Luz, Willow, Gus and Maxwell were in the classroom that a male lizard demon taught history to the students. The teacher was going over a lesson he was speaking to the students about.
"Over 50 years ago, Emperor Belos appointed a head witch to each coven." the male lizard teacher spoke.
As he continued to speak, that's when Maxwell was listening not just to the teacher but also to what Luz, Willow and Gus were talking about as they spoke quietly to each other.
"Maxie, you excited about grudgby season? It hasn't started yet but it will soon." said Luz keeping her voice down.
"To be honest, not really." replied Maxwell.
Luz, Willow and Gus were looking at Maxwell in surprise. They were expecting him to be excited about the magical sport but he shown to have little to no interest in it.
"Forgive me, but how can I get excited about a sport I don't know how to play or don't know anything about?" said Maxwell blushing as if admitting an embarrassing secret.
They finally understood why Maxwell wasn't showing any enthusiasm for grudgby or the season of the said sport. Luz placed a hand on his shoulder to reassure him.
"We could teach you, it's really fun when you know how." suggested Willow.
"Will you?" asked Maxwell looking hopeful.
They nodded and Luz patted Maxwell on his back briefly, he felt better in knowing this.
"To be honest, I never played before let alone know anything about it." said Maxwell feeling relieved to admit this to his friends now.
"The council headquarters was built and paid for by...? Anyone? Maxwell?" asked the teacher.
Maxwell looked up to give his attention to the teacher.
"That would be the Pixie Dust Taxes. Of course we all know paying taxes is a pain in the backside." said Maxwell making a light hearted comment.
"Impressive, Mr. Logan." said the teacher with a grin. "And I agree with that statement."
The students in the classroom murmured in admiration towards Maxwell, one student giving him a thumbs up while Maxwell gave him a head nod in response. Maxwell was blushing a bit from the attention.
"What's going on? It's like all of Hexside's caught Maxie fever!" said Luz giving Maxwell a gentle nudge to his shoulder.
"Ever since I fell in love with Eda, won her heart and now I'm dating her, adjusting to the Boiling Isles and having friends like you guys. I've been feeling more confident." said Maxwell with a grin. "I guess it shows."
Without warning, the necklace that Maxwell was wearing around his neck that had a gold cross started to levitate and with the lace part of it still around his neck, it started to pull on his neck and throat, causing him to gag a bit. He grabbed his necklace and pulled it down till it stopped pulling on him.
"Aw, the farm boy thinks he's popular now. How cute." came Boscha's taunting voice.
Both Luz, Willow and Gus looked towards Boscha who was looking smug, they gave her a disapproving look as Maxwell tried not to get angry at Boscha's words, he didn't even look at her as a bit of his confidence faded.
"Boscha, leave him alone, you could've choked him." said Luz showing anger.
Boscha levitated the necklace that Maxwell had around his neck again but this time, it came off him and levitated towards Boscha's hand, she was holding it.
"It's weird that not only Amity hangs out with you and him now. Ever since Grom and he killed the Grom demon, he's getting his head filled with false hope. But don't worry. I'm still here to show you and him who's boss." said Boscha with a chuckle.
Boscha's smug expression was short lived as Gus showed up next to her, grabbing the necklace from Boscha's hand as he too felt the same way Luz and Willow felt.
"Here Max." said Gus.
Gus walked back to Maxwell and gave him his necklace back, he placed it back around his neck.
"Oh-ho-ho! The friends wanna get in on this too, huh?" said Boscha looking angry.
Boscha drew a red spell circle in the air and the seat that Maxwell sat in suddenly pulled it's back on it's own, causing Maxwell to fall on the floor in a loud thud. Boscha was laughing at his expense while Luz went to help him up.
"Maxie, you alright?" asked Luz worried.
As she helped him up to his feet, that's when the teacher heard the laughing and was looking irate about it.
"Is that laughter? Hey, hey! Learning's not supposed to be fun!" snapped the teacher.
"We are having zero fun, I swear. Boscha's picking on us again, and she nearly hurt Maxwell, twice." replied Luz showing evidence of it.
Boscha had a smug grin on her face as the teacher looked right at her.
"My apologies, sir. I was practicing my aim for grudgby." lied Boscha.
She tossed an eraser towards Maxwell but the young male human caught it in his hand, causing Boscha's expression to fade a bit.
"And she's obviously lying like a rug." said Maxwell popping his neck.
Maxwell formed flames around his hand and after a minute, the flames disappeared and he dropped the remains of the eraser which turned to ashes and even the ashes disappeared in a puff of smoke. He went to sit back down and he expected the teacher to do something about Boscha.
"Boscha, how could you throw things at them..." said the teacher as he drew a white circle on his chest. "When you could throw things at me? Am I over here? Or am I over here? Anything for the captain of the Banshees!"
Maxwell was in disbelief. The teacher wasn't doing anything about Boscha and her bullying and this not only had Maxwell feeling angry but a tinge of fear as if reliving a horrible memory. Boscha had her smug grin forming as her posse seem to be showing no reaction, her posse was looking as though they wanted to say something against this but something held them back.
"Oh, thanks, but I already have the perfect targets." said Boscha stretching her back.
Maxwell looked towards Luz, he had a look on his face that was screaming "Help Me" which Luz placed her hand on his shoulder to try and reassure him.
"Guys, if Boscha hurts Maxie, or any of us, you know what we have to do?" said Luz feeling her mother bear instincts kicking in.
They nodded in agreement.
"Que dios este con nosotros." muttered Maxwell hopefully.
The next few hours wasn't good for ether of them. Boscha kept ruthlessly bullying Maxwell or anyone who tried to help him. Maxwell did his best to not react too much, he even tried to stand by his morals in not hitting Boscha because she was a girl and he was against hitting women.
Boscha did harass Luz, Willow and Gus but she was mostly bullying, abusing and hurting Maxwell. She kept calling him names that were sounding like prejudice remarks towards him being a southerner, at lunch, she stole Maxwell's lunch destroyed it in front of him when he tried to get back, this left him without lunch during the day.
During another time, Boscha tossed what looked like a basketball at Maxwell's face when he was outside when he had some time before going to the next class, he tried dodging the ball and while at times he dodged it successfully, there were times when the ball brutally hit him in the face or his stomach.
"A farm boy, a farm boy, your a stupid farm boy." taunted Boscha.
She tossed the ball at Maxwell but he caught it in his hands, he was fuming with anger now as he used his hands to squeeze the air out of the ball so hard that the ball had a hole rip open from it, causing it to become deflated. Boscha saw he had enough but it only made her feel pleasure from this.
"Hey Boscha, someone's going to squash ya if you don't get off my ass!" Maxwell threatened.
The posse Boscha had with her nearly laughed at the joke that Maxwell made about Boscha's name which once the three eyed girl shot them a look of anger, they stopped laughing and showed a bit of fear. Boscha looked at Maxwell with a grin.
"Oh? Is the farm boy getting mad? Is baby going to cry for mama?" taunted Boscha.
"Boscha, leave him alone!" came Luz's voice.
Boscha saw that Luz, Willow and Gus were coming to Maxwell's side while Maxwell was looking as though he had some hope left or what shred of it that remained.
"At least I'm not a country bumpkin, or should I say country dumpkin." insulted Boscha cruelly.
Hearing that word again was now making Maxwell lose it. Steam was blowing out of his ear and he cracked his knuckles and popped his neck.
"I'm going to poke that third eye out and make you look more human till no one recognize you, than I'm going to kick your cotton candy ass." growled Maxwell.
He charged at Boscha but the pink colored female demon had an ace up her sleeve when she remembered something she heard about Maxwell. She placed her finger on Maxwell's lips as she had a smug grin.
"Hold on a minute, you can't hit women. You said it yourself, your against it. Since I'm a woman, you can't hit me." said Boscha being condescending.
Hearing his words and morals being used against poor Maxwell not only got on his nerves, reminded him of what happened between him and Kikimora, but it meant that Boscha was unfortunately correct. He was forced to hold his anger in and submit. He hung his head low and walked off in sadness. Luz, Willow and Gus went to go find Maxwell to try and help him but the sooner they walked in the direction he was going, he was gone.
Luz kept trying to find Maxwell but didn't see him for a while and she tried to get Principle Bump to do something but he was too busy which Luz had to give him a reason to listen which that put a bit of fear in the principle as he was going to reconsider.
It was starting to get into the afternoon and Luz, Willow and Gus still couldn't find Maxwell at the school. They were outside the school's grounds and ran into Amity.
"Amity, got a minute?" called Luz catching up to her.
Amity turned to see Luz as she was looking she knew something.
"Have you seen Maxie anywhere?" asked Luz curiously.
Amity shown a look of alarm at the question. Luz took notice of this.
"Where's Maxie?" asked Luz again.
"Luz, can you handle some news?" said Amity.
"What news?" said Luz looking more worried.
Amity let out a sigh and knew that what she was going to say wasn't going to be easy to tell her.
"I did see Maxwell, but he ran off somewhere in the school. He didn't look happy, he looked as though he was about to start bawling." Amity answered. "That and I overheard how Boscha has been...physically abusing him. Last time I saw him, he ran and I heard Boscha was throwing things at him, called him the you know what word, and she nearly pushed him down a flight of stairs, but he didn't fall, he was still standing."
Luz, Willow and Gus heard this but they didn't like what they've heard. Hearing how much Boscha was bullying Maxwell verbally and physically was like hearing a situation out of a scary movie that was too graphic for even fully grown adults.
"Boscha won't stop picking on Maxie, and no one will do anything about it because she's the "Star Captain of the Grudgby Team"." said Luz. "She's at it again, but this time, she won't stop picking on Maxie and I know it's hard to believe but he's the sensitive one out of the rest of us."
"I'll admit, even though Boscha is harder to deal with during grudgby season, and there's no reasoning with her. Last time she did this, when it was towards you, Willow, Gus, and even me, that was horrible how she was treating us, even though we beat her in a way that burned her." said Amity acknowledging the last time they dealt with Boscha.
"But her doing this to sweet Maxie is just as worse. Back in the human world...he didn't have any better than most." said Luz chiming in.
A curious expression spread across Amity's face.
"How much worse did he have it back in the human realm?" asked Amity curiously.
Three knew that if they told Amity, than it would mean that they not only were trying to get Amity to understand but also to try and get Maxwell some help in his situation. They knew that Amity didn't know. Luz let out a sigh.
"Amity, what I'm going to tell you has to stay between you and me and Willow and Gus." Luz politely advised.
"I'm listening." said Amity showing compassion.
Luz, Willow and Gus explained to Amity what Maxwell shown and told them about how rough he had it back in the human world by telling her that Maxwell was close to his mother but his mother died when he was six to a sickness, how abusive his father was towards him and his mother, how his father was a very cruel, evil, mean and brutal man, the fact that Maxwell got bullied by other kids for being a southerner and that after he escaped his father, he ran from his father as he would've faced death at the hands of his own father and how Maxwell ended up at the Boiling Isles, what he went through and how they found him. After explained this to Amity, the green haired female witch was showing to be wide eyed from how brutal Maxwell had it.
"His dad did that to him? And others did just as worse to him?" said Amity showing guilt.
They nodded and Amity felt her heart break a bit. They all knew that Amity's parents were not the best parents to her but with how Amity found out how brutal and worse off Maxwell was than anyone else, that's when Amity felt a tinge of guilt in her heart.
"Me, Eda, King and Hooty have been trying to protect him from going through any of that. He can't go back to the human world because one, his dad will kill him, literally, and two, there's nothing there for him but pain and suffering. And he's suffering right now because of Boscha." Luz told Amity. "He needs us."
"With how Maxwell is about respecting a woman and being against hitting them, no doubt that Boscha used that against him." said Amity guessing the truth.
"Do you remember where you last saw him? We haven't seen him since the last encounter he had with Boscha." said Luz.
"He's at the grudgby field." came a girls voice.
The four turned to see five students nearby, two of them being witches, one of them being male and the other female, three of them were demons, one being a short male, another being a taller male with yellow skin and looked big for his age and one of them being female with a yellow bow on one of her large horns.
"Where now?" said Amity and Luz in unison.
"The grudgby field." said the female demon with the yellow bow. "But we should warn you, he's not looking so good."
There was a pause and both Luz, Willow, Gus and Amity were showing worry.
"How bad is it?" asked Luz curiously.
"He's really upset, it looked like someone beat him up. He's got some red marks on him, and I think he might have a black eye." warned the tall male demon with yellow skin.
"Boscha!" said Luz and Amity.
"Wait, you're saying Boscha is hurting him?" asked the short male demon.
"Long story, can't explain right now, but thanks for telling us where he's at." said Luz quickly. "Come on, guys."
Before anyone could make another step, they heard what sounded like a loud boom that was coming from the grudgby field most likely. They heard a loud scream coming their way as they saw what looked like a body being flung over across from the field and all the way towards where Luz, Willow, Gus, Amity and the kids stood till the body landed on the ground near the center of where the kids stood. The body turned out to be Maxwell.
"Oh shit." said the tall male human with yellow skin.
Luz, Willow, Gus and Amity went over to Maxwell, reached down to help him up on his feet, they saw he had red marks on his face and he almost had a black eye but the color of the said black eye looked like it was hard to see.
"Maxie, what happened?" asked Luz looking frantic for him.
Maxwell looked as though he just survived a beating from the looks of it. His hair was a bit of a mess while the dizziness was quickly fading. All the kids who saw this were looking worried for him.
"Maxie, say something!" said Willow starting to panic.
They somehow gotten their answer when they heard evil laughter coming from nearby and it was Boscha who showed up.
"Looks like farm boy tried to see if he could play grudgby and the results blew up in his face, literally." joked Boscha rudely. "What a stupid little monkey boy."
Luz was angry at what she heard. Boscha had gone too far and Luz was burning mad like Willow, Gus and Amity. Without thinking, Luz knew the only way to get Boscha to leave poor Maxwell alone.
"That's it! Boscha! Maxwell challenges you to a grudgby match!" said Luz sharply.
The smug look on Boscha's face changed faster than anyone could run for cover. She was wide eyed at what was said by Luz while Maxwell was also shocked as he didn't know how to play grudgby.
"A human challenging me to a grudgby match?" said Boscha in disbelief. "Okay, maybe it's the ringing in my ears from the loud boom, but I thought I heard you say that farm boy wanted to challenge me to a grudgby match."
"That's right! We'll settle this once and for all on the field." said Luz crossing her arms. "If Maxwell's team wins, you don't get to pick on him anymore and you have to apologize to him and leave him and everyone else alone."
"Fine! And when we win, Corn chucker and your team will be our water gofers." threatened Boscha.
"Like that'll ever happen." snapped Luz.
"And we get to use you as target practice and that farm boy has to kiss me." Boscha continued.
Boscha tossed up the ball and jumped up to kick it like a soccer player, once she landed on the ground, the ball went towards a tree and it crashed a hole in the tree like it was a cannon ball shot out of a cannon. The tree caught fire in front of them as Boscha left. Hearing everything Boscha said had Maxwell in shock. He didn't want to kiss Boscha as he was already dating Eda.
"See you after school, losers." said Boscha before she disappeared out of sight.
Maxwell looked at Luz and didn't know what to think or say about this at first.
"What did you just do." said Maxwell showing panic.
"Maxie, I'm really sorry that I got you into this or got you deeper into hot water, but I can't stand by and watch Boscha hurt you like that anymore. You got to stand up to her." said Luz showing some guilt.
"She's the team captain of this school's grudgby team. I don't know how to play this, she pushed me into the center of the field and I went sky high like a jet plane." said Maxwell wide eyed. "She's been beating me up all day, I don't even play sports back in the human world."
"Well, we could teach you. To be honest, Boscha has done this before to us." Luz confessed.
"Who won?" asked Maxwell hanging onto her words.
"Well, we didn't win, but Boscha's team mates stopped being her posse and became our friends because we were nice to her team mates, it did burn Boscha." said Luz as she recalled the events.
"But I don't know how to play this sport." said Maxwell sadly with a look of disappointment. "I even tried playing baseball and that went south."
"How did that go?" asked Amity.
Maxwell let out a sigh and knew they had a right to know.
"No one made the team that year but I...got hit in the face by the ball, with my helmet still on my head. I ended up having to see a doctor to get X-rays of my head, luckily for me, no damages, but I had a whopper of a headache for three days while being on pain killers for the whole time. I was twelve at the time." Maxwell told them look miserable. "I don't want to play this game with Boscha."
Hearing this saddened little event of a time in Maxwell's past had them really feeling bad for him. Amity didn't show it but she felt like there was a voice in her head that was screaming "Help Him" and she was aware she had to listen to this voice as an idea formed in her head.
"Maxwell, what if I said there was a way you can learn how to play grudgby a whole lot faster and easier." Amity suggested.
Maxwell looked towards her and he looked desperate for anyone's help. He was able to read her mind and he knew what she meant.
"You got an idea, do you?" asked Maxwell.
"Since you can read minds...delve into my mind and scan for my knowledge on how to play grudgby. I know you don't want to and you don't want to invade a girl's privacy but in this case, you need help and I'm giving you permission to do this." Amity instructed.
"Are you sure about this?" asked Maxwell hesitant at first.
"There's no other way so if there was another way, I would've told you." said Amity reassuring him.
"Don't worry, Amity won't bite." Luz reassured.
Seeing they had reassuring, comforting looks on their faces and he was given permission by Amity and Luz to do this, he let out a breath and relented.
"Lord forgive me." said Maxwell with a sigh.
He turned towards Amity and stood in front of her.
"Relax and while doing so, if you have anything in your mouth like gum or food or anything, you might want to spit it out in a garbage can somewhere." instructed Maxwell.
"Nothing is in my mouth, I can handle this." said Amity showing she was ready.
They both let out a sigh and Maxwell gently placed his hands on the sides of Amity's head, his hands felt warm to the touch of Amity's skin and that's when Maxwell and Amity's eyes turned completely white and they stood still as a statue. Maxwell was scanning her memories and her mind of all knowledge to how to play grudgby, as he scanned her mind of that, he accidently saw more memories in her head and they were her having a crush on Luz, her past growing up and how she started to become a nicer person towards Luz and her friends. This all took a few minutes till their eyes turned back to their normal colors and Maxwell removed his hands from her as he stood there looking surprised.
"Maxie?" said Luz.
Maxwell was silent and he looked at Amity with a mix of compassion and remorse. Without warning, he pulled Amity in for a hug as he felt as though he understood her a bit better than he did before. This caught Amity off guard, leaving her wide eyed.
"That was unexpected." said Amity with a hiccup.
"I don't mean to get emotional but thank the lord for you." said Maxwell shakily.
Maxwell took a minute to calm himself but immediately removed his arms from her as he blushed a bit, knowing that he didn't have Amity's permission to hug her.
"Was it alright that I hugged you?" said Maxwell nervously.
"I can allow it. Me and Luz hugged before. I mean Luz has hugged me before and I've grown to accept it." said Amity blushing slightly as she corrected herself.
He let out a sigh of relief.
"I understand." said Maxwell.
Luz took hold of Maxwell's hand and smiled.
"Lets head to the field." said Luz.
Luz took off to the field with Maxwell being lead by her from her hand while Amity, Willow and Gus followed. Maxwell may have felt afraid of what to do but he felt some hope as they were about to go towards the grudgby field, ready to test things out.