Chapter 113: A Long Overdue Reunion
Art by Crash X Fusion: Something's wrong...oh yeah, Darlene's not involved with the A-plot!
While Amity and the road-trippers go down to Mystery Mountain, the Clawthornes and friends go down to New York to have a reunion with the Longs.Tropes that appear in this Chapter:
- Abhorrent Admirer: Chavs/Chavez is a pick-up artist who flirts with Camila at Mystery Mountain. He doesn't take no for an answer, so Abigail puts him in an armlock and sends him away to get him to leave Camila alone.
- Actor Allusion: After Luz, Jake, and the Ninja decimate his robots, McFist screams they're not "all that", something Dr. Drakken always said in Kim Possible.
- Earlier, he's asked about how he got his robot arm and is happy to elaborate, mentioning that "it happened on a Tuesday"; this is how Drakken responded to being asked about his blue skin in the final episode.
- Adaptation Species Change: Doubling as a Mythology Gag, Jonathan is now a werewolf instead of a normal human.
- Adaptational Karma: Rather than being left alive to continue murdering tourists, Darlene loses an eye, gets shot in the back, stomped on by a statue boot, and run over by Camila. Her corpse is later burned by her co-workers.
- Adaptational Nice Girl: Emma Sue, Log Land Girl, and Corn Maze Girl are far more understanding than they were in canon, as they don't have any problems with each other (until they started fighting over Vee) or with the person who was practicing small talk with them. Compare those to how they treated Dipper in the actual episode.
- Adaptational Sexuality: Emma Sue, Log Land girl, and Corn Maze girl also showed no signs of being anything but straight in the original episode. Here, they all end up asking Vee to be their girlfriend after she helps saves their lives and reveals her true form to them.
- Adaptational Villainy:
- Darlene's villainy is played up in the LCU. While her original version was still a Serial Killer, she only went after pick-up artists and gullible men. In the LCU, she's also killed entire families, preferring to eat children.
- The other employees at Mystery Mountain are also this, since the chapter confirms that they were aiding Darlene and covering up her killings.
- Affectionate Gesture to the Head: Simone pats Vee on her head while calling her a hero for saving the girls from Darlene.
- Affectionate Nickname: Jake starts calling Luz "LC Hammer", as does Randy before the former two head back to New York once their mission's complete.
- Ascended Extra: Emma Sue, Log Land girl, and Corn Maze girl are given a larger role here, actually being captured by Darlene and needing to be rescued.
- Ass Shove: Luz threatens to do this, among other things, to McFist unless he confesses to utilizing the Exorcists.
- Ax-Crazy: McFist calls Luz crazy as a result of her and Maya's extreme methods and has to beg the Ninja to save him from her as she hangs him over his factory's roof.Luz: I'm not crazy. I've had my mother check.
- Bait-and-Switch: It seems all the girls Vee met on the road trip are scared of her true appearance, but then they all glomp her due to being captivated by her cuteness, flustering the poor girl.
- Brick Joke:
- Upon arriving at Mystery Mountain, Amity is told about Paul Bunyan and the kids wonder if he was real, not a legend. When the party leaves for home, Amity sees Paul and his ox Babe before they disappear.
- Randy's cover story for Theresa, as crafted by Howard, was that he went to polka camp when he was really in NYC. When he came home, he had to learn the accordion for her to keep up the lie.
- Howard notes how Randy's parents are never "onscreen" when they're at his house. When Randy returns home, he's surprised that his moms are waiting for him along with a surprised Howard and Theresa.
- The Bus Came Back:
- Excluding appearances in the ending song of "Brawl Night, Part 2";
- Jake and Randy make a guest appearance again since returning to their homes in "Closing the Gates".
- The rest of the Long Family and Violet return after debuting in "The Long, The Witch, and the Ninja", with Howard making a full-body appearance.
- Maverick, the illusionist with the pompadour, returns since his last appearance in the "Glandus War" arc.
- Excluding appearances in the ending song of "Brawl Night, Part 2";
- Call-Back:
- Boscha updates Principal Bump on her and Luz making peace with each other and becoming friends.
- Eda makes good on telling the Longs about the Drakescales, having promised Cross she'd do that in "Resolutions".
- While the witches tell the Longs about the Inner Demon, Skara mentions his forcing her first transformation into a werewolf.
- Jake uses the portal spell relying on Krylock venom so he and Luz can travel to Norrisville. He notes how difficult getting the venom is since Krylocks are interdimensional creatures, causing Luz to understand why Willow had to use air travel.
- Randy once again notes that the Exbots aren't like McFist's usual robots.
- Randy regales Luz with how he attempted to expose McFist as a villain in "McOne Armed and Dangerous", and how that turned out horribly.
- After telling Jake and Randy about her killing Trini, Luz asks if they've ever had to take a life: they answer her by bringing up the events of "Bite Father, Bite Son" (when Jake killed Queen Liliana and her sons) and "Dawn of the Driscoll" (when Randy had to send Jerry Driscoll back to the afterlife for being a threat to humanity.)
- The chapter ends on a flashback to when Terra captured Perry in "The Ballad of Eda: Part 2", shedding light on what she said to him.
- The Cameo:
- Bash is forced to attend his parents' charity gala, clearly not happy to be there.
- The Creep is seen observing Randy as he's going home before disappearing when Randy blinks.
- Celibate Hero: Camila isn't really enthusiastic about getting back into the dating game as all she wants is to reconnect and spend time with her family, friends, and her daughter's girlfriend, not to mention her being a Living Shadow would make things awkward.
- Chick Magnet: Vee has unintentionally become this, since Masha admitted to having a crush on her and three other girls all want her to be their girlfriend by the end of the chapter.
- Continuity Cameo:
- Maverick and Rupert Colt are specifically listed welcoming Principal Bump back to Hexside.
- After Bump sends Boscha, Gavin, and Angmar off to class, he meets Batters.
- Rose and Violet are shown setting up defenses at their home.
- Terra and Perry appear via a "stock footage" flashback.
- Continuity Nod:
- Principal Bump returns to his old position at Hexside after getting his job back.
- Batters tries to establish the word of Mel onto Principal Bump.
- Once Haley meets Luz, she mentions Willow telling her about how they defeated a carnivorous plant together and Amity taming the Slitherbeast.
- Randy is happy to jump at the chance to team up with Jake again, a hope he had in "Closing the Gates".
- Luz and Maya bring up having to use the Sonic Scream since Trini's death, using it to destroy the Exbot since nothing else fazes it.
- Randy manages to force McFist to give away free McFist Tablets as compensation for an attack that threatened the public...again.
- Lao Shi supplies Luz with a magic snare to capture the Inner Demon, intentionally bringing up the last time he had to use it.Lao Shi: It was once used against a chimera that was released into the dreamscape, thanks to an irresponsible student that let it out… JAKE!
Jake: [offscreen] I said I was sorry! And I learned a valuable lesson from it!
- Cover Innocent Eyes and Ears: Randy covers his own eyes as he and Jake watch Luz and Maya violently fight the Robo-Apes.
- Crossover: While the A-plot starts off in New York City as the Clawthornes, Willow, Gus P, and Skara meeting with the Longs, things divert to Luz and Jake teaming up with Randy Cunningham as they tackle his lead on McFist in Norrisville.
- Crush Blush: Clara can't stop herself from doing this while Masha compliments her or while Masha's checking her out upon admitting Clara's crush is mutual.
- A Day in the Limelight: While Amity, Camila, Vee, the Gravity Falls kids, and the former Gatesfieldians continue on their road trip to Mystery Mountain in the B-plot, Randy and the Longs get lots of focus in the A-plot between Randy and Jake helping Luz investigate McFist and see if he created the Exorcists, Eda catching up with Susan and Lao Shi, and Haley leading King, Willow, Gus, and Skara in saving Laura when she gets trapped in the Central Park Zoo.
- Dead Hat Shot: Once Clara and Masha get the warning about Darlene, they find Chavs' hat lying on the ground, hinting that Darlene took him for food.
- Death by Adaptation: Darlene gets her head crushed by Camila driving the RV after Sam traps her under the Paul Bunyan statue.
- Didn't See That Coming: Vee is completely bowled over when her new friends start arguing over who gets to date her, Clara noting she's better at attracting girls than her or Amity were.
- Everyone Meets Everyone: Luz, Gus P. and Skara meet the Longs. Meanwhile, Amity, Camila, Abigail and the Gravity Falls kids meet Darlene at Mystery Mountain.
- Expy:
- Randy's mothers are designed and named after Ruby and Sapphire, the two Crystal Gems that form Garnet in Steven Universe; what's interesting to note is that this Ruby is calm and collected while Sapphire is more emotional and prone to freak out.
- Lois Noceda and her friends Kaleb Ellis and James Bolton are based off of Lois Lane, Clark Kent, and Jimmy Olsen as they appear in My Adventures with Superman.
- Eye Scream: Amity slices out one of Darlene's eyes while fighting her with an abomi-blade.
- Family of Choice: Susan, Fu, and Lao Shi more than understand why Eda cut ties with them and assure her she was never a burden to them; she's family, a sentiment she agrees with.
- Flat "What": Vee gives one of these when Amity tells her she saw Paul Bunyan.
- Genre Savvy: When Abigail is shown the abandoned cars in the woods, she quickly figures out what is really going on and decides to get all the kids out of there. She also quickly figures out that Darlene wasn't working alone.
- Given Name Reveal: Angmar's family name is The Unpronounceable, so he asks to be called "Angmar Loom" when Principal Bump asks for his last name.
- The Ghost:
- Cross is brought up twice. First, Eda mentions him when telling Susan and Lao Shi about his family, and later, Luz promises Haley that she'll introduce him to her family or they can meet his in the Demon Realm once Belos is dealt with.
- Jenny Porter is confirmed by Lao Shi to be in the Dragon Council's custody, and they got a lot of important information from her.
- Ex-Chancellor Chang is also brought up as Lao Shi recounts succeeding her in her position on the Dragon Council, noting her wanting to change things in favor of magical creatures was Right for the Wrong Reasons.
- Rodney mentions that his son Orville was the one who broke him out of jail.
- Slasher and Russell are brought up by Skara, who notes Jonathan is the second werewolf she met in the Human Realm after the latter and wanting her father to meet him one day.
- Glamour: To not draw attention to herself in New York with her eyepatch, Eda uses a concealment stone that makes her appear to have both her eyes and orange hair.
- Gone Horribly Right: All of Amity's romantic advice to Vee works too well when all the girls whom she interacted with meet up and leave the basilisk flustered before they drag her off to see the rest of Mystery Mountain.
- Hate Sink:
- Darlene shows herself as such; after getting tired of eating pick-up artists, she took to kidnapping several families to feed on and having a specific preference to children, so she's far more villainous than she had been in canon.
- By extension, all the people who willingly helped her and cover it up fall into this as well.
- Heroic Resolve: Seeing Vee's confidence rise enough to return to the Isles even with Belos still a threat, Amity decides to go home in order to save Alador from Arthur and Destiny once and for all.
- Holding Hands: To symbolize their new relationship, Masha takes hold of Clara's hand after Clara brushes her pinky against Masha's.
- Homosexual Reproduction: Randy turns out to have two moms, Dr. Ruby Thomas and Sapphire Cunningham, who're girlfriends since same-sex marriage isn't legal in Oklahoma... yet.
- I Never Said It Was Poison: McFist outright confirms he sent the fake Exorcists after the Ninja in NYC after calling them "mecha-angels", a fact Luz quickly points out.
- In the Hood: King and Skara wear hoodies while in New York, the former to hide his demonic appearance.
- Internal Reveal:
- Principal Bump officially meets Gavin, Angmar, and Batters. He also learns about Luz and Boscha burying the hatchet.
- Luz and Eda tell the Longs about what they've been through along with informing them about the Drakescales.
- The Longs learn that Skara's a werewolf.
- Howard meets Luz and Jake for the first time.
- All the girls Vee befriended on the road trip meet each other and learn what Vee truly is.
- Jake and Randy meet Maya for the first time and learn about Luz killing Trini.
- Karma Houdini:
- The staff of Mystery Mountain aren't brought to justice for their involvement with Darlene due to a cop covering for them.
- Rodney threatened to kill all of humanity and was imprisoned for his crimes. As it turns out, he escaped from custody.
- Knew It All Along: Masha admits to Clara that she knew about her crush on her all along, confessing that she feels the same way which leads to her asking Clara to be her girlfriend.
- Kid Has a Point: As Eda, Fu, Susan, and Lao Shi talk about how there's the risk people would show fear and hate toward magical creatures should the magical community reveal itself, Haley points out they're already dealing with that hatred from Department A, and Jonathan agrees with her.Eda: Smart girl you two have there.
- Lampshade Hanging:
- While in the Sky Tram, Camila and Rudo question the poor design choice of including an unguarded emergency release switch onto the thing.
- Dana brings up how it's too coincidental that all the girls Vee met during the road trip ended up at the exact same place at the exact same time, and nobody responds to it.
- Luz is baffled that with his name and robot brain arm, nobody sees that McFist is clearly a supervillain, a fact Jake says is because he's a Villain with Good Publicity.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
- Howard brings up how Randy's parents are never seen "onscreen", and is surprised when they make an appearance.
- Viceroy notes how Drakken sounds familiar. Any Disney fan would know John DiMaggio voices both Drakken and Hannibal McFist in their respective series.
- Let's Just Be Friends: Vee ultimately lets all her new friends down gently by explaining she's already interested in another girl: they accept being Just Friends with her.
- Luminescent Blush:
- Susan's whole face turns bright red when Eda asks if being a werewolf makes Jonathan an animal in the sack.
- Vee blushes several times due to seeing Emma, Kendra, and Simone's reactions to her basilisk form and Simone calls her a hero, and it worsens when they argue over who gets to date her.
- Mood Whiplash: Randy notes the shift in tone that occurs from the Exbot's reveal.
- Multi-Part Episode: The chapter covers the second half of "Roadside Attraction".
- Mythology Gag:
- Willow's human attire in this chapter is the green jacket, yellow shirt, and brown pants she wore in "Thanks to Them". Dana also suggests tracking Vee's cell phone after she disappears the same way Vee suggested tracking Luz's.
- Jonathan being a werewolf was a cut plotline for American Dragon: Jake Long had the series not been canceled.
- Emma Sue, Kendra, and Simone's reactions to Vee's true self comes from Moringmark's "Basilisk"
. Skara wearing a red hoodie while on Earth is also a nod to this comic, as is Emma Sue's family heading to the border because her parents were smuggling pugs.
- Named In The Adaptation: Log Land girl and Corn Maze girl are named Simone Loggins and Kendra, respectively.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Despite the successful results of their infiltration mission, Luz nearly got herself, Jake, and Randy killed by trashing McFist's robots, getting his attention, and angering him to the point that he let the final Exbot loose on them.
- Noodle Incident:
- A week prior, Jake got involved in an interdimensional quiz show and won, gaining some Krylock venom.
- Jake mentions dealing with Mel before, along with traveling through the multiverse and meeting other Kid Heroes.
- Eda met Mac Antfee once, and she came to see he was a huge jerk.
- Not a Date: King spends a large chunk of his screentime telling everybody his meet-up with Laura is not a date, despite his excitement at seeing her again and the fact that he booked a reservation at a fancy restaurant as part of his showing her the Isles.Gus P: It's a date, dude.
- No, You: McFist's first conversation with Luz, Jake, and Randy after learning they're in his factory results in two of these, the second interrupted by Luz.Randy: Wait a second, are you calling us from a bathroom?
McFist: You're calling from a bathroom!
Randy: That doesn't even make any sense! - Oh, Crap!:
- Kitsuni is horrified to hear that her co-worker Osik dropped Laura off in the Human Realm, with Laura trying not to freak out from all the humans looking at her in the Central Park Zoo.
- After Luz destroys the Exbot, she shoots a Death Glare at the monitor McFist is using to watch the trio which causes him to realize she's coming for him.
- Before the witches in NYC go home, Lao Shi reveals to Gus P. that his ex-mother got her love potions from Terra Snapdragon, causing everyone to go pale.
- Once More, with Clarity: The chapter ends with a flashback of Terra capturing Perry, giving more context to when she said that it's "nice to finally meet him".
- Only One Finds It Fun: Luz and Maya come to enjoy destroying robots since they aren't alive, leaving them no reason to hold back their strength.
- One-Steve Limit: Jenny Porter is mentioned a few times, and Jenny Foxworth appears at the McFist charity gala.
- Out of Focus: Once Dipper asks Candy out, they and the rest of Nora's group (those three, Gus G, Pacifica, and Grenda) fall out of focus for the remainder of the B-plot.
- Point of Divergence:
- For divergences from the second half of "Roadside Attraction", Dipper and Candy have a Relationship Upgrade, none of the canon Gravity Falls residents end up trapped in the sky tram by Darlene, and the spider-person ends up dying.
- The Hexsidians built a statue of Bump before the events of "Hollow Mind".
- Prefer Jail to the Protagonist: Not jail, per se but McFist would rather let the Ninja save him than deal with Luz.
- Relationship Upgrade: Dipper succeeds in asking Candy out, and Clara learns Masha likes her back, so they hook up, too.
- The Reveal:
- Boscha has decided to take Athena's last name to further distance herself from Nicole.
- Because of the threat the Archangels proved themselves to be, the Dragon Council has been debating whether or not the magical community should reveal themselves to humanity.
- Jonathan got bitten by a werewolf shortly after Haley was born.
- The robots that destroyed Mewni, and battled Amity and Willow aren't the Exorcists from Heaven, but robots created by Department A.
- McFist reported Jenny to Department A, explaining how she got captured. In return, Angel supplied him with three Exbots to wipe out Randy.
- Eda traveled to Norrisville in 1985 and ran into Mac Antfee, who soured her opinion of the Ninja.
- Abigail is implied to have feelings for Camila.
- Jake mentions that he met Mel in the past; what she did to him isn't mentioned, though.
- Terra manufactured the love potions for Jenny.
- Sequel Hook:
- We have yet to see how King's date with Laura will go.
- Luz and Eda plan on bringing Cross over to the Human Realm to meet with the Longs and the Dragon Council. Skara also hopes to introduce Jonathan to her father.
- Randy mentions that he's got a plan to make McFist stop hating the Ninja once and for all.
- The employees at Mystery Mountain hint that Darlene's death will have consequences.
- Vee decides to return to the Boiling Isles to ask Star out and convince Tres, Megan and Ivy to come live with her on Earth.
- Amity decides to deal with her grandparents sooner rather than later, knowing she can't put off saving Alador from them any longer.
- Luz ends up meeting her cousin Lois without even realizing it, but both of them sense something familiar about each other.
- Eda mentions that she went to Norrisville back in 1985, but says that's a story for another time.
- Shed the Family Name: Boscha has stopped using the Hieron name due to disowning Nicole, now calling herself "Boscha Saltstar".
- She Is Not My Girlfriend: King repeatedly insists that Laura isn't his, but nobody listens to him.
- Shout-Out:
- Jake and Randy take to calling Luz "LC Hammer".
- King has to deal with psychotic penguins at the Central Park Zoo.
- Jenny Foxworth from Oliver & Company appears all grown up at McFist's gala with her daughters Billie and Joelle, named after Billy Joel.
- Rodney, a prominent member of L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. in Phineas and Ferb, greets McGucket, Viceroy, and Drakken when they arrive at the mad scientist convention.
- Drakken mentions that an education senator tried to cause a second Ice Age.
- Luz calls McFist a "rejected McDonald's mascot" as she demands answers about the Exbots.
- As the stealth team prepares to fight the rest of McFist's robots, Jake feels like he's in a Sonic game.
- Abigail says "get away from her (Amity), you bitch" to Darlene.
- While fighting the Exbot, Randy pulls out a weapon that's immediately destroyed, and the process repeats until he pulls out a random object which is also destroyed. This brings to mind the Codename: Kids Next Door episode, "Operation: V.I.R.U.S."
- Jake mentions coming across other Kid Heroes across The Multiverse, including a kid who's part-ghost, a kid who can turn into aliens, two boy geniuses, a girl genius with a pet dinosaur, a quirky blue teenage robot, and a nanite dude.Jake: [to Luz and Randy] You guys thought you were the only kids that have weird high school years?
- Randy's mothers are named Ruby and Sapphire, and have traits of said Crystal Gems.
- One of the park rangers responsible for helping to cover up Darlene's killings is named Ranger Smith.
- Side Bet: Pacifica, Grenda, and Gus G. bet on whether Candy or Dipper will ask the other out; Gus G. gets paid since Dipper makes his move.
- Stress-Induced Mental Voices: Once Dipper botches his first attempt to ask Candy to be his girlfriend, he suddenly starts hearing Stan, Mabel, Luz and Gompers encouraging him to just go for it. When he does, they all appear as hallucinations congratulating him.
- Tempting Fate: As King and Skara rescue Laura from the otter habitat at the Central Park Zoo, they point out their plan's going off without a hitch. Cue Skara getting nailed in the face by a pigeon and King falling into the penguin habitat.
- True Companions: Emma Sue, Kendra, and Simone don't care that Vee's a demon from another world: they see her as a hero for saving their lives from Darlene and are happy to remain friends with her, even if they're disappointed none of them can be her girlfriend.
- The Un-Reveal: Where is Department A keeping all their Exbots?
- Unseen No More: Both In-Universe and out, Randy's parents are officially seen for the first time (at least in the LCU).Howard: I'm actually surprised to see them on-screen.
- The same also goes to Howard and Theresa Fowler, both of whom have only been mentioned until now.
- Villain of the Week:
- Hannibal McFist for the A-plot, which is Played With considering he only attacks the trio of Luz, Jake, and Randy when they break into his factory looking for clues linking him to the Exorcists.
- Darlene for the B-plot, where she kidnaps Vee along with the girls she befriended throughout the road trip and their families to feast on.
- Violence Discretion Shot: Luz and Maya's battle against the Robo-Apes. The majority of it is unclear save for Luz beating one Robo-Ape with the arm of another, but Jake and Randy's shocked reactions paint a possible picture of the robo-carnage.
- Violently Protective Girlfriend: Laura's not King's girlfriend, but she doesn't hesitate to fight a psychotic gang of fighting penguins in order to protect him.
- Wham Episode: No kidding.
- Luz, Jake, and Randy learn from McFist that Department A built Exorcist-bots and laid waste to Mewni, proving they're far more dangerous than everyone already believed they were;
- Darlene is killed but Abigail hypothesizes that the staff of Mystery Mountain are part of a bigger conspiracy if they were willing to help her feed;
- Vee comes to a decision: she'll find Star on the Boiling Isles in order to ask her out and hopefully convince her basilisk siblings to join her living on Earth;
- Amity, inspired by Vee, decides it's time to prep for her own return to the Isles so she can free her father from his evil parents' control;
- Dipper & Candy, along with Clara & Masha, begin going out;
- King and Laura reunite and go on their first date;
- Eda reconnects with Susan and Lao Shi who reaccept her as family, regardless of her past;
- The Dragon Council may just be willing to bring public opinion in favor of the magical community for a chance at coexistence to defeat the Archangels;
- And Lao Shi, knowing just how much danger Cross' family would be in from Belos if they stay in the Isles any longer, asks Eda to bring the boy to Earth so he and the Council can meet with him.
- Wham Line:
- Vee announces that she's ready to ask out Star...and she'll return to the Boiling Isles to do so.
- McFist tells Luz, Jake, and the Ninja that he didn't build the Exorcist models; Department A did.
- Wham Shot: To eliminate Luz, Jake, and Randy, McFist sics the third and final Exbot he and Viceroy received from Angel on them.
- Would Hurt a Child: Darlene actively eats children who come to Mystery Mountain, which she enjoys far more than adults.
