Midterm Exams Arc

The Midterm Exams Arc is the seventh story arc in SPY x FAMILY.

The students at Eden Academy take their midterm exams. Great success will lead to Stella Stars, but great failure will lead to Tonitrus Bolts.

Summary
Loid Forger notices that Yor Forger has been coming home late recently which makes him suspicious. Anya Forger asks when they'll be having dinner and Loid says when Yor arrives home. Anya turns to Bond Forger to try to get him to see the future to know what they'll have for dinner. Yor arrives home with a grim face and hands covered in cuts and bandages. Loid asks her if she'd like dinner, but she declines and tells them to eat by themselves as she's not hungry. Anya reads Bond's mind and sees the future where Yor is crying which makes Anya wonder why she's going to cry.

The next day, while Yor and the others are finishing up their work for the day at Berlint City Hall, Millie asks Camilla if she wants to go get a drink tonight, but Camilla declines. Yor leaves work and then visits a store. She arrives at Camilla's house with a dripping paper bag. Camilla opens the door with a worried expression, asking if they're really doing this again tonight to which Yor nods. Camilla then yells at Yor for squashing the tomatoes which were causing the bag to drip out the bottom. Dominic greets Yor with a smile and congratulates her for keeping up with the work. Camilla yells at him for starting this whole thing.

Three days earlier, Yor told Camilla, Millie, and Sharon that she wanted to learn how to cook because a breakfast she made put Loid on the toilet for a whole day. Yor is worried that if she can't learn to cook, it'll ruin her marriage. Sharon tells her they have a maid, Millie proclaims her knowledge of using can openers, and Camilla tells her to take a class. Dominic overhears the conversation and tells Yor that Camilla is a great cook. Yor asks Camilla to teach her to cook, but Camilla tries to decline. However, Dominic pushes for her to teach Yor at Camilla's house.

Back in the present, Yor excitedly puts on her apron and prepares for another lesson. Camilla yells at Dominic and tells him that he'll be on poison-testing duty, but he tells her he already got someone to do that. Yuri Briar excitedly opens the door, ready to eat his sister's cooking. He greets Camilla and gives her thanks for all that she's done for Yor before asking the purpose of this party. Yor tells him that she's learning to cook for Loid in secret, which makes Yuri upset.

Yor presents to Camilla all the ingredients that she bought, to which Camilla complains that she told Yor not to buy so much. Camilla dismissively tells Yor to start peeling the potatoes but she ends up just cutting herself and making a bunch of potato chunks covered in blood. Camilla is shocked that anyone could be this bad at peeling, to which Yor replies that she's much better with a knife. She begins chopping up some ingredients on the cutting board but also ends up cutting right through the board.

Camilla, seeing Yor's excessive failure, tells Yor to just get a divorce already which makes Yuri appreciate Camilla. Yor begs Camilla to continue though as she doesn't want to get a divorce so Camilla tells her to go heat up the ingredients she chopped. Dominic compliments Camilla for having a hidden soft side which Yor never saw as hidden. Yor finishes her first dish of the day, a soup filled with various ingredients including bones and the head of a fish. Dominic tells Yuri to eat up and so Yuri enthusiastically digs into the dish. He screams at how fantastic it is while constantly eating and throwing up the dish. Camilla and Dominic curiously decide to take a bite of the dish and fall to the floor.

Camilla yells at Yor for messing up the dish so much so Yor apologizes. Camilla tells Yor that they'll try something easier like meatballs. Yor presents her finished meatball dish which has a bone and a fishtail sticking out among other things. Yuri digs in once again and proclaims how he's seeing more of his childhood memories with each bite and is seeing his mother beckoning him into the light. Dominic worriedly tells him to stop eating and put down the fork.

Camilla realizes that having had Yor cook for herself and Yuri since they were kids probably warped their palates. Yor however just wanted to make sure Yuri got all the nutrients he needed. Camilla asks Yor and Yuri if they remember any dishes their parents used to make. Yuri remembers a stew their mom made which had a fried egg on top. Camilla tries to help her make it by walking her through the steps, she figures that it was probably a southern stew with a simple base. She has her boil the stew, directs her not to burn it, and tells her to put paprika, salt, and pepper in.

Camilla intently watches Yor cook and points out that she's been a lot less robotic lately. Yor asks if it was maybe because she got married, but Camilla dismisses the possibility and insists that it was something simple like a makeup change. Dominic compliments Camilla on being a beautiful woman, before also complimenting the smell of Yor's stew. Camilla takes a spoonful of the stew and tells her that it's not bad this time. Yuri takes a spoonful himself and tells them that it's not quite as he remembers. Camilla asks them where they're from and Yor tells them East Nielsberg. Camilla tells them that they put sour cream in stew there so she adds a bit. Yor and Yuri both take a spoonful of the stew and look at each other realizing that this is the stew they had as children.

At the Forger household, Loid is training Bond a bit and thinks about how bright Bond is and how he should get security-dog training. Anya tells Loid that she's really hungry with her stomach growling and he realizes how late it is. Yor arrives home with a bag of ingredients and proclaims that she will be making dinner tonight, and Loid and Anya look at her with a look of shock and worry. Yor starts making the stew and explains that she's been taking cooking lessons and apologizes for hiding it. She serves Loid and Anya the stew and they worriedly take a bite of it. They both give a look of surprise and tell Yor that it's good. As they enjoy the dish, Yor begins to cry because of how happy she is, realizing that this marriage isn't just to protect her contract-killing job, but also because she likes making her new family happy. Loid says he can't wait to see what she makes next so she presents her "Yor Forger original" dish. Loid and Anya excitedly eat the dish before collapsing to the ground.

Becky Blackbell greets Anya as they head to school for the morning. Becky asks if Anya saw the episode of Berlint in Love that aired last night, but Anya replies that she only watches cartoons. Becky begins talking about how childish Anya is for not even knowing what love is. Emile Elman and Ewen Egeburg overhear this and make fun of the girls for talking nonsense.

Anya, however, ignores them because she sees Damian Desmond and has crafted a new plan to befriend him. Yesterday, she had a family photo taken with Bond so she could impress Damian with her huge dog. She drops the photo on the ground and brings attention to it. However, Damian and his gang just walk away, ignoring her. Instead, Becky picks up the photo and sees Anya's father, Loid, whom she finds very dreamy, and takes it for herself.

Later, they begin their art class with Henry Henderson in charge as the art teacher is out sick. He assigns them an arts and crafts project with the theme of "animals." However, materials are distributed per table, meaning each table has to manage resources together. Damian initially sees the activity as childish, but after overhearing that their success in this may go on their secret transcripts, he decides to put some effort in. Henry announces the tables with Damian and Anya at the same table, which upsets the former. Becky says goodbye to Anya as they are at different tables, but Anya just worriedly asks for her photo back so she can impress Damian.

Unable to get her photo back, Anya decides to instead create a model of Bond to show off to Damian. Henry looks over the students' work and cooperation and takes notice of Becky's creation. Becky tells him that she made Loid, shocking Henry, who tells her to start over because the theme is "animals." However, Becky stands firm with her work and says that humans are animals. Henry realizes she is right and tells her to continue, but Becky decides to start over anyways as "Loid is more evolved than simple animals."

At Anya's table, Anya finishes making her paper Bond and shows it off to Damian. Damian is unimpressed and calls it garbage which puts Anya into despair. Emile asks Damian what he is making, to which Damian replies that he is making a griffin, the crest of his family. He tells those at his table not to use too much paper as he needs a lot before having a vision of his father praising his work. Anya, reading his mind, envisions herself helping him make it and showing it to Damian's father. Anya offers Damian her help and paper, which shocks him as he did not expect her to submit her Bond model. Anya tells Damian that she just wants to help him, which makes him blush.

Damian instructs Anya to make the hind legs of the griffin and gives her the plans for the model. She instead proceeds to make jet engines which angers Damian. He tells her instead to make feathers for the wings, to which she makes different-sized slips of paper. Damian yells at her for wasting all his paper, making Anya cry. This brings the attention of Henry, who tells Damian off.

The students continue working on their art projects, and Anya decides to convert her Bond model into a small female griffin to pair with Damian's. The students' art projects are displayed in the hallway, which a group from the board of trustees walks through. While they see some well put together art projects, they arrive at Damian and Anya's work, which looks tattered and falling apart. Henry informs Damian that his art piece won first prize due to the board of trustees interpreting it as a powerful vision of the nation's rebound from war. Anya tells Damian that his parents will probably be proud, but he tells her that he has no intention of showing the art to his parents.

Damian returns to his dorm and calls his butler, Jeeves. Damian asks how his dog Max is doing before Jeeves asks if he will be returning home for the weekend, which Damian decides not to do as his father won't be there. He also wants to stay at the dorms to focus on studying for their midterm exams. Damian is about to tell Jeeves about his art project, before deciding to ask what his father's response was to the incident at orientation. Jeeves tells Damian that his father was concerned, which Damian does not believe. Damian ends the call, then goes to study with Emile and Ewen. He then thinks about how Donovan does not care about him and vows to become an Imperial Scholar to please his father and earn his respect. Meanwhile, a bewildered Henry looks over Damian's art project, wondering aloud how it won first place.

Henry Henderson announces to the students that their midterm exams will be in two weeks. He says the top two students in each subject will receive a Stella Star, while students who fail an exam will receive a Tonitrus Bolt for each failed one. Henry proceeds to return their history quizzes from the day prior and is disappointed to show Anya her 13% mark and tells her to stay after class for remedial lessons. Meanwhile, Damian got a 91% which he brags to Anya about, to her irritation. In her remedial class, Anya realizes she should read Damian’s mind when taking history quizzes and tests and begins laughing to herself, upsetting Henry, who gives her extra homework.

On the bus ride home, Anya notices the full moon and starts panicking. Rushing home, Anya asks Loid what phase the moon will be in two weeks, to which he replies the new moon. Anya is shocked by this, as her power will not work on the day of a new moon due to her weakness known as "Eclipsing," meaning she will be unable to cheat during the exam. Anya attempts to get Bond to show her the test questions from the future but instead sees her dinner for the night. Distracted, Anya forgets about her worries for the rest of the night, then wakes up anxious the next day, realizing she has not studied yet.

Loid attempts to help her study, but he ultimately makes no progress, as Anya cannot concentrate with his mind being so talkative. Yor then remembers that Yuri offered to help Anya study so they call him up. Yuri arrives and is introduced to his niece. Anya attempts to read his mind and is overwhelmed by his thoughts about Yor. While Loid and Yuri chat about the recent peace talks, Anya reads their minds and is excited over their secret identities. Loid takes his leave to do some errands, but not before telling Anya that she and Yuri should get to studying.

Yuri starts by giving her difficult problems to solve, which Anya does by reading his mind and surprising him and Yor. Yuri asks why Anya even needs to study, who, after remembering her Eclipsing, tells Yuri it was dumb luck, which he hesitantly accepts. They try studying again, but Yuri gets upset after realizing she is not that bright. However, when Yor asks Yuri for help and Anya exaggerates her love for her, Yuri begins being kinder with his critiquing.

The two continue studying, but after hitting some roadblocks, Yuri questions if Anya likes to study. Anya questions him right back after saying she hates it, to which he replies that he studied hard so that he could take care of Yor. Yuri explains to Anya that “knowledge is power,” and she can be or do anything she wants if she studies. Anya gets confused when Yuri tells her it is “the whole enchilada,” mishearing it as “a swole Chihuahua.” Despite that, she gets very excited about the concept of studying, and the two intensely continue their work. After an exhausting study session, Yuri questions whether Anya has mastered grammar yet, to which Anya asks what grammar even is.

Feeling that he just wasted his time, Yuri angrily storms out of the house. While making his exit, Yuri realizes that he is the one who should be studying and that he does not have enough "power." Yuri believes that if he had more knowledge, he could have captured Twilight during the terrorist incident and says he is still powerless to protect his sister or his country. However, he returns inside for a brief moment to eat all of the snacks Yor just made, once again screaming at how good it is while eating and throwing it up.

Anya contemplates the idea that if she had been smarter, she might have been able to disarm the bomb herself during the terrorist incident. She decides to go to her room to study hard on her workbook. When Loid returns home, Yor tells him how hard Anya has been studying. After picking up a workbook Anya was working on, he discovers it is a subject that is not one of her midterm subjects. Dumbfounded, Loid chuckles to himself and thinks that Operation Strix may very well be doomed. Two weeks later, the students at Eden Academy are sat down in the exam hall and prepare to take their exams. Anya gives Becky a statement of confidence before Henry announces that the midterm exams will now begin.

After the exams, three professors wheel the midterms down a hall to the vault in two boxes. They chat about how it seemed the first-year students had performed poorly before locking the tests in the vault. Twilight goes to Eden Academy, worried that Anya has failed her exams. His goal is to alter Anya's answers before they start grading the tests to prevent her from getting Tonitruses. Twilight then disguises himself as an Eden Academy professor, and begins his infiltration. On his way to the vault, he spots a suspicious man heading in the same direction. The man is a spy, going by the name "Daybreak," and is a self-proclaimed rival of Twilight. His mission is also trying to break into the vault. He was hired for this job as his first real mission and displays a lack of concern when carrying it out.

Daybreak moves towards North Hall, where the vault is, but almost gets caught by some security guards. However, he hides by holding himself horizontally high off the ground on a signpost. He continues onto the building but finds that the door is locked. Instead of trying to pick the lock like Twilight was planning to do, Daybreak blatantly breaks a window on the door and unlocks it from the inside, shocking Twilight. He then plants a soccer ball by the door to make it look like an accident caused by the soccer team.

Daybreak tries to pretend to be an Information Sciences professor but has no I.D. prepared to prove his identity. Twilight intervenes to give him the fake I.D. of Mr. Brown, an Information Sciences professor. While handing him the I.D., he is bewildered to see that Daybreak wrote down his mission details on his hand. The orders are to change the Desmond brothers’ test answers, and Twilight suspects that Donovan Desmond hired Daybreak for the same goal as him.

After showing their I.D.s, they gain access to the vault. Daybreak attempts to enter the passcode to the vault but fails. He pretends to leave and lets Twilight do it in his stead. After opening the vault, Twilight is clumsily knocked to the ground and dragged inside the vault, where Daybreak proceeds to alter Damian and Demetrius Desmond's test scores. He then decides to gain exposure by signing his name on the tests. A shocked Twilight jumps up, shouting that spies are not supposed to leave a trace. Realizing that he blew his cover, he quickly tries to cover up for his mistake. However, Daybreak, wanting to gain exposure, insists that Twilight tell everyone about him without telling anyone about what he did. After Daybreak rolls away, Twilight checks the tests and discovers that Daybreak changed the answers to give the brothers failing scores and was hired by a rival of the Desmonds. Needing their success for his mission to continue, Twilight reverts the changes. Afterward, he checks Anya's tests and is surprised by what he sees.

Five days later, the midterm scores are posted in the Quad. Damian and his gang look for his placement and find that he got 11th in the class. Not only that, but he also placed in the top 2 for History with a score of 94, earning him a Stella Star. Becky finds herself next at 46th place and then looks for where Anya placed. However, having read Loid's mind, Anya already knows that she didn't fail despite not doing very well on the tests. Becky ends up finding Anya placed at 213th out of 228 students. Damian makes an attempt at consoling her by stating she didn't fail in any of the subjects before leaving. Despite Anya being proud of her achievement, Loid decides that he'll need to be stricter about her studies. Meanwhile, Daybreak gets a call saying that he failed his mission and he ends up getting fired.

One month before the midterm exams, George Glooman's father, the president of Glooman Pharmaceuticals, is speaking to his secretary. He tells him that as of the tenth of next month he will no longer be president of the company. The secretary mentions the Desmond Group but the president cuts him off and tells him that the company was in dire straits financially and is not sure how to tell his son that the company will cease to exist in a month. Meanwhile, George listens from behind the office door in shock.

In the present, the students of Eden Academy are cleaning the school grounds. Becky comments to Anya how calm things are now that midterms are over. Anya says that Loid Forger is probably more relaxed since she dodged getting a Tonitrus Bolt which makes Becky ask whether he is strict or gets angry. Anya tells her he's a monster and Becky sympathizes with having parents with high expectations but also finds the idea of monster Loid kind of hot.

Their conversation is interrupted however by Damian, who performs a move he calls "Desmond Style Rolling Sweep," which flings a bunch of dirt into Anya and Becky's faces causing them to cough. Emile Elman and Ewen Egeburg both compliment Damian on his cleaning skills. A bunch of other students also surround him and shower him with compliments and ask about having a study group with him before the next exam. Becky annoyedly looks at Damian and complains about how obnoxious he is but Anya instead says that she wants to go to Damian's study group as well. Becky pauses for a moment then comments that she forgot Anya had a thing for Damian which makes Anya wonder what this "thing" is.

As they're talking, Anya overhears the thoughts of George saying how he'll never forgive you while looking at Damian. George gives Damian the dustpan, Anya asks Becky who that is and Becky tells her it's George from their class. George questions how Damian was able to get a Stella Star despite having had his butler hire a spy to change Damian's test scores to make him fail. Anya is shocked to learn that the person who hired Daybreak was one of her classmates. Becky asks Anya if she likes Damian but Anya ignores the question and says she wants to know more about George. Becky is shocked, believing Anya will just fall for any guy and tells her that she should stay away from George because of how gloomy he is.

George pulls himself together and tells himself that he can still get Damian expelled. He pulls out a cigarette butt from his jacket and pretends to pick it up from the ground by Damian. He accuses Damian of smoking and calls a teacher over to get him in trouble. Damian grabs George's shoulder and tells him to stop, but George throws himself to the ground to make it look like Damian attacked him. The teacher comes over and asks what happened. George explains to the teacher that he found a cigarette butt on the ground and after calling a teacher over, Damian punched him.

The teacher asks if this is true and asks Damian for an explanation if it is. Emile and Ewen insist that it's a lie, but the teacher doesn't trust them because he knows how close they are to Damian. Anya then comes to Damian's defense and tells the teacher what really happened. The teacher, feeling a little scared of Anya, leaves and tells the students not to call him over for nonsense again. Damian blushes and Becky squeals, believing this was some romantic moment between Anya and Damian. Becky tells Anya that Damian probably knows exactly how she feels now but Anya is still confused.

Damian and George both question Anya on why they helped Damian. Damian then turns and asks George why he's trying to get him in trouble and he tells Damian that his whole life is over. George tells them that as of today his company is bankrupt and Damian asks what that has to do with him. George tells him that it was Damian's family's company that drove his father's company out of business and Ewen tells them he recalls seeing on the news something regarding the Desmond Group and Glooman Pharmaceuticals. George believed that if Damian had gotten expelled his family would be too distracted to mess with Glooman Pharmaceuticals. Damian yells at him telling him that there was no way his father's company drove the Glooman's company out of business and Becky agrees saying George went too far. George concedes but tells them that it doesn't make the fact that he'll have to leave school any better. Damian questions this and George tells him that his family will be out on the street tomorrow. George tells Damian that he envies him as Damian and his family are nothing like the trash he is. Emile and Ewen tell George that Damian's family has nothing to do with his success and that he earned his Stella Star.

George bursts into tears, crying about his desire to spend his springtime at school, then he begins picking up trash while calling himself trash. Wanting to calm him down, Damian offers him juice. George glares at him but accepts. After finishing the juice, he speaks of his regret of never being able to order the deluxe caviar bowl at the cafeteria. Damian gets George the bowl, who always wanted to know what it feels like to wear a Stella Star. Damian gets irritated but lets George wear his Stella after he mopes. After, George starts talking about how sad his life will be from now on in Westalis, but Anya assures him that it will be okay, saying that the West is a peaceful country. Happy that all his classmates are being so nice to him, George bursts into tears, and he makes one last request: to sing the school chorus with everyone. Becky is the first to start singing, and eventually, everyone from Cecile Hall except Anya starts singing the chorus together, dancing in a circle.

After they finish, Damian gives George his favorite set of stationery. After that, several other students start giving gifts to George. The students wish George a farewell and tell him that he'll always be a part of Cecile Hall. After getting home, Anya tells Loid and Yor Forger about George and what happened today. Loid wonders though how Glooman Pharmaceuticals being bought out is the same as them going bankrupt.

After George arrives home, his father tells him that the Desmond group saved their company but it also meant he would no longer be president of the company. George asks if that means he can still go to school to which his father tells him of course and asks if he did his homework. After an embarrassed George returns to school the next day, Becky tells him to return everything, Damian reminds him to pay for the juice, and Anya pats his shoulder.

Story Impact

 * Yor Briar learns to cook her late mother's southern stew with the help of Camilla.
 * Becky Blackbell sees a family photo of the Forgers and becomes infatuated with Loid Forger.
 * Anya Forger and Yuri Briar's first time meeting each other.
 * The name of Damian's brother, Demetrius, is first mentioned.
 * Damian earns his first Stella Star.

Characters Introduced

 * Daybreak
 * George Glooman