(Some of you may hate this chapter, but even if you do, please read the bottom notes. I have a important question to ask you all. But first, here are some scenes that I cut from the chapter!
"Stop. Talking," she growled, her whole face a shade of dark purple from his stupid comments.
"Gah! You got it in my eye! Which is-"
"Don't say it!" the two girls shouted in unison.
"-what my ex used to say! I'm on fire right now! I'm like my friend Zuko when his dad challenged him to agni kai."
"C'mon, say what you'll do to me. I need to be punished after all, don't I?" he asked with a sultry grin, short-circuiting Boscha's brain.
"Okaaay, well I'm gonna leave before anything happens," Amelia said as she got up from the chair and headed for the door.
"Nothing is going to happen!" Boscha shouted, horrified by what Amelia was saying.
"No, no, it's okay, you can stay. I don't mind you watching."
"Watching what?!
The air inside of Hexside was filled with an excitable energy as students ran up and down the halls, sporting their Banshee pride with blue and yellow clothing, some even with the Banshee mascot printed on the front or back. Two boys in particular were especially excited for tonight's game; they were on the second story, with one boy looking like a minotaur and the other a golem of stone. They screamed in each other's faces and bashed their foreheads together before the minotaur boy lifted the golem boy over his head and threw him out the window, breaking it. Kevin watched as the golem boy landed in a bush and stood back up before he let out another cheer and charged through the stone wall, running back down the hallway screaming in excitement.
"Am I missing something? Why is everyone so excited?" Kevin asked as he grabbed a book from his monster locker before its mouth closed shut. He joined Luz and Amity as they walked down the hallway to go to class.
"Our Grudgby team won a game last Friday, and today we're going up against our rival, Glandus High. Students here tend to get more...excited when we face off against them," Amity said, watching and flinching as two girls bash their foreheads, knocking themselves out. "This is usually as bad as it gets."
"Well, at least they're more tame than humans are when it comes to sports. I can't count how many times humans have practically burned their cities down because their team lost, or in some cases, won."
"Why would humans burn down their city if their team wins?" Amity asked, cocking her head to the side.
"Humans are...weird sometimes," Luz said, trying to be as nice as possible with her explanation. To be honest, she didn't really know the answer herself. Humans could be such a mystery.
"That's putting it nicely," Kevin muttered. "Humans are batshit crazy sometimes over the dumbest of things. Personally I've never seen the appeal of sports; I'd rather do anything else with my time than play or watch them."
"I take it that means you won't be coming to the game tonight?" a voice asked from the side, causing the three to stop in their tracks. Kevin grinned as they turned to see Boscha leaning against one of the lockers.
"Awww, does the team captain want me to come and cheer her on? That's so cute," Kevin cooed, causing the witch to scoff in annoyance, her cheeks flushing a bit.
"In your dreams."
"I can't say what happens in my dreams because we're in school right now. Just know that chocolate syrup is almost always involved," he said with a wink, causing the pink witch to splutter. Amity let out a noise of disgust as Luz laughed.
"Easy there, big guy, I'm gonna need you to dial it down a bit," Luz said as she tugged on his sleeve.
"What? At least I didn't mention the stuffed unicorn. That's when things get really freaky."
"You're probably the nastiest person I've ever met," Boscha said as she stood beside the boy, joining him and the others as they journeyed off to class.
"Well maybe one day you'll let me show you how nasty I can really be," he whispered into her ear, causing a shiver to run down her spine. Her blush deepened, turning her cheeks a dark purple.
"Down boy, down! Leave the poor girl alone; you're making her blush," Luz said as she grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the three-eyed girl. "You're lucky none of the teachers are around to hear what you're saying. The teachers here can be really strict sometimes."
Right after Luz said this, an Abomination smashed through the door of one of the classrooms. The Abomination teacher, a short man with green, chin-length hair flowing down the sides and back of his head and a large bald spot on the top, rode on the back of his monster. He, along with his Abomination, wore matching outfits to show their Banshee pride. He screamed and the creature mimicked him by letting out a loud roar before they took off down the halls, smashing through the wall that led to the cafeteria.
"I think they're a bit too preoccupied right now to care about what I say and do," Kevin said before digging into his bag and lifting out his flask. He definitely needed a drink before heading to his Illusions class; as much as he liked Gus, the little dude asked too many questions about humans. He started to drink and used his free arm to keep Luz away as she tried grabbing it.
"As much as I love the spirit the students and staff are showing, I'm afraid it's all for nothing now," someone sighed behind them. Kevin froze before quickly hiding his flask under his arm, and he and the others turned to see a sad-looking Principal Bump approaching them.
"What's wrong Principal Bump?"
"What? Why?" Boscha asked, shocked and totally caught off guard by the sudden announcement.
"Some of our players have come down with a case of the headcrabs and are currently being treated for it in a neighboring city. The only available players we have are you and Amelia, and I doubt I need to remind you that there must be three members to a team."
"Well, why can't you just substitute Amity in?" Luz said. "She used to be the captain after all. Wouldn't she be the best choice?" she asked, but Bump shook his head.
"That's right, you weren't here when it happened, so you don't know. Well first off, ever since its creation, Grudgby has been a female-only sport. While you were gone, there were some protests, complaints, scandals, and a riot or two here and there over who should be allowed to play Grudgby. Eventually all the schools in the Demon Realm came to a vote, and officially made Grudgby a coed sport. Now there must be two girls and one boy to every team, and as you can undoubtedly see, most of the male students here are very, uh, lackluster; which is the nicest possible word I can use without getting fired."
"What he means is most of the boys here have zero Grudgby playing capability, so he'd rather forfeit than get embarrassed by them," Boscha said, translating for Bump so he wouldn't have to actually say what he wanted.
Luz let out a small 'ah' of acknowledgement before pursing her lips, as she tried coming up with an idea. Her eyes drifted towards Kevin as he stared out the window, sneaking in sips from his flask, uncaring about the conversation at hand. She grinned before slapping his back.
"Kevin will do it!" she exclaimed, shocking Kevin back into reality and causing him to do a spit-take, covering Bump in his drink.
"What?" he and Boscha exclaimed simultaneously.
"Yeah! I mean, you guys need a boy to play on the team, right? Well, Kevin is a boy, and with his powers, I'm sure you'll beat Glandus High without a problem! Everybody wins!" Luz explained.
"Yeah, everybody except for me! I mean, what is this? The plot to a shitty mid-2000's live action Disney movie set in high school? Are we gonna have to sing and dance too?" Kevin rolle his eyes. "Plus, there's the fact that I don't do sports."
"Don't, or can't?" Boscha asked snidely.
"I...fuck you, that was pretty good," Kevin grumbled, causing Boscha to chuckle. It wasn't often he was at a loss for words or couldn't think of a comeback, so she was going to savor this short-term victory. "Regardless, I refuse to play. This is too cliche, even more me."
"Mr. Kevin, would you mind explaining to me why you've brought a prohibited substance into my school?" Bump asked as he wiped himself clean and tried wringing his clothes free of the liquid. "You are aware alcohol is forbidden, correct? Even more so since you're underage? Hand me your flask this instant."
Kevin's eyes widened in surprise as looked down to his flask and back up to Bump. He did this several times before turning towards and chucking it through the window, breaking the glass and sending it flying clear across the schoolyard.
"What flask?" he asked, causing Bump to give him a deadpan expression.
"What were you hoping to accomplish from that?"
"I...don't know, actually. I panicked," he said with a chuckle while rubbing the back of his head.
"So on top of bringing a forbidden substance into my school, you've also decided to break a window because you panicked?" Bump asked before an idea struck him, causing him to smile in a way that made Kevin wary. "Mr. Kevin, I'm going to give you a choice. You can either play on the team and I forget everything that you've done today, or I can expel you."
"Mmm hmm, interesting offer. Expel me for how long, exactly?"
"For eternity."
"Uh huh. Welp, it's been fun guys, but I guess I'm getting expelled." Kevin shrugged before turning and starting to walk away. He didn't get far as Luz, Amity, and even Boscha grabbed the back of his shirt and arms before dragging him back.
"He'll do it," Luz spoke on his behalf.
"Oh come on! Why does no one ever care about my feelings?"
"Quit your whining and just accept the deal. I'm not exactly happy about spending any more time with you either, but it's not like Bump is going to ask any other guy to join the team," Boscha said.
"That's because every other student here is just a secondary character that no one cares about," Kevin said before he felt a tug on his sleeve. He turned to see Luz giving him her puppy-dog-eyed stare, and he sighed. He could never say no when she broke out her secret weapon. "Bloody fucking hell. Fine, I'll do it," he grumbled, causing Bump to smile.
"Wonderful, I'm glad we could come to an agreement. The game is tonight at six. Don't be late," Bump warned before walking away.
"Well, we solved one problem at least," Amity said.
"Oh yeah, wonderful," Kevin said, "except for one teensy, tiny, little problem: How the hell do you play Grudgby?"
"Well, we have eight hours until the game, that's plenty of time to teach you how to play," Luz said before gasping, a twinkle in her eye. "Montage time!"
"Oh god, not another one," Kevin said, turning pale before Luz grabbed his and Amity's arms. She dragged them down the hallway and around the corner in the blink of an eye, leaving Boscha behind.
(Several hours later)
"And that's how you play Grudgby. More tea?" Luz asked as she poured more tea into Kevin's cup. The trio currently sat on a blanket on the Grudgby field; Luz wore an otter onesie, Kevin wore a wolf one, and Amity wore a bunny one. On one end of the field a group of clowns and other performers were gathering their supplies in order to leave, and on the other side a pentagram of fire was burning into the grass.
"So basically each team has a goal, and we gotta throw the ball through the enemy's goal to score a point. Whoever scores the most points wins," Kevin said before he took a sip. "Why did we do all that random shit and waste several hours when it literally took you five minutes to explain to me how to play?"
"I don't control what happens in the montage or how it plays out," Luz said before taking a sip.
"I...can't argue with that logic," Kevin said. "So, do we just play with our bare hands? Or, just our feet? Or, is magic allowed?"
"Using your magic is allowed, but there will be magical obstacles that pop up here and there to make things more difficult," Amity explained. "Pretty much anything is allowed as long as you don't injure the other team."
"Also, there's the Rusty Smidge that you can find. If you do, you instantly win; that's how Boscha beat me, Amity, and Willow when we played against her last year," Luz said bitterly, still irritated that you could win in such a cheap way.
"That's so lame. What's the point of even playing when you can find it and win instantly? That seems so cheap," Kevin said. "What does it even look like?"
"It's a golden beetle with six black legs, two black arms, and at the top of its head is a teal circle with a black pentagon in the middle," Amity said, describing the Rusty Smidge in great detail. "Normally there's only one, but since this is a big game, there will be several decoys in the field, and each will have a different effect. One will take away points, another will freeze the finder until one of the teams scores a point, and so on. So try not to get tricked."
"Score points, don't let the enemy score, don't get duped by a fake Smidge. Sounds easy enough," Kevin said confidently. "How long do these games usually last?"
"It depends; usually two hours, sometimes longer," Amity said, and Kevin had to forcibly stop himself from flinching from the answer.
"I see...hey Luz, mind getting us some more tea? We're all out," Kevin asked, and Luz nodded happily before grabbing the teapot.
"Sure! Be back in a sec!" she said before standing up and zooming away to get more tea, leaving Kevin and Amity alone.
"This definitely throws a wrench into our plans," Kevin said, and Amity nodded in agreement.
"What time did you say the reservation you made for Luz and I was?"
"Seven, and believe me, it took a lot of string pulling to get you guys this reservation," Kevin sighed.
For today's plan, Kevin had gotten a reservation at the famous "Demonsio," a high class restaurant located in the Boiling Isles. It's ranked in the top five restaurants across the Demon Realm, and it takes months, even years in a few instances, to get a table. It took a lot of planning for Kevin to get a reservation, including calling in a few favors, paying some people off, and making some people disappear (only temporarily, mind you). He and his clones had even had to stage the fake kidnapping of the headchef's kid, who Kevin 'saved' in order for the chef to be in his debt.
"What has she said about this? Have you even asked her yet?" He asked, and Amity shook her head.
"I haven't, but she already said she wanted to come support you tonight. I'd hate to make her choose between us," she said, and Kevin hummed in acknowledgment.
"Okay, okay, we can still make this work."
"How? A high school sports game doesn't exactly scream 'romantic,'" Amity said.
"True. Let's see." Kevin hummed to himself, snapping his fingers as he usual did while trying to come up with a plan. After a final snap, he thought of something. "Kiss cam!"
"Kevin, this is a high school game, not a professional one. There are no kiss cams."
"True, but Bump owes me for doing this. I'll pull a few strings and try to get it set up," Kevin said. It was a shame that Bump didn't have any kids or a spouse (that Kevin knew of, anyway). Nothing worked better and got Kevin whatever he wanted like a fake kidnapping. "Just make sure you're sitting next to her in case I can actually pull this off."
"This is, without a doubt, the dumbest idea you've ever had. But I really don't have a choice, do I?"
"Nope," he answered simply, causing Amity to sigh.
This was going to be a long day.
(Several hours later. Hexside locker room)
"Will you stop squirming? I'm gonna accidentally poke your eye out with all your moving."
"I can't help that I'm ticklish! Why do I need face paint anyway?"
"It's Banshee tradition to wear face paint. Now quit your whining before I strangle you," Boscha threatened as she continued putting face paint under his eyes.
"Jokes on you, I like being choked," he said, feeling great joy in seeing her splutter and blush from the sudden and unexpected comment. It was always fun embarrassing her.
"Why are you like this?" she asked, and watched as he started to smile. "What now?"
"Nothing, you're just really cute when you blush," he said, and his eyes widened in surprise when she placed her hand over his mouth.
"Stop. Talking," she growled threateningly, her face turning a darker shade of purple. She could feel him smile and felt something press against her hand. "Ew! Did you just kiss my hand? Gross!" she exclaimed while pulling her hand back and wiping it on his shirt.
"I mean if you want, you could turn around and I could kiss something else," he said with a wink, and laughed as she froze, blush darkening yet again.
"Uh, are you two done flirting?" Amelia asked, having been silent this whole time as she watched the two with great curiosity. She and Kevin hadn't spoken to one another since he started attending Hexside, so what limited knowledge she had about the human came from Boscha's constant and neverending rants about him. He seemed nice, definitely a flirt and pervert like Boscha had said, but she couldn't see him being a 'menace' as her pink-haired friend had claimed.
"We're not flirting!" Boscha shouted, embarrassed and appalled that her friend would say such a thing. "And you! Say another word and I'll...I'll…" she trailed off, unable to think of anything to say. What could she say? Any threat she would use, he'd just turn into a stupid and inapppriate joke. She watched as he grinned deviously and leaned forward, head resting in his hands. "Just shut up!"
"I didn't say anything."
"You were going to though! Whenever I say something or try to threaten you, you always twist it into one of your stupid jokes! It's infuriating!"
"You know what's really infuriating? How pretty you are when you're mad," Kevin said with a smile, causing Boscha to groan in annoyance.
"Could you two take a break from...whatever this is so we can go over some strategies?" Amelia asked, trying hard not to smile from how Boscha was reacting. She had never seen the girl struggle like this before; it was honestly kind of sweet and adorable.
"Right, right, let's talk about some strategies and our placements."
"I'll take up Boscha's rear end," Kevin said, smiling and raising his hand to volunteer. He felt something slither around his back and was caught off guard as a large plant vine was wrapped around his mouth like a piece of rope, silencing him.
"Oh thank titan, you're a saint, Amelia," Boscha sighed happily. "But as much as he's annoying, he is partially right. I want dumbass here playing defense."
"Defeee!" Kevin exclaimed, muffled by the vine.
"Yes. As much as this pains me to say, your power set or whatever you wanna call it is ideal for defense. You can summon walls of stone or use the air and other shit to block the enemy when they try to score."
"Bt defeee s brng! Yur jus scr tha I'll gt mre pnt tn yu," Kevin said, vine still muffling him.
"I'm so going to regret this, but let the idiot speak. I could barely understand any of that," Boscha said, and Amelia nodded understanding before loosening her vine just enough for Kevin to pull it over his head.
"Thank you. I said defense is boring and you're only putting me on it because you're scared of me scoring more points than you," he said, and Boscha let out a sharp laugh at his cockiness.
"You're fucking mental! You've never even played before and yet you think you can score more points than me? The literal captain of the team?"
"Maybe, or maybe I'm just talking shit to annoy you? There's only one way to find out," he said, eyes gleaming dangerously. "Let's have a bet."
"A bet?"
"Sure, let's up the stakes, have some fun. If you win, I gotta do whatever you want, and vice versa. How about it? Or is little miss team captain scared of the big bad human?" he asked in a teasing tone, purposely trying to get under her skin. And, judging by how her third eye was twitching violently, he was getting the job done.
"Tch, fine, I'll play your stupid little game," she said. "When, not if, when I score more points and beat you, you'll have to...be my servant, for the next month. You'll have to do whatever I say, when I say it. That includes not making a single joke, and to really mess with you, no drinking," she said, taking great joy when his smug grin was wiped off of his face and replaced with a scowl.
"Sure, just take away two of the things that keep me sane in life," he said, clearly not amused. "But this was my idea, so I'll agree to it. I'll be your servant or slave or whatever for a month if you beat me. Now, for what I get when I win," he said with a grin that did not help ease her nerves. There was no telling what sick, twisted thing he had in-store in that sadistic and perverted little mind of his. "I get to touch your ears for a minute."
Their reactions to his prize were unexpected, to say the least. He raised an eyebrow when he saw Boscha blush at his request, her eyes wide from surprise. Amelia stood behind her, fiddling with her hands, an awkward aura now surrounding her. He knew his request sounded odd, but to receive such confusing reactions made him intrigued. "Am I missing something? You guys are acting like I just said she has to become my wife or something. What's the big deal with me playing with her ears?"
"Well, touching and playing with a witch's ears is a very...intimate act," Amelia said, trying to find the most appropriate word.
"Like, sex level of intimate? Kissing level? What are we talking about here?" he asked.
"It's hard to gauge it, but in-between I guess? Probably more towards kissing than sex itself, I suppose. Witch's ears are super sensitive to touch, so we tend to only let close friends, family members, or significant others touch them. Or healers, if we're experiencing pain like an ear ache," Amelia explained further. Kevin let out a small 'ah' in understanding, as a couple of his exes like Polt and Jiro were the same way with their ears. If touching a witch's ear was as big of a deal like Amelia made it seem, he'd have to come up with another idea of what he would get if he ended up winning the bet. As much as he absolutely loved messing with the pinkette, he wasn't going to make her do something she didn't want to do. He was an asshole, sure, but even he had standards and lines he wouldn't cross.
"Deal," Boscha said, surprising her teammates.
"You sure? I'll change my thing if you want," he offered, but she shook her head.
"I'm sure. This'll just give me even more incentive to try my best and make sure you don't beat me," she said confidently. Kevin shrugged and hopped off the table.
"May the best witch win," he said, sticking his hand out for a shake to finalize the bet. She would've accepted it, had his hand not burst into flames suddenly. "Oh, uh, sorry about that, it's a force of habit. Whenever my friend Alastor and I would make deals, we would set out hands on fire; it was a demon thing," he explained, shaking his hand until the fire dissipated. Once the fire was no more, the two shook hands, finalizing the deal. There was a sudden buzzing from inside the room, and the three turned to stare at the door. The light above it turned green, signaling to them that it was time to play. "Let's get this cliche 'fight against our rival school' trope over with."
(Out on the field)
The stands were full of screaming and cheering fans who were psyching themselves up for what would surely be an amazing game. Not one single seat was left open as they were all filled by students, faculty, and families, each showing their school pride by wearing their respective colors; blue and yellow for Hexside and purple and white for Glandus.
"Wooooo! Go Hexside! Show them who's the best!" Luz cheered from the stands, standing on top of her seat while waving flags she was holding onto for Gus while he went to go get snacks. "Kick their but—whoa!" she exclaimed, foot slipping off of her seat and sending her falling down to the ground. A pair of arms caught her, stopping her from crashing into the metal bleachers, and she stared up into the golden eyes of her savior. "My hero!" she giggled, causing Amity to blush.
"A-are you okay?" she asked, lifting Luz up and back into her seat. The human nodded, causing the witch to sigh in relief. "That's good, but please be more careful. I don't want you getting hurt."
"Sorry, I'm just really excited! It's been forever since I've seen a Grudgby game. I'm pumped!" Luz said while pumping a fist into the air, causing Amity to smile. The human's energy and excitement were infectious, just like her smile and laugh. Her smile froze as Luz leaned on her shoulder, staring up at her with a warm and sweet smile. "Thanks for coming with me by the way, it means a lot."
"N-No problem," Amity stuttered, giving the girl a shaky smile. She hated how nervous and awkward she got when Luz touched her. Why couldn't she be like the Amity of her dreams and fantasies? The one who never panicked or froze when Luz started eating he— 'Okay! Now's the time to think about that!'
"Gay!" two separate voices shouted, and Amity scowled as she turned and glared at her siblings. Emira and Edric had decided to join them, with Emira sitting next to Luz and Edric sitting on the other side of Emira. Why they had to sit here out of all places she didn't know, but she had a good feeling it was just to mess with her.
"Shut up!" Amity hissed before Luz suddenly jumped back onto her feet.
"Hey look, it's Kevin!" she exclaimed as all the Hexside fans cheered as their team exited out of their hallway. "Wooooo! Go Kevin! Show them who's boss!" she shouted excitedly.
'Oh god, she's like mom back when I was in little league,' Kevin thought to himself, cheeks turning red from embarrassment as he turned and waved at Luz, who excitedly waved back. It was embarrassing, sure, but it did give him a warm, fuzzy feeling to have someone cheering for him, and it did bring back what few fond memories he had of his childhood before the 'incident' happened. 'Head in the game, Kevin. You've got a bet to win," he thought before turning back to the field.
He watched as the Glandus team exited their own hallway, allowing him to see what exactly they would be dealing with. Leading the team was a green-skinned girl with short, dark green hair. A long, darker green horn protruded through her forehead and stood proudly and at attention. She had giant green eyes and frog-like lips. Following her was a boy with light blue skin and black hair that covered his eyes. He was the tallest of the three and stood at about six foot even if Kevin had to guess. And in the back was a pale girl with short yellow-blonde hair, blue eyes, and three whisker markings on each cheek.
'So we've got a Tsu knockoff, a hentai protagonist, and fem Naruto. And here I thought China had shitty ripoffs," he thought to himself as the two teams stood opposite of each other on the field.
The referee stood off to the side of the field to avoid any danger and looked over both teams, making sure they were ready before he blew his whistle.
From the middle of the field a hole opened, and the ball was shot high into the air. Before the other team could move an inch, their view and path were obstructed by a wall of fire courtesy of Boscha. A vine broke through the ground and shot up into the air, wrapping around the ball before bringing it back down and dropping it into Boscha's hands. She cocked her arm back, setting the ball ablaze and readying to throw it, only to become confused from sudden screeches of pain. She brought her hand forward, eyes widening in surprise as she realized that the ball no longer sat in her hand, but instead had been replaced by a little pink, fuzzy creature with no limbs, two giant blue eyes, and two little white antennas with much fluffy balls hanging from the end. The creature, named Watapon, screeched in pain from being set on fire before poofing away in a cloud of smoke.
"Thanks for the ball, Boscha!" she heard Kevin shout from behind. She and Amelia turned to the boy with the hall in his hand, a giant turtle made of metal with a device on its back standing in front of him. Kevin placed the ball on the turtle's back and took a step back, watching as the device on its back rose a few inches, aiming straight for the opposing team's goal before it fired. "Fire in the hole!" he shouted, causing the turtle's eyes to glow red. A devastating boom echoed through the area as the turtle fired the ball, forcing Boscha and Amelia to duck to avoid getting hit. A wall of stone and a wall of ice were summoned by the enemy team in hopes of protecting their goal, but the ball smashed through both with ease before entering their goal, giving Hexside its first point and causing its fans to cheer.
"Nice shooting bud," Kevin said, patting the turtle on its nose and getting a mechanical roaring sound of thanks in return. When he looked up, he smiled at the fury in Boscha's eyes as she stalked towards him, prompting him to meet her halfway. "Cool, right?"
"You can't just take the ball from me to score a point," she growled at him.
"All's fair in love and war, hon," he said with a grin. "Hope you're ready to lose our bet. With Catapult Turtle by my side, there's no way I can lose," he said confidently. Boscha looked behind him and watched as the ground beneath the monster started to crack. She pointed behind him, causing him to look behind; the two watched as the ground below Catapult Turtle opened, revealing a giant mouth filled with razor sharp teeth, one of the many traps that could be found on a Grudgby field. The mouth swallowed the turtle whole, destroying it. "No, my turtle!"
"Can you focus for five minutes, please? C'mon, we need to win this thing," Boscha said as she dragged Kevin away before he could start the mourning process. "Besides, don't you have more monsters you can use?"
"I mean, yeah. But some of them aren't...the brightest," Kevin said, trying to be nice.
(Monster Montage: Incident 1)
"I said stop the ball, not slice it!" Kevin shouted up at his monster, a giant, stone statue with two swords. Kevin had summoned this creature, appropriately named 'Giant Soldier of Stone', to guard their goal; unfortunately the soldier had went above and beyond the call of duty to stop the ball and ended up slicing it in half. Hexside had been penalized several points as a result. "Go sit on the bench and think of what you did!" he ordered while pointing to the bench. The soldier lowered its head in shame and walked towards the bench before plopping down onto it, crushing it.
(Monster Montage: Incident 2)
"Silver Fang you little shit, get back here!" Kevin shouted as he chased his gray furred wolf monster around the field. The wolf had the ball held firmly in its maw and was running around the field, easily and happily avoiding both teams and the numerous traps hidden on the field.
"Why'd you even summon a wolf to help?" Boscha asked as she summoned a wall of fire, cutting off Silver Fang's path and forcing him straight into Kevin's arms, capturing him.
"I thought it would be funny," Kevin said as he tightened his grip on the squirming wolf. "Fang, drop it!" he ordered, causing the wolf to whimper before he let go of the slobbered covered ball. "Now go sit next to Soldier and think about what you did." Letting Silver Fang go, the wolf scampered off and laid down beside Soldier of Stone.
(Monster Montage: Incident 2: Trap Card Edition)
"Where's the goddamn ball?!"
"I don't fucking know! The better question is, why did I think using this card was a good idea?" Kevin asked as several giant, black top hats, each with a golden question mark on the front, spun around the field, switching places with one another to keep the two teams guessing. He had intended for Magical Hats to distract the enemy team, not hijack the ball and keep it hidden from him.
"Well? What do we do now?"
"I don't know. Suffer?" He shrugged before one of the hats flew above them and landed on top of Amelia. The hat whisked her away and began switching places with the others, albeit they could easily identify which one she was in, on account of her muffled screams.
"This is the definition of a shitshow. I hope you're happy."
"I mean, kind of?"
(Ending of the 3rd round. Score: 65 to 33)
"One round left and we're up by 22. And guess who's winning our little bet," Kevin said with a little grin, causing Boscha to roll her eyes.
"You're winning by one point; don't get cocky. We still have another round left to go, so anything can happen," she said with a small growl of annoyance.
Aside from the numerous times Kevin's monsters had run amok, Hexside had done a good job at continuing to increase their lead over Glandus. So far Kevin had scored the most with 25 points, Boscha wasn't far behind with her scoring 24, and Amelia had cleaned up the rest by scoring 16. Boscha was confident that normally she would have more points and be ahead of Kevin by miles, but with his monsters, he always had the numbers advantage. Plus he had stolen the ball from her a few times, which still annoyed her, that dirty cheater. She shuddered at the thought of his hands anywhere on her body. The question is, was it out of disgust, or something more? Not even she could tell at this point.
The giant screen above the crowd swapped away from the scores momentarily and started showing an eldery couple that was attending. A heart formed around them and miniature hearts of pink and red started filling the screen, the words 'kiss cam' appeared in big pink letters below. The couple laughed from being shown and shared a quick kiss, causing the crowd to cheer. Boscha raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"This is a highschool game. Why in the name of titan is there a kiss cam?"
"Oh, I set that up," Kevin said casually, staring up at the screen. Boscha let out a small 'ah' in understanding, his words not fully registering with her until a few seconds later, when her eyes widened and her cheeks turned a shade of dark purple. In a state of panic and anger, she cocked back her fist and punched Kevin square in his arm. "Ow! What was that for? I didn't do anything this time!"
"You fucking pervert! You set this up so we could make out, didn't you?"
"Wha—no! Although that would've been a good idea," he said, making her blush darken. "But no, I set this up for Luz and Amity, not us."
"Oh," she said, realizing she may have overreacted, just a bit. "Uh, sorry about that. But wait, why the hell did you do this for them?"
"I've been trying to get them together, but something always pops up and gets in the way."
"And your plan is to have them kiss at a highschool Grudgby game?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Are you stupid or just really bad at romance?"
"This wasn't my idea. They were supposed to go to a fancy dinner, but you guys roped me into playing and Luz wanted to come support me, so I had to improvise," he explained. "Managed to slide some snails Bump's way so he would allow it and paid off the dude in charge to make sure he'd get Luz and the green-haired girl next to her on screen."
"So you paid Bump titan knows how much so he'd allow a kiss cam, then paid the dude in charge to make sure Luz and Amity would be shown, that way they can kiss, and what, announce they love each other? Do you realize how dumb this whole plan is?"
"...I was on a short time frame." He shrugged, knowing this whole thing was stupid, but sometimes you just gotta play with the cards you're dealt. He continued watching the screen as it continued showing different couples, until eventually Luz was featured on the screen…
WITH THE WRONG BLIGHT.
"Oh you've gotta be kidding me," he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose when he saw Luz had been featured not with Amity like he intended, but with Emira instead.
"Probably should've specified which green haired girl that was sitting next to Luz."
"I mean, yeah probably, but to be fair this isn't my fault. I never anticipated Emira would sit next to Luz. Amity can't blame this one on me," he said, watching as Luz's eyes widened from being shown on screen, her cheeks darkening from her blush. Emira too was surprised from being shown, but it was quickly wiped away and replaced with a smirk. She turned her head and winked at someone (Amity, if Kevin had to guess) before Luz turned to her, probably to tell her she didn't need to do this if she didn't want to. But didn't get the chance to say a word before Emira grabbed the front of her shirt and pulled her forward, smashing their lips together for everyone to see.
"Amity is going to kill her, then you."
"Probably. For now I'm just gonna sit and enjoy the show," he said while sitting back, watching as Emira got really into the kiss, a hand on the back of Luz's head to deepen it as the poor Latina sat there frozen like a statue, eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights. Somehow they got wider and her blush darkened as her cheek started to bulge. "And now, she's using tongue. This would definitely not be allowed on Disney channel," he said, his own eyes widening and cheeks darkening when he saw some movement in Luz's throat. "Damn she's really getting into it! There goes the PG13 rating I was going for. This is even making me blush."
"I feel violated just watching this," Boscha said before raising her finger threateningly just before Kevin could say something. "Don't say it!"
"I was just going to ask if all witches had long tongues, or is it based off of genes like horn and third eyes?"
"If I answer, are you going to make a stupid or inappropriate joke?"
"More than likely," he answered truthfully, causing the witch to sigh.
"I'm going to regret this, but for the most part, yes, many witches have long tongues."
"Oh...so if I wanted you to tongue fuck my throat, you could?" he asked.
"I-wha-ju-w-WHAT?" she exclaimed with a splutter and even squawk because how the fuck was she supposed to respond to that.
"I said—"
"I know what you said, don't say it again!"
"You two give off a really weird vibe," Amelia said after she scooted away from the two, not wanting to be near...whatever this was. "It feels like one minute you wanna kiss, and the next you wanna rip each other's heads off. It's not toxic, but it feels like some cliche trope from a show about teenage angst or something. I recommend a couple's counselor or something."
"We aren't dating!"
"Yet," Kevin said, smiling as Boscha glared at him. "Wow, are they just now stopping?" Kevin asked, watching as Emira finally let Luz go and pulled away, allowing the girl to finally gasp for much needed air as the witch gave her a flirtatious smile. The smile was quickly wiped off of her face as a fist suddenly flew in from the side, striking her cheek and sending her flying back in her brother's arms. The last thing shown on screen was Amity wrapping her arms around Luz protectively and pulling her back, glaring at her sister with murderous intent before the screen changed to show the scores again. The ref blew his whistle, signaling for the teams to return to the field. "Looks like we're up. Try not to be too upset when you lose our bet, okay hon?" he asked with a smirk before getting up and walking towards their side of the field. Boscha growled and grabbed Amelia's arm as she walked past before she pulled her back.
"Help me."
"Please don't drag me into this. I don't want to be involved in whatever weird human mating ritual you guys have going on right now," Amelia pleaded.
"Hey! Who went to your little brother's play with you when no one else would?" Boscha asked with a glare, causing the greenette to sigh.
"You did."
"Exactly! I lost four hours of my titan-damn life because of that play! You owe me!" Boscha said, and even though she still looked reluctant, Amelia nodded, agreeing to help. "Good. Trip him, trap him, do whatever you can to keep him from scoring. I do not want him winning this bet!"
"Is him touching your ears for a minute really that bad? Or, are you just afraid that him showing you some physical affection will only further cement the fact that you like him? And, you fear him rejecting you and potentially never talking to you again, which makes you scared that you'll lose the only person you ever truly felt comfortable around? Which is stupid because he clearly likes you back?" Amelia asked, causing Boscha to blink a few times from surprise because wow, she wasn't expecting getting called out like that. Yet again she didn't know what to say.
"Guys! C'mon, we can't start without you!" Kevin called from the field, saving her from having to reply to Amelia.
"Calm down, we're coming!" she shouted back as she and Amelia stood from their seats. "Just keep the ball away from him," she told Amelia, choosing to ignore their previous conversation, causing the greenette to sigh and nod once again in understanding. The duo made their way to the field and stood on their respective sides. The pinkette could see that the human was already looking through his cards, trying to see which one would help out the most. She glanced to Amelia and nodded at one another before staring ahead at the other team, readying themselves for the whistle.
It was blown shortly after as a hole opened in the ground, suddenly shooting the ball high into the air. Kevin went to run forward to summon a monster when he suddenly couldn't move his feet, sending him falling down to the ground with a loud yelp, his cards scattering amongst the grass. He looked back, a growl escaping him once he saw his feet entangled in some vines.
"Sorry Kevin!" Amelia apologized, using her vines to snare his feet while also using some to grab the ball before handing it off to Boscha.
"Have fun losing the bet," she sneered down at him before she and Amelia ran ahead to score a point, leaving Kevin behind.
"Oh so summoning a monster is cheating, but having your little friend is perfectly fine? That's so dirty... dirty Boscha, ha, better save that imagery for later on tonight," he said to himself, summoning a knife in one hand and using the other to lean back as he bent his legs, allowing him to cut his feet free.
While he did so, his other hand slid slid and touched something and he froze when he saw he was touching one of his cards. "Oh fuck, who did I summon?" he asked, picking up the card and turning it before groaning in disdain. "Oh shit, not him!"
A swirling vortex of blackening clouds started to circle overhead as a strong wind suddenly blew through the area, nearly knocking several people off of their feet or out of their seats. Thunder boomed as lightning forked across the dreary sky before a stray bolt suddenly crackled down and struck the field, causing the players to shield their faces from the debris and smoke. A crazed, almost cartoony, chuckle rose from the slowly dissipating smoke, revealing a skeletal figure with dark blue bones, a large pair of wings on its back, and two bright, crazed yellow eyes. The skeleton started to let out an uncontrollable, neverending giggle as it peered around the area, searching for something, or for someone.
"The hell is that?" Boscha asked as Kevin got back to his feet.
"That's a toon monster. They're crazy and unstable, unlike their counterparts. Nobody move," he told her in a calm and quiet tone, freezing on the spot as the skeleton's eyes landed on him. "Hey bud, been a while," he greeted the crazed skelton as it let another laugh, its head twisting and doing a 360, sending a shudder of fear down many spines in the crowd. "Still crazy as ever I see. So, I didn't mean to summon you. Could you, I don't know, let me destroy you and—hey, wait, put that down!" Kevin said as he watched the unhinged skeleton pick up a card. The monster gave a scary grin as a stray bolt of lighting hit the card in its hands like a lightning rod. It quickly died down, revealing a green book in the monster's hands. "Don't you dare open that book, you little shit!"
Toon Summoned Skull laughed as it opened the book, revealing a pop up of a scary looking castle, along with a graveyard and field of fog. Like when it was summoned, a strong gust of wind suddenly started blowing through the area as toon after toon monster started flying out of the book. Red Eyes Toon Dragon, Toon Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl, and countless others let out their respective giggles, laughs, and roars as they were finally freed from their toon prison. Blue Eyes Toon Dragon was the last to be released, and with a maniacal giggle opened its mouth, causing blue energy to form. Tossing its head back, the tiny dragon snapped its head forward and launched a blue beam of destructive energy straight at the person who had kept it trapped for so long: Kevin. The human was about to summon a wall of stone in hopes of protecting himself before he was tackled out of the way, causing the blast to hit the ground and cause a giant explosion, leaving a massive crater in its wake. The dragon's fellow toons started to use their own special attacks, causing the crowd to scream in panic as many started to flee.
"Why the hell did I let Pegasus talk me into taking those stupid toons!" Kevin groaned as he laid on the ground, something weighing him down. He looked up, and smiled when he saw Boscha sitting on top of him, as she was the one who tackled him out of the line of fire. "Now this is a view I could get used to."
"Now's not the time," she hissed down at him, ducking her head down on reflex as another blast hit the ground close by. The majority of the crowd had already dispersed besides the few brave enough to stay behind and try to fight off the invading cartoon characters.
"So later on tonight? Because fantasizing about it is nowhere near as good as the real thing," he said before something behind the blushing pinkette caught his attention; a giant clam and a flash of light blue. Kevin 'eeped' and summoned a small wall between his legs, blocking an arrow that surely would have skewered his manhood. "It was a one time thing, get over it!" he shouted at Toon Mermaid. The toon let out a small 'hmph' and crossed her arms before she and her clam flew away, with many toons following so they could continue their path of mischief and disaster. A mess that Kevin would surely have to clean up later.
What they left behind were broken and partially destroyed stands, a burnt and destroyed field, and children who were more than likely traumatized for the rest of their lives. Luz and company were safe inside a magic bubble Emira and Edric had quickly summoned, and the few witches who had stayed behind were safe as well. Slightly beat up from the toon's overwhelming strength, but alive nevertheless.
"Well, at least no one got hurt?" Kevin said right before Amelia fell down next to the duo, hair and clothing burnt as she let out a small cough of black smoke. She raised her hand weakly, showing off something that gave off a golden glint. The Rusty Smidge, albeit dirty and burnt to a crisp, sat in her hand.
"I-I found it after that black dragon with red eyes attacked me," she said, letting out another cough of black smoke.
"We win!" Kevin cheered as he raised his hands into the air. Not even a second later did the giant screen come tumbling down to the ground with a loud crash.
(Locker room)
Despite the toon attack and the area being destroyed, Hexside had been declared the winner on account of Amelia finding the Rusty Smidge. While the Hexside fans were happy with the outcome, the Glandus fans were far from thrilled due to their loss, especially since it was because of the stupid Smidge, of all things. And, speaking of stupid things…
"Wipe that smirk off your face before I wipe it off for you," Boscha growled threateningly. She and Kevin were in the locker room alone, since Amelia had left them a few minutes ago. Kevin didn't flinch or falter; if anything, his smirk just widened as she threatened him. He found it cute.
"Why the hostility, hon? I'm just smiling. Can't I smile?"
"With a mind like yours, no. Titan knows what thoughts are swimming through that cesspool of perversion right now," she said. "Do you really want this? Isn't there anything else you want?" she asked.
He hummed, thinking, before snapping his fingers with an idea. He started digging into his backpack before pulling out two objects, both of which horrified her. "I've always wanted a cat maid," he said with a smile and light pink dusting his cheeks, a maid outfit in one hand and a pair of cats ears in the other, leaving the pinkette slack jawed.
"You've gotta be shitting me. Why do you have a maid outfit?!"
"For emergencies."
"What kind of emergencies—" Boscha stopped herself and started massaging her temples. She realized there was no point in questioning Kevin or what logic he had (or lack thereof, in this instance). "Just forget it. Can we get this over with please?" she said, summoning her scroll before setting a timer for one minute. "One minute, no more than that. If you go over, I will throat punch you. And don't make that into a joke!" she exclaimed, stopping him before he could utter a word. She watched as he raised his hands in surrender and nodded before she made her scroll disappear. "Alright, c'mere you freak. Just, please be gentle," she said as he approached.
"Funny, haven't heard that request in a long time."
"Be quiet."
"You're nothing like my ex Loona. She liked it ruff," he said, referencing his she-wolf demon ex from hell.
"Will you shut—" she started to say before getting cut off as she felt something brush against her ear, causing a shiver to run down her spine and her cheeks to darken. She stopped talking after that, knowing full well that if she tried to speak some kind of embarrassing noise would escape, and she would not give him the satisfaction.
"Awww, you're blushing. Well aren't you the cutest little—" he started to say when he felt a quick tap to his stomach, not strong enough to cause him any sort of pain or discomfort, but just enough to send him a warning; if he made another stupid comment, he was getting decked. So he zipped his lip and continued what he was doing, a cheeky grin plastered on his face as she glared up at him.
She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to fight off the sudden urges and instincts that were getting ready to kick in. She could already feel a familiar feeling bubbling in her chest, the same one she always had when he was near, now intensified by his ministrations. When she felt him hit just the right spot behind her right ear, she finally lost control. A low rumbling started in the back of her throat and a loud purr to finally escape her. She refused to open her eyes; she could already imagine the shit-eating grin he must have right now, or that mischievous twinkle in those gorgeous stupid brown eyes of his. She loved hated every second of this, hated that it was him of all people that was doing this, hated that he was the one that was making her feel good. She hated how much she was secretly enjoying this. Why him? Out of the countless witches and demons that plagued this realm, why did she have to like the human? Titan, fate really could be such a cruel bitch sometimes.
'Heh, Luz was telling the truth,' Kevin thought to himself, loving, cherishing the sounds she was making in his hands. The purrs, her blush, the way she was smiling all made his chest ache and stomach flutter. She really was beautiful. And she really did remind him a lot of Loona and the time they had spent together in hell. The she-wolf demon had a rough exterior that he had eventually cracked and broke through. She however just wasn't as much of a prude as Boscha was. But still, he found her reactions, her blushes and stutters and the way she always froze up when he made an inappropriate joke, absolutely adorable.
A beeping sound interrupted them, bringing the duo out of their respective little worlds. Kevin tried to not let his disappointment show, but rules were rules, and a minute has passed. He let goof the witch's ears, but was surprised when she suddenly latched onto his hands before placing them back on her ears.
"C-Can you keep going? Just, for a little while longer?" she asked, surprising him further as she started nuzzling against his palms. There was a look in her eyes that he was familiar with, a needy, desperate look, one of craving, of need. But, it wasn't the same eyes that some of his exes like Loona would give him. No, this was something different. The desperate look and plea, the nuzzling of his hands despite her acting like him touching her was the end of the world earlier, the ironclad grip on his hands, needy, fearing that he would let go and leave her. It wasn't difficult to figure out the problem.
The girl was touch starved.
Kevin knew the look and mannerisms well, too well, as sad as it was to say. His exes, Raven, Jinx, and Loona had all been touch starved, as were some of the friends he had made during his travels, such as Amélie 'Widowmaker' Lacroix or Lapis Lazuli.
Kevin did as requested and continued his ministrations, enjoying the fact he was bringing the girl some relief to her problem. He could feel her ears do the occasional twitch as he played with them. Her purring grew steady and rhythmic, her nuzzling slowed down and stopped as she opened her eyes to stare into his own. He felt those damn butterflies again and that familiar flutter in his chest.
Suddenly time seemed to freeze, and nothing else mattered besides them right here, right now. She reached up and cradled his face between her hands, thumbs brushing and running up and down his pink cheeks, her own a dark purple. Before they even realized what was going on, before they could even think or consider pulling away and forgetting this whole thing had happened, they started to lean in. Eyes fluttering shut, lips puckering, breathing washing over one another as they continued to lean in, slowly but surely closing the gap inch by inch. They don't need their eyes open to know that they're close, and they can almost feel one another, lips ghosting against one another.
There was a sudden, loud banging at the door, causing their eyes to immediately snap open. As they gazed into one another's eyes, they froze, suddenly remembering their position. With a sudden yelp and scream they leapt away from one another, cheeks dark and eyes wide like deer caught in headlights. They covered their mouths, the ghost sensation of one another's lips still lingering.
"Kevin? Are you still in there?" a voice asked before the door opened, revealing Luz and Amity. The latina cocked her head to the side as she stared at the human and witch, confused by how dark their faces were. "You two okay?"
"Nothing happened!" they exclaimed in perfect unison, furthering the human girl's confusion. Judging by their faces, their body posture, and the panic in one another's eyes, Amity had a pretty good idea what had just happened, and she inwardly smiled to herself; another thing she had to tease Kevin about.
"I didn't ask what happened, I asked if you two were—"
"I gotta go," Boscha said, cutting the girl off as she quickly zipped past the two and exited through the door, leaving a confused Luz, a blushing Kevin, and a smiling Amity behind.
"I interrupted something, didn't I?" Luz asked before gasping, turning back to Kevin with wide and twinkly eyes. "Were you two about to kiss?!"
Kevin opened his mouth to say something before the ground opened below him, swallowing him whole and allowing him to escape Luz's interrogation; for now.
"Hey! You can't escape from me! I know where you live! In the room next to mine!"
(Several hours later. Amity's secret library room)
"So, today was definitely interesting…" Kevin trailed off as he and Amity sat in her secret room. The green-haired witch was currently sitting in her chair, arms crossed against her chest as she glared at the wall in front of her. "We won the match, and my clones have hunted and destroyed most of the toons," he said, yet received no reply. "You know, Emira was really into that kiss."
"I know," the witch growled, planning on having a little 'discussion' with her sister once she got home.
"It was kind of hot."
"Shut up!" she exclaimed, causing the human to snort at the sudden outburst. "This is all your fault!"
"Wha—no it's not! How was I supposed to know Emira would sit next to Luz? I have powers, yeah, but seeing into the future isn't one of them!" Kevin said, trying to defend himself. Amity went to retort before begrudgingly realizing he had a point; neither of them could've accounted for her siblings to not only show up, but sit directly next to them. She huffed and leaned back in her seat, arms refolding across her chest.
"You have a point," she huffed. "Today sucked."
"I know. Today felt like a filler episode of an anime, or a chapter in a fanfic that focused on couple B more than it did couple A, even though couple A is like, the priority and what the readers or watchers actually care about," Kevin said, and Amity nodded in agreement. "You know if you want, we can just label this a filler day? Like, instead of counting this as one of my 10 ideas, we mark this off and replace it with another idea so it would still technically be 10 ideas?"
"Hmm, let me sleep on it. For now, I'll choose the next one so we can continue as planned until I can make up my mind," Amity suggested, and Kevin nodded in agreement and understanding. Getting up from her chair, she walked over to the board and looked at the few options she had left. How they had gone through so many with all of them failing in one form or another still baffled her beyond belief. The final two options would have to be done on later dates, so she chose the only option she could do sooner rather than later.
"Okay, I'll get the tickets and have a clone bring them to you," Kevin said as Amity sat back in her seat. When she suddenly started to smile at him, he grew wary.
"So...what did Luz and I interrupt in the locker room?" Amity asked, grin widening once she saw the human blush.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Kevin said with a serious face, which wasn't helped by his reddening cheeks.
"Yes you dooooo. You were about to kiss!" Amity teased in a sing-song voice.
"I can't hear youuuu," Kevin said, mimicking her tone as he got up from his seat to leave.
"Kevin and Boscha sitting in a tree!" Amity started to sing as she got up and followed Kevin, fully intent on teasing him as much as she could to get her revenge.
"La la la, can't hear you!" he exclaimed as he tried blocking out her words.
The librarian raised an eyebrow as he watched the two leave, their voices rising as they tried singing above the other. He rolled his eyes and continued putting the books back in their respective places. "Teenagers," he mumbled while shaking his head.
So I understand that some are you probably didn't like this chapter since it really wasn't Luz/Amity like previous ones were. So, I'm gonna offer you all a deal. IF and only IF the majority of you genuinely hated or were upset with this chapter, I'll up the chapter count of this story and do another one. Like Kevin said, we'll consider this chapter as nothing more but filler, a break from the 'usual programming'. But I'm only going to do so if the majority genuinely hated this chapter. Please don't lie to try and get another chapter, you'll have more Luz/Amity moments in the sequel, and Kevin/Luz moments in the prequel if you like that.
Okay, with that out of the way, let's address something else. I have a discord now! Since I can't post links on FFN, please go to my linktree (ghost509) and click the invite link, if you want to join, that is.
That's it for now, I think. Join me next time when Kevin either fights a squid, or the gang sing their hearts out, depending on what y'all want/what I do. See ya in chapter 14!