Annie

On Sound Stage 15, Annie discusses with Florence about the plummeting ratings of her TV show "Annie of the Stars". Annie would rather go hunting down the Skullgirl than solve her show's problems, but Florence points out that she has to film one last fight scene for her show first. Florence introduces a new mechanical friend that the prop department patched up after finding her in a field and explains that she will be the perfect element to spice up the mid-season finale as a villain.After giving the audience a lesson on perseverance and finishing filming, Annie insists on leaving the set. Florence tells Annie that she has scheduled the day for her to travel around New Meridian and reminds her that she has not looked for a candidate who could be her new life-double. Florence also introduces Aileen, the winner of last month's essay contest, and tells Annie that as a prize, Aileen will spend the whole day with her. When the latter is distracted with Robo-Fortune, Annie refuses to tag along with Aileen as she hunts for the Skullgirl, but Florence argues that there will always be more Skullgirls until she can stop the cycle and that refusing to accompany Aileen would lead to the cancellation and loss of the show. Annie reluctantly agrees, and along with Sagan, the four leave the set.

When they arrive at Little Innsmouth, Aileen expresses her amazement at the place, to which Annie responds by feigning fascination. Florence and Aileen stay for lunch at one of the restaurants, while Annie and Sagan go to find the Skullgirl. Ms. Fortune overhears Annie's plans and confronts her about her getting in the way of her search for the Skull Heart. Ms. Fortune is defeated, but she doesn't give up her search for the Skull Heart, her only way to bring back the . Annie learns that Nadia watched her show as a child and reminds her of one of its lessons, convincing her to avoid becoming the Skullgirl and turning the gang into her undead minions. Ms. Fortune retires, and Annie laments that her show's warnings have gone unheeded after several decades.

After visiting Maplecrest hospital, Annie and company have some time left before she makes her next appearance. Suddenly, Peacock meets Annie, identifying her by recognizing and knowing Florence's background as a producer and as the first actress to play Annie. Peacock also learns that Aileen is the winner of the essay contest and congratulates her. Annie apologizes for interrupting the conversation and lets Aileen know that she doesn't want anyone else getting in the way during her day. Aileen doesn't mind and reminds her of one of the lessons from her own show regarding generosity. However, Peacock says that she has business to take care of, but not before asking Annie for an autograph with the writing "My Hero, Peacock". She expresses that she will be a bonafide hero when she brings down the Skullgirl, which gets Annie's attention and makes her wonder how she might measure up with a "bonafide" hero, so she proposes to have a sparring match, explaining to Peacock that if she wins, she could have a guest appearance on her show.

Annie defeats Peacock, and although she is impressed that the latter has a lot of tricks up her sleeve, she tells her that she is wasting her potential, explaining that she lacks basic fundamentals and could be overwhelmed by the Skullgirl. Peacock gets angry, questioning Annie's knowledge of fighting Skullgirls and arguing that she'll bring down the Skullgirl while Annie signs autographs and smiles for the cameras. Saddened, Peacock leaves, and although Aileen tries to comfort her, she is stopped by Annie. Aileen asks if she can say something encouraging and inspiring to Peacock, but Annie refuses, having been judged a pampered TV star.

In her next appearance in NMO Arena, Annie is upset that it has to be with "him". Florence explains to her that the proceeds from the event will benefit The Renoir Foundation for Displaced Orphans and that at least she didn't have to talk to Zane. She asks Annie to stay on script and tells her that she and Sagan can hunt the Skullgirl, once they're done and she takes Aileen home. The event begins with Beowulf making his appearance act to liven up the crowd. When he goes off script mentioning that he is going to defeat the Skullgirl, Annie is alerted and tells him that it is too dangerous. This fails to stop Beowulf, so she is forced to confront him.

Having knocked Beowulf out and waited for him to wake up after worrying Aileen and Florence, Annie insists that he drop the act and asks the real reason he would want to hunt the Skullgirl. Beowulf confesses that he wants to be a hero again and that he doesn't want the last thing remembered about him to be playing a villain on her show. Annie tells him a real hero keeps fighting the good fight without fame and fortune, though Beowulf questions her knowledge, causing Annie to express her frustration about the adults who continue to make the same mistakes by letting the Skullgirl keep happening, despite all the effort put into her show to prevent it. Annie leaves Beowulf confused and leaves the arena with Florence. On the other hand, Aileen asks Beowulf for an autograph for her father, saying that he was a big fan who was there when Beowulf fought Grendel. After waiting for Aileen outside the arena, Annie says it's late and guesses it's time to take her home and Florence asks if she had a good time with Annie. Aileen says no, expressing that she was having so much fun until she saw how Annie treated Peacock and Beowulf. Though Annie argues that she had to knock some sense into them and that they had no business hunting the Skullgirl, Aileen replies that the Annie she knows wouldn't have done it the way she did. Annie asks how the Annie she knows would have done it, and an upset Aileen explains that she would have been "kind and patient and understanding" instead of "cruel and blunt and bitter." An explosion caused by the Skullgirl interrupts their conversation, so Annie tells Florence to take Aileen home, but Florence replies that there is no way out of the city with panic and undead flooding the streets. Annie is left with no choice but to tell Florence and Aileen to stick with her as they get to the Medici Tower.

Near the tower, Annie recognizes Squigly and Leviathan, who she did not expect to run into after what happened with Squigly's mother and assumes that the mess caused by the "maid" has brought them back. Annie also meets Big Band, stunned from trying to stop Painwheel, under the influence of Brain Drain, from attacking the Skullgirl and letting the tower fall. Annie concludes that her priority has to be stopping Painwheel and asks Big Band, Squigly, and Leviathan if they can back her up while she tries to keep Painwheel focused on her.

Having taken care of Painwheel, Big Band hopes that Lab 8 can keep her calm and help free her from Brain Drain. Aileen is surprised to have seen the real Annie of the Stars in action, and while she still doesn't like how she treated Beowulf and Peacock, she confesses that she hoped she would act like she did on TV, saving the world and making it a better place. Annie tells her that she can trust Squigly and Big Band because she knows them, and Aileen asks if she doesn't think Beowulf and Peacock someday could have fought alongside her if she had made friends with them, as she did with Squigly and Big Band. Annie acknowledges that fourteen years ago, Squigly and Big Band's situation wasn't much better, but that they beat the Skullgirl of that time with the help of a soldier and a old protege of hers. Florence tells Annie that she believes her heart has always been in the right place, but her greatest strength has never been her sword. The conversation is interrupted when the Skullgirl, Marie, throws the tower into the water. Big Band notices that she is heading towards the Grand Cathedral, so Annie decides to have everyone follow her.

Inside the cathedral, Valentine gets in the way of Annie and company, so Big Band decides to deal with her with the help of Squigly and tells Annie to go ahead. Annie agrees, saying goodbye to Squigly and telling Florence and Aileen to stay with them. Annie eludes Valentine, while the latter is confronted by Big Band, very upset at her betrayal, and by Squigly and Leviathan. In the catacombs, Annie finds Marie, who claims that Annie is familiar to her and that the Skull Heart knows her, but she does not. Marie explains how having embraced the Skull Heart herself to destroy the Medici makes her feel like she shares a kinship with Annie by having embraced her curse of eternal youth to defeat it. Marie's words being nothing unusual for her, Annie only lets her know that she will be the one to bring her down. With Marie defeated, the Skull Heart tries to persuade Annie into making a wish so she can live like all mortals, but she doesn't fall for its trick, expressing that she will find a way to stop the cycle and that when its power finally fades, her curse will too. Annie and Sagan head deep into the catacombs, finding Gehenna and Double inside, telling Annie that she is foolish to step into her domain. Knowing that she wouldn't have gotten there without Big Band and Squigly's help, Double shapeshifts into them to confront Annie. Although Annie defeats her, Double warns her that her descent into Gehenna has only begun and that there she is everywhere and everything, proceeding to triple herself to fight Annie again.

Annie defeats Double again, and determined, she expresses that she is going to bring her down for good, that she will find the source of the Skull Heart and put an end to this once and for all. Double replies to Annie that she hasn't always been so burdened and tries to let her guard down by reminding her that she once found joy in nature and the stars, that her mother became the Skullgirl by wanting to protect her from the adult world through a wish that, despite having been fulfilled, did not stop Annie from exposing herself to violence and death. Double shapeshifts into Annie's mother and plays her as being disappointed to see what her daughter has become, calling her by her full name, Annabella. lthough Annie tries to ignore her completely, Double manages to attack her, leaving her helpless on the ground. Double takes advantage of this and tries to finish Annie off, causing Aileen to quickly jump in to save her. Big Band and Florence also show up to protect her, having figured Annie beat the Skullgirl when Squigly collapsed and after Aileen made them look for her when she didn't come back. Annie thinks about fighting Double on her own, but Aileen tells her that she doesn't have to fight alone and that they all want to help her after also coming to fight the Skullgirl. Double threatens Annie's friends, but having regained a power she had forgotten, driven by "a twinkling galaxy" and those "who dare to strive for a world without the Skullgirl", Annie doesn't let Double hurt them, confronting her for the third time.

After being defeated, Double affirms that the cycle will continue and makes Gehenna crumble. Annie tries to finish off Double, but as the latter makes her ponder whether she would sacrifice her friends' lives to end her own, Annie has no choice but to help them out of Gehenna. Back on Sound Stage 15, Florence tells Aileen that her parents are on their way to pick her up and that she has assured them that they spent the whole Skullgirl attack on the set. Aileen expresses that she has never had to lie to them with something like that before, but promises not to tell anyone what happened. Annie, recovering, says she doesn't think they have to worry about it and thanks Aileen for saving her life and helping her remember what and who she is fighting for.

Annie confesses that her show is actually based on her life and that she has been alive for centuries. She recounts that when she was a radio star, the Canopy Kingdom had several laws restricting the arts, so she decided to do some good and managed to get the radio show "Annie: Girl of the Stars" broadcast on the Canopy Radio Network. When TV got popular, the Renoir family greenlit an adaptation called "Annie of the Stars" in which she had to work out an agreement with the director when he was ordered to bring in the radio voice of Annie for the project, so that no one would be able to realize the truth by cycling the show's crew regularly and being the star as long as she wanted. When she mentions that they also selected a life-double to pretend to be the "actress," Florence, having been the first, tells that once the director was ready to retire, she returned to help keep Annie's secret.

To Aileen's surprise, Annie lets her know that now the ratings have plummeted by letting her bad attitude affect her work. On the other hand, Florence says that the ratings went up on last night's rerun thanks to the press taking pictures of Annie helping to evacuate citizens downtown and that there have been buzz around the midseason finale with Robo-Fortune. She also points out to Annie the resemblance Aileen bears to her and reveals that since Annie's current actress retired a few months ago and since Annie was putting off her job of picking a replacement, she had to take the initiative to find one through an essay contest. Annie offers the job to Aileen and the latter accepts, with the requests that she apologize to everyone from yesterday and let Peacock guest star on her show. Despite having been growling the whole time, Sagan speaks up, surprising Aileen, to tell Annie to be careful of her.

Annie is clearly upset by the idea of taking you with her, she thinks that you are most likely a burden that won't help much (or practically nothing). Annie takes Sagan and his sword "Come on newbie!" Says Annie giving you a frown for you to follow her