to how season 3 of Owl House handled it. Having the already established characters introduced, and then introduced and explained the newer characters that shows up in the story's new season. As for the girl in the catsuit, Charlotte, she's actually a new character. An OC we created. And yes, we've decided that since Kaleb is a Superman expy, he won't be evil, or a jaded hero like Metro Man or All-Might(before he met Izuku). Also, you're asking way too much to kill off characters you don't like, even if they aren't shown to be doing anything despicable yet. As for your questions:

1) Does Lois need glasses to see?
No, why would she need glasses? She can see well.

2) How much does General Edwards know about Angel's criminals?

No spoilers

3) Does April have a better mother and life in general than Felicia?

Obviously yes.

4) Have you seen the HH leaks? If so, did you have the urge to hire a hacker to take down the guy who posted them? And then you gloated when the asshole got arrested?
No

5) In your opinion, if Luz was given a cursed form from Eda's, would she still be an owl or a bat?

Probably a bat.

Knight: I mean, how do you know that the viewers in-universe will just think that it's all staged? Like seriously, some reality shows are practically staged and scripted. The people will consider the Sasquatches as costumed actors, the aliens as special effects, and thinking that Dakota was in on being mutated was some green screen effect. Honestly, a reality show is consumed differently than the actual news.