Calamitous Intervention

The Intruder

A couple of days after her brief experience with Hexside, Anne was inside the Owl House with King. The two were on the first floor, not far from the front door. The weather was pretty uneasy outside, with lots of dark clouds and a grim atmosphere, suggesting something was about to strike soon.

To pass the time, Anne was filming King with her cell phone, wanting to learn more about this interesting creature (and pretty much the main thing that had kept her going here in the Demon Realm. I mean, how could you not like him?)

"Here is the most terrifying creature in the Boiling Isles, the one that will cuddle you to death..." the human dramatically began, zooming in on King's determined face. "He is facing a foe that threatens his very life... Will he come out victorious?"

The camera zoomed out, revealing King's 'predicament' as he tried to tear apart a duck-patterned sock off his nose, grunting in exertion. He stood up as he successfully tore the sock into pieces, angrily stomping on the shredded remains on the carpet. "Where are you now, ducky sock?!" he shouted at the sock's remains.

Anne laughed. "And he did it! Anyway, why'd you call me here again, King?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah," King replied, before climbing onto a large chest, on top of which lay a huge board covered by a red blanket. "Anne, you've shown great respect for your ruler. For that, I will take it upon myself to mentor you personally, because you haven't learned anything about my kind. Prepare yourself for..." he dramatically announced as he pulled off the blanket, revealing a bulletin board with various pinned photographs and drawings of many bizarre and multi-legged creatures. "Demons 101!!!" he finished, now wearing a blue scholar's cap, as he struck a defiant pose.

"Demons like me are grim tricksters of the twilight, creatures of sulfur and bone," he began, pacing around the chest, with Anne still recording him.

Anne zoomed the camera to focus on King, remarking, "For a 'terrifying demon', you're pretty adorable."

In response, he stamped his little foot. "No! I'm not adorable! Show me some respect!" He then grumbled before continuing. "Anyway, we live only to create chaos and misery," he explained. "Our only weaknesses are purified water and passive-aggressive comments... sometimes."

"Passive-aggressive comments?" This surprised the human. "Didn't expect that coming from a creepy and scary demon species."

"Even demons have inner demons," King muttered, narrowing his eyes. He tore off one photo to reveal a skinny, pink, snarling creature cowering underneath a spiny shell. It reminded Anne of something oddly familiar, like something from a video game. King continued. "The most powerful demon of all is the Snaggleback. He is a—"

"Baby angel!" Anne cooed as she played with filters on her phone, not paying attention to his lecture. She felt an instinctive urge to post it on social media, but she realized that was probably not a good idea.

King stared at her in brief confusion before growing frustrated. "Anne, pay attention! This information could save your life someday!"

Anne glanced up from her phone disinterestedly. "Why are you so interested in this kinda junk? Maybe I should show you the internet."

The tiny demon only blinked. "What do you mean? This is important!" he protested.

Anne, in response, walked up to him and showed him her phone. "Here, I have something I think you'll like." She pulled up an episode of Suspicion Island, starting with the first episode.

King stared at the screen, perplexed. "I don't get it. What makes this better than my teachings about demons?" he asked.

Suddenly, thunder began to strike. King and Anne looked toward the front windows. "Uh-oh, looks like it's gonna rain," the former concluded.