Never Meet Your Heroes

Never Meet Your Heroes is the thirteenth chapter in Season 2, and the twenty-fifth chapter overall.

Heading to ToonCon
After getting ready, Expi and Mariko head out to ToonCon - an annual convention centered around creators and fans of various shows, games, and comics. They are particularly interested in going this year, because Brett Woodrow, the creator of Battling on the Earth, will be attending. The two head outside, and run into an animal donning gear and a mask covering up the first half of his face, and he asks Expi and Mariko about going to ToonCon. When they get on the bus, Expi talks about Brett Woodrow, but the animal warns them that after running into Brett Woodrow at other events in the past, he came off to him as a 'grump'. Expi questions this, but the bus arrives at their destination, and the animal simply tells them that he'll let them figure it out. Expi asks him for his name, but his voice is drowned out by the crowds and bus leaving.

Brett Woodrow, A Grump?
After getting off, Mariko goes to use the restroom, and Expi walks around the building until she spots a booth with a banner above it displaying the 'Battling on the Earth' logo. The creator, nor any of the crew members appear to be there, until Brett Woodrow shows up, opening the booth while trying to shoo away fans and cover his face from photographs. Expi is somewhat turned off by his behavior and contemplates what the animal on the bus said about him, but after Mariko comes back from the restroom and asks about him, she insists that it can't be true and that she would be grumpy too if she had to deal with large crowds like the ones around the booth.

The booth opens up, and Expi and Mariko get in line, as they discuss the season finale of Battling on the Earth. But as they do so, they don't notice they're next in line until a voice yells 'NEXT!' a couple times at them. Expi and Mariko walk up to the booth, but Expi notices that Brett Woodrow appears completely uninterested in his surroundings, opting to look at his phone. She asks about him signing their figures, to which Brett does, but rudely asks them if they want anything else. Expi stumbles, but Mariko begins talking to him about the season finale, to which Brett tells her to ask her 'damn question', and answers telling them that they will find out in the next season, then shooing them off by yelling 'Next!'.

Meeting Jane McKeen
After getting out of line, Expi and Mariko end up feeling uncomfortable after their confrontation with Brett Woodrow, but while they're talking about him, another voice asks them to come over - which turns out to be the series' co-creator, Jane McKeen. Jane apologizes for Brett's attitude, and talks about how he doesn't like going to ToonCon despite her offering to 'represent the series' on her own. She then offers to sign Expi and Mariko's figures, and also asks Expi to open up to a blank page in her journal so that she can leave behind a message. Afterwards, she answers Mariko's question, telling her that although she can't tell her too much due to spoilers, she does encourage them to look at some of the symbols appearing within shots of her home. With that, Expi and Mariko both tell her that they don't have anything else to say, to which Jane tells them that she was glad to meet them, to which Expi replies with 'You too!' and by thanking her for the autographs.

The (Mostly) Unseen Side of Brett Woodrow
For the rest of the morning, Expi and Mariko walk around ToonCon, asking questions and talking to both fans and creators of their favorite creations, before ordering lunch from a booth. Expi points out that there will be a panel discussing the fourth season of Battling on the Earth in 10 minutes, and that they should head to the auditorium. They do so after finishing lunch, but with their still being a few minutes and the Battling on the Earth crew not being quite ready, Mariko decides to go to the bathroom once again, but after doing so, finds that she can see behind the curtain where the crew are behind. She finds Brett Woodrow being rude towards the other crew members, especially Jane McKeen, but after witnessing it for a little bit, she tries to go back to her seat, only to almost run into another animal walking across her, causing her to fall over - onto the lever lifting up the curtain.

This causes the entire crowd to see how Brett Woodrow is treating the other crew members as well as hearing his remarks about the fans. This completely shocks the entire crowd, including Expi, as Mariko sneaks back to her seat. Brett Woodrow tries to play it off, but other animals in the crowd begin leaving, to which Expi and Mariko choose to follow along with. They both go outside and wait for a bus to take them back home. Expi scrolls through social media, to which footage of Brett Woodrow's behavior is circulating, while Mariko watches others leave the building, before the animal they saw on the bus comes out. He talks about what had just happened, to which Mariko tells him they found that side of him earlier on. Expi talks about how she is disappointed, hoping that Brett Woodrow would be better than what they just saw, and that she isn't sure about watching Battling on the Earth now. The animal reassures her, saying that they don't have to stop enjoying the show, especially with all the other crew members on board who are much nicer. Expi then agrees, telling him about Jane McKeen, which reminds her to look at the message she left behind. After reading it, both Expi and Mariko agree that although Brett is 'a bit of a jerk', they don't have to stop enjoying Battling on the Earth.

Epilogue - The Animal on the Bus Revealed?
After getting off the bus, Expi decides to ask the animal his name, to which it is revealed to be Miguel Buster - Mariko's rival from the Sooper Epic Kart Racers tournament that took place the previous year. She asks if Miguel recognized her, to which he says he did, but wanted to keep a low profile due to being a popular video game streamer and wanting to keep others off his tail until he sat down at his booth, however remarking that he did enjoy meeting fans that day. Miguel then greets Expi after seeing her for the first time, but they soon remark about it being nice to see each other before Expi and Mariko walk home. But as they do so, Mariko spits out her drink after remembering what Miguel just said about being a popular streamer.

Characters

 * Expi
 * Mariko
 * Miguel
 * Brett Woodrow
 * Jane McKeen

Trivia

 * This is the first chapter published within the same month as a previous chapter.
 * 'ToonCon' is a reference to 'Comic-Con', a real life annual convention centered around comics, television and general pop culture.
 * Error: Despite Expi and Mariko being said to wear caps in the story, they do not appear to be wearing caps in the cover art.
 * This chapter introduces the first fox and deer characters in the series.