Taylor had barely finished decapitating the Shadow Hyde when the sound of sirens (police? firefighters? both of them?) began to reverberate through the city streets. Pup immediately took the reins, directing her still transformed roommate and the others back to her apartment, where she proceeded to make a phone call.
Wednesday didn't know exactly who Pup had called, but presumably it had been Father, or the family's army of lawyers. Gomez Addams was apparently a resourceful man in multiple realities, and the Addams Family had long ago learned to shield themselves legally.
No sooner had the police and firefighters arrived than they received a radio notice and a second phone call which resulted in their departure after the clearing of wreckage, debris and the removal of damaged cars after talks with neighbors and other affected individuals. The fears and apprehension of many people seemed to dissipate when it was announced that a "private entity" would compensate for all the damage. The neighbors of the building across the street whose home Enid had crashed into found themselves with enough money to send their daughter to college three times over.
Resourceful, no doubt.
There was no questioning or interrogation for Wednesday, Enid, Dora, Theo and Taylor. There were no mentions of werewolves or shadow monsters or other Hyde-like creatures. The official reason for the whole mess offered to the press was a gas explosion. How they managed to reconcile that with other possible Shadow Hyde sightings during its tour towards the apartment, Enid had no idea, but she assumed that in the 1970s it must have been much easier to cover things up.
No one had smartphones to upload recordings of the fight to Tik Tok and it was more likely that whoever brought up the subject would be treated as a kook.
So, with the dust settling, they were back at Pup and Taylor's apartment. The damaged wall facing the street had been covered with plastic sheeting and some metal supports. Although serious structural damage had been dismissed, Pup had mentioned that they would probably be looking for other accommodation in the near future.
The group was now comfortably settled in the local Addams' room. Pup and a still barefoot Enid were sitting on the bed, Wednesday sitting in the chair in front of the desk, Taylor with a change of clothes on a blanket and cushions on the floor at the foot of the bed almost at Pup's feet, Theo sitting on one of the chairs from the living room table brought into the bedroom, and Dora standing leaning by the door with her arms crossed.
The conversation had been going on for quite a while, with Wednesday and the others bringing Taylor up to date on everything that was going on.
"For the last time, I do not intend to apologize," Taylor said.
"I told you, clearly, that we needed to capture the creature alive," said Wednesday.
"And I didn't hear you!" Taylor retorted, "I was in a frenzy of murderous aggression against that thing, the only voice that would bring me to my senses would be my... my..."
Taylor seemed to be at a loss for words, her gaze turning elusively to Pup. The resident Addams smiled softly and patted the curly-haired girl's shoulder lightly, "It's okay Taylor. It's all right."
"I'm sorry. I should have told you, but it's just..."
"Yeah?"
"I was afraid you'd see just a monster, that you'd be scared of me," Taylor said very softly, hugging her knees.
There was a brief silence, barely a moment, which was broken by a crystal clear sound. Pup was laughing.
"Oh, Tay," said the Addams catching her breath, "I'm an Addams. Since you've met me, what would make you think I'd dislike having a monster of my own?"
Taylor stared at her roommate, dumbfounded, before covering her eyes with her hand and exhaling in frustration.
"God, I'm such an idiot."
"My idiot," Pup replied, before a thought crossed her chin causing her to frown slightly as she adopted a thoughtful stance with a hand under her chin, "It's kind of disturbing though... how exactly does that master thing work? If I order you to do something... do you just do it?"
"Uh... Technically yes?", Taylor replied, "It's... it's instinct. Even though rationally I may disagree with you or your actions, I will always be compelled to follow your commands."
Pup's expression shifted to one of concern, "That's pretty messed up, Taylor. The potential for abuse of something like that is... Few people could carry a responsibility like that without becoming corrupted. And I don't mind moral corruption as much as other people, but not at the expense of other people's freedom. Especially the freedom of people I care about."
"Oh, Weds, it's no bother, I trust you," said Taylor.
"It's just that I'm worried that I might say something offhand, without thinking about it, and you'll take it as a command..."
"It doesn't work like that," Wednesday interjected, "From what I've read about the Hydes your orders must be direct to be obeyed. If Galpin has been doing you small favors or heeding your words it has always been of her own free will. It may be that the bond between the two of you is conducive to a favorable disposition on her part towards you, but if it is not a direct and clear command her free will is not compromised."
Taylor nodded, turning to Pup again, "Seriously Weds, it could be a lot worse. Without this bond with you I'm sure I'd be a cannibalistic serial killer by now."
"Well, not that there's anything wrong with that necessarily," interrupted Pup.
"Uh... maybe, but I wasn't liking what I was going to become and meeting you has saved me from it," Taylor continued, "And as far as masters go, I couldn't have been matched with a better one."
"Yes, Pup," Enid said, "You just need to be a little more careful how you phrase some things. At least you're not a racist nutcase who would use her personal Hyde to gather bits of human remains for resurrection rituals."
"Mmm, necromancy is fun. But I prefer it without the racism, thank you," replied Pup.
"...Addamses," sighed the werewolf.
"Well, this has all been very enlightening," interjected Theo, "But we're back to being without a Shadow Hyde on our hands so I guess we should stick with the plan of trying to capture another one in the next universe or continue to thwart their attacks on other Wednesdays. Which brings me to another issue... Taylor was able to kill it."
"Uh... Is that odd?" the Hyde asked, nervously, as all eyes turned on her.
"The Shadow Hydes seem to be immune to normal physical attacks," Wednesday replied, "Their body becomes intangible and takes no damage whatsoever. So far, the only one who had been able to hurt them is Enid, and presumably other Enid variants."
Dora nodded, "Yeah, Dad managed to scratch the one that attacked us at home a bit."
"And that Taylor was able to do the same is... significant," Wednesday finished.
"Uh... Could it be because I'm a Hyde?" the young woman asked, puzzled, "Some kind of weird cosmic resonance with that thing or something?"
"We simply don't know," said Theo, "We're immersed in a sea of conjecture and theories. We don't know if it's because you're a Hyde or if it's because of you specifically. We know a few whats but not enough whys. And there's one other thing I was able to ascertain today..."
"Your electrical attack damaged it," Wednesday said, "I noticed it too."
"Is it because it's magic?" asked Enid, "It is magic, isn't it?"
"No, I don't think so. And it's not magic per se, just absurdly trained Addams biology," replied Theo with a half smile, "It was the same with the Shadow Hyde that attacked us at Nevermore. My electricity damaged it, but only at first. Then when it came at me before Enid ripped it in half my electricity didn't do anything to it anymore."
Taylor turned to Enid, her eyes wildly wide and glowing with admiration, "Ripped in half?" she asked, with a smile.
Enid replied with a slightly uncomfortable smile of her own, because never in a million years would she expect a possible counterpart of Tyler Galpin to look at her that way, "Uh... yeah... Well, I pierced it in the upper torso first and..."
"Oooh, stellar," Taylor said, nodding.
"Hum... I stabbed it," Pup continued, "When it captured me I drove my dagger into it and the blade penetrated the creature like it was made of flesh. I think it hurt and shocked it, but after that first stab the others had no effect, like it was a ghost."
"So they either develop a quick immunity to attacks other than Enid's claws or possibly other Hydes, or...," Dora began.
"Oh, oh!" exclaimed Enid, "I got it, sneak attacks!"
Wednesday nodded, throwing a satisfied smile at her she-wolf, "Yes, all indications are that if a Shadow Hyde receives a physical attack it doesn't see coming, it suffers it just like any other being."
"But if they take notice that the attack is coming, they can neutralize it," Pup said, "That invulnerability or intangibility is a conscious act!"
"That means that even without Enid or Taylor we could take on one of those creatures if required," said Theo, "With a lot of coordination and continued attacks on its back or flanks that it can't predict or see coming."
"Great," Dora said, pulling out her claws, "I admit I like the idea of being able to claw one of those bastards if only for a few seconds."
"All right," said Pup, "So what's the next phase of the plan? Where do we go now?"
"We?", asked Wednesday.
"I'm going to accompany you, of course," replied Pup, "And Taylor... well, if she wants to."
"Oh, I do! I do!" added the Hyde.
Pup nodded, turning to Wednesday again, "And don't even think you can talk us out of it. You'd be more demented than is usual in the family if you think I'm going to stand here when Friday is still in the hands of those creatures," the Addams said, before turning her attention to the twins with a gentle look but full of conviction, "We were only together for a few days, but in that time your mother was like a big sister to me. We will rescue her."
"I...thank you," Theo said, his voice quiet but emotion clear in his eyes.
Dora was a little more open in the way she expressed herself, "I want to hug you," she said to Pup, "Can I hug you?"
"Of course," the Addams replied.
"There is a high risk of broken ribs and bones," the young lycanthrope warned.
"Those are the best hugs!" said Pup.
Finally, Wednesday proceeded to explain the workings of the rings created by Eudora Addams and their use in jumping between universes. Enid insisted that before proceeding to their next stop, they return momentarily to their original dimension to solve the problem of changing clothes and supplies.
Before departing, Pup made one last phone call.
"Lurch is coming to pick up a few things and take Claudia Augusta back to her terrarium at the mansion with the other scorpions," she explained.
Thus, there was the momentary return to Wednesday and Enid's universe. This actually served to test one of the rings' capabilities: the group reappeared at the same exact place from which they had departed and Grandmama was still there. The old witch verified that for her only a few seconds had elapsed since the group's first departure, confirming that like the spell she had once used to return Wednesday's variants to their respective universes, the rings could return the twins and other companions to their realities with almost no time having passed there.
Pup laughed again, commenting on how it was surely no longer necessary for her to have made that last call home.
After a while of waiting while Enid stockpiled extra clothes "for emergencies" in which Eudora Addams chatted effusively with Pup ("Pequeña escolopendra!") and looked inquisitively but without malice at a nervous Taylor, it was time to leave again.
To a new universe, to a new unknown.
That's why finding themselves after the dimensional leap outside of what was clearly the Addams Mansion, right in front of the main gate, felt slightly anticlimactic.
"Oh...we're home?," Pup observed.
"But it's none of ours," said Wednesday.
Certainly, although the house was markedly similar to the one they all knew in their respective realities, there were some differences. Pup noticed immediately that the manor was noticeably larger than her own. To Wednesday and Enid, the mansion seemed perhaps even older, looking more weathered than usual. The central tower appeared to be abnormally tall as well, rising almost disproportionately above the rest of the mansion. There was something odd about the angles... not that they were crooked, but the whole construction conveyed a sense of strange distortion.
Taylor whistled, "Oh, this explains a few things about your family, Weds..."
There were a few dry trees, but they were of small size. What appeared to be the glass windows of Morticia's greenhouse were adjacent to the front of the mansion and the ground around it was mostly covered with gravel. At some distance another good-sized, wooden and white masonry house could be seen that appeared to be inhabited.
It seemed that the local Addams Family still had neighbors who had not fled in terror.
After a while of quiet observation, Wednesday advanced without another word to the door and knocked loudly, causing the wood to rumble. The others followed her, standing behind her except for Enid, at her side.
"Don't you use the bell?" asked the she-wolf.
"There doesn't seem to be the presence of the usual handle, or a button or the like."
After a few moments, the door began to open, with a low creak and extreme slowness. Wednesday looked up, hoping perchance to find the face of this universe's version of Lurch, but her eyes glimpsed only the interior of the mansion and the grand central staircase.
"Oh!" muttered Enid beside her. Wednesday noticed her paramour look down in surprise and turned her gaze to the same spot.
There he stood, the one responsible for opening the door. A little child dressed in black and white stripes who wouldn't have been much more than four years old. His face was absurdly adorable, his hair was black and straight and his skin extremely pale to the point that it appeared to have a certain grayish hue. But the most striking thing was the visible, thin moustache he wore over his lips.
He looks like a mini-Gomez!, thought Enid.
His dark eyes, in which shone an inquisitive intelligence that Wednesday caught herself approving with an unexpected pride whose origin she could not determine, opened in surprise at the newcomers, specifically at Wednesday and Enid.
The little boy turned around, calling into the house, "Sister! You have visitors!"
Steady footsteps echoed up the central staircase. A figure was descending toward the entrance. Unmistakable, wearing a sober black outfit, dark boots, pale skin (but not as pale as the boy's) and black hair tied in a pair of pigtails. The voice of the Wednesday Addams of that dimension echoed through the empty space in the mansion.
"I was just coming to open the door, Pubert. You know you can't do it unsupervised," she said, only to interrupt herself as she finished her descent and realized who was in the doorway.
Wednesday, Enid and Pup recognized her instantly, even though a few years had passed for her as well. The lycanthrope and the other Addams smiled undisguised grins as Wednesday took a couple of steps forward to stand in front of her counterpart from this universe, the two of them staring at each other with their arms crossed.
"Wednesday Friday Addams," said the local Wednesday.
"Wednesday Friday Addams," replied Wednesday.
"Born on a Friday the 13th."
"Born on a Friday the 13th.”
"June 1980."
"October 2006," finished Wednesday, this time offering a small smile of her own.
"Seems like no time has passed for you both," her local counterpart observed, casting a glance at Enid.
"And it looks like it's been a couple of years for you," said Wednesday, "It's horrifyingly delightful to see you again, Woe."
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