Blight Industries. It was the facility where most of the Boiling Isles' technology, gadgets and weaponry was built. As the name implied, it was owned by the Blights, one of the wealthiest and powerful witch families. With the amount of money and power they had, they commanded a lot of respect and authority. And it happened to be Amity, Emira and Edric's family.

Tonight was a special night at the facility. A secret auction was to take place. Those invited were to wear hoods and masks to conceal their identity to all but the Blights. Emira and Edric stood guard at the entrance, checking their invitations... and discretely putting "Hex Me!" signs on their backs.

Inside was a large stage, with two figures standing in the spotlight. The first was a woman with green hair and was wearing a black skirt and a purple shirt with a white corset. The second was a rather disheveled looking man wearing a messy white lab coat and crooked goggles. The woman spoke as she took a bow, "Welcome, valued investors, to our annual Blight Industries private sale!" Her husband tried to bow with her only to loose balance and land on his face.

Ignoring her husband's clumsiness, Mrs. Blight continued, "If you're interested in reliable home security, we're here to help. And, if you've got an enemy or two... Well, who are we to judge?" The investors laughed at her joke. "This is my husband Alador Blight, the greatest abomination creator of the era. My name is Odalia, and as an oracle, I predict you'll love what we've got in store for you tonight. We are proud to present... the first glimpse of our crowning achievement." A platform rose up, revealing what looked like an Abomination garbed in armor. Next to it was Amity, looking incredibly bored.

"The Abomaton Soldier!" Mrs. Blight said, giving off a flair of showmanship. "It will pour your tea! Help you keep up with the latest trends! And best of all, it will defend you against any unwanted visitors!"

Amity and the Abomaton got into a battle stance. Amity's necklace glowed as she heard her mother's voice speak in her mind, "Mama to Mittens, remember our deal: Make this look good, and we'll forgive your recent lackluster performance in school."

"Yes, Mom." The Abomaton's fist turned into a hammer and tried to slam her, but she easily dodged it. "Wow it's so fast and strong. Order now." It grabbed her and held her up. "Oh no, it's undefeatable. How will I ever escape?" Suddenly, her grom picture slipped from her pocket. The creature was about to step on it and that's when Amity stopped acting. She cast a spell that caused the Abomiton to melt before it could take another step.

The investors were not impressed and began booing. Mrs. Blight quickly tried to do some damage control. "Oh, of course, w-well that was but a beta test. We can't wait to see you all next week when reveal the uh... the finished product in all its glory!"

After the auction ended prematurely, she marched toward her daughter and grabbed her by the arm. "Amity! You just lost us a lot of money! What's with you lately?!" But Amity's focus was directed at the picture in her other hand. Mrs. Blight immediately got her answer. "I see. Looks like our precious Mittens has been getting... distracted." Neither Amity, nor Emira and Edric liked the frown their mother was making.

At the Owl House the next morning, Hooty struck a cauldron sitting on the weathervane like a bell. Luz and Strix were giving lessons to their own pupils: who just happened to be their mentors, Eda and Lilith. "Light in the darkness, a glittering bridge of ice, the mightiest tree in the forest!" Luz produced light, ice and plant spells.

"And the flames of the Inferno!" Strix produced a fire spell.

"You can make all these, and more, with glyph magic! Welcome to day three of Luz and Strix's magic boot camp!"

Two more fire glyphs ignited behind her, startling a sleeping King. Sitting in desks in front of the kids were Eda and Lilith. And let's just say that they got a good glimpse of what the two older witches were like back in their Hexside days. Lilith was paying one hundred percent attention to her nephew and Luz with glee while Eda just scratched graffiti on her desk with a pen, looking incredibly bored.

"Okay, we have covered every glyph I've learned up until now. So today, we'll learn something new."

"Are we about to encounter a never-before-seen glyph?" Lilith asked Luz.

"Un... fortunately no. These four either came from nature or another witch's spell. I- I don't know where to find more." Eda and Lilith glanced at each other when she said that.

"We basically got lucky finding these," said Strix. "So, instead we're doing glyph combos!" He drew a yin-yang light and fire glyph and activated it, making a flash bang. "Ta-da! Did you see that? I couldn't really see myself. I probably shouldn't have held it so close."

Lilith held her hand up. "Miss teacher, did I do it right?" She showed Luz a drawing of four ice glyphs forming a circle.

"Yeah! That's really good! Let's see how you're doing Eda." Eda was carving a fire glyph onto an ice glyph. "I- I don't think that's such a good-"

"Double glyph combo, go!" Eda slapped her hand onto the glyphs. They both flickered then caused a small explosion. "Oh dang, I was hoping more of an ice blast situation."

"Mom, I know you're impatient to get your powers back, but try to master the basics before you start experimenting."

"Oh, look what you've done, Lilith! You made my son as boring as you!"

At that moment, Hooty came down. "Toot toot! The Hexside train is a-coming! Chugga-chugga!" He grabbed Luz and Strix by the collars and dragged them off.

Luz had only five seconds to rapidly shout, "Uh okay, uh, King's in charge while I'm gone. Bye!"

King awoke and said, "Hahah, power!"

Eda stood up in her desk and made a jubilant shout, "Yes! Teacher's gone! Hah, I wonder what other combos I can try."

"Teacher said we're supposed to master the basics before-"

Eda blew a raspberry at her teacher's pet sister. "Basics are so basic. Now if we want to be powerful again we're gonna have to start thinking outside the box!"

"If we want to be powerful again, we have to use glyphs perfectly! And we can only do that through..." She held up three flash cards that read "Memorization", "Repetition" and "Following the rules".

Eda smacked them out of her hand. "Well, I'm more interested in 'experimentation', 'innovation' and uh, 'laughing at tools!' Like you! Hah," she laughed as she left.

Lilith growled at her sister, then gave King an annoyed look. "Weh? Yeah yeah, I'll deal with it. No one ever said power came with responsibility..." The little demon walked after Eda.

Luz felt her palms sweat as she and Strix walked through the school's front doors. "Okay, first day back after the petrification ceremony. Just be chill."

"Just think of it as another day at school. Nothing to- WAH!" Strix screamed as the two of them were tackled by Willow and Gus.

"Luz! Strix! You're okay!"

"Whoa, that voice is deep," Strix pointed out to Gus.

"Witch puberty," Gus explained. "Maybe someday it will happen to you."

"What?"

"I can't thank you guys enough for helping me and Eda at the conformatorium," said Luz.

"That's cool," said Gus. "I just hope it helps Eda learn my name. She keeps calling me Goops."

"Hey, Goops!" a random student called out.

"It's already spreading..."

At that moment, Strix felt his scroll vibrate. He unrolled it and his eyes widened when he saw he got a message from Emira. "Don't come to school," it said. Confused, he responded, "I just got here."

The response he got made him more confused. "Get out of the school now!"

"Emira, what are you-"

Amity's arrival interrupted him. "Hey Luz."

"Amity!" Luz greeted her.

"In celebration of your return, I've brought you a homemade fairy pie."

"Oh wow! That sounds so-" Luz took a better look at the pie and realized with horror that the fairies baked in it were still alive. "...Gooood..."

"The ingredients are... very fresh." CHOMP! Amity's eyes widened when Strix snatched the pie right out of her hands and scoffed it whole. "STRIX!"

He blinked and realized what he'd done. "Oh! I am so sorry, Amity! For some reason, I'm developing a craving for raw flesh. I think I got another tapeworm because of it."

"It's alright Amity," Luz said, patting her friend's shoulder. "It's the thought that counts. I'll just imagine eating it." Then her cheeks turned a bit green.

"Luz?"

"Oh, nothing. You know, after everything that's happened, I'm just happy to return to some sense of normalcy."

Spoke too soon, Luz. At that moment, the PA system came on and it sounded like Principal Bump was fighting with someone. "You can't just barge in here!"

A woman's voice rang out, "Yes we can. We are the Parent Creature Association. Luz Noceda, Strix Aluco Clawthorne, Willow Park and Augustus Porter, report to Principal Bump's office now! And you too, Amity."

"MOM?!"

The kids sat in front of the principal's desk, wincing as Mrs. Blight recounted pretty much all the shenanigans they got into. "The abomination situation, the destruction of detention, the rampage of Grom. These are but a few of the incidents that have endangered Hexside students, including our daughter." Amity glared at her. "So, the PCA has decided to..." Mrs. Blight coughed.

"Oh, right. Um, these four are bad influences and must be executed," Mr. Blight finished her sentence. They gasped in horror. "Ahem, I mean expelled."

"WHAT?!" Luz, Strix, Gus and Willow exclaimed.

Amity glared at her mother again. Her necklace glowed as she heard her mother's voice in her head again. "Take this as a lesson, Mittens. A Blight always upholds their end of the deal." She stopped glaring and looked down in defeat.

Principal Bump sighed. "Sadly, I have no choice in the matter. Luz, Strix, Willow, Augustus, effective immediately you are no longer students of Hexside."

Strix's hands began to tremble and his wings popped out again. He slammed his palms onto the desk and pointed at Amity's parents. "Now listen here, you!"

"What?"

Before he could rant at them, he stopped when he saw Amity giving him a look that nonverbally pleaded, "Please, don't make things worse!" He sat back down and growled, "Nothing. Just wanted to know if you were listening."

"Good." Mrs. Blight focused her attention on her daughter. "Now, you'll be taking double the classes to make up for lost time. Actually, I'm appalled that you're not in class right now. What are you thinking?"

"Right, sorry."

Mrs. Blight snapped her fingers and two guards barged in and snatched the kids. Luz called out, "No wait, no! Amity! Amity!" But Amity couldn't bear to look at her.

As they were being dragged out, Strix caught sight of Emira and Edric. They both looked disappointed. "We tried to warn you," said Emira sadly. "You shouldn't have come here."

"YOU COULD HAVE BEEN A BIT EXPLICIT!" Strix shouted at her.

The kids grunted as they were literally tossed out of the school. Gus began to pace back and forth. "It finally happened! Our memorable adventures caught up to us. Oh, my dad can't find out about this! I guess I'll have to start surviving off the land." He picked up a leaf and prepared to eat it, only to through it away. "Ah! This is impossible," he cried loudly.

Willow hugged a tree. "I guess this is goodbye. I'll water you one last time... with my tears!"

When Luz and Strix saw the Blights exit the building, the latter gritted his teeth. "YOU!" They turned to look at him. "STOP! GHETTO TIME!" He was stopped when Luz clapped a hand over his mouth and held him back.

"Ah, ba, ba! Uh, Strix, I think it might be best to let me handle this." Strix nodded his head. "Okay." She turned her attention to Mrs. Blight. "How dare you mess with my friends' lives! What have we ever done to you?"

Mrs. Blight smirked at her. "Luz, was it? Please, this isn't personal. I actually appreciate your tenacity. We're just trying to teach our daughter a valuable lesson in business."

"How does this teach anything? We're still gonna be friends with her. I'm calling applesauce on this business baloney!"

"Your human language is hard to understand, but I think I see your point."

Strix noticed Mr. Blight not focusing on his wife's conversation and was chasing after a butterfly with a human head. Animal instinct took over and he grabbed the butterfly with his mouth and bit down on its neck, eating its head. Mr. Blight let out a yelp of fear.

Mrs. Blight cleared her throat. "Ahem. As I was saying, if you're interested in talking things through, I'm sure we can come to some sort of an agreement." She handed Luz and Strix a business card.

"Gus chomp!" Gus grabbed Luz's card, chewed and spat it out.

"Come on Luz," Willow said, giving Mrs. Blight a resentful glare. "We can figure this out on our own."

"That's right, we'll get back into Hexside or die trying!"

"No one's dying, Gus."

"Not with that attitude, Strix."

Mrs. Blight waved them goodbye in a mocking way as she said, "Yes well, when that doesn't work, you know where to find us." She walked off, dragging her husband behind her as he mourned the loss of the butterfly.

Back at the Owl House, Eda sweated as she concentrated on her work. "Okay, almost got it... Glyph pyramid!" she cheered as she completed her house of glyph cards.

"And what are you expecting this glyph pyramid to do?" questioned King.

"It's supposed to prove that I'm the superior witch. Watch and learn." She slapped on the house of cards, but all that did was make it collapse and nothing else. "Ugh, okay let's think. Bile sacs have different spell phlegm sloshing around together. So why can't I mix these up too?!"

"But those are disgusting liquids, these are symbols from the isles. Maybe there's a different way to combine them."

Eda hummed in thought. Suddenly, they heard Hooty yell, "Hootly-mootly!" They looked outside to see Lilith craft a crown from ice magic and place it on Hooty's head, followed by making a pair of popsicles and finally, an ice swan with Hooty's head. "Whoahahaha! I bet even Eda couldn't do that! Wow!"

Eda slammed the window close as she growled with jealousy. "Maybe if you just learn the basics like Luz said-"

"I don't have time for basics," she snapped at King. "I'm on to something, and I'll prove it!"

"This is going to be good," Strix thought as he reclined on a chair, watching as the kids prepared to get back into school.

"Operation Change Bump's Mind, let's go!" Luz stopped when she saw Strix. "Hey, aren't you coming?"

"Only if you agree to let me use this." He held up the Mask.

"No way! We're doing things the peaceful approach."

"Let me no how that goes."

First, the kids sent a gift basket containing a "Please un expel us!" letter, a drawing of him and a cake that was supposed to look like him only it melted. Spooked, Bump threw the cake at them. Next, they tried to sneak in disguised as teachers, but that plan failed when the real teachers busted them. Finally, they tried to fly into the school with Owlbert, only to retreat when Bump aimed a giant crossbow at them.

Strix munched on a bag of popcorn, looking quite happy. "Well?"

Luz sighed. "Alright. We'll do it your way."

"Glad to hear that." Strix slapped the Mask on. "Alright, Bumpy! We're bringing out the big guns! Strategy One!" He donned an American football uniform and helmet and molded the kids into a football. "Run and punt!" He charged at the school, but Bump cast a spell that made a platform launch them into the sky.

"Strategy Two, Bungee Barrel!"

"Is this safe?" asked Gus as he, Luz and Willow were stuffed into a barrel.

"Nope!" Strix launched the barrel and it flew toward the school, only for Bump to cast a forcefield spell that shattered the barrel.

"Strategy Six! Mining for schools!" Strix used a drill to dig under the school, but Bump cast a spell that sent the school flying into the sky. The kid gritted his teeth to the point they broke.

"Strategy Ten: Grappling hooks!" That plan failed when Bump's abominations cut the ropes.

"Strategy Seventeen, Eighteen and Nineteen: FAAAAAAAAIIIIILLL!" Strix screamed as he and his friends were launched into the sky by another of Bump's traps.

For the rest of the day, the students at Hexside had an interesting time watching the kids try to get back into school through the various ways. Some actually wanted them to succeed while others like Bosha just smirked at their futility. And as for Amity? She did her best to hold back her tears.

"THAT'S THE LAST STRAW! NOW WE GO FOR THE NUCLEAR OPTION!" Strix screamed as he took out an atomic bomb out of his pocket.

Luz's eyes widened. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! We're trying to get back into school, not turn Hexside into a fallout zone!"

"What's Fallout?" asked Gus.

At that moment, an illusion of Bump appeared. "I don't know what nuclear is, but I'll be forced to pull out my own big guns if this continues. I will be forced to call the Emperor's Coven."

"Peh," scoffed Strix.

"And Lord High Executioner Walter."

The kids gasped. Strix scoffed again, though he was afraid. "You're bluffing. You would call him to deal with a bunch of kids?"

"A bunch of kids with an illegal magical artifact. And I know we all know what Walter is capable of, do we?"

"That's not gonna stop-"

"Strix," Willow put a hand on his shoulder. "It's not worth it."

"I'm glad we agree Miss Park." Then Bump's cool facade crumbled. "MY LIFE IS SO DULL WITHOUT YOU!" he bawled as he ended the illusion.

Gus plopped onto his butt. "That's it! We're done for!"

"Guys we can't give up!"

"What Luzer said," Strix said as he took off the Mask.

"Strix, Luz, nothing and I mean NOTHING is worse than having Walter on our case!"

At that moment, a crow flew over to Willow and spoke in a man's voice. "Willow Park, did you get expelled?!"

Willow gasped. "Oh, no! Dad!"

Another crow landed on Gus' head. "This is Perry Porter with breaking news. In light of recent events, Augustus Porter will be grounded for no less than a year."

"Just one?" asked Mr. Park. "Willow's grounded for three at least!"

The crows lifted Willow and Gus up into the sky, leaving Luz and Strix alone. "There's always the nuclear option," Strix sang as he pointed to the bomb.

"No, Strix. There's gotta be another way to-" She suddenly felt someone bump into her and turned to see Amity carrying a bunch of books. Upon seeing Luz, she accidentally dropped one of them and stuttered, "I'm uh... I'm sorry, I was a coward in there. But my mom-"

"It's fine," Strix said. "I know how awful mothers can be."

"I get it. You're scared of her, but I'm not, and I need you to take me her. She seemed open to talking things through," said Luz.

Amity shook her head. "No, no, guys, you don't have to do that."

"Yes, I do. Willow and Gus don't deserve this. And Strix always wanted to go to Hexside since he was a kid. This has always been his dream and we can't ruin it for him." She handed Amity her book back. "So, will you help me, please?"

Amity's cheeks turned a light pink. Then she grabbed the book and walked away as the bell rang. "I... I can't. I have to go."

Strix sighed and sent a message to Emira. "Can't you try to talk some sense to your mother?"

"Can't talk," said Emira's message. "Under mother's scrutiny. Mittens says sorry. Edric too."

"Sorry."

Strix sighed and put the scroll back into his pocket. That's when he felt something in it. He took it out and realized it was the business card Mrs. Blight gave to him. "Luz, I think this is something we have to discuss in person."

Back at the Owl House, Eda proudly presented her creation to King. "Eda, wh- what the heck is that supposed to be?"

"I call it the super glyph!" All Eda did was draw all four glyphs into one.

"Just you wait, this'll be a killer combo. Lesser glyphs will shrink in fear." She slammed down on it and it created... Just a puny little ice cube. "Hah! It didn't blow up!" Suddenly, the cube began to grow and turned into a blob with icicles sticking out.

"Uh, i- is it supposed to do that?"

The blob began to grow again, forcing the two of them to retreat as the icicles shot out and struck the walls and ceiling. All Eda could say was an uncertain, "Uh-huh."

The Blight Manor was located on the right arm of the Boiling Isles, just at the point where the bicep connected to the shoulder. It had a Gothic style that reminded Luz of a Victorian mansion. Just before she knocked on the door, she pulled some flowers out of a bush. The door opened and she said, "Hello, Mrs. Blight, I..." She stopped when she saw the person who answered the door was an abomination butler. "Ooh."

The butler led the two of them into the living room. Strix scrunched his nose at the sight of it. "So many shades of purple." Indeed, the walls were purple, the ceiling was purple, the furniture was purple, the windows were purple, even the picture frames were purple. In fact the only things that weren't were the various paintings contained in those frames, including one family portrait that hung above the mantle piece.

"Ooh, this place smells a lot better than the Owl House. Uh, no offense, Strix."

"No, no! I agree with you, Luz."

The butler offered them some tea. Strix took a cup and glanced down at it. "Ew. Even the tea set is made of abomination goo."

Luz didn't take her tea and instead modified the butler's face to resemble a cat's. It didn't really work as it started to melt like that cake. "Well, I tried." The butler led them down to the laboratory basement. "Hello? Mr. and Mrs. Blight?" She suddenly yelped and ducked when a severed abomination hand nearly hit her.

"Oh don't mind him dear," said Mrs. Blight as she drank some tea. "He's getting ready for our big demonstration tonight. It's looking good hon!"

Mr. Blight pulled something out of...whatever he was working on. It looked a lot like an abomination heart. Strix thought they didn't have hearts.

"I'm here to appeal to your hearts, Blights!"

Mrs. Blight chuckled at Luz's offer. "That's sweet, but let's get to the deal. We have a rather important presentation tonight showing off some new products."

"Like abominations?"

"Something like that. Normally Amity helps us with these things, but she's busy catching up on schoolwork."

Strix folded his arms and said, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we just help you demonstrate your abomination junk to those buyers at the auction and you'll let our friends back in school?"

"That's a rather rude way of saying it, but yes." Strix grabbed her hands. "What are you doing," she demanded as she snatched them away.

"Just making sure you're not crossing your fingers." She gave him a strange look. "It's a human thing, it means not really holding true to your word. Luzer taught me that."

"Don't worry about that. A Blight always upholds their end of the deal. Now, you might want to go get ready, because we have..."

"...a long night ahead of us folks! Welcome back to Blight Industries!"

Luz gulped as she watched in awe at how many people had gathered at the event. But Strix's attention was focused on the huge rack of weapons Mr. Blight was standing next to. "That's enough for a whole platoon of soldiers," he said to himself. "Just who would want to buy all this?"

Luz asked nervously, "So, Alador, what would you say is the specialty of Blight Industries?"

Mr. Blight responded, "We make a variety of abomination-based accessories for home security."

"Oh, that sounds pretty safe!"

"But we specialize in weaponry." Luz felt her palms begin sweating. "You might want to duck," he advised as he walked off stage.

"Why?" She got her response when a glob of abomination goo shot out and pinned her to a wall. Mrs. Blight held up a grenade launcher. "Yes, our sticky launcher can peacefully subdue any foe! And, if peaceful isn't your thing..." She pressed a button and flames shot out.

Strix's eyes widened. He patted his pocket, feeling the Mask in it.

At that moment, Amity returned home. "Mom? I'm ready for the show tonight!" No response. Weird. She put her books on a table and found a note taped to the mantle. "We found a replacement," it read. She asked the butler, "Did anyone come to the house today?" She got her answer when she saw the butler's cat face. "Luz..." she growled.

"To make sure you're getting a top-notch education, we're quitting our jobs to homeschool you," Mr. Park said as he placed a huge stack of books in front of his daughter.

His husband Gilbert said, "See you at first light for a test on the uh-" He looked at the first book on the pile. "The life cycle of a common swamp toad!" He shut the door behind him as they left.

At that moment, an illusion of Gus appeared. "Willow! Hey, Willow!" He gestured to the window. Before Willow could walk over, Mr. Blight came back. "Hey Willow, uh-" He stopped when he saw what was going on. But instead of telling his husband or getting angry, he smiled and made a "shush" gesture before slowly closing the door.

Willow opened the window to see Amity and Gus. "Luz is in trouble!"

"Again," groaned Gus as he ended the illusion. "No guesses where Strix is either."

The group made it to Blight Industries' entrance, where guards were stationed. They could hear Luz and Strix's screams coming from inside. "Okay, I can use the root system underground to tunnel our way in," suggested Willow.

"That'll take too long. We should just rush the guards at the door!" said Amity.

"No no no, I'll distract them with illusions of beautiful lady guards," said Gus.

"This isn't a cartoon from the '40s, Gus! We need a better plan!"

"This could work!"

"We should just bust our way through!"

"You're stunting my growth as an artist! Just let me try this!"

"We are running out of time! We gotta get in now!"

"We have to help Luz now!"

"Ahem." The kids turned to see Emira and Edric holding cloaks. "Here's an idea," he said. "Why don't you just walk through the front?" he asked as he threw them each a cloak.

"Ed! Em! You're helping?"

"Of course," Emira responded to Amity. "Strix is my boyfriend. I think. We haven't exactly established if we are going steady yet. Just don't tell mom."

The trio put on their cloaks and walked inside. Edric put papers which say "Hex me!" on their backs. The twins laughed at this, but Amity noticed them and threw them back and hit Edric in the face. "I'm watching you two," she warned.

"Luzer! WAH!" Strix dodged an arrow before it hit him. Said arrow came from an abomination holding a futuristic crossbow. "You ever get the feeling that - WHOA!" He dodged another one. "That Mrs. Blight may be actually trying to kill us?!"

"I hope not!" Luz shouted as she cast an ice glyph spell forming a wall. But the next arrow blasted through the ice, sending her to the floor. Then an abomination fist popped out of the ground and grabbed the two of them. Mrs. Blight clapped her hands, ending the demonstration. "Thank you, thank you. And they say said we couldn't make crossbows more fun! Next, we're very excited to show you our last product from this line."

"Oh thank Titan, it's over," Strix sighed with relief.

"My husband has been toiling to bring you..." An abomination wearing armor rose out of the ground. "THE ABOMATON 2.0!" Strix and Luz gulped. "It's bigger! It's better! The Abomaton 2.0 is the perfect soldier. It won't rest until its enemy is completely eliminated!"

Amity saw this and took off the cloak before climbing up a ladder that led to the stage's catwalk. Willow and Gus tried to follow, but were caught by security abominations.

Luz chuckled nervously at the giant creature before her. "Heh, heh. You're a big boy, aren't ya?"

The Abomaton's hands turned into a flail and claw. "Run," said Strix.

It tried to smash them, but they managed to get away. But before they could get far, the Abomaton stretched its arms out and grabbed them. Luz called out to Mrs. Blight, "Okay! It's super strong! I think the crowd gets it!"

Mr. Blight said, "She has a point, Odalia."

But Mrs. Blight smirked. "Didn't you hear me? It won't rest until its enemy is completely eliminated!"

Luz and Strix gasped. "I was right! You ARE trying to kill us!"

The Abomaton through them up in the air where they grabbed onto a beam. "Okay, at least you can't get us up here..." The Abomaton jumped up and landed behind them. "Luz, you fool!"

"Okay, enough is enough!" Strix pulled the Mask out of his pocket and slapped it on his face. And then it slid off. His eyes bugged out and he tried it again. "L-Luz?"

"Why isn't it working?!" Luz shrieked as she and Strix jumped out of the creature's path as it began to smash the pipes with a gooey mace.

"I..." Strix grunted as he tried to keep the Mask on his face. "I don't know!" The Abomaton jumped and nearly squashed the two of them. Luz used plant magic to lift herself and Strix up, then the two of them rushed toward the Abomaton with fire glyphs, resulting in an explosion that sent it falls to the ground, breaking the floor. Luz and Strix held onto the vine for dear life with the former's eyes shut. She opened them and noticed that they were facing the Abomaton and close to the ground. The vine snapped, making them land on their bottoms.

"Hey! We're alive!" The Abomaton grabbed them. "Oh, no!" It turned its left hand into a huge sickle blade. "We're dead!"

Before it could slice them in half, a spell stopped it. Then the same spell made its arms explode. "HEY!" Luz and Strix looked up to see Amity. She jumped down in between the Abomaton and her friends. "Stay away from my Luz!"

"Amity?" asked Luz.

Strix got an idea and tossed the Mask to Amity. "Catch!"

"Catch what-" It slapped onto her face and there was a tremendous explosion. Luz and Strix coughed as smoked billowed out. Suddenly the Abomaton got back up and formed a power saw with its hand. The kids gasped but before it could slice their heads off, something sliced its arm off. The smoke cleared and there stood Amity, her face was green, her eyes were red, her teeth were huge and her hair was wild and...brown? "I said...stay away...FROM MY LUZ!"

Back at the Owl House, Lilith was taking notes with Hooty when they heard a loud explosion coming from inside the house. "Edalyn? Are these distressed noises or normal noises?"

"Only normal! Don't come in!"

Eda's ice blob had grown even larger and was swallowing everything it touched with the icicles. "I am your mother! You will obey me and die!" She swung a mace at it and it was absorbed as well. Before she could do anything else, King was caught in it. "Eda, help me! Help me, Eda! Eda, HELP ME!"

Eda growled. "FINE! LILITH! EMERGENCY!"

Lilith kicked the door open and gasped at what her sister made. "Whoa."

"Yeah yeah, I messed up. I'm ready to follow the rules."

Lilith made a smirk that Eda surprisingly liked. "Actually, I'd like to try an experiment."

"Hoooot!" Hooty exclaimed with excitement.

Mrs. Blight activated her daughter's necklace and spoke in her mind. "Amity Blight, you are in so much troub-" Amity snapped the necklace off and threw it into her mother's mouth. Yep. She definitely swallowed it.

"Shut up, you old hag!" Amity helped Strix and Luz up. "Are you okay?"

Luz's cheeks turned pink a little. "Uh-huh," she said in a daze.

"Look out!" Strix pushed the two girls out of the way and was crushed underneath the Abomaton's fist.

"STRIX!" It reared its fist back but Amity got between it and her friend and used a spell circle to hold back its punch with all her might. "You feelin' lucky?!" She shoved the Abomaton aside and formed a grenade launcher from abomination goo. "Well, do ya, punk?!" She fired the gun directly into the creature's mouth and it exploded. "Oh, yeah! How do you like me now?!" The Abomaton's fist slammed into her head, flattening it like a pancake. "Ow."

The Abomaton's head reformed and it glared at Amity, who was wearing a matador's costume. She produced a cape and waved it in front of the creature. "Torro, torro!" The Abomaton's charged forward, only to have its head cave in when Amity dropped the cape and revealed a gooey hammer and smashed its head.

Mrs. Blight shouted at her, "Amity! Get away from the human and the Clawthorne brat and take off that Mask!" Her shouts were interrupted by Amity throwing a plunger in her face.

"No, you're gonna listen to me for once." The Abomaton got back up and formed an axe. "I AM TALKING HERE!" She put on a pair of boxing gloves and punched directly into its chest. "Luz, Strix, Gus and Willow are my friends," she shouted at her mother as she struggled to to take the plunger off. "They're nice to each other, they listen to each other. They make me think about the kind of person I really WANT TO BE!"

The Abomaton's arms formed tentacles with blades at the end. Amity simply grabbed them, tied them together and started making various different knots. "Behold! The diamond knot!" The Abomaton struggled to get out. "Not impressed? How about..." She tied the tentacles into a noose and swung it around the Abmaton's torso. "The constrictor?" She gave it a good squeeze, making goo fly everywhere. Then she gathered it all up and formed a sentence in the sludge, "Eat At Joe's!"

"Ta-da!"

Luz ran towards Amity with glyph cards and they stood together back-to-back. They accidentally glanced at each other and immediately looked away, both blushing with an awkward expression. Then Amity could literally see her heart pounding out of her chest. She pushed it back in and it pounded on the other side of her chest.

Strix groaned and looked up to see Amity and Luz defending him and he chuckled. "Didn't know you had it in you."

Finally, Mrs. Blight ripped the plunger off her face and shouted, "What do you want?!"

"Let my friends back into Hexside, or else your precious investors will watch me rip this thing apart bit. By. Bit."

"Can you actually do that?" Luz whispered.

"If she wants to," Strix whispered. "That Mask can make her literally do anything!"

Mrs. Blight was about to shout "No!" until she realized the buyers were booing and were about to leave. "Fine! It's a deal! Just stop with the theatrics!"

Amity and Luz glanced at each other and smiled. As the Abomaton got back up, Amity took off the Mask and tossed it to Strix who said, confused, "Wait. What's going on?"

"Just play along," Amity said before the Abomaton crushed her and Luz under its fist.

"Girls!" Strix shouted. The Abomaton glanced at him and he felt fear as he tried to put the Mask on again, but nothing happened. "H-Help..." The Abomaton turned its fist into a hammer and raised it to squash him but... "No..." Something snapped in him as his wings suddenly sprouted out and he jumped out of the way and produced the last glyphs he had: his yin-yang fire and light spells.

At that moment, he received a message from Emira on his scroll that shouted, "Strix! Let it win, you idiot!"

But Strix ignored it and threw every single glyph at the creature's chest. It started to brush them off, but Strix he flew right up to it. "You're not getting out of this alive." With rapid speed, he started punching all the glyphs at once, letting out a shriek, "WRYYYYYYYYY!"

What happened next was a tremendous explosion that engulfed everyone in a blinding light. When it disappeared, everyone gasped when they saw that there was nothing left but a huge crater. In the center of it was a piece of melted iron. Strix panted heavily before his eyes rolled up and he fell onto his back.

"Strix!" Luz and her friends ran up to him and tried to wake him up.

Mrs. Blight growled at the scene, especially since Strix's spell scared away all the investors. "That little freak cost me potential millions! As if I'd actually let them go back! I will call every authority I know! I'll make sure they can't-"

Mr. Blight put a hand on her shoulder. "Odalia!"

"WHAT?!"

"You made a deal with your daughter, and a Blight always upholds their end of the deal. Besides, she's getting stronger. Strong enough to become a covenant someday."

Mrs. Blight considered his words. "Wise words, dear. We have to focus on what's best for the family-" Her husband wasn't listening. Instead, he was chasing after a butterfly. "ALADOR!"

Back at the Owl House, Eda gave King some hot cocoa. Lilith managed to melt the creature and free him. "Achoo!" Too bad he also caught a cold in the process.

"Okay so, uh, how did you beat that thing again?"

Lilith smirked at her. "Would you like me to lay out the basics?"

Eda made an annoyed whine before conceding, "Yes."

"Well, you were right. These glyphs act like the basic elements. But, instead of containing like we do, they command the magic around them. They're like words! And drawing glyphs on top of each other like you did-"

"Was like screaming three different words at the same time," Eda realized. "The spell got confused!"

"Yes. The glyph combo, copyright me, Lilith, helps organize the commands so you can combine and specify what you want to do!"

"So with the right combo, you can cast any spell!"

"Maybe the reason Luz hasn't found any more glyphs is because there... aren't any more," King said as he sipped his cocoa.

"Then we better start learning some new combinations."

Suddenly, the door burst open and Luz came inside with Strix. "Eda! Lilith!"

Eda sighed. "What trouble did you get into..." She stopped when she saw Strix's condition. "Strix?"

"The Mask isn't turning him back to normal anymore! Look!" She slapped it on and...it worked for some odd reason.

"OH, MAN! THAT WAS CLOSE!" Strix yelled. He looked around and asked, "What?" Then he saw the glyphs and asked, "Mom, Aunt Lily, how busy were you guys?"

"Forget the glyphs! The curse is getting stronger!"

"It seems fine to me, Aunt Lily," he said as he took off the Mask, resulting in not only his wings sprouting out, but feathers started growing on his hand. "Ah! Wh-Why didn't it stop?!"

Eda sighed. "Just when we had some good news."

"It seems the curse is coming closer to becoming immune to the Mask. It's like developing antibodies against a virus."

Strix looked rather shocked. But then he tried to put on a smile. "Oh, well. I'm not worried. I mean, Mom got turned into a monster and she's doing fine so far. Besides, it looks like you two are finally getting used to this glyph thing! Let's see it! It'll at least give me something to be happy about tonight."

Lilith and Eda glanced at each other, then nodded. Lilith used an ice gylph to create an ice sculpture of herself bowing to Luz and Strix, who both looked like royalty. "Do I get extra credit?"

"Whoa, that's..."

Luz interrupted Strix, "Oh, my gosh!"

"What Luzer said."

"Don't call me Luzer."

Eda made an envious face and made an ice glyph to create a small ice cube. She made a disappointed noise.

Strix shrugged his shoulders. "Eh. It's better than nothing."

Luz gave Eda and Lilith golden stars. "Extra credit for everyone!"

Lilith cuddled hers like a teddy bear while Eda and King gave her a weird look.

King sneezed again.

Strix returned to his usual spot in the garage where Selwyn was in her usual spot. The dragon made a concerned groan. "I know, Selwyn. The curse is getting worse. No doubt Luz is going to be all up in my case," he said as he plucked the feathers off. More feathers grew in their place. "Ugh. At least Mom and Aunt Lily are improving."

Suddenly, a memory replayed in his mind. "Wait, did she just say 'My Luz'?!" He burst out laughing. "Well I'll be darned! She said it! And all it took was for Luz to be in mortal danger!" He exhaled as he smiled up at the ceiling. "Now, I wonder how long it will take for her to say those three magic words."

"Well," Mr. Blight said as he held up the remains of the Abomaton 2.0. "Back to the old drawing board."

"Yes," said Mrs. Blight. "Make sure the 3.0 can withstand the heat of a nuclear fusion."

"Yes, you will make that improvement," said a voice. "But despite your Abomatons being quite extraordinary, they still cannot withstand the power of the Mask." It was the Golden Guard, accompanied by Walter. The Blights gasped and kneeled before them. "The Emperor will be buying every one of your abomination weapons, and will personally fund research into making your Abomatons stronger."

"Th- That's great news! We are honoured to have-"

"You should be, Odalia. Emperor Belos doesn't take kindly to citizens making a... private army. Oh! And as for the 3.0, Walter has the first ingredient for you." The giant handed Mr. Belos a vial of blood. "A dash of DNA to make them invulnerable to even the Mask."