Calamitous Intervention

Cane Crazy/Flood, Sweat & Tears

In the Plantar house's basement, Luz and Sprig sat on the rough, stone floor, checking out all the things the former had brought to Amphibia in her backpack. There were some schoolbooks and pencils, but also some Azura figurines, which Luz seemed to treasure. But the most interesting thing Luz had brought there was some manga from another series she liked.

"Wow, Luz," Sprig said in awe, "look at all your cool stuff!" He picked up a figurine and studied it. "What's this?"

"It's a figurine of Hecate from the Good Witch Azura series," Luz explained excitedly. "She was once Azura's rival, but after a series of adventures together with Azura, she became her friend."

"Huh, neat," Sprig simply replied, setting it down disinterestedly. Curious, he took notice of the manga and picked it up. "Monster Slayer Academia?" he read out loud.

"It's my favorite anime," Luz told him. "Season six is coming out later this year. The show gets SO good. Fall Night is a hero who protects the world from evil demons!"

"What's an anime, anyway?" Sprig asked, unfamiliar with Earth's culture. "This just looks like a comic strip."

Luz gasped in reply, taking offense to his statement. "It isn't just a comic! It's a work of art!" she said. "Anime is like a cartoon made in Japan. It's only the coolest thing ever!"

Sprig didn't understand any of her words. The heck was Japan? Deciding it wasn't worth asking about now, he grabbed the manga once more and flipped to its first page. After looking through the page, he raised his eyebrows. "Huh... I guess it's okay. But I don't get what's happening."

"You have to read it from right to left. It's kind of a manga thing," Luz informed. After reading the page properly, Sprig put the manga down, looking through the rest of the human's belongings. He saw something at the bottom of her backpack and grabbed it, revealing it to be a pen.

He tried to figure out what it did, but all that didn't matter as soon as he clicked it, immediately enamored by its soothing pop. "Oh, I like this. This is amazing."

Luz shrugged but smiled, amused by his antics. "You can have it. I think it's nearly out of ink."

After Sprig pocketed the pen, they suddenly heard a bell from upstairs, followed by Hop Pop's voice calling out to them. "Kids, chow time!"

Luz rushed upstairs, desperate for some kind of meal. The meal she'd eaten the prior afternoon was fine, but she needed real food. Sprig looked back at the Monster Slayer Academia manga, and when he saw Luz had left, he took it and ran upstairs all the way to his room, hiding it under his bed to read it later, since he secretly had a great interest in it.

Chapter Five - Cane Crazy/Flood, Sweat & Tears

The three of them, including Sprig a moment later, sat at the table side-by-side, alongside Polly. All three of them chanted excitedly, "Time to eat! Time to eat!" especially Luz.

"Hold on, you kids. Hold on," Hop Pop said with amusement. He stirred the pot, filled some bowls with soup that looked straight out of a sewer, and slid them to each of the children.

Luz took a nervous look at her messy, splattered dish, seeing a spider crawling out of it. It looked absolutely vile, but she wasn't about to mention it to the person who'd given her free shelter after saving her life. "Well, I'm sure it tastes better than it looks," she muttered to herself.

Gulping, Luz grabbed a spoon, scooped up a bit of the liquid from the slop, and slowly sipped it, tasting it. As soon as the taste and texture hit her palate, her face quickly turned green.

"How's the food, Luz?" Hop Pop asked cheerfully, eating spoonfuls of it with no problem. Seeing Hop Pop looking at her expectantly, Luz managed to give him an okay hand sign, having a wobbly smile on her face. "Mmmm.... So tasty..."