"And inhale slowly," began Luz. Anne took in a large breath of air.
"Now exhale," said Luz. Anne slowly let the air out.
The two were in the Boonchuy's backyard, they had woken up early in order to practice without being disturbed. The sun was just barely coming up into the sky, Luz was playing some relaxing music on her phone to try and help Anne focus. Anne stood barefoot in the grass with her eyes closed as she listened to Luz guide her into activating her powers.
"Uodeela told me you have to feel the magic flowing through you, it flows everywhere in Amphibia," said Luz, "once I activated my powers I used the same exercise to help me unlock my powers when I needed them. I know we aren't in Amphibia right now, but I think helping you to concentrate and center yourself can still help you."
Anne continued to breathe.
"Let yourself feel the wind in your face, listen to the sounds of nature around you, feel the ground beneath your feet," said Luz.
Anne breathed some more listening to the birds chirping around her, the feeling of the sun on her face, she felt the morning dew from the grass against her bare feet. She kept breathing slowly and finally something in her clicked and she opened her eyes when she did they were glowing blue like they had the previous times she had unlocked her powers! Anne leaped into the air and landed with a loud slam on the ground. She quickly closed her eyes and deactivated her powers after that, Luz came over to her.
"Whoa, I forget how intense that feels," said Anne standing back up.
"You alright?" asked Luz, putting her hands on Anne to help her to her feet.
"Yeah," said Anne, she felt Luz holding onto her, "but I don't mind if you keep holding onto me."
Luz blushed and pulled Anne closer into a hug from behind, resting her face on Anne's shoulder, Anne smiled in response, and she looked down at Luz's hands.
"Hey you still have the purple polish that Marcy gave you for that makeover," said Anne.
"Actually that one faded a few days ago, but I decided to repaint them, I'm actually using one that Sasha gave me before the dance," said Luz, "it's similar in color, and I still had it so I thought why not."
"I remember you said you would keep it," said Anne, "it looks good on you, so I'm glad you did."
"Thanks," said Luz, stretching out her hand and looking at her nails, "I'm glad too, it's a small thing, but I like this new look for me."
She brought her hand back to hug Anne again, Anne leaned back into Luz smiling, and as she did her eyes and hair lit up again.
"Whoa," said Anne, standing back up, "I wasn't even trying that time." Anne stood still for a second and closed her eyes, the blue glow fading from them.
"You activated your powers without even trying?" said Luz perplexed.
"I guess so," said Anne, she brought up her hand to look at them, then looked over at Luz.
"So are you going to show me how to do magic as you did?" asked Anne.
"Sure if you want," said Luz, "it makes sense for you to know just in case we run into any more trouble. That Cloakbot is still active and might come after us again, plus we're going to return to Amphibia at some point, and god knows how dangerous that place is. You should know how to use the full extent of your powers."
"Luz, I promise if there's a way to restore your powers I will find it," said Anne turning around and looking into Luz's eyes.
"What if there isn't a way?" replied Luz sadly, looking at the ground.
"Don't say that!" said Anne bringing up her hand and caressing Luz's face, "we'll figure something out, I promise." Luz smiled at that.
"Well I still have those glyphs we discovered, once we get back to Amphibia at least I'll have those," said Luz, "I just wish they would work here." She brought out a pre-drawn light glyph and put it on the ground hitting it with her hand, but not getting a reaction.
"Bummer," said Anne, "that sucks, any idea why they don't work here?"
"None," answered Luz, "Amara theorized that there's no background magic field in the human world to power them. Seems like a good explanation to me."
"Huh, I wonder if there's another way to power them?" asked Anne. As she said this the girls noticed a small thin trail of smoke rising up from the light glyph Luz had tried to activate. They both looked intently at the glyph, but it hadn't activated, and the smoke quickly dissipated. Anne and Luz looked between each other and the glyph. After a while they both determined it must have been a fluke.
"Okay, well let me see if I can talk you through using magic then," said Luz, "go ahead and center yourself again and close your eyes."
Anne stood still and closed her eyes again, she listened as Luz spoke.
"So when I was in my powered-up form all I had to do was imagine using the magic I wanted to use in my mind," began Luz, "it took some practice but I got pretty good at it, and was able to use fire, light, ice, wind, and plant magic just by thinking of what I wanted to make."
Anne opened her eyes and once again they were glowing blue, she punched her fist forward trying to shoot out a flame but nothing happened. She tried again this time trying to shoot out a vine but once again couldn't manage to do it. She tried a third time, trying to use ice magic but again it didn't work. Anne closed her eyes and they returned to their normal color.
"Dang," she said.
"That's okay, it's only your first time trying," said Luz, "we can practice some more if you want."
"Well how about we take a break first," said Anne going to a chair to sit down. The two sat down and relaxed for a bit before Luz came up with an idea.
"Oh if we're going to take a break maybe we could try something," she said with a flirty grin, "your mom is still asleep right?"
"I think so, but she wakes up early sometimes," said Anne, "I'm glad she let you sleep over."
"Yeah me too," said Luz, "though she still thinks we're friends. Do you think she'd be okay with it if she knew we were…well you know?"
Anne thought a bit before responding, "Huh, never thought about that, but I don't know. We did have to be a little careful so my parents didn't catch on."
Luz paused for a moment before an idea came to her, she looked around the yard confirming the two were alone, "Hmmm you know we are alone right now…"
Anne turned to look at Luz, interested in the idea she had.
Luz picked up her phone and changed the music. She put on a slow romantic song, turning up the volume and standing up.
[Play "I Could Fall in Love" by Selena]
Luz let the song play for a bit before reaching out her hand to Anne and smiling, "May I have this dance?"
Anne blushed before reaching up and taking the offered hand, Luz gently pulled Anne up spinning her around once and the two began to dance to the song playing on Luz's phone. Luz sang a bit of the song to Anne.
"So I could take you in my arms, and never let you go," she sang.
They looked deep into each other's eyes, Anne gently using her hands to pull Luz closer to her as they danced. Right as Anne began to think about leaning in for a kiss she heard a voice.
"Oh you two are already up?" asked her mother from the kitchen window.
Luz and Anne immediately broke apart both nervous and both blushing furiously. Anne quickly turned to her mother.
"Yeah, we're up, we were…uh," began Anne.
"Doing some morning stretches," said Luz quickly reaching her hands up above her.
"Yes, exactly, Luz was helping me stretch my…." began Anne.
"Calves…" finished Luz, she quickly grabbed hold of Anne's arm and made a motion to move it as though she were stretching it, though she also realized her mistake.
"I got a cramp last night in bed and needed to walk it off," said Anne quickly.
"Yes, I was helping Anne stretch to help her with that cramp," added Luz, as she said that she noticed the romantic song on her phone was still playing, Luz quickly moved her hand to her phone to pause the song. Anne nervously smiled at her mother hoping she would buy it.
Oum looked suspiciously at the two but decided to play along, "Oh that's good. Morning stretching can help get you ready for the rest of the day. Anyway, I just started breakfast so come on inside."
As she moved away from the window both Anne and Luz let out a sigh of relief though as they did they both realized how cowardly this was.
"Anne…" began Luz
"I know, I know," said Anne, already knowing what Luz was going to say, "we really should just tell them right?"
Luz nodded her head.
"Are you nervous at all about this?" asked Anne, "because I am. I…I…don't want….after everything I've done to reconnect with my parents I…don't want to lose them."
"I am a bit nervous, about what my mom would say, but I get the feeling she would be supportive," said Luz, "you know on the first day we got back, I saw she had a pride flag magnet on our fridge."
"Oh, really?" said Anne.
"Yeah," replied Luz. Anne looked over at Luz as she absorbed this information.
"Man, I wish this didn't have to be so complicated," said Anne.
"I know," said Luz bringing up her hand and putting it on Anne's shoulder, "but we have to tell them eventually. You know we can't keep it from them forever."
Anne didn't respond and simply let out a long sigh. Luz came over and hugged her.
From the kitchen, Oum slowly peeked out the window watching as Luz hugged Anne. She had a pretty good idea of what it was that Luz wanted to tell her, she had first suspected it all the way back at the Thai Temple and in the intervening time, she noticed more about how the two interacted with each other. Oum was all but certain that her daughter and Luz were dating. She knew that Camila had said they should wait and let the kids tell them when they were ready, but she started to wonder If they would ever tell them.
Maybe when Camila comes to pick up Luz I'll talk to her about it, thought Oum, I don't want Anne to worry about what we think. I want her to be able to be open about her orientation.
Oum peeked out the window once more, careful to make sure Anne and Luz didn't see her. The two were still hugging and didn't notice her, Oum smiled at the sight.
Far away in the San Gabriel Mountains Cloakbot was doing its best to finish repairing itself again. It had taken a substernal beating at the hands of Frobo and was trying to fix the damage that was done. It had outfitted itself with some new weapons and gear, most notably a nail gun that it was now testing out. At that moment it received an alert from King Andrias a blue orb on its shoulder lighting up. The orb floated in front of Cloakbot and expanded to form a screen
"What's good Cloakbot?" asked Andrias in a cheerful tone, "checking in to see how things are going. Did you get the books?"
"Books secured," said the Cloakbot holding up two books in its hands.
"Why that's great!" said Andrias as he looked closer at the books, only to quickly realize the mistake, "wait those are the third books in the series, you rusty bucket! For Cynthia Coven, I needed book two and for Azura, I need book four!"
"Other books in series out of stock," admitted Cloakbot sheepishly.
"Uggh, Olms have mercy," said Andrias in a huff, "next your gonna tell me Anne and Luz aren't dead yet."
"Working on it," said Cloakbot his eyes darting around.
"Well, looks like we'll have to up the stakes," said Andrias pressing a button on his wrist. A small compartment on Cloakbots chest opened to reveal a timer, it was already counting down from sixty minutes.
"You have one hour to destroy that kid, I don't care about Luz anymore, Anne is the bigger threat since she still has powers," began Andrias, "or the bomb planted in your chest will destroy you."
Cloakbot got up and looked down at the bomb before bringing its hand together.
"Okay good, Andrias out," said Andrias, ending the transmission. As soon as he did he let out another growl of frustration.
"Blasted bucket of bolts!" exclaimed Andrias, "how hard can it be to kill one teenage girl, even if she has powers? I know she doesn't have the full effect of them, and that other human doesn't have any this shouldn't be that hard. Hmmm, I wonder how my other Cloakbot is doing? I should probably check in with it too…"
Back in the human world, the Cloakbot became nervous as it realized it only had an hour left to complete its objective, it had done extensive work on its radar in hopes of finding that other frobot that it had found before. It continued tinkering with the radar to try and increase its range. After a few moments, the signal found the location of the other frobot and locked onto its location. Cloakbot grinned as it found the location and hurried toward its target, hoping Anne would be close by.
After breakfast, the Boonshuys and the Plantars had settled down to watch a movie in the living room, Fumigator 4. While Anne and Luz had wanted to join in on the movie they decided to help around the house first. Anne grabbed the fresh load of clothes from the dryer and folded them up while Luz took out the trash from the kitchen to the garbage outside. Once that was done they both helped to wash the dishes from breakfast. Oum came into the kitchen as they were finishing up.
"Oh look at you two helping around the house," she said with a smile, "I hope Anne didn't force you to wash dishes, Luz."
"No of course not, Mrs. Boonchuy," said Luz in a respectful tone, "I wanted to help, as a way to say thank you for your hospitality. Thanks again for letting me stay over!"
"Your welcome Luz, I must say you and Anne seem to get along quite well," said Oum giving the two a look.
"Yeah we do," said Anne smiling at Luz.
"I do love how Anne has been since she got back, it really is remarkable how much you've grown," said Oum looking at Anne.
"Ah, thanks Mom," said Anne blushing at the compliment. At that moment the doorbell rang, and Luz went over to answer it, having an idea of who it was.
"Hi Mom," said Luz as she opened the door, to see her mother there.
"Did you have a good sleepover?" asked her mother walking into the house.
"Yeah I did," answered Luz.
"She was just helping Anne wash the dishes from breakfast," said Oum, "you must be very proud of your daughter."
"I am," said Camila, leaning down to look Luz in her eyes, "she really has matured in the time she was gone."
Luz blushed hearing her mom compliment her.
"Oh hey Camila," said Bee coming into the kitchen, "hey I know you just got here but do you want to watch Fumegator 4 with us?"
"Mom's not really into Sci-fi," said Luz causing Camila to flinch.
"Oh right," said Bee, "plus this is the fourth film in the series so if you haven't seen the other three you might be a bit lost."
Camila had in fact seen the other three films in the series, though she had missed watching the fourth one in theaters.
"Well then maybe you two can help catch me up," she said to Oum and Bee, "no reason we have to leave right away. I'm sure Luz wouldn't mind staying a bit longer."
"I'm sure she wouldn't, I don't think Anne would mind either," said Oum giving both girls a look.
"Yeah stay and watch the movie with us Camila," said Bee, "it just started so you haven't missed much, plus Anne and Luz have been doing a great job cleaning up the house. You used to be so irresponsible Anne, like changing the grade on your report card irresponsible."
Luz and Camila both looked at Anne. Anne let out a small laugh.
"Oh uh, didn't think you knew about that," she said nervously.
"But now you have been so upfront and honest with us this whole time," said Oum coming up to Anne, "in fact I wanted to remind you that you can tell us if anything is on your mind." She winked at Camila as she said this.
"Oh of course," said Camila, "Mija I want you to know that if there's ever anything you want to talk about I will listen."
"Oh thanks, Mom," said Luz.
"Our daughters have been so upfront and honest with us," said Oum putting her arm around Camila, "we are very lucky to have that kind of relationship with them." Oum looked again at Anne, her stare piercing deep into her.
"Right," said Anne, "upfront and honest…." She looked over at Luz as she said this.
"Hey I'm gonna get some coffee ice cream," said Luz, "anyone want any? Sprig?" she said quickly looking over at the young frog.
"Eh, I'm good," he started to say before Luz grabbed him and carried him into the kitchen, Anne following close behind.
"Hey what gives?" asked Sprig.
"I can't do this anymore," whispered Anne nervously.
"What eat coffee ice cream?" asked Sprig as he opened the freezer, "I mean it is a little risky after five, but it does taste delicious."
"No, not that," said Anne, "we can't keep hiding things from our parents. We told them about Andrias but we never told them about the robot that came after us, or the invasion."
"And the other thing…." said Luz looking over at Anne.
"Oh you mean about you two dating," said Sprig looking at both girls, "you said we had to keep that secret cause in your world some humans hate that sort of thing."
"I know, that's what we said," began Anne, "but both Luz and I knew we would have to tell them eventually, it's just….I'm so afraid of what my parents might say."
Luz and Sprig looked over at Anne.
"Anne, if you're that nervous about it then we don't have to do it now," said Luz.
"Anne, you know that Hop-pop, Polly, and I will always be your family no matter what," said Sprig, "if your parents reject you, then you'll still always have us."
Anne looked at both Luz and Sprig and smiled.
"Thank you both," said Anne, "yeah I am nervous, but I can't keep lying to my parents. Not just about Luz and me, but also about everything else. They need to know," Anne took a deep breath before continuing, "Luz, are you ready to tell your mom too?" Anne stretched out her hand to Luz
Luz took a deep breath herself before nodding her head in agreement and taking the offered hand. The two squeezed each other's hands before walking back to the living room, hand in hand. As they entered the living room Oum and Camila noticed how the two were holding hands but didn't say anything.
"Mom, Dad, there's something I have to tell you," said Anne in a serious voice. As she said this Sprig gave her an encouraging thumbs up.
"What is it sweetie?" asked Oum.
"Mama, I have something I need to tell you," said Luz in the same serious voice.
"Que quieres decir mija?" asked Camila.
Before either of them could say anything there was a loud crash from outside the house.
"What the heck was that!?" said Anne and Luz together. They both immediately rushed over to the window to see what the noise was. Their faces fell as they recognized the Cloakbot right outside the house.
"Anne what's going on?" asked Oum.
"Get down!" yelled Anne rushing forward and tackling her parents to the ground. Luz went to her mother and pulled her away from the window too. Just as they got clear Cloakbot's large excavator hand broke through the window, and a moment later Cloakbot itself climbed through the window. Anne and Luz moved their parents away from the window and upstairs.
"Everyone upstairs move!" called Anne to the parents and Plantars. They all quickly made their way up the stairs.
"Quick, into my workout room," called Mrs. Boonchuy ushering them all in.
"Okay," said Anne closing the door, "we can hide out here while we…." Anne trailed off as she quickly glanced around the room. She noticed that Luz had done the same. All over the room were different mannequins made in the likeness of Anne, many of them holding made-up prizes of some kind. There was one holding a law degree, another with a generic "scholarship to a big school" award, and one holding papers with all A+ on them. Finally, there was one wearing a white coat clearly meant to be a doctor. Neither Anne nor Luz really knew what to say in response to this, they both looked around in shock at what they were seeing.
"Mom, this is not a workout room!" exclaimed Anne throwing up her hands.
"Yes it is," insisted Mrs. Boonchuy, "when I thought you ran away this is where I work out all my stress."
"Mom please tell me you don't have a room like this at the house," said Luz.
"No of course not honey," said Camila trying to sound innocent, her eyes darting around, eventually she confessed, "though I might have asked Oum if I could borrow some of her material and make one doll of you."
Camila pointed to a corner of the room where there was indeed one Luz doll dressed in a graduation cap and gown holding up a degree it held the degree up in the air in a celebratory pose. Luz looked between the doll and her mother.
"I was afraid I wasn't going to get to see you graduate high school," said Camila in a rapid voice, "I wanted to imagine what that would be like!" Luz didn't say anything in reply, she was at least glad that there weren't more of them.
"Wait why is this one dressed like a doctor?" asked Anne walking over to the doctor doll.
"A mom can dream, can't she?" said Oum defensively.
"Why do I get the feeling I'm not living up to your expectations?" said Anne bluntly.
Before Oum could answer the Cloakbot burst through the floor, it spun its arms rapidly clearing away the floor, then began to scan the room looking for Anne. It's damaged scanner was confused by the various dolls in the likeness of Anne.
"Multiple Anne Boonchuys detected," it said in its heavily synthesized voice.
"It's after you!" said Mrs. Boonchuy incredulously
"What?" said Bee.
Cloakbot launched its hand forward at the Anne Boonchuy dressed as a doctor. The real Anne who was standing next to it moved slightly out of the way to avoid being hit. As Cloakbot punched that Anne out the window it chased after it out of the house and onto the front lawn. It began to beat on the doll making sure it was dead, all the while Anne and her parents watched in horror.
"Okay, maybe there's a couple of things I haven't told you guys," said Anne.
The Cloakbot lifted the doll up in its hands to make sure it was "dead" only to realize it wasn't the real Anne. To be sure it scanned the doll. As it did there was roar behind it as a car drove away from the house. Cloakbot turned around and saw the car, then it looked down at it's chest and saw it only had thirty minutes left to kill Anne. It charged forward after the car
"So uh, does one of you want to say why there is a robot chasing us?" asked Camila trying her best to remain calm.
"Well, the thing is," began Anne.
"Remember that King we told you about? Andrias?" said Luz.
"He's still after you!" exclaimed Oum, "but I thought he was in Amphibia, how did he send a robot here!?"
"He still has control of the box," explained Sprig, "he can use it to access other worlds."
"What?!" said Oum, Bee, and Camila at the same time, Bee and Oum turning to look back at them.
"Eyes on the road! Eyes on the road!" said Anne quickly, trying to get her dad to turn back around.
"Why didn't you tell us this when you came back?" said Bee, turning back to drive again.
"Well, I…we," mumbled Luz.
"I was going to tell you right now," said Anne quickly.
"That's what we were going to say in the living room," added Luz.
Polly hopped up from her spot in the backseat to Mr. Boonchuy's shoulder.
"Can't this robo-snail go any faster!?" she asked.
"I'm sorry, I'm not used to running for my life from a crazy robot," replied Mr. Boonchuy in an exasperated voice.
"It's alright, you're doing a great job!" called Camila from the back, she turned around to see the robot still after them, "Just uh, might want to go a bit faster."
"That thing is determined," chimed in Hop-pop, "why the first time that robot attacked us we only barely managed to fight it off."
"This isn't the first time!" exclaimed Mr. Boonchuy.
"You're not helping!" yelled Anne and Luz at the same time.
Bee Boonchuy pressed harder on the gas pedal trying to put more distance between the car and the robot. He drove the car up an onramp onto the 101 Fwy. The Cloakbot continued chasing it finally getting on the road and using its saw as a wheel.
[Play "Invisible Touch" by Genesis]
"She seems to have an invisible touch, yeah!
She reaches in and grabs right hold of your heart!
She seems to have an invisible touch, yeah!
It takes control and slowly tears you apart!
She seems to have an invisible touch, yeah
She seems to have invisible oh!
She seems to have an invisible touch, yeah!
She seems to have invisible, oh!"
The Lyft Driver sang along to the song as it played in his car! This one was a particular favorite of his, and although it was ending, he thought about listening to it again. Traffic was moving well on the 101fwy which was surprising. At the moment he didn't have a fair and was in fact heading home. He'd made some good money and gotten some good tips, all in all, it had been a good day. Suddenly he heard a loud noise and looked around, he saw a car speed right by him, following the car was what looked to be a….robot. The Lyft Driver looked again to make sure, he pulled alongside the robot and looked forward at the car the robot seemed to be chasing. As he looked over at the occupants in the back seat he recognized them. They seemed to have noticed him too and rolled their window down.
"Luz!?" he asked making sure it was her.
"Hey," called Luz from the car, "so uh we're being chased by a robot, right now, we could really use some help."
"Oh hey uh….driver guy!" said Sprig waving at him, "how are ya?"
"Looks like I'm doing better than you guys," said the Lyft Driver, "hang on."
The Driver looked between the car and the robot chasing them. His eyes lit up as he realized it was the same robot that the FBI agent had shown him. His mind began racing as he tried to think of what to do. Fortunately, at the moment, the robot didn't seem to notice him and only cared about chasing the car in front of it. After a few seconds of thinking he made his decision, the Lyft Driver moved his car over and rammed into the robot from the side. The robot wobbled on its saw wheel but didn't fall over, it turned to look at the car that had hit it, before using its claw fist to slam down on the roof of the car. The blow shook the car and the driver, but the driver rammed into the robot again. Again the robot stumbled but didn't fall over, though now it turned its attention to the other car that was attacking it. The robot slammed its body against the car causing it to swerve out of control, the car and the driver slammed into the side wall of the freeway, and the Boonchuys and Cloakbot quickly moved out of site. The driver let out a sigh as he looked at his damaged car.
"Well, I was having a good day…"
The Boonchuys continued driving trying their best to put more distance between themselves and the robot chasing them. As they moved further along the road Bee noticed an upcoming sign.
"There's a split coming up," said Bee, "which freeway should I take?"
"Wait a minute," called Camila, from the back, "is that the 405 and the 210? How long have we been driving? Don't you live in Monterrey Park?"
Bee and Oum looked at each other as they considered Camila's question.
"Yeah we do," answered Bee, "wow we must have been running from that robot for hours!"
"Didn't we get on the 101 freeway?" asked Camila, "how the heck did we get all the way to where the 210 and 405 are?"
"Guys!" yelled Anne.
"Now is not the time to point out how unrealistic that sign and this chase are when compared to actual LA geography!" shouted Luz.
"I bet it's because we used MapSearch," complained Bee, "that app is no good."
Behind them the Cloak-bot raised its arm, preparing to strike the car again. Anne looked from the robot to her father.
"Dad, turn!" shouted Anne.
Bee swerved the car and managed to get on an off-ramp. The robot tried to follow but it missed its chance and kept going straight, the robot realized its mistake and instead jumped from the freeway onto the off-ramp right in front of the car. The occupants let out a scream, but Bee pressed his foot down on the accelerator and kept going forward, running over Cloakbot. The occupants of the car felt a bump as they did, but they also breathed a sigh of relief thinking that might be the last of it.
"Alright Dad that was awesome!" said Anne to her father, "can you take me for driving lessons sometime?"
Bee didn't reply instead breathing heavily as he tried to get himself under control. He kept driving, down an exit and under a bridge in an attempt to hide from the Cloakbot. He parked the car and the occupants nervously looked around.
"Did we lose it?" asked Oum.
"I hope so," said Bee.
The group looked around them, hoping the robot had lost their trail. Though it was only a few seconds later when the freeway above them was sliced open and Cloakbot came down landing in front of them. Bee quickly backed up the car running through a gate that lead into a junkyard. He kept backing until he ran into some steel drums, the car not able to back up anymore. Anne quickly opened the side door.
"Hurry everyone hide!" she commanded. The frogs and the humans all exited the vehicle and ran into the junkyard hoping to put some distance between them and the robot. Bee remembered to lock the car before they left. The Cloakbot walked slowly into the junkyard, scanning the area and trying to find its prey. As it strolled past where the group was hiding Anne let out a sigh, though as she did she realized that Luz and Camila were not with the group.
"Okay guys I think we're safe for now," said Anne, "where did Luz and Camila go?"
"Anne Savisa Boonchuy!" exclaimed her mother in anger, "what is going on!?"
"What do you mean?" answered Anne, "There's a giant robot trying to kill us, I thought that was clear."
"Yes, but why Anne? Why?" continued her mother, "you told us that king was in Amphibia how is he still able to send a robot after you!"
"Mom take it easy," said Anne putting her hands up.
"Honey maybe we should hear her out," said Bee trying to calm his wife down.
"No! How could you Anne?!" exclaimed Oum, "why didn't you tell us the first time the robot attacked you?! You're still the same irresponsible little girl who used to cut class! When are you going to grow up? When are you going to be honest with us? When Anne? WHEN?"
As Mrs. Boonchuy was talking Anne began to tense up, her mother's accusations cutting deep into her, Anne felt a sense of shame hearing her mother berate her like that. As it continued Anne imagined in her mind how her mother would react to the news that she was gay.
"You're gay Anne Boonchuy?!" exclaimed her mother in disgust, "why Anne? Why do you have to be so difficult? Why can't you be a perfect daughter for me?"
As the scene played out in her mind, it finally became too much for Anne. She began to breathe heavily as the stress of not living up to her mother's expectations caught up to her. The idea that her mother would hate her if she told her she was gay began to take hold in her mind. She ran past her parents wanting to get as far away from them as possible, leaving her mother dumbfounded.
"Anne!" called her father, as she ran past them. Anne didn't stop and kept running, tears forming in her eyes.
"Anne," said her mother softly, immediately regretting what she had said.
Camila had kept running after they had gotten out of the car, and Luz chased after her wanting to make sure her mother was okay. When the two had finally stopped to catch their breath Luz realized they had become separated from Anne and her family.
"Oh no," said Luz, "where's Anne?"
"I think they're still back there," said her mother still catching her breath.
"We need to go back," said Luz.
"No!" exclaimed her mom, causing Luz to turn around, "not until you tell me right now what is going on!"
Luz hesitated as she thought of what to say, "Well the thing is…remember that Andrias person we told you about? He uh…sent a killer robot after us."
"And you're only telling me this now?" said Camila giving Luz a stern look.
"I…we….Anne and I were going to tell you in the living room," said Luz nervously.
"Why did you wait so long?!" asked Camila, "I thought that king was stuck in Amphibia, you never said he could send killer robots after you!"
"I didn't want to worry you Mom," said Luz with a pleading look in her eyes.
"Luz, I thought you had become less impulsive and more responsible in the time you were gone," said her mother, the disappointment evident in her voice.
Luz tensed up feeling shame at hearing her mother say that "I…I…I was trying my best Mom. I wanted to tell you, but I was afraid."
"Luz…" began her mother, "you can't keep things like this from me. What if that robot attacked us at our home? Did you think not telling me would make the problem go away? Why do you keep doing this mija!?"
"I don't know," pleaded Luz, "I just…"
Luz couldn't think of what else to say as her imagination started to get away from her. In her mind, she saw an image of the Cloakbot coming up to her mother and slashing at her with its claw causing her to fall over. Camila turned around slash marks across her stomach, blood coming out of the wounds, as she said in a weak voice to Luz.
"It's your fault mija," said the dying Camila, "it's your fault this happened to me." before slumping over dead.
The image of her dead mother became too much for Luz to handle, she began to breathe heavily, tears forming in her eyes, before finally deciding to turn around and run away!
"Luz!" called Camila as she saw her daughter flee. After a moment she began to chase after her until she heard another voice. Camila looked and saw that Anne was running towards her, though she had her face covered and wasn't looking where she was going. She ran right into Camila.
"Oh Mrs. Noceda, sorry," said Anne as she realized who she had run into, "are you okay?"
Camila looked into Anne's face, she could see that she had been crying, she took a moment before replying, "I'm fine Anne, how about you? Is everything okay with you?"
"I…I don't know," said Anne, "my mom is mad at me for not telling her about the robot. The thing is…I wanted to tell her. In fact, Luz and I were going to tell you both in the living room right before this happened."
Camila looked into Anne's face, but she didn't immediately reply, Anne kept talking.
"The thing is…I didn't want my mom to worry," said Anne, "but now my mom thinks that I purposely kept this from her, she thinks I'm still irresponsible. I was trying to be better, honestly, I was, I thought that if I could deal with the robot then Mom wouldn't need to know, and she wouldn't be in danger. The thing she doesn't get is, she puts a lot of pressure on me. She wants me to be this perfect daughter and well…I don't know if I can be the daughter she wants me to be. I'm trying my best, but sometimes I just feel…I feel I'm not good enough for her."
As Anne finished talking she threw herself forward into Camila's arms. Camila was a little shocked by this but brought up her arms and hugged her tightly as if she were her own daughter. Camila gently stroked Anne's hair, and after a few moments, she spoke.
"You know Anne, as a mother all we want is the best for our kids. I've gotten to know your mom very well in the time that you and Luz were gone. We talked a lot and shared a lot. I think all your mom wants is for you to be able to succeed at whatever you want to do. But you know, you're right, we can be too harsh at times, I think we aren't always good at expressing our desire to help."
Anne looked up into Camila's face, feeling some relief at what Camila had said to her.
"Your mom cares about you a lot," continued Camila, "I'm sorry she's not always good at saying it, I know I'm guilty of the same in regards to Luz, but I honestly do want the best for her, and I'm sure your mom wants the best for you too! If your mom is hard on you for being irresponsible it's only because she knows that one day you won't live with her anymore. One day you'll grow up and be on your own, and she wants to make sure that when that day comes you'll be able to take care of yourself."
Anne absorbed what Camila said, she didn't reply but kept hugging Camila. Camila returned the hug doing her best to calm Anne down.
"Anne where are you?" called Bee, he and his wife hadn't moved far from the spot they were hiding in as they didn't want to get spotted by the robot. Though Bee was considering leaving to go look for Anne. Oum hadn't moved from her spot after seeing Anne run off as she struggled with what she had said.
Was I too harsh with Anne? thought Oum, all this time I wanted her to tell me the truth about her and Luz, and now I yell at her about this.
As Oum continued to process what she had said someone else ran into view. The parents and the Plantars saw it was Luz.
"Luz!" exclaimed Sprig, "Where's Anne did you see her?"
"Anne's not here?" said Luz, with worry in her voice, "we have to go find her!"
"Wait, before we go," began Bee, "do you want to tell us what's going on?"
Luz looked up at both Bee and Oum, she thought about what to say, "Listen I'm sorry we kept the whole killer robot trying to kill us from you guys. Turns out Andrias can send them from Amphibia to attack us here on Earth. It's just we…we didn't want you to worry."
Oum and Bee looked at each other as Luz continued
"Please Mr. and Mrs. Boonchuy, Anne really is trying her best. Ever since we got back she's realized just how much you've done for her. She knows how much you were worried about her when we went missing and she didn't want you to worry about her again because there was a robot after us. Anne did it to protect the ones she loved."
Oum and Bee looked at each other as they heard this.
"Anne cares a lot about her friends and family," said Luz, "she's always willing to put others first and she…she's saved my life so many times when we were in Amphibia. Please don't be mad at her."
Oum's face fell as she heard this, "Anne ran away after I got angry at her for keeping this from us. Maybe I should have given her a chance to explain." She looked over at Luz.
"Is that all that's bothering you Luz?" asked Oum putting her hand on Luz's shoulder. Luz turned to look into Mrs. Boonchuy's face. For a second she thought about not saying anything, but seeing as this wasn't her mother she changed her mind.
"Well uh kind of," began Luz, "I was just thinking, about what could have happened because we didn't tell you about the robot, and I got really scared. I realized that I put my mom in danger and if something happened it would be all my fault. I don't want to be the reason something bad happens to Mama," Luz began to tear up as she came to this realization, though as she did Oum came forward and pulled Luz into a hug.
"We're all safe for now," said Oum, "I understand, you didn't want to worry us, and you were going to tell us in the living room weren't you?"
Luz shook her head.
"Don't beat yourself up," said Oum as she continued to hug Luz, "and don't worry about your mom. She's a tough woman, I've gotten to know her, your mom is a lot stronger than you think."
Bee came over to join the hug, "we all have our own struggles in life. There's no sense in beating yourself up over something that happened in the past. We all make mistakes, but we all learn from them too."
Luz didn't say anything in response, she absorbed what Bee and Oum said and continued hugging them both.
At that moment Camila and Anne reappeared coming into view of the others.
"Anne," said Sprig.
"We're okay," said Anne, she looked at her mom, "Listen I'm sorry for running away. There's a lot I need to tell you."
Oum held up her hand to stop her, "We'll have time for that later Anne, for now, let's figure out how we're going to stop that robot!"
"So is there a plan?" asked Sprig, "really hoping for a plan."
Anne nodded and began looking around the junkyard for anything they could use to help them. Her eyes fell on a mop and basketball that looked like the mannequins her mom had made of her in the workout room.
"Hey Mom," began Anne, "feel like putting your artistic skills to use?"
As the Cloakbot walked around the junkyard, it once more checked the timer in its chest. It only had about ten minutes left to destroy Anne before it exploded. It kept up its scan as it desperately tried to find her, at one point it thought it had and ran up to the disguised basketball hitting it with its saw and slicing it open. As the Cloakbot saw that it had again been tricked it heard Anne's voice.
"Hey, metalhead! Looking for me?" said the voice. The Cloakbot turned around only to see several dolls of Anne, and a few of Luz scattered around the junkyard.
"Whoa mama, you work fast!" said Polly.
"Well I had help," said Oum turning to wink at Camila.
"I didn't do that much," said Camila, "I was just her assistant."
The Cloakbot wasted no time in quickly bringing out its nail gun and using it to shoot down all the mannequins that were assembled.
"Now guys!" called Luz and Anne together.
At that moment Bee, Sprig, and Hop-pop jumped out from behind a pile of junk, all of the holding metal pipes. They raced towards the Cloakbot and began beating it with their pipes, Anne and Luz grabbed some wooden beams and joined their friends. Unfortunately, even with all of them attacking Cloakbot they hardly did any damage, and the Cloakbot reacted by spinning its arms around knocking them all away.
Bee and the Plantars were all thrown to one side, while Luz and Anne were thrown to another. The Cloakbot focused on the girls leaving the others alone. It managed to grab Anne with its claw and pulled her up off the ground.
"Ah! No, no, no," pleaded Anne, as she tried to dig her fingers into the ground. Luz rushed up to her and grabbed Anne's hands trying to pull her back out of the robot's grip, but it was too strong and eventually, it lifted her up too.
"Was able to get the second target after all," it said looking at Luz and Anne and aiming its nail gun at them, "mission complete."
"Hey robot!" yelled Oum and Camila running towards it with weapons drawn, "Leave our daughters ALONE!"
Oum struck the Cloakbot with a sledgehammer, knocking it back, Camila followed up with a strike from a bat again staggering the robot. Oum hit it again, making it drop Luz, Camila took her turn and the robot dropped Anne. The girls quickly got out of the way as their mothers continued to wail on the Cloakbot damaging it more with each strike! Finally, the Cloakbot fell over, and the mothers shared a look with each other nodding their heads.
"TOGETHER!" they both yelled, bringing up their weapons.
"Take this!" yelled Oum.
"It's over!" yelled Camila.
With that, they struck the Claokbot at the same time finally bringing an end to it! Anne and Luz looked up at their moms their mouths agape!
"Mom, that was amazing!" said Luz
"Good arm Mom!" said Anne.
"Well I did do a little actual working out too," said Oum, flexing her arm.
"Wow that was crazy you guys!" said Sprig coming up to the damaged robot.
"I like your style," said Polly.
"Were you surprised by that display of ferocity Mr. Boonchuy?" asked Hop-pop.
"No," he said in a deadpan voice, "not even from Camila."
The robot let out a laugh, apparently still active, "Self-destruct in T-minus 20 seconds."
"Oh no, that thing is still loaded!" exclaimed Bee.
"What do we do?" said Hop-pop.
"All that and we're still toast," said Polly.
Luz and Anne shared a look, Luz came up with an idea and quickly whispered in Anne's ear. Anne nodded.
"Not on our watch!" said Anne, she marched forward so that she was standing right next to the robot before closing her eyes. When she opened them they were glowing blue, and the blue aura surrounded the rest of her body! Her parents opened their mouths in shock. Anne nodded to Luz who came up to the robot and began using her finger to make a shape in the dirt around it, hoping her idea would work. Luz quickly drew the wind glyph and slammed her hand on it.
The wind glyph activated, able to draw power from Anne, and encased the Cloakbot in a tornado raising it off the ground and trapping it. Camila's eyes widened as she saw this. With the Cloakbot left helpless Anne made a motion with her hand and thrust it forward launching the Cloakbot into the sky and away from her family. The Cloakbot rose ever higher into the atmosphere its timer still counting down until it finally hit zero and exploded in a bright flash that lit up the sky.
Back on Earth, Anne powered down, she was a little woozy from using her powers and leaned onto Luz for support. Thankfully she had been training to get used to using them, and she hadn't used them for very long, only powering up to help Luz use her glyph. Luz held onto Anne as the two looked at their parents.
"I have so much to tell you," said Anne in a tired voice.
"Me too," said Luz.
"Let's go home and get comfortable and then you can explain everything," suggested Camila. Oum and Bee nodded at that suggestion.
"Yes, it's been a long day, I think we all need to relax and clear our heads," said Bee bringing out his keys.
"Wait!" said Luz looking at her parents and then at Anne, her arms still around her. Anne nodded at Luz, and the two knew that before anything else, they had to tell their parents one very important thing.
"There's a lot to explain when we get home," began Luz, "but before that, there's something we have to say here first."
Anne stood up and walked up to her parents, Luz doing the same, though they stayed close to each other.
"So listen Mom, Dad there's something else I have to tell you," said Anne, she tried to look her parents in the eye, but could feel herself shaking in terror. Luz came over to her and stood by her side, putting her hand on Anne's shoulder. She then looked up at her own mother.
"Mama tengo algo a decir a ti," said Luz to her mother. Camilla, Oum, and Bee looked at their children, they had an idea of what they were going to say and all of them tried smiling to show support to their daughters. Though Anne and Luz didn't notice this.
Anne and Luz looked at each other one last time, trying to find the courage to say what they wanted to say. Finally, they each took a deep breath and held hands.
"Mom, Dad, I like girls and I'm dating Luz," said Anne quickly.
"Mama, yo me gusta chicos y chicas, y ahora estoy salideno con Anne," said Luz, also quickly.
Luz and Anne closed their eyes and braced themselves as they waited to hear their parents' response. Both were surprised when they felt themselves being hugged. The two opened their eyes to see their parents hugging them. Oum and Bee hugged Anne and Camila hugged Luz, with tears in both their eyes.
"Oh mija, I was wondering when you would tell me," said Camila, catching Luz off guard.
"Mom…," said Luz in surprise. Camila smiled at her daughter, she looked at Oum and Bee.
"We….already knew," confessed Oum, smiling at Anne "or at least suspected as much."
"Wait…what?!" said Anne in surprise.
"How long have you known?" asked Luz.
"At least since the Thai Temple," said Bee, "again we weren't one hundred percent sure, but we had a strong hunch."
"We thought it best not to say anything," said Camila, "we figured the two of you would tell us when you were ready."
"Anne, we love you," said Oum, "no matter what. We were so scared when we thought we lost you. We would never want to make you feel uncomfortable about who you are or who you like."
Anne and Luz felt an incredible sense of refile at hearing this. Right at that moment, however, Bee gave a rather loud cough.
"The other reason we knew is that….the school told us what happened at the dance," he said, crossing his arms, his eyes narrowing on Luz.
It took Luz a moment as she wondered why Bee was suddenly glaring at her, though eventually, she realized why.
"Oh, wait listen!" began Luz, before Anne interrupted.
"Dad please," said Anne stepping in front of Luz, "don't be angry, Luz and I have worked that out! We had a long talk about that and other things. I trust Luz, I wouldn't be dating her if I didn't."
Bee continued to glare at Luz before responding, "That may be, but still I'm not sure if I trust Luz."
The others all tensed up at hearing this unsure of what to say. Luz stepped forward to Bee trying to assert herself.
"Please Mr. Boonchy," she said in her most respectful voice, "I care about Anne a lot, I'm very sorry for what I did, and I promise I won't do anything to hurt her."
Bee bent down and looked Luz straight in her eyes, a scowl still on his face! Luz felt as though his stare was piercing her soul. She did her best to meet his gaze and remain calm.
"Luz Noceda!" he bellowed causing Luz to tense up, "if you want to date my daughter you're going to have to prove your worth!"
"Dad!" said Anne in shock, but Bee held up his hand to silence her.
Luz tensed again she quickly tried to straighten out her clothes, trying to make herself look presentable. She brought her face up to look Bee in his eyes before nervously saying, "What must I do to prove my worth?"
Bee bent down bringing his face close to Luz's, all the while continuing to look her in the eyes, before finally speaking.
"If you want to date Anne, then you're going to have to…" he began, before taking a long pause, "beat me in a round of Super Smash Bros.!"
Luz did a double take wondering if she correctly heard what Bee had said, as she looked into his face again she could see that he was struggling to hold back a laugh, after a few more moments he broke completely and began laughing uncontrollably. The tension eased among the others as he did, though Oum and Anne were not amused.
"DAD!" exclaimed Anne angrily, punching him in the arm.
"Sorry, I couldn't resist," said Bee
"Bee Boonchuy!" yelled Oum, "how dare you play a trick like that on Luz!"
"You should have seen your face Luz," said Bee, still laughing, " I should have taken a picture!"
Luz brought her hand to her heart letting out a heavy sigh of relief as she realized it was all a joke.
"I got you good didn't I?" said Bee, at that moment Oum came up to him and hit him upside the head.
"Mị̀ mī sĕk s̄̒ pĕn welā h̄nụ̀ng deụ̄xn s̄ảh̄rạb kār s̄ædng khwām s̄āmārt̄h thī̀ khuṇ dụng!" she said angrily to Bee.
"Worth it," replied Bee giving her a mischievous smile. The rest of the group now laughing too. After a moment though Luz decided to play along.
"Wait a minute," she began before suddenly becoming serious, walking up to Bee and putting her fist on her chest.
"Mr. Boonchuy," began Luz in a dramatic voice, "for the honor of dating Anne I will face you on the field of Smash!"
"Luz it was a joke," said Bee.
"I know," said Luz in her normal voice, "but I'm a big fan of fantasy and video games, so let me play along for a bit."
Luz switched back to her dramatic voice, again bringing her fist to her chest and looking up into Mr. Boonchuys eyes, "So then, Lord Boonchuy, if I must prove my worth to you on the field of Smash Bros in order to be considered worthy to date your daughter then so be it. I will gladly meet that challenge!"
Bee paused a bit before deciding to join in on the act, "very well then Lady Luz. We shall do battle in Smash Bros, and that battle shall decide if you will be granted the honor of my daughter's hand. I hope you are well prepared!"
"For certain I am!" exclaimed Luz, "Let us tarry no longer!"
Anne looked at this scene, rolling her eyes, part of her wanted to say how much of a dork Luz was being, but she was honestly touched by the gesture and after a few bit decided to play along as well.
"Oh forsooth, fair Lady Luz," she said in an overly dramatic voice, putting her hand to her forehead, "there have been many suitors seeking my hand, but all failed in the challenge my father set. You cannot hope to succeed."
"That's right, I'm a Joker main," said Bee smugly.
Luz reached out and took Anne's hands into her own, "then those suitors were not worthy! Have faith sweet Anne, our love is such that it will give me the strength I need to overcome your father's challenge. I will succeed where all others failed!"
"So you say," continued Anne in her dramatic voice, "but still I worry, now that the challenge is set, I know not what may come."
"The promise of your hand shall be all the encouragement I need to win this challenge," said Luz looking deeply into Anne's eyes
"Then I shall pray for your success, fair Lady Luz," replied Anne returning the look.
At that point, none of them could hold it in any longer, and Luz, Anne, their parents, and the Plantars all let out a big laugh.
"Okay that was fun," said Bee.
"I'm still mad at you," said Oum coming up to him and giving him a look, Bee did his best to smile at her, though Oum was unmoved.
"I knew you should have gotten that part in the play," said Camila to Luz, "you have such a flair for the dramatic."
"I try," said Luz taking a bow.
"So are we going to hear exactly how this happened?" asked Oum to her daughter.
"We'll add it to the list of things to tell you when we get home," replied Anne.
"Can't wait," said Oum, she looked over at Luz, putting a hand on her shoulder and looking her in her eyes, "Luz, your mother and I have grown close in the time you were gone. I would like to think that the daughter of my friend would be a remarkable person, one who I would be glad to have Anne date."
"I understand Mrs. Boonchuy," said Luz in a respectful voice, "I promise to be there for Anne."
Oum smiled and pulled Luz into a hug, a hug that felt familiar, almost like her own mother's. Luz returned the hug smiling as she did.
While this was going on, Camila turned to Anne, "I have to say, when I first realized that you and Luz were dating I was intrigued. Oum and I were there for each other during the time you both were gone. The two of us grew close so I am happy to know that you and Luz are together."
"Thank you Mrs. Noceda," said Anne in a respectful tone, "I know how much Luz means to you. I promise I won't do anything to hurt her."
Camila smiled at hearing that, "Come here….mija," she pulled Anne into a hug, a hug that felt very familiar to Anne. She returned the hug smiling as she did.
The Plantars looked on at this scene, all of them smiling, all of them happy that the parents finally knew the truth about Luz and Anne. The whole group was in good spirits as they got back in the car and prepared to head home.
Meanwhile back in Amphibia inside the Royal Palace Andrias attempted to contact Cloakbot again to see if it had completed its mission. But as he brought up the screen it simply said "no signal" in response indicating that the Cloakbot had been destroyed. He had a gut feeling that Anne had not perished in the explosion from Cloakbot's bomb. Andrias let out a growl of frustration.
"Well that Cloakbot failed," he said in a huff, "but at least you succeeded." He turned around to look at the second Cloakbot, the robot letting out a small cruel laugh.
The second Cloakbot was a little worse for wear, its chest had been smashed in as though someone had thrown a large rock at it. One of its feet had been cut off, as though someone had used the wind to slice it off. Finally, It was covered in splotches of a dark purple sludge, but despite all that, it had completed its mission and held up four prisoners in its arms. The witches' arms were restrained so they couldn't use magic.
"Let me go you monster!" yelled the youngest of the witches as she struggled against her bonds. Andrias came right up to her and looked her in the face.
"So feisty," he said to her in a mocking tone, "according to Cloakbot here you gave him the most trouble, impressive for one so young."
The witch glared back at him, "How about you let me go and I'll show you just how much trouble I can be!" Andrias was unperturbed, and let out a laugh.
"I like your spirit, perhaps you will prove useful, I have a few tests we can run on you to see if you're a good candidate for an experiment of sorts," said Andrias to the witch.
The witch kept up her fierce look, trying to show she wasn't scared. The other witches looked at each other their faces falling.
"As for the rest of you, let's see if we can figure out how you use those wonderful magical abilities," said Andrias in a cheery voice.
"Please," begged one, a female witch, "we have a family back home." She turned to look at the witch right next to her as she said that.
"At least let my wife go," begged the male witch, "whatever experiments you need done I will perform them."
"No, this isn't open for discussion," said Andrias in a pitiless voice, "your family will be fine without you, I lost my family and I turned out fine."
The witches gave him a look not convinced of this at all.
"Take those three to the dungeon," said Andrias indicating the adult witches, he turned to look at the young one, "Take her down to the basement where Marcy is. Let's see if this young witch is as smart as the human."
Cloakbot nodded and went to complete its task, the young witch continuing to struggle and yell defiantly.
"Let me go! Let me go!" she yelled as she was carried off.