Hi everyone, welcome back. I've got quite the chapter planned for all of you, one filled with hilarity, heartwarming moments, and even a few surprises. Ya know, the usual. ;)

But anyway, some of you have reached out to me regarding a certain event in the previous chapter, primarily where Amity yeeted Polly and found it out of character that given even her pre-development self, she was always nice with little kids. But, also recall how in the canon series, she wasn't like that with King, purposely stomping on his cupcake in the very same episode my previous chapter was based on. The reason for that, as well as what she did with Polly, was likely because she saw them more as pets for the human girls as opposed to little kids. And when she finds out that they were just toddlers… yeah, she won't take it very well.

Enough of that, though. It's time to get this chapter started.

Energetic Critters

Luz and Sprig both sat in a small clearing around several trees near the Plantar family farm as the former drew a Light Glyph on a leaf and tapped it. Just like before, the second she touched the symbol, the emblem shined a bright yellow as the leaf folded inward and created a ball of light which rose up above the two.

"So pretty…" Sprig said with sparkles in his eyes.

"Looks like Glyphs can work here too." Luz said as she tried to suppress a squeal. "I still can't believe we can actually do magic…!"

"I hear ya!" Sprig drew a Light Glyph himself on the ground with a stick, a rather big one, and tapped it, creating a large ball of light that shined brightly, forcing the pair to cover their eyes before it vanished. "Okay…. So, the bigger the Glyph, the more powerful the spell."

"Just like Eda said." Luz recalled. "Hey, Anne! King! Take a look at this!"

However, as they turned around, the pair looked to see King playing with a tennis ball in his hands like a dog, which Anne had in her backpack. The tiny demon rolled around on his back as he continued to hold the ball while Anne recorded the whole thing on her phone.

"So fluffy and rough! I must play with it!" King continued to squirm on the ground while holding the ball every which way.

"Awe! Who's a cute widdle demon?" Anne gushed.

"Hey! I am not cute!" King pointed at her, only causing him to lose his grip on the tennis ball, which bounced on the ground and into the forest.

"Ah nuts." Anne muttered as she and King went to go get it, with Luz and Sprig following.

"I don't get it. I thought Anne loved doing magic." Sprig said to Luz as they tried to catch up. "She really seemed to like that blue light she made before."

"Not everyone's into the same kind of thing, Sprig." Luz said. "I'm sure Anne likes it, but she's probably not eager to learn magic. And that's fine. Not everyone has to be into the same thing."

"Even though you guys are friends?" Sprig asked.

"Even though we're friends." Luz admitted before reaching into her pocket to pull out her BFF photo again. Looking at the picture of Marcy and Sasha, she thought of what they would think about all of this. She knew right away that Marcy would be every bit into all the magic stuff as Luz herself was. Sasha might express some interest, but Luz didn't see her getting too involved, magic and fantasy weren't her thing. But that didn't make Sasha any less her friends Nor did it deter Luz from her self-imposed mission to find all of her lost friends and bring them back home safe and sound.

Home…

Just that word alone caused Luz to think about her home to. It wasn't just Anne, Sasha, and Marcy missing from home. She left her own home behind to, chose to stay with Eda in the Owl House and learn magic from her. And she did that without even saying anything to her mother. That was something she didn't tell Anne, or even Eda, or King, or any of the Plantars. And she's already been gone for about two weeks. Her mom's really gotta be worried about her… just as Boonchuys, Wus, and Waybrights are all probably worried for their own daughters.

"Hey, Luz…?" Sprig pulled her out of her thoughts. "You okay?"

"Y-yeah… I'm fine." Luz said as she tried to push all these uneasy feelings away.

The two soon caught up with Anne and King, the latter having his head in a tree's roots as he tried to reach for a tennis ball. "So close… Can't reach…! You will come at my command, tennis ball!" King demanded.

"I got it." Anne reached into the roots with her own much longer arms to get the tennis ball and give it to King.

"Yes! I have retrieved the tennis ball of the Demon King!" The little demon held it up high like a trophy.

"He really likes that ball, doesn't he?" Sprig noted.

"Dogs and cats back home love their little toys." Anne said. "You should have seen…"

"Meow!"

"Wait, did you guys hear something?" Luz asked, causing everyone to quiet down as they listened for the unknown sound again.

"Meow!"

There it was again. It sounded like an animal in distress, and it immediately alerted the group, with Anne gasping. "Something's in trouble!"

The quartet ran as fast as they could to the source of the sound, emerging into another clearing where they all gasped at what they saw. It was a group of oversized hornets, all gunning for a smaller cat-like creature stuck in a puddle of mud and unable to escape even as the hornets lunged their stingers at it.

"Oh my gosh! We have to save her!" Anne exclaimed.

"I'll distract them!" Sprig took out his slingshot and picked up a few rocks from the ground before launching one into the face of a hornet. "Take that, buzz brain!" Sprig said as he hopped to one spot away from the group, drawing the hornets' attention as he shot another rock at a second. "Come and sting someone your own size!" He hopped away, leading to the hornets to fly and follow while Luz, Anne, and King got to the creature that was stuck in the mud.

All three grabbed a hold of the creature. "Okay, on three." Luz said. "One, two, three!" With their combined strength, they were able to pull the creature out. "It's okay, we got ya." Luz tried to assure the creature, only for it to give another distressed cry.

"Meow!"

This also drew the hornets' attention again, causing them to fly away from Sprig and back to the others, much to his alarm.

"Guys! Look out!" Sprig warned as the hornets flew towards them. However, just before the girls and King could make a run for it, a large fireball had appeared to blast away all of the hornets in one hit, all courtesy of a certain witch who walked onto the scene.

"Not even a full day since being back here and you kids are already in trouble?" Eda commented with an unsurprised grin, carrying her owl-staff over her shoulder. "I feel like you're doing this on purpose."

"Thanks Eda." Luz smiled.

"It was all their idea!" King pointed to the girls.

"Well, I wasn't just gonna let this little fella be hurt." Anne protested as she held the recently rescued critter in her hands, but once she got a good look at it, she squealed in delight.

"What's wrong?!" Sprig hopped over in alarm. "Are you stung!? We'll have to amputate! Eda!"

"On it!" Eda conjured an ice-blade, only for Anne to hold her hand out and stop her.

"No! This caterpillar looks exactly like my cat Domino from back home!" Anne told the group as she pulled out her phone to show everyone a picture of the aforementioned cat, which the black-furred caterpillar with white spots and yellow eyes that Anne currently held did bear a striking resemblance to.

"Oh my gosh… she really does look like her!" Luz squealed. "And she's just as cute as her predecessor!"

"Cute, huh?" King looked skeptical. "I don't see what's so cute about this wannabe bug-demon."

"Are you kidding me?! Look at this!" Anne practically shoved the caterpillar's face into King. "Look at this bright yellow eyes just like my precious baby Domino!"

"But that's not your 'precious baby'." Eda pointed out, only to shiver somewhat. "This is getting too cutesy for my liking."

"I love my cat more than anything in the world!" Anne went on, causing Eda to groan as she rolled her eyes. "She was irreplaceable! But now I've found a replacement! Let's take her home with us!"

"Oh yes! Absolutely!" Luz was already onboard. "You hear that you widdle cutie?" She waved her finger at the caterpillar, who meowed in response.

However, Sprig didn't seem so sure. "Eh, I don't know guys. That's a wild animal. I'm not sure bringing it home is a good idea."

Anne scoffed as she rubbed her face against that of the purring caterpillar. "That's ridiculous. My cat was a stray back home before I adopted her."

"Yeah, people back home took in stray dogs and cats all the time." Luz added. "All it takes is love, patience, and kindness."

"Ugh! Too fruity! No way! I forbid it!" King ordered.

"Come on, Eda! You're on board, aren't ya?" Anne questioned. "I mean, how can you say no to this?" She held the caterpillar in front of Eda, who looked at it somewhat questionably.

But as she did, she happened to look towards King, who shook his head at her. But when she saw him, she couldn't help but flash back to when he was even smaller than how he was, back when she first found him. That memory caused her gaze to soften somewhat with a slight smile.

"Ah, what's the worst that can go wrong?" She shrugged, much to King's shock.

"Yes!" Anne cheered.

"Sprig?" Luz looked to him with an excitable expression.

"I… don't know…" The pink frog still seemed indecisive, that is until Anne held the caterpillar in front of Sprig's face. The creature then proceeded to lick Sprig's face. "Sold!"

"Ah come on! Don't I get a say in this?" King complained.

"It's settled!" Anne put the caterpillar down and broke off a branch from a nearby tree to tap it on the caterpillar's sides. "I hereby dub thee, Domino II."

"Oh, that is perfect!" Luz gushed as she picked up the caterpillar herself. "Welcome to the family Domino II!" She then put her down, all while King narrowed his eyes with crossed arms. "Come on, let's go home."

As the group walked away, they saw how Domino II wasn't following them but actually fell flat on its side with a blank expression on her face.

"Uh… is it broken?" Sprig wondered.

"No problem. I'll just carry her." Luz offered.

"Or it's a sign that she doesn't want to come with us." King said.

"Real subtle there." Eda said with a half-grin.

"Hold on." Anne reached into her backpack and pulled out a little mouse toy with a tiny jingle bell on it. "This worked on Domino I without fail."

She jiggled the toy in front of Domino II, who meowed as she saw it and looked at it with big and sparkly eyes. The caterpillar got back up and proceeded to follow the group.

"That's it, girl. Come on." Anne lured as they continued to walk away, which included Sprig as he become mesmerized by the toy too.

"I want it… give it to me…" He reached out for it, mindlessly following along.

All except King, who looked with a glare. "Uh oh, someone's getting green eyed." Eda teased.

"What are you talking about? My eyes are fierce and dark!" King argued.

"It means you're jealous, King." Eda translated.

King scoffed and laughed. "Me? Jealous?! Of that little creature!?" He climbed up onto a nearby stump. "I'm the ferocious King of Demons! All tremble and quake before me! Why would I lower myself as to become envious of such a tiny little…" He turned in the direction he saw his friends walk towards, with Domino II continuing to follow them, all while Luz and Anne couldn't help but smile and gush. "A tiny little thief who is trying to steal my subjects!"

"Yep, there we are." Eda said with a half-grin.

"I am not jealous!" King pointed to her. "Besides, just because you like it doesn't mean Hop Pop, will! This is his domain and his word is final!"

"Oh? You're acknowledging someone's authority other than your own?" Eda teased as she picked up King and proceeded to catch up with the others. "How uncharacteristic for the King of Demons."

"He took you down, didn't he?" King reminded.

Speaking of Hop Pop, the old frog was in the kitchen of the Plantar household, using a cleaver to cut up a centipede, with the Salamander just observing with curiosity on the table, when Luz and Anne walked in the room.

"Hey, Hop Pop, old buddy, old pal!" Anne greeted in a friendly manner.

"What are you making? Centipede soup?" Luz asked in a similar tone.

"Yes, actually." Hop Pop confirmed. "Now what do you girls want?" He asked expectantly.

"Oh nothing." Anne replied. "But I was wondering… does this house ever feel… empty to you?"

Hop Pop turned around to look at the Salamander, who poked its head up to stare back at him. "Well considering we got more people crashing here rent-free, not especially."

"Fair." Luz granted. "But… what if we were to bring in something to… help comfort everyone? Something to brighten the mood?"

"Like a sweet, fuzzy, adorable critter who would love you unconditionally?" Anne offered.

"A pet?!" Hop Pop questioned in shock.

"Great idea, Hop Pop!" Anne said.

"No pets!" The old frog immediately turned around to point his cleaver at the two girls, much to their shock. "We already got enough mouths to feed here!"

"B-but… Eda has Owlbert… and what about the Salamander?" Luz gestured to the Salamander himself, who looked at Luz questionably. "We really need to figure out a name for you." She said to the multi-colored Palisman.

"Owlbert is Eda's and she seems to be taking good care of him. And the Salamander seems to be taking care of himself." Hop Pop replied. "He doesn't even make a mess. Heck, he even helps clean the dishes, which is more than I can say for you, Anne!" He pointed to her specifically, but he wasn't done ranting yet. "And even before you all came along, every time we got a pet, Sprig and Polly 'swear' they're gonna take care of it! Like this one spider we had, Charlie Bigbottom. I mean, sure, they were there for all the cuddlin' and the snugglin'." He said in a mocking cutesy tone before getting serious again. "But who gets stuck doing all the work? Good ol' Hop Pop, that's who!" He then began to aggressively chop the centipede at the cutting board, making the girls more nervous. "I swear to frog, whoever brings a fuzzy critter into this house, will be on dung duty for a month! I told Charlie Bigbottom to stay out of the…"

Luz and Anne both slipped outside as Hop Pop continued his rant.

"He said no?" Eda asked unsurprised.

"He said no." Luz confirmed dejectedly.

"Oh well. Guess Domino II will just have to return to the wild where she belongs." King said smugly.

"Or… we'll sneak her inside!" Anne countered.

"Uh… guys…?" Sprig got their attention, gesturing to Domino II who clung to Sprig's leg with her teeth. "Should we be concerned about this?"

"Awe, she's play biting you." Luz gushed. "Domino I did that to me every time I visited Anne's home."

"Yeah… looks more like tasting to me." Eda said somewhat seriously as she pried Domino II off Sprig and held her by the collar.

"That's ridiculous. Trust me, I know cats." Anne said confidently.

"Except that's not a cat!" King pointed out. "Cats are animals from the Human Realm, but this is Amphibia! Eda, come on, you agree with me, right?"

The Owl Lady looked to Domino II, who gazed at her with big eyes. Normally that kind of trick wouldn't work on her, but she had to admit that it was cute. She happened to turn to Luz and Anne, both looking to her with the same kind of expression as they pleaded with their hands together and made the biggest cute-eyed faces they could give, which almost caused Eda to cave.

"Sprig, you know these critters. This thing poisonous or anything?" Eda asked.

"Eh, no. Caterpillars aren't poisonous." Sprig shook his head. "Though I don't see a lot of them myself to really say if they're dangerous or not…"

Eda once again turned to the other kids, King having his arms crossed as he looked at her with lowered eye-lids and repeatedly tapped his foot. And then back to Luz and Anne, who still had the same big-and-pleading eye faces. Back to King, then back to the girls before she sighed.

"We'll try it out for at least one day or two and see how it goes." Eda said. "But…!" She quickly halted Luz and Anne from celebrating. "Hop Pop is going to find out about this sooner or later. You can't keep this hidden forever."

"That's totally fine." Anne accepted. "It took at least two days for Domino I to get settled at home. Domino II should be no problem."

"We'll have her nice and domesticated in no time at all." Luz added. "And when Hop Pop sees how adorable Domino II is and how responsible we are with taking care of her, he'll let us keep her."

"Alright, your funeral." Eda handed Domino II to Anne again, who hugged her alongside Luz as the caterpillar purred once again. Sprig looked a bit nervous, but if Eda seemed confident enough, that was fine with him. King, on the other hand, was far from pleased.

Eda opened the front door slightly, peeking her eye in to see Hop Pop still ranting in the kitchen, the Salamander being the only one listening.

"…And how many times did I tell Charlie Bigbottom not to go up the chimney!? And that little spider'd look at me with those big green eyes like he understood me! Two minutes later, where do I find him? Up the chimney!"

As Hop Pop ranted on, Eda waved for everyone to follow her inside, with Anne holding Domino II in her arms as Luz went to the cellar door first to try and open it. Only for Domino II to sneeze, much to the group's horror.

"What's that?!" Hop Pop turned around in surprise, the Salamander doing the same.

"Oh sorry, stuffy nose." Eda rubbed her nose, stepping up as Luz, King, and Anne all hid behind the couch as Anne put her hand over Domino II's mouth, while Eda and Sprig kept Hop Pop distracted. "So, who's this Charlie Bigbottom you're going on about? An Ex or something?"

"It's a pet spider we used to have." Sprig went along. "Speaking of, what's the worst thing Charlie Bigbottom ever did anyway Hop Pop, since we're talking about him?"

"Heh, how can I even choose?" Hop Pop resumed his rant. "Jumping out in front of Bessie and overturning the wagon! Getting tarantula hair everywhere!"

"Doesn't sound so bad." Eda dismissed.

"Not so bad?! What about that hole in the roof he made?!" Hop Pop pointed to the ceiling, turning around and giving Luz a small chance to peek her head out, all while Eda kept her back turned and pointed with her thumb in the direction of the cellar door, silently gesturing them to move.

"Where'd that happen again?" Sprig asked, keeping his grandfather's attention away from the girls and King as they tip-toed to the cellar door, Anne still holding onto Domino II.

"You blind?! The big hole right there!" Hop Pop pointed upward, while Luz quietly opened the cellar door without Hop Pop noticing and allowed for Anne to take Domino II down with King right beside her and Luz being the last one to enter.

"That hole's not so big." Eda said.

"It's gigantic! Are you kidding me?!" Hop Pop exclaimed.

However, right as the door silently closed, the Salamander turned around at the faintest sound. Though he didn't quite see anything out of the ordinary, the multi-colored Palisman couldn't help but narrow his eyes in suspicion. Something didn't quite feel so right to him.

Anne breathed in relief as she set the black caterpillar down in her bed. "Welcome to your new home, Domino II. You're gonna love it here."

Domino II meowed, causing the girls to gush again. "Awe!"

"I just love animals." Luz said. "Mom works as a vet back home, and she always shows me pictures of the cutest little puppies and kitties she works with. I think she even took care of Domino I one time."

"Yeah, I was the one who took her in that time. Your mom loved her." Anne said.

"Bet she won't love this one, though." King pointed out from behind the girls.

"Come on King, you don't have to be so mean." Luz said before turning to Domino II. "Ignore him, he's a grumpy little guy. But he'll warm up to you. Won't he you widdle cutie." Luz gushed as she grabbed Domino II's face, who meowed and purred again.

"And the widdle cutie needs her widdle toy." Anne pulled out her mouse toy again and dangled it in front of Domino II, who stood up with wide eyes like before to try and grab it with her little stubs.

As the girls both laughed and gushed with their newfound pet, King couldn't help but growl as he sulked in the corner, looking at the caterpillar as his jealousy only grew.

The Next Morning

Waking up rather early and sneaking their way through the house to not get Hop Pop's attention, King and Sprig made their way towards the cellar.

"Think they're okay?" Sprig asked.

"Eh, that little caterpillar probably ate em alive already." King said in a dismissed tone.

"That's kinda extreme, don't you think?" Sprig questioned.

"Hey, they brought it into the house. I'd say that's fitting karma." King said as Sprig opened the cellar door.

"Hey Anne, Luz, you guys awake?" Sprig whispered, but got no response, much to his concern. "Guys…?" Clicking on the mushroom light, he and King looked in shock to see the whole basement covered in web, with Luz and Anne nowhere to be seen.

"Luz! Anne!" Sprig hopped into the basement with King right behind him as they searched around every corner.

"Ah! No, I didn't mean it! Please don't be eaten alive!" The little demon pushed away some boxes and looked to see where Luz's sleeping bag would be, and Luz herself covered in web. "Luz!" He pried the webbing off, revealing a very tired and very sleepy Luz whose eyes slowly opened.

"Oh… hey King…" She muttered with a yawn.

"Wake up!" He shook her awake. "What happened?! Where's Anne?! Did it eat her?!"

"What? No, she's in her bed with Domino II." Luz pointed to the bed where a blanket over the whole thing, prompting Sprig to hop over and yank the blanket off, where Anne was still sleeping with Domino II resting on her lap.

"Hey, Anne!" Sprig pulled up on her hair to stir Anne awake.

"Huh…?"

"What happened?! Are you okay?!" Sprig asked urgently.

"Hmm…? Yeah, totally." Anne assured. "Domino II just had a bit of a rough first night indoors." She yawned as she turned over to reveal her side was all scratched up, some of the cuts still bleeding.

"Yesh." Sprig winced as he and King looked to Luz, who stretched her arms out to reveal her own arms were cut up the same way.

"Relax, it's nothing serious." Luz assured.

"That might not be…" King looked around at all the web that covered the whole basement. "But Hop Pop is definitely gonna notice this."

"We'll sneak it out through the back, no problem." Luz yawned as she picked herself up. "All things considered; it could have been way worse."

"Yeah, we'll just keep a bit of an eye on her as she's adjusting." Anne pulled out the mouse toy again from underneath her pillow and held it over Domino II as she woke up and immediately tried reaching for it again with a meow. "Isn't that right, Domino II?"

Luz smiled lovingly as she moved closer. "That never stops being cute."

However, both King and Sprig both noticed the blacks in Domino II's eyes widening as she saw the toy while also drooling with an open mouth. Both the demon and pink frog looked to each other somewhat nervously before a patch of web was shot out to Sprig's face, causing him to fall over onto King as the web covered them both and they struggled to escape.

"That's just how she says, 'I love you'." Anne dismissed as she kissed Domino II on the forehead.

"Awe, we love you too." Luz smiled, even as King and Sprig still struggled in the webbing.

Not long after that, Eda had entered the basement through the emergency exit outside, as to not stir attention from Hop Pop herself while she checked in on the girls and their progress on Domino II, only to duck as two garbage bags were thrown out the minute she opened it. She looked down in surprise to see King and Sprig, both having been the ones to throw the bags out. Curiously, Eda opened one of the bags to see all the webbing from before and raised an eyebrow in suspicion before turning back towards Sprig and King, the pair pointing in a certain direction.

Coming downstairs, Eda looked to see Luz and Anne building a cat-tree for Domino II, with Anne finishing it off by nailing a sign that read 'Domino 2' on it. "Meow." Domino II poked her head out of one box, to which Luz smiled as she looked into that hole. "Meow." The caterpillar poked her head out of another box, with Anne playfully looking into that as well. "Meow." The third meow, however, did not come from inside the cat-tree, much to the girls' confusion as they looked around for Domino II.

Only to look at Eda, Sprig, and King, their eyelids lowered as all three of them pointed towards the cellar door, where Domino II just exited, much to the girls' horror.

Hop Pop was in the kitchen, making himself a sandwich, with the Salamander curled up on the counter again. The old frog had already laid some lettuce out on his bread, not noticing Domino II entering the kitchen. He put some bug meat on it just as Domino II had got to the table and only turned around in time to not see the cat eat up his sandwich, much to Luz's shock as she appeared in the kitchen to see it all.

"Oh, forgot the mustard." The old frog reached for the mustard, but turned around and gave a startled yelp as Luz was right in front of him, smiling nervously as she had put quickly lettuce on her face to give the impression that she ate the sandwich.

This also stirred the Salamander awake, who looked around the corner of the kitchen entrance to see a faint glow coming from the cellar door just as it closed. The multi-colored Palisman looking with suspicion again.

The cellar door was closed to reveal Eda had used her magic to pull Domino II back in while Anne held her close with a hug, all while Sprig looked more nervous and King just glared, his jealousy only growing.

Sometime later, after getting a talking too from Hop Pop about taking other people's food without permission, Luz returned to the basement to check in on Domino II and cringed as she saw a dead bug laid out on her sleeping bag.

"Meow." Domino II looked at her with big eyes again, causing Luz's cringe expression to fade into one of love as she pulled the caterpillar into another hug.

Luz, Anne, King, and Sprig were all outside with Domino II as Eda kept watch. The kids had a series of papers with Light Glyphs drawn on all of them, all laid out around the area as Luz tapped her finger on one Glyph to light it up and show the ball of light to Domino II. The caterpillar then rolled on her back, falling onto a series of Light Glyphs, causing a large glow of light to shine in front of them, forcing them all to close their eyes. When they opened them again, the group looked to see that Domino II was gone.

Eda gave a cough as she pointed to the house, where they saw Domino II climb up to a nearby window, much to their shock.

Inside, just below the window, Polly was reading a book on the couch, not noticing Domino II pushing the window open slightly and opening her mouth with an intent to devour the tadpole, only for Anne to quickly pull her back out and close the window. Polly stopped reading at the sound of the window closing, looked up slightly and saw nothing. She shrugged before resuming her reading.

However, the Salamander, who was perched on the top of the fireplace, did notice something trying to come in from the window. He couldn't get a good enough look at what it was before it was pulled back out, but he did know that something was trying to get in. Making him all the more suspicious.

Anne went back into the basement, only to be surprised as she saw a whole pile of dead bugs on her bed. But that disgust faded as Domino II looked up to her with her cutesy eyes again.

"Meow."

Anne immediately picked up Domino II and spun around in the basement, laughing the whole time, all while Luz took pictures on her phone. This was not only adorable, but very heartwarming. It looked as if Anne had gotten back home and reunited with the original Domino the way she was acting. Even if they were different animals, it was still nice to see.

But King didn't feel the same way as he was once again looking around the corner with a glare of envy.

Later that evening, the sun was almost completely set as Anne, Sprig, Luz, and King laid out on the floor of the basement while Domino II laid in Anne's bed, playing with a dead bug as she tossed it up and down in her stubs.

"Whew." Sprig breathed in exhaustion. "Hope there isn't a Domino III."

"Was Domino the first always this exhausting?" King asked in annoyance.

"At first, maybe. But she settled in nicely, just like this baby here." Anne said as Domino II shot some web from her mouth to snatch and devour the bug. She then walked in a circle on Anne's bed and curled up with a yawn before cocooning herself from the neck down and falling asleep.

"Awe, they're always the most adorable when they sleep." Luz gushed.

"I gotta admit, she's pretty darn cute." Sprig commented.

Anne put a hand on his shoulder and pulled him in. "Welcome, brother. To the church of cute!"

"This a… cult thing?" Sprig asked with uncertainty.

"So, Eda? Did Domino II pass the test?" Luz asked hopefully to the Owl Lady who had just entered the basement via the emergency exit.

King looked to Eda, hoping she'd say no as the Owl Lady thought for a moment. "She was a bit of a handful, but nothing compared to dealing with my curse or the Emperor's Coven. Nobody's dead, the house isn't on fire... Yeah I'd give her a passing grade, but there's room for improvement." She admitted with a smile.

"Oh yes!" Anne and Luz both hugged Eda, to her shock. "We are so keeping her!" They both said simultaneously, much to King's horror.

"If Hop Pop permits it." Eda said sternly before the girls broke off from her.

"Eda, I gotta admit… you're really respecting Hop Pop right now." Luz said.

"Here I thought you didn't respect anybody." Anne added.

"Hey, the old frog is tough." Eda admitted. "Plus, his house, his rules. He listens to me at my place, so I gotta do the same for him."

Soon, all stomachs in those of the group groaned simultaneously. "Whoa, looks like Domino II isn't the only thing purring." Anne commented jokingly.

"Let's get you kids something to eat, and then we'll talk to Hop Pop about our new pet." Eda said.

"Wait… you're serious, Eda?" King asked, almost sounding hurt.

"If Hop Pop says it's okay, I got no problem with it." Eda admitted.

"And we'll take all the responsibility with the pet-work." Luz said. "He said that he was the one doing it before with Charlie Bigbottom, but not this time."

"Yeah, that should do it." Anne said as the group proceeded up the stairs.

"You coming, King?" Sprig asked the little demon as he hadn't moved from his spot yet.

"In a sec…" King looked down to the floor, kicking some dust.

All but Anne was the last to leave the basement, turning back to look at the sleeping Domino II one last time with a loving smile. "Sleep tight, my precious baby angel!" She closed the door behind her…

Not noticing the Salamander quickly and quietly slipping through, clinging to the basement's ceiling and spotting the caterpillar for the first time.

He knew it! He totally knew there was another critter in here! Seems the kid snuck it in without anyone noticing, not even him. But it seemed to be in its partially cocooned state. That wasn't good. Whenever a creature cocoons itself, it usually means its about to transform.

"You think you're so cute, don't you?!" King began to rant, drawing the Salamander's attention as King pointed to Domino II. "You think you can just take my humans away from me!? Well, no such luck, missy! I'm king around here! Even if this place does become your new home, that means you gotta serve me from now on! So, you'll do everything I say! Even if it's something really disgusting like cleaning out the toilets! And I better not hear any complaining, or else I'll throw you out! I don't care what Luz and Anne say! You got it?!"

However, the webbing then moved up to completely cover Domino II's head, encasing her in a total cocoon, which only seemed to make King a bit nervous as an unsettling feeling began to set in for him.

"Um... I'll take that as a yes!" But as he looked more nervous, the Salamander looked more serious. Being cocooned this quickly usually means a quick metamorphosis. They might have a fight on their hands.

After assembling a smorgasbord of food in the kitchen, such as vegetables and sandwich products, even bugs, the kids were all stuffing their faces, even Eda, as Hop Pop walked in.

"Whoa, whoa, hungry much?" The old frog questioned in surprise.

"We've been running around all day! We're starving!" Sprig said with a partially full mouth before stuffing more food into it.

"Running around? Doing what?" Hop Pop looked with suspicion.

"That's actually what we've been wanting to talk to you about, Hop Pop." Luz began. "I know how you said you didn't want any pets, but…"

A high-pitched scream, followed by a series of thuds from underneath the floor got the group's attention, with Eda recognizing the source of the scream right away.

"That was King!"

"What? But King was right behind us when we left!" Anne stated as Luz ran for the cellar door first with everyone right behind her. But when she opened the door, all of them gasped at what they saw.

It was the Salamander, fully transformed into his Komodo Dragon form, and curled up around a frightened King. But what stood out the most was the recently open cocoon on Anne's bed that had a corrosive substance smoking out from inside.

"Whoa, King, what happened?!" Luz exclaimed as the group entered the basement.

"Where's Domino II?!" Anne asked in the same manner.

"She put herself in that cocoon and it just hatched and…" King tried to explain.

"Hold on a sec!" Hop Pop interrupted. "'Domino II'? That's a pet name! For a pet!" He glared at the kids. "Did ya'll sneak a pet in here?!"

"No!" Sprig tried to deny, only to cave under his grandfather's fierce gaze. "Okay, we did!"

"What'd I tell ya'll about pets?!" Hop Pop reminded before looking to Eda. "You knew too, didn't you?!"

"Um… guys…" King tried to get their attention.

"Yeah, I knew." Eda admitted reluctantly. "Figured if I kept on eye on that caterpillar, it wouldn't cause harm."

"And it looked so much like Anne's cat Domino back home!" Luz added. "She was small, cute, black with white spots…"

"Guys…!" King still tried to get their attention, sticking close to the Salamander.

"Wait, a black caterpillar with white spots?!" Hop Pop questioned in shock, borderline fear.

"Yeah… is… that a problem…?" Luz looked with concern and nervousness at the tone of Hop Pop's voice, with even Anne becoming concerned herself.

"That's a Costal Kill-a-pillar!" Hop Pop exclaimed. "They're dangerous amphibivores!"

"And let me guess, the white spots are a sign that it's gonna turn into a giant killer moth thing, right?!" King shouted, finally getting their attention.

"Yes, that's exactly it! They only gain white spots just before they're about to grow into an adult!" Hop Pop confirmed

"How do you know, King?" Eda looked to little demon questionably.

"Because that's exactly what she did!" King screamed just as the Salamander growled, looking up towards the ceiling with King following his gaze. "Look!" As he pointed up, the Salamander opened his mouth to reveal a multi-colored flame at the back of his throat and illuminate the darkened basement.

This gave the group a full view of the transformed Domino II. No longer was she an adorable caterpillar, now she was a much larger creature that looked like hybrid of a cat and a moth. It had a dark grey moth-like body, dark red wings like that of a monarch butterfly, a white cat-like head with six cat-like arms and glowing red eyes. It let go from its spot in the ceiling to fully reveal itself, hovering in the air via its wings with a high-pitched hiss.

Everyone screamed in shock as Eda quickly came to the front of the group, drawing her owl-staff and pointing it forward as Owlbert at the end glowed with golden fire, and even the Salamander growling as King clung to his transformed form.

"Is that…?" Luz muttered.

"Domino II…?" Anne looked nothing short of shocked and horrified herself.

"You kids, get back!" Eda pushed them both back as she and Hop Pop were at the front. "Hop Pop, what are we dealing with?"

"Sssh!" Hop Pop quickly shushed her. "These monsters respond to sound." He said quietly to the group. "Let's back away slowly and quietly…" He urged as the group slowly backed their way towards the main stairway, Eda and the Salamander both ready to fight if need be.

Only for the cellar door to burst open loudly, thanks to Polly. "Hey family! What's happening in here?!" She shouted as loudly as she could.

Dominio II roared at Polly, who screamed in response as the giant Kill-a-moth flew right towards her with an open mouth. Only for Eda to quickly appear in front of the carnivorous moth in a flash of yellow light and slam her glowing staff into it to send Domino II crashing out through the emergency exit, making a large hole in the process.

"You all stay here! I got this!" Eda said as she zoomed out through the hole to confront the moth-like monster. But despite that, the group quickly climbed out through the hole and out into the backyard to see Eda taking on Domino II. The giant Kill-a-moth flew towards Eda, who swerved out from its path to retaliate with a series of fireballs being thrown out from her staff, but Domino II flew around all of them with ease. "Fast little bugger, aren't ya?" Domino II then flew towards Eda again, only for the witch to not only swerve and avoid the flying charge of the giant cat-moth hybrid again but even draw a spell on the ground just as Domino II passed over, creating a series of ice-spikes that shot up from the ground to catch and trap her.

Anne in particular gasped as she saw Domino II trapped like this, caught in-between the ice-spikes, and even more so as Eda's owl-staff began to glow more.

"Sorry." Eda aimed her staff and was ready to put Domino II down quickly and painlessly. But Anne quickly jumped out from the hole and ran onto the scene fast as she could, much to everyone else's shock.

"Anne! No!" Sprig tried to stop her.

"No! Stop!" Anne quickly came in-between Eda and Domino II, causing the Owl Lady to gasp as she pointed her staff away at the last minute, blasting away much of the ice spikes and freeing Domino II.

"Get out of the way, Anne! Now!" Eda ordered.

"Wait! Let me try to get through to her!" Anne quickly turned back to Domino II as she landed. "Domino II… It's me! Anne!" That seemed to get the Kill-a-moth's attention as she tilted her head with curiosity. Eda however, kept a firm grip on her staff, ready to fire a magic spell at a moment's notice.

"I can't watch!" King covered his eyes as the rest made their way closer, the Salamander sticking out in front of them, still in his Komodo Dragon form.

"Hold on… I think she's getting through to her…" Luz said hopefully.

"We bonded!" Anne continued to plead with Domino II. "I gave you treats! You gave me dead things!" She slowly walked forward with a hopeful smile, reaching out her hand as well. "Don't you remember?" She put her hand on Domino II's head, which did earn a bit of purr from the creature. Only for it to roar and rapidly flap its wings to send a gust of wind, pushing Anne down and slightly pushing Eda back and forcing her to cover her face before Domino II went straight for Anne…

But Luz had appeared to push Anne out of the way just before Domino II snatched her up instead and flew towards the trees, the girl screaming as she was dragged away.

"LUZ!" Everyone screamed with Anne's pupils shrinking in horror.

"I'll get her!" Eda said, but Anne grabbed her by the arm.

"Eda…!"

"Kid, that's not your pet! It's a meat-eating monster and it's gonna eat Luz if we don't do something!" Eda said angrily.

"I know! This was my fault! But please… let me help!" Anne pleaded. "I… I think I know how we can lure her away!"

Eda looked at Anne with a curious eyebrow.

Luz was pinned to the ground, surrounded by several trees as Domino II loomed over her, opening its mouth to stretch out its thin, green, spiked tongue. Luz closed her eyes fearfully as the Kill-a-mouth looked ready to devour her…

Only for the slight jingle of a bell to ring above her. "Hey! Domino II! Up here!" Looking up, Domino II and Luz both saw Anne riding Owlbert alongside Eda as the girl shook the mouse toy. The second Domino II saw the toy again and heard the bell jingle, it's eyes lit up with a meow before flying up to catch it. "Let's go!" Anne said to Eda, who flew with her staff away from the farm, Domino II flying after them.

Luz looked up in surprise, even as the Plantars, King, and the Salamander came to her and helped her back up.

The Owl Lady and Thai girl had now flown some distance away from Wartwood and hovered over a dense forest. They stopped in mid-air to turn around as Domino II hovered in front of them.

"Anne, I'm sorry, but this whole thing didn't work out." Eda told her. "It was never gonna work out, and I shouldn't have let you keep the thing. I know it's hard, but you gotta let go. Time to say goodbye."

Deep down, Anne knew that Eda was right. She knew that this wasn't the same Domino back home, no matter how much she wanted it to be. But despite that, she fell in love with her and hoped she could be part of their little makeshift family. But it was not to be.

"Oh Domino II, I thought I could change you, but I guess I was wrong." Anne said tearfully, remembering all the good memories she had with the caterpillar, even if it was only for a couple days. "I'm sorry I couldn't make it work! It's time to go!" She threw the mouse toy into the forest below, prompting Domino II to fly after it. "Sayonara, Domino II."

While glad that the Kill-a-moth was gone, Eda looked in sympathy to Anne as she sniffled. "She was a wild animal, and a farm ain't a place for that. She's home now."

That did little to comfort the girl "I'm sorry, Eda."

"Yeah, me too." The Owl Lady replied before flying back to the Plantar farm. The pair landed in the back yard in no time at all, much to the group's relief.

"Anne!" King and Sprig went up to her with the former hugging her legs and the latter hoping up to hug her on top.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" Sprig said with joy and relief.

"Tell me that thing is gone!" Polly stated.

"Yeah, it's gone." Anne confirmed reluctantly, and when she saw Luz, a feeling of guilt set in. "Luz, are you okay?" She asked, coming up to her and putting her hands on her friend's shoulders.

"I'm alright." Luz said before looking to Anne sympathetically. "I'm sorry it didn't work out…"

"No, I'm sorry, the whole thing was my idea. I had no right to put you in danger, any of you..." Anne said to the rest of the group. "No matter how much I missed my cat. I hope you understand." She apologized.

Luz, Sprig, and Eda all smiled with sympathy, appreciation, and understanding to Anne, this also included the Salamander as he shifted back to his normal form. King, however, while glad that everything was okay, couldn't help but feel guilty for his earlier envy. Despite his feelings, he didn't want any of his friends to be upset over this.

"Understand…?" Hop Pop began as he walked over towards Anne and Eda with what seemed like a heated glare. "Understand?!" Anne braced herself for the inevitable scolding, with even Eda being prepared to be on the receiving end of it herself for allowing this to happen. But none we're prepared for Hop Pop's eyes to turn big as tears streamed out of them like waterfalls. "I miss Charlie Bigbottom with all my heart and soul!" He sobbed loudly, clinging to both Anne and Eda, the pair looking to each other awkwardly.

"Awe, there, there Hop Pop." Luz said sympathetically as she kneeled down and patted Hop Pop on his shoulders.

"Uh… can we please fix the GIANT HOLE IN THE HOUSE?!" Polly yelled, referring to the giant hole that led into the house's basement.

The Next Morning

Eda was able to fix up the damage to the house with little issue thanks to her magic, but Luz and Anne still had to clean up the mess in the basement was they were the ones who brought Domino II in the first place. Eda, Sprig, and King both stepped downstairs to see how things were going.

"You kids doing okay?" Eda asked.

"Yeah… we're fine." Luz said dejectedly.

Eda gave a slight sigh. "I shouldn't have let you kids bring that caterpillar into the house. This whole mess is just as much my fault."

"But I'm the one who wanted it." Anne said as she finished sweeping.

"I thought she was cute too, so I just went along with it." Luz put in but felt a bit bad herself for that reason. At least Anne had the excuse that Domino II resembled the original Domino. Luz didn't have any pets back home, so there was no excuse for her own actions, even if it was just to support her friend.

King looked to the girls in sympathy. "Hey… listen, I'm sorry it didn't work out with Domino II. I got a little jealous and well… I didn't mean for things to turn out the way they did, but I'm glad you guys aren't hurt."

Luz looked to King with an understanding smile as she patted his head. "Sorry if we made you feel left out, King. But nobody could ever replace you. Domino II might have been a potential pet, but you're a friend. And that won't change."

King squealed in delight as he hopped into Luz's arms, causing the girl to laugh, with even Anne smiling before sitting down on her own bed, next to her backpack, where she spotted the Domino-doll that Luz had previously made for her, tied to one of the straps before sighing.

"Welp, just goes to show you, you can't take some wild animal you found in the woods, have it live in your basement, and think that everything's gonna be okay." Anne said.

"I don't know. Sometimes it works out." Sprig said, looking towards the bed and sleeping bag belonging to Anne and Luz respectively.

"Awe." Anne smiled with appreciation, as did Luz.

That's when Eda looked away somewhat before speaking. "Hey, King. I hear Hop Pop's trying that pizza recipe we made and mixing it with some gumbo. Sounds like a meal for for a king if you ask me."

"Pizza gumbo?! That does sound royally delicious!" King hopped up the stairs. "Better oversee its preparation before he messes it up." Once he left the basement, Eda closed the cellar door behind her and sat on the stairs to address the kids.

"Hey, like I said before, sorry that it didn't work out with Domino II." Eda confessed. "Should have listened to Hop Pop."

"Well, we're all equally guilty on that front." Luz said. "Plus, you said you could handle it if it got out of control. And you did."

"Probably could have handled it just fine had I not get in the way." Anne added, looking away somewhat.

"Yeah well, that wasn't the only reason I let it happen." Eda began, getting the three kids' attention. "You guys know that King isn't really a king of demons, right?"

"Wait, he's not?" Sprig questioned in genuine shock.

"You're only figuring that out now?" Anne questioned to Sprig in confusion.

"Yeah, it's all just a game to him." Luz added.

"More-or-less, but none of you know how the two of us met, do you?" Eda asked, and that's what really got their attention. "Eight years ago, I was looking for a place to hide from the Emperor's Coven. I found a small island off the coast that wasn't part of their jurisdiction. A boiling rainstorm hit when I made landfall, so I found shelter in some old temple or whatever. But I wasn't alone… that's how I found King." Now the three were listening intently. "At first, I just thought he was just some kind of stray dog or something. But… something attacked, not sure what it was but… it was gonna kill us both. Against my better judgement, I took King home with me. And that's when he started speaking. I realized then that he wasn't just some wild animal, but something else entirely."

"So… what is he…?" Luz asked.

"That's the thing… I have no idea." Eda answered.

"What?!" The trio of kids all exclaimed at the same time.

"I've never seen anything like him. And he doesn't seem able to use magic like bipedal demons do, at least not from what I've seen." Eda explained.

"But what about parents? Didn't anyone come looking for him?" Anne asked.

"Nope." Eda shook her head. "I even went back to the island, but couldn't find anything else. Other than that thing that tried to kill us before… and let me tell ya, that monster was no joke. But that was all I could find. Maybe King was abandoned, or maybe his real parents kicked the bucket, I'm not sure."

"Oh man… that's… that's gotta be rough…" Sprig really had no idea what to say about this.

Even the girls looked to each other with concern and sympathy. "King… doesn't know about this, does he?" Luz asked.

"No, and please don't tell him." Eda said.

"Why not?" Anne asked.

"Cause I wanna be the one to tell him, when he's ready." Eda answered.

The three shared glances with each other before nodding. "Okay." Luz accepted.

"Thanks." Eda smiled. "But my point is, I know a thing or two about taking in strays… and sure, it doesn't always work out. But like Sprig said, sometimes it does." She smiled to the human girls in front of her, causing them both to smile before Luz came up to Eda with a hug, much to her own awkwardness.

"Well, these past few days have been emotionally challenging." Sprig commented. "How about we do something fun to make all those complicated feelings go away?"

"Read my mind, buddy." Anne ruffled his head as she reached for her phone and began to surf through its contents. "Let's see if we can get any mind-numbing videos to watch…" But she happened to stumble onto something that made her smile before squealing in delight, so much so that it not only forced Eda, Sprig, and Luz to cover their ears, but also drew the attention of those upstairs.

"Wha…?! Whose screaming…?!" Hop Pop opened the cellar door, only for Anne to quickly dash her way up stairs, knocking Hop Pop aside with an excited look on her face.

"Guys! Guys! Guys! Guys! Guys! Guys! Guys!" She said rapidly as everyone else followed her upstairs into the family room. "Look!" She showed them her phone, particularly the title screen of a certain show that she absolutely loved.

"What are we looking at here?" Polly questioned in annoyance as she was on the couch.

"Suspicion Island!" Anne introduced. "It's like my favorite show! I got the new season, and didn't even know it!"

"Seriously?! You got Season 2?!" Luz exclaimed with excitement.

"Yeah! It must have auto-downloaded before I got here!" Anne guessed.

"Who is this Otto-person?" King wondered.

"And how did you 'down… load' him…" Polly asked, not really understand what Anne was saying.

"I think I actually downloaded Season 2 before coming here myself." Luz pulled out her own phone and saw that she actually did download Season 2. 'Before coming here…' Luz wondered. Once again, her mind drifted off back to when she left Earth and chose to stay in the Demon Realm, not telling her mother about any of it.

"Here, look at the promo and see for yourselves." Anne played the promo for Eda, King, and the Plantars. Even Owlbert and the Salamander found themselves watching it.

"Previously on Suspicion Island…" The narrator began as the season recap showed four teenagers, two boys and two girls, all wearing torn clothes as they made their way through the dense jungle.

"I've got a lot of feelings about this place." One of the girls said.

"Look! More humans!" Sprig pointed with excitement.

Polly laughed mockingly. "They have noses!"

"And look at them wondering through that jungle like a bunch of idiots." King chuckled.

Though it seemed like not everyone was interested as Hop Pop looked with utter disgust at what he was seeing, while Eda was far from impressed.

"I feel like everyone on this island is suspicious Peruvia, except you!" One of the boys said as he put his hand on the girl's cheek.

"But Randy… I think you're suspicious!" Peruvia slapped away Randy's hand.

"Noooooooo!" Randy cried out overly dramatically before an explosion erupted to shift the footage to reveal Peruvia standing in a cave, atop a pile of skulls.

"Suspicion Island. If you don't stay suspicious, you won't stay alive." The narrator said one last time before more explosions erupted and revealed the title screen one more time.

King, Sprig, and Polly looked with widened and sparkly eyes, clearly hooked onto the show from the preview alone, while Eda and Hop Pop still didn't seem all that impressed.

"What is this demonic nonsense?" Hop Pop questioned.

"Oh, don't even compare the demonic arts with that trash." Eda replied. "I've seen some of those human shows and they're all terrible. Either it's making a mockery of magic and witches, or it's just a bunch random stuff mixed together with no real plot."

"Come on Eda, not every human show is that bad. It's really all about the writers and executives and the standards that they chose to employ. And Suspicion Island is fun!" Luz stated.

"And this show's got beautiful people, doing dumb things, while stuff explodes! It's literally perfect." Anne added.

"It's also one of the few things Anne, Marcy, Sasha and I could all watch together." Luz put in. "Magic might not be in it, but it's just so much fun! At least give it a shot, you guys might like it."

"Awesome!" Sprig hollered.

"Let's do it!" Polly was onboard.

"Yeah!" King cheered.

"Now, hold on!" Hop Pop stopped everyone. "Instead of that garbage, how about I treat you to some real entertainment?"

"Oh no." Sprig and Polly both winced, knowing what was coming next.

"A scene from… 'The Shallow Pond'!" Hop Pop introduced as he pulled out a piece of paper that had the scene written down. He cleared his throat as he opened the paper and began to read it aloud. "'Sadness. The world is sadness. But look. There. A pond! Is it deep? Or shallow?"

He looked all around, Eda cringed at what she just heard while the kids stared blankly before they all chanted. "Suspicion Island! Suspicion Island! Suspicion Island!"

"Okay, fine!" Hop Pop relented in annoyance, causing everyone to cheer, all except Eda.

"Welp, I'm out. Enjoy your trash." She pulled out her key and the Portal Door, having brought it with her this time around, and opened it up. But before she could enter, Luz ended up clinging to her from behind.

"Come on Eda, please! At least give it a chance!" Luz begged.

"No!" Eda groaned.

"Please! I want to watch it with all my friends! Please!" Luz put on a pair of puppy dog eyes.

Eda winced at that before giving a loud and annoying groan. "Alright, fine." She used the key to close the Portal Door and put them both back in her hair. "But just one."

"Oh no." Luz shook her head as she pulled out her own phone and set up the playlist for Season 1. "You guys are not watching any of this without context."

"That's right, we're starting from the very beginning." Anne added. "Suspicion Island binge party!"

"Binge party!" King, Sprig, and Polly hollered as they sat down on the couch, Eda and Hop Pop both groaning in annoyance but reluctantly sat down alongside them, with even Owlbert on Eda's shoulder, just as the Salamander crawled up on the windowsill to get a good look at the show himself.

Later that night, the whole group had binged the entire first season of Suspicion Island and were now finishing up with the premiere for Season 2 on Anne's phone. The kids' eyes were glued to the show, the bright light shining over them and their bloodshot eyes, while Eda and Hop Pop both sat and looked unimpressed as they watched alongside the kids.

"It can't be, Vivica…" Chad looked in fear and shock as he and Vivica were on a cliffside, surrounded by multiple pterodactyls. "These pterodactyls are clones of… my dead brother!"

Luz, Anne, King, Sprig, and Polly gasped in shock. "No way!" Anne muttered.

"I did not see that coming!" Luz exclaimed.

Hop Pop and Eda however both groaned as they rolled their eyes.

Back with the show, one of the pterodactyls snatched Vivica and took her away, much to Chad's horror. "Nooooooo!"

The episode came to an end, revealing images of the quartet of teenagers in their respective situations as the narrator spoke again. "Will these beautiful teens ever make it off the island? Find out next time on…"

Anne then stopped the video. "And that's enough for tonight."

"What?! No way! You can't end it there!" King protested.

"Oh, come on!" Sprig shook Anne.

"Grrr! This is torture!" Polly growled.

"We just binged the whole first season and the premiere of the second." Luz said. "Trust me guys, it's better to pace yourself with this stuff kind of stuff."

"Alright you two grubs, off to bed." Hop Pop said to Sprig and Polly.

"You too, King." Eda told him as well.

All three of them groaned as they slid off the couch, the Salamander following King and Sprig.

"I can't go to sleep without knowing what happened to Vivica and Chad!" King protested as they went up the stairs.

"And what about Randy and Peruvia?!" Sprig added.

"Stupid sleep! I wanna watch it right now!" Polly moaned.

Luz and Anne both grinned as they looked to Eda and Hop Pop respectively. "So… what did you guys think?" Luz asked, leaning against Eda's side, the witch having her arms crossed with lowered eyelids.

"Way better than that boring stuff you read to us, eh Hop Pop?" Anne also asked with a grin and nudging Hop Pop's side.

"You want to know what I think? That show was just as trashy as I thought it was gonna be." Eda said as she made her way to the stairs, Owlbert flying and following her. "I'd rather listen to Hop Pop's boring play than whatever mess of a show that was. Heck, I'd rather join the Emperor's Coven than watch another episode of that!"

"And that 'boring stuff' is called literature, Anne." Hop Pop added as he went to his study. "And if you or Luz had even an ounce of culture, you wouldn't reject it in favor of your substandard, puerile, garbage show!" He finished off before slamming the door, all while Eda stomped her way up the stairs rather loudly.

"Yesh, tell me how you really feel, right?" Anne said sarcastically, looking to Luz.

"Well, they at least gave it a chance." Luz said with reluctant acceptance. "Not everyone's into the same stuff we are. I know you and Sasha aren't into Azura like Marcy and I are. But I wonder what Willow and Gus would think."

Anne then yawned. "Well, I'm gonna hit the hay."

"Yeah, I'm tired too. Night." Luz said as she and Anne both went into the basement to get some sleep, leaving both their phones behind on the table.

However, sometime later, when all was quiet in the house, something or someone made its way the family room. And from an outside perspective, one could see a faint light coming from the window.

"Last week, on Suspicion Island…"

The Next Morning

Anne and Luz both went back to the sofa, their phones still on the table as the latter had a bowl of popcorn while the former called out. "Come on, guys! It's time to get… Suspicious!" Anne clicked on her phone, only to look in surprise to see the low battery alert. "Wait… what?!" Even Luz looked confused.

"What's going on?" Eda questioned as she and everyone else entered the family room.

"What's wrong?" Sprig asked.

"What's all the ruckus?" Hop Pop queried, holding a frying pan with bugs inside as he exited the kitchen.

"Why you screaming?" Polly questioned.

"Are we watching Suspicion Island or what?" King demanded.

"My batter is low. But it was fine last night when I turned it off." Anne said in confusion, looking at her phone as Sprig, Polly, and King joined them on the sofa.

"Huh, that's weird." Luz said. "Well, no worries. We can just watch it on my phone." She picked up her own phone, only to see the low charge on that as well. "What the…? Two percent?! But it was at least fifty when I went to bed!" When she got a closer look at her phone, she was surprised to see the menu for the Suspicion Island series, where all of the episodes of Season 2 were marked as watched. "Huh…? But we didn't watch Season 2 on my phone, only the first!"

"Yeah… same for me! All of Season 2 is watched! But who could have…?" Anne wondered as she saw the same thing on her phone, only for her low battery alert to pop up, revealing barely even a one percent charge on her phone. "Nononononononono! No!" Anne clicked her phone desperately only for a dead face to appear on her screen before her phone shut down completely.

And right as that happened, the same kind of alert appeared on Luz's phone. "Wait… no! Not you to! Don't you die on me!" Just like with Anne, Luz's phone flickered before the same kind of dead face was shown on the screen before it went black.

"Uh… what just happened?" King looked in confusion to the two frog siblings, both of whom just shrugged.

"It's gone…" Anne muttered in a whisper, her eyes shrunken and her face going pale.

"What's gone?" Sprig asked.

"Everything! My pictures! My texts! Videos of my cat! Now all my memories from home are gone!" Anne pulled herself into the couch, hugging her own legs as he began to hyperventilate, prompting Luz to take Anne's hands and urge her to calm down.

"Okay Anne, breathe! Just breathe!" Luz tried to calm her down. "We'll figure this out! Don't panic on me!"

"That's right! Panic is the enemy!" King declared. "And as King, I hereby order an immediate investigation! Nobody will rest until we find the culp… WEH!?" Anne quickly pulled King in by his collar.

"Was it you!?" Anne exclaimed angrily. "Did you watch all the episodes and drain my phone?!"

"What?! No, I didn't!" King defended himself as Luz pulled King away from Anne's grasp. "It must have been Polly!" He pointed to the tadpole.

"What?!" Polly exclaimed.

"Hey, that's right!" Sprig hopped on Anne's shoulder. "I even heard her get up in the middle of the night! Very suspicious!" He said that last part in a not-so-subtle whisper.

"I. Needed. To. Pee!" Polly stated. "Plus, if you heard me, you guys were awake too! And there's two of you and two dead boxes! You each took one to watch the seasons yourself! You're the suspicious ones!"

"You dare to accuse the King of theft and deception!?" King went up into Polly's face. "Hold on a second….!" He had a sudden realization. "What if it was Eda and Hop Pop?!" He pointed to the two adults in the room.

"Seriously?" Eda's eyelids lowered. "I think I made it clear how much I hated that show."

"Same. I despised that garbage." Hop Pop added. "Why would we want to watch more of it!"

"Exactly!" King accused. "You two drained Luz and Anne's phones on purpose so that we'd have to listen to Hop Pop's boring play! And Eda did it just so she could watch our suffering!"

"Oh, that's good!" Sprig nodded.

"Guys, guys, can we please stop?!" Luz quickly got up in the middle of the group and held her hands out to separate them all.

"How are you not freaking out, Luz?!" Anne questioned. "Both our phones are dead!"

"But we can fix that! Eda's got a portal to Earth, remember?" Luz responded. "And she made sure to bring it with us this time!"

"A portal that I can't cross through!" Anne reminded.

"I can, and so can Eda." Luz quickly said. "We can just go to Earth, pop over to the nearest store, and pick up some extra chargers. They're cheap."

"Finally! Someone who isn't losing their mind." Eda reached into her hair to pull out the portal key as well as the Portal Door itself in its brief case form. "This should take only a few minutes…"

"Oh no you don't!" Sprig used his tongue to snatch the key, much to everyone's shock.

"Sprig?!" Luz questioned as the pink frog held the key in his hand.

"You guys just wanna sneak over to the human world and watch the rest of Suspicion Island without us!" Sprig accused.

"Okay, this is getting ridiculous." Eda was getting more annoyed. "Let me make this as clear as I possibly can." She leaned in close to Sprig's face. "I. Hate. Suspicion. Island!"

"And what more is there to watch, anyway?" Luz questioned. "That was the whole new season! There's nothing new left!"

"This whole thing is getting preposterous!" Hop Pop tried to reign in everyone.

"That's exactly what someone suspicious would say!" Polly accused.

"Don't try and deflect the blame!" King added.

Anne growled before standing up on her feet in finality. "ENOUGH!" She shouted, getting all their attention. "If nobody's gonna admit to it, the least you can do is help charge our phones! And since you guys are so much against just buying another charger, then figure out a way to get it done here in Amphibia!"

"Fair enough, Anne." Hop Pop accepted.

"Okay, so let's put our heads together and figure this out." Luz began. "What we need is power. Electricity."

"Huh?" The frog family tilted their heads in confusion.

"She means lightning." Eda translated, opening her hand to generate a sphere of magic lightning. "Hey, here's an idea. I'll just charge the phones myself."

"Oh? Proposing the simple solution, huh?" King narrowed his eyes at Eda. "Well that's just what Randy did, which was really just a distraction to take everyone's eyes off the stash of food he stole! Maybe you wanna overcharge the phones so much that they explode!"

"How about I super charge you so that you explode?!" Eda warned as the magic lightning in her hand grew bigger and more violent, causing King to squeal as he hid behind Luz's legs.

"Well, if all we need is lightning, we could wait until a thunderstorm rolls in, but we'd have no idea when that would be." Hop Pop said. "But I think I have another idea. Quickly, to my study!"

The group was now in Hop Pop's study as he laid out an old encyclopedia on the desk for him and everyone behind him to see, which read 'Beasts of Amphibia' on the cover, complete with a large spider drawn on it.

"I've talk of a creature called the Zapapede that lives deep in the Misty Peeks." He began, opening the book to a double-page that showed a large mountain with an illustration of a centipede-like creature with lightning drawn around it. "It zaps its prey, with a small spark of lightning."

"Huh, that's actually kinda cool." Luz said with a smile.

"So, is this thing dangerous, HP? I'd rather avoid another Domino II incident." Eda said.

"Don't call me, HP." The old frog replied before looking back at the book to give his answer. "According to this, it normally goes after smaller prey like rodents and doesn't usually target frogs. The most a single Zapapede can do is make you numb for a few hours. But a whole swarm? That's a different story." He said, noticing an illustration of several Zapapedes with a skull and crossbones drawn over them.

"Sounds like it's worth a shot. How far away is this thing?" Anne asked.

"It's half-a-day's travel." Hop Pop answered as he got up from his desk. "But that should be no trouble for this gang." He pointed to everyone.

Only for Sprig to narrow his eyes as he slapped his grandfather's hand away. "Oh, yeah? Well that's just what Chad Vanderblad said… right before he was stabbed in the back, by a backstabber, on Suspicion Island!" He accused as he pointed at Hop Pop rapidly.

"Watch where you're pointing that finger!" Hop Pop slapped Sprig's hands away.

"I would never stab Chad in the back! But I know King would!" Polly pointed to the little demon.

"I may be a feared tyrant, but I'm not a backstabber! Not like Eda!" King pointed to her. "She put the 'con' in 'con artist'!"

"First off… that is very much true." Eda admitted to the last part with pride. "And second, we can still go the easy route if I charge the phones myself. Or pop over to the Human Realm and grab those chargers." She reminded.

"No way! I'm not letting you out of my sight!" Sprig pointed at her, keeping the portal key in his own pocket. "Not letting anybody out of my sight!"

"Well, I'm not letting you guys out of my sight either!" Polly looked all around to everyone herself and pointed to everyone in the group.

"Hey, for every finger pointed at the King of Demons, I will take just as many from you!" King ordered.

"I don't even have any fingers!" Polly shouted.

"Hey! Hey, hey, hey, hey!" Anne shouted. "You're all suspicious! All except Luz!"

"Huh?! Why is she not suspicious?!" King questioned.

"For one, she was with me last night and I never heard her get up." Anne said before pulling Luz herself in closely. "And she's also the most honest and trustworthy person I know! I've never even seen her tell a white lie! She would never deceive me or anyone in her life!"

As Anne went on about all that, Luz's eyes shrunk as she found herself looking away, once again reminded of how she not only left her mother without saying anything, but never even told Anne about just that or the other reason why she wanted to stay in the Demon Realm and Amphibia, besides wanting to find their friends.

'Trustworthy… right.'

"Now come on! Let's get going!" Anne led everyone to the door, pulling Luz with her. "The sooner we move, the sooner I get my memories back!"

Hop Pop, Eda, Sprig, King, and Polly then looked suspiciously at each other, rapidly looking and pointing from their eyes to one another and grunting the whole time, each one giving the not-so-subtle impression that they were keeping their eyes on them. And they did this just as they walked out of the study. Though Sprig did peek back inside to make the same gesture to the grandfather clock that had a frog's head carved in the wood.

The only one that didn't go with them was the Salamander. The multi-colored Palisman looked out from the window right by the front door to see the Plantar family, Eda, King, Luz, and Anne leave the farm's premises. Once they were gone, he crawled along the wall, making all the way towards the fireplace. It gazed up to an old painting that had two frog farmers on it, both with stoic expressions on their faces. The Salamander then turned around to press his tail on the center piece of the painting, causing a piece of it to press inward.

The Salamander then hopped from the fireplace to the ground, watching as the painting turned sideways and the fireplace opened up, revealing a hidden staircase that led underground via a dark tunnel lined with cobwebs, indicating that nobody had been down there in a long time.

With a knowing look on his face, the Salamander went down into the tunnel, with the door closing behind it, the fireplace reconnecting itself, leaving no trace that it was even opened beforehand.

The group had made their way to the foot of the Misty Peeks and as they began their trek up the small mountain, Sprig took out his fiddle and began to play and sing a tune he just made up.

"A family distrusts each other, on a dangerous mission, like the nearly naked humans on the island of suspicion." Sprig sang as they walked up the mountain side. "Peruvia, Felicia, and Randy so hot! Beguiling, hostile-ing, we're all suspicious isle-ing!"

"Did you just make that up?" Luz asked as they continued their trek.

"Yep." Sprig confirmed.

Luz smiled with impression. "Huh, knew you were good with a fiddle, but that's pretty great!"

"Awe, thanks Luz." Sprig smiled.

"Hold it!" King quickly got in-between them. "I know what this is. Flattery to earn your trust, just like what Randy did in Episode 10! You won't get my human that easily, Sprig!" He pointed to the pink frog.

"Hey, she complemented me!" Sprig argued. "And you're trying to drive a wedge between us like when Peruvia tried to the same thing to Vivica and Chad!"

"Guys, come on…!" Luz tried to break it up.

"All of you, quiet!" Hop Pop called out from the front of the group as they were now at the summit of the peaks, standing on one side of a cliff with a barely sustained rope bridge connecting the two ends together. "Look, there's one now!" He pointed to the peak on the other side where a yellow-colored centipede like creature was all curled up at the top, its eyes closed indicating it was sleeping. It also had a spark of electricity emit from its dual antenna. "A Zapapede!"

"Oh, looks pretty cute." Anne observed.

"We're not taking this one home." Eda said immediately to Anne as she went forward to press her hand on one of the planks of the bridge. "This thing looks like it could give at any moment. No problem." She had Owlbert appear on his staff form and got ready to ride. "I'll just fly up and grab the thing."

Only for Polly to hop on her shoulder and pull her back by her hair. "Only for you to 'accidentally' drop the thing in mid-air before flying off and leaving us stranded here, like when Randy left everyone else behind on the side of that cliff in Episode 15!" Eda then yanked Polly off and handed her back to Hop Pop.

"Seriously, what is with you guys having a problem with trying to go for the easier route? Do you like putting your lives in danger?" Eda questioned.

"Well, can't we all just fly up there on Owlbert?" Luz asked.

"Nope, too much weight." Eda shook her head. "I can take up two passengers at most, but that's it."

"Then we'll just have to cross the bridge ourselves. All together." Anne stated.

Sprig took the lead to test the bridge with his foot. "Step lightly, everyone. This thing doesn't look like it can take much weight." Hop Pop advised as the group began to tip-toe on the bridge, moving one at a time due to how narrow the bridge was. However, when they reached the middle spot, Hop Pop noticed Sprig giving a slight yawn. "Hmmm."

"What's up, HP?" Eda asked.

"Sprig sure looks tired, doesn't he? Awfully suspicious." Hop Pop said with narrowed eyes. "And don't call me HP." He reminded the Owl Lady.

"The old man's a lying snake, but he does have a point." Polly added.

"And I think I saw Sprig leave the room last night." King recalled. "If that's not suspicious, I don't know what is."

The pink frog then suddenly turned and pointed to the whole group. "You guys talking scum?!"

"What? No-no-no-no!" Hop Pop denied while Polly just whistled.

"You're hearing things. Must be the wind." King dismissed as Eda and Anne rolled their eyes at all this, but Luz looked more concerned.

Sprig narrowed his eyes at the group. "Psst, Anne." He waved for the Thai girl to come forward, much to Anne's annoyance.

"Scuse me, guys." Anne weaved her way around everyone and made her way closer to Sprig, still standing in the middle of the bridge.

The frog boy looked past Anne to make sure nobody was listening before waving for Anne to kneel down to his level, which she did before he spoke. "I know for a fact that you and Luz are innocent, and I wanna find out who's guilty about draining your phones just as much as you do. Like me help you guys." He said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Oh no you don't!" Polly hopped over. "You were trying to Chad her into trusting you!"

"And you are trying to Vivica her into not trusting me!" Sprig walked back over, accusing his sister. "And King's probably trying to Pervuia Luz into not trusting anyone!"

"Well at least I'm not trying to Randy my way out of this like Eda and Hop Pop!" King pointed to the two adults.

"I don't even know what that means!" Hop Pop exclaimed.

"And I don't do anybody else's style, only my own!" Eda argued.

As the group argued, Luz noticed how most of them were all conjoined at the center of the poorly-sustained bridge, resulting in the ropes beginning to fray, much to her alarm.

"Guys! We need to move! The bridge is about to…!" But Luz's warning came too late as the rope of the bridge snapped, causing all of them to fall down, screaming the whole way and waking the Zapapede up. Its right eye was a lighter green with a positive emblem while the left one was a darker green with a negative sign. It only tilted its head in curiosity as it watched the group fall.

Eda acted quickly, using Owlbert's staff form to catch herself before throwing out her hands to extend a pair of magical constructs resembling owl talons, all made of golden energy. She caught Luz, Sprig, and Hop Pop in one talon construct while also catching Anne, Polly, and King in the other. Once they were safe, Eda lowered herself and everyone to the cliffside just underneath before dropping her constructs and setting herself down.

"You're welcome." The Owl Lady said in annoyance.

"Rope bridge… more like nope bridge." Anne commented as everyone took a moment to collect themselves.

Luz and Hop Pop both happened to be close to the edge of the cliffside they currently stood on and noticed something over the ledge. "Everyone, look down there! More Zapapedes!" Luz pointed down.

Everyone came to the ledge to see what looked like hundreds of Zapapedes all swarming together and surging with electricity.

"They're pretty far down." Hop Pop observed.

"But we only need one." Eda said as she formed another owl-talon magic construct in her hand. "I'll just reach down and grab one."

"Only for you to cast some kind of magic spell to kill them all!?" Sprig accused. "Like when Chad poisoned the group's fish back in Episode 19?!"

Eda groaned loudly. "You kids are killing me!"

"Well, then how about we all link arms and lower ourselves down?" Anne suggested.

"That's right! The teens did that in Episode 8 because they realized that they had to work together if they were going to survive!" Luz added, hopping that this would encourage them all to stop being suspicious to one another and actually start working together.

"Oh, and what? Let Polly 'accidentally' drop us to try and cover her tracks like when Vivica did in that very same episode!?" King accused.

"You calling me a Vivica?!" Polly exclaimed, sounding very offended by the accusation.

"Oh, you are a total Vivica! Twice as much as the original! In fact, I'm gonna call you Vivica II from now!" King said.

"You better take that back right now!" Polly shouted.

"Make me…" King narrowed his eyes. "Vivica II!"

Polly screamed in fury as she leapt at King, causing them to pile onto Sprig, all of whom started fighting and tussling with each other, much to everyone's surprise.

"Kids! No! Stop fighting!" Hop Pop called to them.

King felt his tail being pulled and twisted by Polly, causing him to groan before glaring as he rolled over to shake Polly off, while also rolling into Sprig, who ended up grabbing King's arm and gave him an Indian burn, only for Polly to do the same thing to Sprig's own leg. Sprig then licked his own finger and put into Polly's earhole for a wet willie, who then punched Sprig into King who smacked them both.

A smoke cloud erupted between the three as they continued to fight, which Luz and Anne tried to break up.

"Hey! Cut it out! Please!" Luz tried to pull them apart along with Anne, only for a pink frog leg to come up and accidentally kick Anne in the face.

"Oops, sorry Anne! You okay, heh?" Sprig laughed nervously.

"Uh oh…" Luz winced as Anne wordlessly put Sprig's foot away, rolled up her sleeve, only to yell as she joined in the fight herself. "No! Anne!" Luz tried to pull her away, only to get pulled into the scuffle herself.

"Stop it! All of you!" Eda slammed her staff on the ground, causing several stone constructs resembling Hooty to emerge from the ground and ensnare the kids, pulling them apart. "Alright that's enough! I can't take this anymore…!" Eda began…

Not noticing the panicked look on Hop Pop's face. The last thing he wanted was for his family to fight each other like this. Their suspicions were getting out of hand and on the verge of tearing this family apart. It was time to come clean.

"IT WAS ME!" Eda and Hop Pop both screamed at the top of their lungs, so much so that it echoed through the whole mountain. Only for both adults to blink in surprise. "Wait… what?!" Hop Pop and Eda looked to each other in shock, still speaking at the same time. "It was me!" They both said. "No, it was me! I watched it! Wait… you mean you… Okay, stop that!"

However, none were more surprised than the kids themselves, all still coiled up and separated from each other in Eda's stone Hooties.

"Saywhat…?!" Polly and King both said at the same time.

"Huh…?!" Sprig muttered.

"Wait… you mean…" Anne stuttered.

"That's right… Anne." Hop Pop confessed. "I watched all the episodes!"

"So did I!" Eda added. "Every. Single. One!"

"Both of you!? B-but… but… you two said you hated Suspicion Island…!" Luz remembered, still not over her shock.

"Hated it…?" Hop Pop responded.

"Hated. It?" Eda also responded.

"I loved it!" Both adults said simultaneously.

"Okay, that needs to stop." Eda said in partial annoyance before telling her side of the story…

Flashback

Eda tossed and turned in the bed of the room that she shared with Polly. "I know what I said before, but I couldn't stop thinking about the last episode we watched. As much as I wanted to deny it, I fell in love with those kids and their crazy adventures! I couldn't even sleep last night, no matter how much I tried!"

She laid flat up, staring at the ceiling with wide eyes, only to finally turn as she saw the tired Polly hop out of her bucket and leave the room, probably to go to the bathroom.

"When Polly left, I saw a chance to satiate my urges and I took it!" Eda sat up from her bed, waking up Owlbert from the small nest that had been set up on the shelf above her. She motioned for him to be quiet by putting one finger over her mouth, to which he nodded. Eda then got up and spun a light blue magic circle, creating an illusion of herself still sleeping in her bed and another one to make herself invisible.

"Using some illusion magics, I snuck into the living room to watch the next episode." She waited until the door opened as Polly came back in and slipped through the door just as it closed and quickly made her way to the living room, grabbing Luz's phone and sat on the floor at the side of the couch, but not before conjuring an invisible magic bubble over herself and the phone. "I even used a Bubble of Silence spell combined with invisibility to keep myself from being seen or heard."

"Well, that explains why I didn't see ya." Now it was Hop Pop's turn. Much like Eda on that same night, he tossed and turned in his own bed, unable to get any sleep himself. "I grew so restless, I had to know what happened to those kids! I fell in love with them too. I did the only thing I could! I snuck out to the living room to watch another episode!"

Hop Pop hid around the corner of the hallway, waiting for Polly to go into the bathroom and close the door before zipping down the stairs. He quickly spotted the still-tired Sprig at the sink in the kitchen, giving himself a drink of water and scurried underneath the table to wait for his grandson to walk away.

Not noticing the invisible and silent Eda watching Suspicion Island on Luz's phone in her own little spot, Hop Pop quietly took Anne's phone and sat on the couch to watch the same series himself.

"I vowed to watch only one but Suspicion Island had its hooks in me!" Hop Pop went on.

"Same here, I couldn't stop! Every ending left me wanting more!" Eda continued as the old frog and witch both watched in silent enjoyment in their respective spots, not noticing each other literally being right next to the other. "But before I even knew it… I watched the whole season!"

"So did I!" Hop Pop was alerted by a rooster-like caw from outside, while a slight glimmer of light from the nearby window got Eda's attention.

"Dawn quickly came, so I put the phone back on the table and snuck out through the window before climbing back up to the room to cancel out the illusion I left behind." Eda explained as the flashback showed her climbing out through the window, not even Hop Pop noticed her as he was in a brief state of panic, noticing the kids were now waking up.

"I covered my tracks too and made my escape!" Hop Pop leapt and clung to the ceiling just as Luz and Anne came out from the basement and quickly and quietly crawled along it and into the kitchen.

End Flashback

The kids were released from their restraints and were completely blown away by this revelation.

"Whoa." Polly was wide-eyed.

"That's crazy!" Luz stated.

"Unbelievable!" Anne muttered.

"No way…!" King couldn't believe it.

"What a twist!" Sprig commented.

"And for the record, I noticed that I drained the battery on Luz's phone." Eda went on. "I really was just planning on going over to the Human Realm to get those chargers. I didn't mean for this to happen!" She gestured all over, referring to their current situation before signing. "But, looking at it now, it does sound like a Randy-thing to do."

"Holy crap…! She did watch it all!" Anne grasped Luz by her shoulders and arm in surprise.

"I know…!" Luz was still not over this surprise.

"Well at least you had a plan to fix things." Hop Pop said to Eda. "But me? I just Chad-ed up the whole situation. But now, I'm going to make things right." He went up to the girls and took both their phones in his hands. "I WILL REDEEM MYSLEF!" He shouted before leaping down into the pit of Zapapedes.

Everyone, even Eda, all screamed in shock at that. "HOP POP!" They all looked over the cliff in fear and worry.

"I'm okay!" Hop Pop called back up as he laid flat on his back in the middle of the Zapapede swarm and didn't seem all that hurt. "You know, it's actually kinda relax…"

*ZAP!*

A jolt of electricity ran through him, causing his skeleton to become visible as he panted in intense pain, his body now becoming smoked, right before he was zapped again. And again. And again. And again. With no signs of stopping.

Everybody winced in pity as they saw this. "He can't last much longer!" Sprig said with worry.

"I'll get him!" Eda drew her staff again as she leapt up into the pit, raising her owl-staff up high as it surged with magic power before slamming it down onto the ground, sending a magical shockwave that blew away most of the Zapapedes, leaving Hop Pop lying flat on the ground as he panted and tried to regain his senses. "I got ya, HP." Eda tried to pick him up… only to feel a sting in her left ankle. Looking down, Eda found a stray Zapapede biting onto her foot. "Ah crud."

*ZAP!*

She too was electrocuted, revealing her own skeleton. And because she was still holding onto Hop Pop, he was zapped once again. That one zap was enough to bring Eda down to her knees somewhat, which allowed for all the other Zapapades to return and begin swarming the adults, electrocuting them the whole time, much to the horror of their kids.

"They're both in trouble!" Luz screamed.

"We have to work together!" Polly stated.

"Agreed! No more fighting!" King declared.

Sprig extended his tongue to a nearby stump as he grabbed a hold of Polly with his webbed feet, making sure they stuck to his sister's skin. Polly then grabbed onto King's feet as he held onto Luz's legs, who then hung onto Anne's legs before they all leapt down into the pit. Though Sprig's tongue kept them from falling in completely.

Anne reached down as long as she could, hanging just over Eda and Hop Pop. "Almost…! Can't reach…!" She noticed how both Eda and Hop Pop were rather far apart, and she couldn't grab them both. "I… I can't get them both!"

"Hoot!" That's when Owlbert flew in and converted himself into his staff form, landing on Eda's right hand and Hop Pop's left as they were shocked again, causing them to grip onto the owl-staff tightly.

"Thanks, Owlbert!" Anne saw what he was doing and was able to grab onto the owl-staff that connected to Eda and Hop Pop. As Owlbert was made of wood, he could not conduct electricity, which protected the kids from the Zapapedes' shocks "Pull!"

With that, Sprig retracted his tongue, leading to the group to slowly ascend back up the cliffside. Unfortunately, one Zapapede happened to cling into Eda, while also still connecting to the rest of the swarm. It happened to spot Anne's hand and immediately lunged to bite her.

*ZAP!*

This led to Anne being electrocuted herself, with the current traveling to Luz, to King, to Polly, and up to Sprig, all five of their skeletons being shown just like Hop Pop and Eda right before one final explosion of electricity sent all of them flying well out of the Misty Peaks and crashing back down at the foot of the mountain in a smoking heap.

Everyone groaned as they regained their senses. Hop Pop still held onto both Luz's and Anne's phones, which both lit up to show they were more than fully charge, reaching all the way to ten thousand percent each. Hop Pop looked surprised by this himself.

"Holy smokes… that's a lot of percents."

"So… you guys love Suspicion Island, huh?" Luz asked with a smile that she shared with Anne, looking to Hop Pop and Eda.

"Yeah…" Hop Pop looked away with guilt. "And I'm sorry I lied and drained your memory box, Anne. Can you ever forgive this old, silly frog? He asked humbly.

"Dude, you literally just risked your life to recharge my phone. I think we're square." Anne said with a smile, causing Hop Pop to smile back as he handed both Anne and Luz's phones.

"And hey, Luz." Eda went up to her next and looked guilty herself. "I'm sorry I lied to you too. I know I had the plan to just get a charger for your phone, but I shouldn't have snuck behind your back. I'm sorry."

Luz immediately went up to the Owl Lady with a hug. "I forgive you, Eda. But I'm even more happy to know that there's something you and I actually both enjoy! I know your not into Azura, and that's fine. But it's still nice to know that there is something that we both like."

Even Eda smiled as she patted Luz's head. "Same here, kiddo."

"Hey." Sprig hopped over to Eda and handed her back the portal key with a smile. "I think this is yours." Eda smiled as she accepted it back. "Sorry I accused you before."

"Meh, I would have done the same thing, Randy." Eda snarked.

"Ha! You wish, Peruvia!" Sprig joked, causing Eda to chuckle as she ruffled Sprig's head.

"Awe." King and Polly both smiled as they saw everyone make up.

"Hey Polly, you might wanna clean out your cup when you get home." The little demon advised. "I might have put some poison in it when you weren't looking."

"I will King, and I'm glad that I didn't push you off a cliff like I was planning." Polly smiled.

"Alright, let's get you kids home so you can finish the rest of Season 2." Eda said to everyone as they proceeded to leave. "Seriously, if I don't talk about it with someone soon, I'm gonna lose my mind!"

"Oh yeah! Like the part where the island itself is revealed to actually be…" Hop Pop began.

"Noooo!" Polly screamed over it.

"Not listening! Not listening!" King covered his ears.

"Oh, come on!" Sprig shouted.

"Dude! Spoilers!" Anne exclaimed.

As the group began their walk back to Wartwood, Anne noticed Luz was hanging in the back somewhat, prompting her to step back and join her.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah… I'm fine." Luz answered as she looked at her own reflection in her newly recharged phone before signing. With Eda and Hop Pop coming clean about them secretly loving Suspicion Island, it was now time for her to do the same. "Anne… Eda and Hop Pop aren't the only ones keeping a secret."

"What? You secretly a science fiction buff instead of fantasy?" Anne joked, nudging Luz, but was surprised to see Luz look at her with a nervous and emotionally concerning expression.

"On your birthday… right before you, Marcy, and Sasha got zapped away by the music box… my mom told me that she was sending me away to a camp for the summer." Luz revealed, much to Anne's surprise.

"Wait… what? Why?" She questioned.

"She said it was a way for me to make new friends…" Luz remembered. "Maybe she felt that I wasn't doing well with you and the others."

"That's ridiculous!" Anne protested. "Things have been so much fun since you joined up with gang!"

"I know! I loved hanging out with you guys, and I was really looking forward to spending the summer with you too!" Luz went on. "But Mom… she just signed me up without even asking me about it. She said it was a surprise but… I kinda would have liked it if she just talked to me about it first."

"Oh, Luz… I'm sorry." Anne looked to her with sympathy.

"Thanks, but that's not all." Luz went on. "Right after you guys disappeared, I followed Owlbert through the portal door and that's how I met Eda."

"Yeah, you told me that already." Anne replied.

"But I chose to stay in the Demon Realm." Luz continued. "You can't get through the portal, and we think it's because of the music box. And I'm thinking that since Sasha and March were also zapped, it might be the same thing for them. You guys are trapped here… maybe you can travel between the Isles and Amphibia, but you can't get back to Earth. I can though. But… I'm not. I chose to stay." Luz stopped for a moment, prompting Anne to do the same. "I didn't even tell Mom… she's gotta be worried sick about me by now."

"Well, that's gotta be the same for all our parents…" Anne tried to say.

"Weren't you listening?!" Luz exclaimed, surprising Anne. "You guys are trapped, but I'm not! I more-or-less ran away! I abandoned my mom, you didn't!" She looked away, trying to push down her feelings. "I am a terrible daughter…!"

"No, you're not!" Anne pulled Luz back in, making sure that her friend was looking at her in the eyes. "You're here because you want to help your friends, right? You want to help find a way for me, Sasha, and Marcy to go back home!"

"Y-yeah… and I'm not gonna leave without you guys!" Luz said. "B-but… I also wanted to learn magic… for myself… God that's selfish of me…!"

"Is it selfish to want to do something you love doing?" Anne questioned. "You love reading Azura and writing your stories, right? Does doing all that make you selfish?"

"No…" Luz said.

"Exactly!" Anne said. "So maybe you didn't tell your mom about this, but would she really believe you anyway? Would she believe that you're traveling between a world of magic and a world of talking frogs?"

"I… guess not…" Luz looked away.

"So… here's my idea." Anne offered. "We find Sasha and Marcy, and we figure a way we can get back home, all of us. And when we do and see our folks again, we just tell them that we were all stuck here, including you."

"You mean… lie." Luz didn't know how to feel about it.

"Well… okay, yeah, maybe that's not a good idea." Anne admitted. "But, we're probably a long way from that point. And when we do get there, we'll face it together. You said you weren't gonna leave until you found all of us, right? Well, I'm not gonna let you face it alone either. We're in this together."

"Really?" Luz looked to her with wide and shaky eyes. "You would… do that for me…"

"Of course I would." Anne said with a smile as she put her hands on both of Luz's shoulders. "You're my friend, Luz. And there is no way in hell that I am leaving my friend hanging. I'm sticking to you like glue, whether you like it or not."

Luz's eyes continued to shake as she heard all that. Was Anne really gonna stick by her through this? She always knew Anne was there for all her friends, always sticking by Sasha and Marcy… but to actually hear it being directed to her… Before she knew it, Luz smiled emotionally as she wrapped her arms around Anne.

"Thank you…" Her voice quaked, feeling so much relief to get this off her chest. Anne smiled back as she returned the hug.

"Hey! You kids coming or what?!" They heard Eda call to them.

"Coming!" Anne called back. "We'd better catch up before they leave us behind." She joked, causing Luz to giggle.

As they continued to walk back, Luz took out her now-fully charged phone again and looked at all the photos on it, which included one of her and her mother hugging her.

'I'm sorry Mom. But I can't leave yet. Not until all my friends are safe.' Luz thought to herself. 'But… I'm not alone in this. I've got some new friends helping me out too. And I'm sure this will all work out.'

Her eyes then went to the text icon on her phone. She already knew that it would be impossible to send a text at this point, evident by the 'no service' in the top right corner. But, she couldn't help but press the text button, wondering if at least that she might have gotten something from her mom, like a 'where are you?' or 'are you okay?', some kind of message to indicate that her mother was worried for her.

But… when she clicked the message box, she saw how it was completely empty. "What…?"

"Luz?" Anne looked to her in confusion.

She didn't respond right away as she looked through the rest of her phone, looking at her call history and any other form of messaging, and all of it was gone. All the contact information previously saved on it was gone.

"It's gone…! All my texts…Call history… everyone's contact information…! It's gone!" Luz stated, much to Anne's surprise. "It… it's like my phone's been reset!"

"What? How?" Anne questioned.

"I don't know…! I mean, I still got all my photos and videos, and all the shows I've downloaded… but everything else is gone!" Luz revealed.

"…Maybe it was fried or something when it was recharged?" Anne wondered.

"Well, what about your phone?" Luz asked.

Anne pulled out her phone and looked through all the apps she had on it, including all the messages and contact information, and everything was still there. "Nope, everything's fine for me."

"That's… weird… and kinda scary." Luz muttered, looking nervous.

"Hey, it could just be a glitch or something." Anne tried to assure her. "Like I said, we'll figure it out together."

That seemed to give Luz some relief as she smiled. "Yeah… we will." However, she also noticed something about her friend. "Hey Anne, I think you lost your shoe."

"Huh?" Anne looked to her feet, to the new shoes Eda had bought for her when she first came to the Boiling Isles, and found that her right shoe was no longer there, but just her sock. "Ah man! And I really liked these shoes!"

"Your hair is also looking messy, too." Luz pointed out, revealing all the twigs and leaves that were stuck in her hair once more.

"Oh come on!" Anne groaned as she tried to brush it all out, causing Luz to giggle as they caught up with the rest of their friends.

Earth – Azure Lake Camp

Vee sat on the bed alone in the cabin that she shared with three other bunkmates, all of whom were currently outside, as she looked at the smartphone that Camilla had bought for her, the one to replace the phone that was 'lost' (or rather the one that Camilla's real daughter probably still had) as she received a text message from the woman in question.

"The police still haven't found Anne, Sasha, or Marcy. They've been asking me questions too. You sure you haven't heard from them or anything? They didn't say anything to you?"

Vee typed her response. "No. Nobody told me anything. I hope they're okay." While a part of her was a bit concerned for these missing humans, she herself didn't know them personally, so she wasn't dwelling on it too much.

Another text came in from Camilla. "I'm sorry Mija. But I'm sure they'll be found. You just enjoy yourself, and I'm at least glad that you're still here."

Still here, huh? While Vee did feel a tad bit bad for lying to Camilla about being her real daughter, she couldn't help but feel resentment for the actual daughter… this Luz. Why would she leave such a kind mother behind? Well, if that was her choice, that was her problem. Maybe Camilla would be better off without her. Of course, Vee couldn't also but feel a bit bad herself for the other Basilisks, especially Three and Four as they helped her escape, but she also knew that they were confident with their own shapeshifting abilities and could probably handle themselves.

But what she had here… a new life on Earth… Without living in constant fear of being hunted down and experimented on… with new and actual friends… and even what one could think of as a mother…? That sounded good.

"Hey, Luz!" She heard a call, causing Vee to immediately take the form of Luz, though unlike the real one, she kept her hair was put up and smoothed down, looking far neater with a thicker sheen with a single yellow hair barrette on each temple. She also wore an air force blue hoodie, a yellow shirt underneath, Prussian blue leggings, and white sneakers. This happened just in time as someone else came into the cabin.

They were a non-binary individual with a slim build, a medium-tan complexion, with a chin-length black bob cut. The clothes they currently wore consisted of a noodle-strap black dress with a white bow at the top, a dusty-mauve sweater underneath, pastel mauve stockings and black ankle boots.

"We're about to start our workshop projects. You coming?"

"Be right there, Masha." 'Luz' replied as she put her phone away. When her friend and bunkmate left, Vee looked at her own reflection in the phone again, one that had the face of the girl she was impersonating. She smiled slightly as she brushed her hair up. "A new life." She said before walking out the door.

Done.

See? Told you I'd have a few surprises in store. Much like canon, we got to meet Domino II and we had all that craziness with Suspicion Island.

But unlike canon, Luz and even Anne and Sprig, know a bit more about where King came from just based on what Eda told them, but they won't tell him themselves because Eda wants to be the one to tell him herself when she feels the time is right.

Speaking of Eda, it turns out that she likes Suspicion Island too. LOL

And Anne has lost one of her new shoes again, and her hair is now messy once more. LOL

Oh and Glyphs work in Amphibia, too! It's because both Amphibia and the Boiling Isles are now sharing a planet together, despite the inter-dimensional rifts that separate the two landmasses. Magic is literally everywhere in the Demon Realm, and since it now is a conjoined planet with Amphibia, magic is now there too.

Though a bit more on the mystery-side of things, the Salamander still appears to know more than he's letting on, knowing exactly where to find the Plantar family tunnels.

And we even got to see what Vee's been up to. I also had Luz's phone reset remotely by Camilla in order to get the replacement phone for Vee who is currently impersonating Luz, it just seemed to make sense plot-wise for my story. Don't expect Vee to make any major impacts in my story quite yet though. We'll be seeing some things later on as the police and other authorities are investigating the disappearance of Anne, Sasha, and Marcy, but that's about it. The central focus for the Season 1 part of my story is still going to focus on the Boiling Isles and Wartwood.

Speaking of, next chapter, a certain pair of young witches whom Luz, Anne, and Sprig have recently befriended are going to be coming to Wartwood for the very first time and I'm looking forward very much to writing that.

Until then, stay safe and stay healthy out there. Love you guys.