After she was done training, Boscha walked by her trophy case and spoke to her reflection in her mirror. "You are talented, you are a star," she said as she tied her up in a bun. "You may be hated, so long as you are feared." She reached into her closet, took out a sports jacket with the words "Hexside Banshees! Team Captain!" on the back and put it on. "Most important of all, you are a winner." Before she left her room to leave for school, she tore a page off her calendar. The entire month had been marked by two words, "Grudgby Season!"

The three-eyed girl walked through Bonesborough dribbling a grudgby ball, passing several mesmerized onlookers. Boscha smiled and basked in their envy and awe. An old witch said, "There she goes, captain of the Banshees. Off to win another championship for Hexside."

A mother chastised her three-year-old son, "Why can't you be more like her?" Her son grumbled darkly.

As Boscha walked to Hexside, she noticed it had a new banner: a blue flag with words written in gold, "Go Banshees!" She walked to the school's entrance and met up with her teammates, Skara, Amelia, and Cat. "All right, girls. You know the drill. Captain goes first." She entered the school, where she expected to be treated like a queen by both the pupils and the teachers. " Hello, Hexside! Your star has arrived. Groveling line starts here."

Silence was her only response. She looked around. "Something's not right. Nobody's here!" She heard students laughing from somewhere nearby. She turned a corner and saw a group of students circling around Willow, who was holding a potted sapling. "Do me next! Do me," one of the students said.

Willow cast a plant spell that made the sapling grow and produce an eggplant-like fruit in the shape of the kid's head. The kid took it and cuddled it. "Welcome to the world, little buddy. You're the coolest, Willow."

"Aw, shucks," Willow said with a blush.

"Yeah, Willow rules!" another student cheered.

Boscha and her teammates walked by with their noses in the air. "Wow, she has to make friends out of plants. How sad."

Amity, who was reading a book nearby, put her book in her bag and walked up to Boscha. "Oh, please! You know, I used to be like you, Boscha, obsessed with status, challenging my competition. But I grew up. When will you?"

Boscha and her gang stopped in their tracks, stunned. They heard laughing behind them. They turned to see Willow and her friends laughing...taunting them. Boscha's fist clenched with anger. "Oh, this is not gonna fly."

Eda lowered her staff and allowed Strix and Luz to hop off. Luz was feeling ecstatic about the upcoming sports season at Hexside. "My first grudgby season! I'm so excited, I have more school spirit than the school spirits!"

A bedsheet ghost carrying pompoms overheard that. He threw his pompoms down and floated away, muttering, "Why do I even bother?"

"Ah, grudgby season is the best," said Eda. "You know, I used to play back in my gory days."

"You mean 'glory days'?"

"Well, that too. I was unstoppable on the field. I had the best moves and the best cheats."

Luz frowned at her mentor. "Cheating isn't anything to brag about. How do you know you were any good if all you did was cheat your way to victory?"

"Ugh. What do humans know, with your goody-goody attitude? If 'cheaters never prosper', why was I the star player?"

"Because everyone turns a blind eye when you're the star player," said Strix.

"Well, can't reason with crazy," said Luz. She pulled a sleeping King out of her backpack and placed him in Eda's arms. "Bye, King, you little snoozers." And with that, she and Strix went to school.

King awoke and scurried into Eda's hair. And then wished he hadn't. "Ugh. Eda, when was the last time you cleaned up in here?" He tossed out a bag of onion rings and a rat out and shook his fist at it. "Get your own scalp, buddy. This one's taken."

Eda smiled. "All this talk of grudgby has me feeling nostalgic. Whaddya say you and me take a little trip down memory lane?"

"Hard pass."

"That's the spirit!"

The bedsheet ghost returned and asked, "You mean me?"

"Not you. Come on," Eda said as she flew off on her staff.

The poor ghost groaned in sadness.

"Over 50 years ago, Emperor Belos appointed a head witch to each coven." At history class, the teacher was having a lecture with the students, though no one was really paying attention. Luz and her circle of friends gathered at a desk and she whispered to them, "I can't wait for grudgby season to start! I've studied up on all sorts of magical sports. Like this." She showed them a DVD titled, "'Good Witch Azura 2: The Field of Deadly Fates'. A classic underdog tale."

Strix read the back of the cover, "'Azura challenges Hecate in the smibbitch championship. But will she risk it all by taking a chance on the deadly Thorn Vault?' Luz, you can't seriously believe this is how real grudgby works, right?"

Gus took the disc out and said, "Ooh, a shiny cookie."

Luz snatched it back and put it back in the case. "Not food."

The teacher said, "The council headquarters was built and paid for by...? Anyone? Willow?"

Willow said, a little hesitantly, "Uh, the Pixie Dust Taxes?" Surprisingly, it was the correct answer.

Suddenly, a student poked his head into the class and shouted, "Whoohoo! Go Willow!"

The teacher slammed the door shut, but was still impressed with the girl's answer, "Impressive, Miss Park."

"What's going on," Luz asked as she noticed all the students and teachers admiring her friend. "It's like all of Hexside's caught Willow fever!"

"Ever since I patched thing up with Amity, I've been feeling more confident." She gestured to a flower hair clip just above her left ear. "I guess it shows."

"So you two are friends again?" Strix asked hopefully.

"I guess we are."

Suddenly, the hair clip floated out of Willow's hair and into Boscha's hand. "Aw, Willow thinks she's popular now," she sneered. "How cute."

"Hey, I agree, my friend is very cute," said Luz. "But give that back!" She jumped to grab the hair clip, but Boscha held it back. She glared at Luz and said, "It's weird that Amity hangs out with you now. Ever since Grom, she's gone soft. But don't worry. I'm still here to show you who's boss."

Strix snatched the hair clip out of her hand and gave it to Willow. He made an angry glance at the three-eyed girl and said, "Your reign is ending, Boscha."

All three eyes narrowed at him. "We'll see about that." She levitated Willow's bag up into the air and dumped its contents on Luz and her friends. Boscha and her posse laughed.

The teacher heard this and said strictly, "Is that laughter? Hey, hey! Learning's not supposed to be fun!"

"We are having zero fun, I swear," Luz insisted. "Boscha's picking on us."

Boscha made an innocent smile as she said sweetly, "My apologies, sir. I was practicing my aim for grudgby." She tossed an eraser at Willow's head.

The teacher was outraged. "Boscha, how could you throw things at them...when you could throw things at me?!" He drew a bull's eye over his chest and danced around. "Am I over here? Or am I over here? Anything for the captain of the Banshees!"

"Oh, thanks, but I already have the perfect targets." Boscha smirked at Luz and her friends and spat a wad of gum in Willow's hair.

"Like I said, Luz," Strix said. "When you're the star player, everyone turns a blind eye and you can get away with everything."

"Don't worry, it's not like she can follow us around all day, right?"

"She followed us around all day. She literally followed us around all day!" Garbage and insulting graffiti covered Luz and her friends' bodies.

"I don't think she has anything better to do," Strix said as he shook a banana peel off his head.

The quartet of friends sat on the school's front steps as they brushed the garbage off. Willow sighed sadly. "I'm really sorry I pulled you guys into this. We should have just kept a low profile. Boscha could get away with murder if she wanted to."

Principal Bump overheard this as he descended the stairs and walked by. "What's this? Boscha got away with murder? I can't say I approve, but at least she's trying new things."

"See what I mean?" asked Strix.

"We will find a way out of this," said Luz. She saw Amity walk by and called out her name. "Amity!"

Amity froze, her cheeks turning a slight red as Luz approached her. "Oh, Luz! You're here! I mean, obviously you're here, this is school, and you go here now, with, uh, me... I've been talking for too long."

Strix nodded and made a sarcastic, "Mmm-hmm."

"Amity, we need your help," said Luz.

"Yes, I can help," Amity said, a little too eagerly before composing herself and asked, "With what exactly?"

"Boscha won't stop picking on Willow, and no one will do anything about it because she's the 'Star Captain of the Grudgby Team'."

"Yeah, this time of year, she's extra unbearable."

"You're friends with her, can you help us?"

Amity blushed as she said, without looking into Luz's eyes, "Uh, the hard part is, there's no reasoning with Boscha. She only speaks in grudgby terms."

That gave Luz an idea. "Hmm. Okay, okay. I'm picking up what you're putting down."

Amity looked down at the books she held in her hands. "I'm... not putting anything down."

Suddenly, they heard a scream. They ran back to find Willow, covered in more trash while Gus tried to help her up. "Willow! What happened," asked Luz.

"Boscha happened!"

From a second floor window, Boscha laughed as she emptied out a levitated rubbish bin's contents on Willow's head. "Hey Willow! I just thought all trash should stay in one spot." SPLAT! She let out a screech as garbage was flung in her face.

"I was thinking the same thing, you hag!" Strix shouted as he threw an apple core at the girl.

Boscha, red with anger, cast a magic spell that made Strix sink until only his head stuck out of the ground. She leaped down from the window and said with a growl, "Oh look. I just found myself A NEW BALL!" Before she could kick the boy's face, Luz stopped her.

"That's it!" she shouted angrily. "Boscha! Willow challenges you to... a grudgby match!" Students who were listening in gasped.

"She WHAT?!" Boscha exclaimed, accidentally ending the levitation spell on the rubbish bin, which landed on Gus.

Willow was flabbergasted. "I WHAT?!"

"She WHAT?!" Gus called out from inside the bin. "Seriously, what's going on here?"

Back at the Owl House, King was being shown Eda's grudgby memorabilia, including Eda's sports jacket and a photo album of all kinds of grudgby matches from Eda's days. The Owl Lady showed King another photo, one of a teenage Eda holding a trophy. "And here's when we took down Epiderm High in the semi-finals. Oh, I was the youngest on the team, but I had what some call "star power". AKA, this." She pulled out a lunchbox out of her hair, marked with the words, "Eda's Rad Cheats". "This is my cheat box. I have all my best weapons in here. Smoke bombs, sock-worms..." You name it. Oh, I never lost a game with this bad boy."

Suddenly, there was a loud roar and a scream. Eda ran outside and found Selwyn, pinning someone down. To her surprise, it was Lilith. "Selwyn! That's enough! I'll take it from here."

The dragon gave Lilith a warning growl before lifting her foot. Lilith got up and was escorted into the house. "That beast is going to be the death of me." It was then she noticed what her sister was wearing. "Why are you in your old uniform?"

"No reason. It's laundry day. What are you doing here?"

Lilith took out a scroll and began to read from it, "'Edalyn Clawthorne, you are hereby under arrest by the order of the Emperor of the Boiling Isles-'" She was interrupted when Eda used her magic to roll up the scroll and slap her in the face.

"You were saying?"

"Come on! I have to bring you in. It's time for you to join the coven. The Emperor has big plans for the Isles, and he wants you to be a part of it all. There's even a place for Strix now that he knows magic."

Eda slammed her fist in the wall. "Leave. Him. Out of this."

"What are you even looking at?" Lilith took the photo album from Eda. "Grudgby pictures? Feeling sentimental?"

"Pah! Me? Never. I was just telling King here how good I was."

"Oh, Edalyn. Not only is the curse affecting your hair, but your memory as well." Lilith held up the picture of young Eda, unfolding it to reveal a young Lilith with an even larger grudgby trophy, and several medals. Eda blushed with a hint of humiliation. It's true that Eda was the star player, but Lilith was the captain, which meant she got a lot more respect and praise than Eda did.

Eda growled, but then calmed herself when she looked at her old gudgby ball and said, "Ah, tell you what. I'll go with you peacefully to the Emperor..."

"Really?"

"Sure. If you beat me at a game of grudgby. Luz is always challenging people to things. Why not me?"

Lilith smirked. "Game on."

"Luz, what are you doing?!" Willow asked desperately.

"I'm just following Amity's advice. Boscha only speaks in grudgby terms. Trust me, I have a plan."

"Okay, maybe it's the garbage in my ears," said Boscha as she twirled a grudgby ball on her finger. "But I thought I heard you say that Leaf Girl wanted to challenge me to a grudgby match."

"That's right! We'll settle this once and for all on the field."

"Or we could just talk about our issues," Willow said, trying to play peacekeeper.

"Let's do this," said Boscha.

"Oh, no."

"If Willow's team wins, you don't get to pick on her anymore," said Luz.

"Fine! And when we win, Willow and your team will be our water gofers," said Boscha, the ball on her finger suddenly gaining speed as if reacting to her anger.

"Ha! That's not even a punishment. I love water."

"And we get to use you as target practice." On that last word, Boscha flicked the ball off her finger and it flew like a cannonball and crashed through a tree which caught fire. Boscha smirked as she and her gang left. "See you after school, losers."

A random student cheered, "Whoo-hoo! Willow versus Boscha!"

"Luzer what were you thinking?!" Strix shouted. "You don't know how to play grudgby! And on another note, GET ME OUT OF HERE!"

"Oh, right." Willow cast a spell and a root popped out, freeing Strix. He landed on the ground with a thud.

"Thanks, Willow."

"Strix is right," said Amity. "This isn't a good idea."

"Yeah, I've never even played grudgby before! How am I supposed to beat Boscha?" asked Willow.

"But you're the better witch," said Luz as she removed the rubbish bin off Gus. "I don't know much about sports, but I know about sports movies." She held up her Azura DVD. "We, too, are a ragtag team of lovable misfits joined together to defeat a powerful enemy. With a little team spirit and a training montage, we can win."

"Luz, this isn't some dumb 1980's sports movie! This is real life," said Strix. "You have no experience, no training and you lack the physical build of an athlete! Did you see Boscha's well-toned muscles?"

"I believe! That's what matters, right? Do any of you?"

"Well, if you think this'll work, then I'm in," said Willow. "How about you, Gus?"

Gus held up two blue flags. "In seasons past, these flags have waved in support of grudgby greats. Now they will wave for the greatest: Me!"

"What about you, Amity?" asked Luz.

Amity suddenly started blushing and stammering. "Me? On a team with you? Running around in cute uniforms? Sweating...? I gotta go!" She took off running.

"Huh? Well, I guess she's out. So that means Strix will have to take her place!"

"Uh..."

"Then it's settled! In any case, let's get training!"

Luz and her friends met at the grudgby field, which was kind of like a cross between an American football field and a basketball court. "So, how exactly do we play grudgby?"

"Well, there's a ball, and you score by getting the ball through the other team's goal," said Strix.

"That sounds easy."

"Not really." He kicked a pebble into the field and all sorts of booby traps including a fire wall, spikes and vines activated. "You gotta avoid those at the same time."

"Oh, right. Boiling Isles. Should have predicted this." Luz set her phone down and pressed a button on it, which began playing a song titled, "80's Training Marathon". She put on a headband and said with determination, "Alright! Every great sports story includes a training montage."

"What's a 'mon-tage'?" asked Gus.

"Well..."

What followed was a montage of Luz explaining to Strix, Willow and Gus what a montage is, followed by Luz showing a football video to them, followed by the four having a tea party in otter pajama onesies.

"HOLD IT, HOLD IT, HOLD IT!" Strix snapped everything back to reality as they returned to the grudgby field. "Why were we having a tea party in otter pajamas?!"

"What happens in the montage stays in the montage! Now let's hit the field."

Luz tossed a ball at Strix, who was hit in the gut before he flew and landed onto the field. Strix's eyes widened. "Oh, no." Luz, Willow and Gus could only watch as the teenager was flung up and tossed around in the air by the various booby traps before he crashed into the bleachers.

"STRIX!" The kids ran up to their friend and Gus and Willow were relieved to see him unharmed. "You okay?" Gus asked.

"Yep. I've had worse."

Then Luz saw it. A small bit of skin under his eye peeled off, revealing green underneath. She grabbed his face and pulled it off, revealing the green, skull-like visage. "Ah-ha! You're wearing the Mask! Cheater!"

"Well, duh! How else do you think I'm going to survive this blood sport?"

"We are NOT stooping to your mother's level. Take it off!"

"Nuh-uh! I'm not going to get myself killed just so you could get a one up against that three-eyed hag!"

"TAKE. IT. OFF. Or you're off the team!"

Strix growled before removing the Mask and putting it in his pocket. "You owe me big, Luzer."

"Don't call me Luzer."

Now they started training for real. Luz tossed the ball at the sound of her whistle but before Willow could kick it, a tentacle shot out and flung the ball up into the air. Willow caught it, then she and Gus and Strix ran as the tentacle tried to slam them. Then a giant zombie hand popped out and grabbed Gus while icicles shot out and nearly impaled Strix. And poor Willow ended up flat on her back when another trampoline sent her flying up into the air.

Willow's fan from before, who was watching from the bleachers, cheered, "Woo! Go Willow! You'll get 'em next time!"

Luz then had another strategy in mind, not really seeing that her friends were already exhausted. "I need a cup of water," moaned Willow.

"Now for our big finale!" Luz held up a plant spell glyph. "Let's try the Thorn Vault!" She slammed the glyph onto the ground.

"Luz, wait! We're not readyyyyyyyy!" Strix screamed as a column of thorny branches shot him, Willow and Gus up into the air. Thinking quick, Willow cast a spell that grew a flower under them, cushioning their fall. Gus rolled out of the flower and a loud crunch was heard underneath him.

"Gus!" Willow ran to his side. "Talk to me Gus!"

Gus groaned, "I, I think something's broken." He picked up his flags and gasped when he saw them snapped in two. "My flags!" He sobbed. "I never should have tried to play. You were always enough for me."

"They're just flags," said Strix. "It's not like they were a part of you."

"THEY ARE A PART OF ME! A PART OF MY HEART!"

Willow helped him up when she heard another crunch. She looked down to see her hair clip snapped in two. She said in a resentful tone, not even looking at Luz, "Come on, Gus. I have some floral tape in the greenhouse. We'll fix them."

"Okay," Gus sniffed.

"Guys, let's try the Thorn Vault one more time," said Luz.

"Not now, Luz. We're tired," Willow said as she helped Gus walk.

"But we're the underdogs, we have to stay upbeat and keep trying-"

Willow finally snapped, "Luz! Not everything can be solved with a good attitude and a dope music soundtrack. We're going to lose. And no movie can help us against that. The game is off."

Strix made a scoff. "So that's it? You're just going to let Boscha and her posse pick on us until we graduate from Hexside? Quitter!"

"I'd rather quit and keep some dignity than lose all dignity in a game I know we're all going to lose! You said it yourself, Strix. We have no real training, no real experience and we don't have Boscha's athletic build! For crying out loud, you put on the Mask to cheat! You knew we would lose!"

Strix stammered, "Well...well...I, uh..."

"Just forget it." Willow turned to leave with Gus.

"Willow, wait!" Luz cried out, but her two friends were already heading back to the school building. She noticed the hair clip and picked it up. She sighed sadly. "You and Willow were right, Strix. I shouldn't have challenged her."

"Luz..."

"Just leave me. I need some time alone right now."

Strix slowly turned and walked off.

Back at the Owl House, a makeshift grudgby field was built in the front yard. Eda was still wearing her sports jacket while Lilith decided to remove her cloak. Hooty made himself umpire. "You gals ready to hoot? We want a clean game here, so no magic allowed."

Next to the scoreboard was King, dressed like a cheerleader. "Yes! Now I'll strike fear into my enemies with this armor of intimidation." He wasn't.

Eda chuckled at how ridiculous the little demon looked. "Yeah, intimidation armor." She then said to Lilith, "Pushing paper all day might make you a little rusty. I'll try to go easy on you." She tossed the ball to Lilith who easily caught it with one finger, balancing it on her digit perfectly.

"Remember, dear sister, you may have been star player, but I was team captain for a reason."

She flung the ball back to Eda who caught it. She glared at Lilith.

Hooty blew the whistle, beginning the game.

Luz sat alone on the bleachers, using a Healing Coven band aid to tape Willow's hair clip. She heard footsteps approaching and turned to her right to see Amity. "Tough practice?" she asked as she sat next to Luz.

Luz sighed, exhausted with everything that happened to her. "I pushed Strix, Willow and Gus too hard. It's just, I hate seeing Willow get picked on. She's one of the best friends I've ever had. Winning this game is the only way I know how to help."

Amity made a small smile. "Did you know, before Boscha, I was the grudgby team captain?"

"Really?" Luz asked with surprise.

"Well, once I left the team, I decided that was a part of my life I wanted to forget. We were playing Glandus High for the Island Championship. We had a move planned, and it was a good one. But, at the last minute, I decided I wanted to do something a bit flashier. I changed our game plan to... the Thorn Vault."

Luz practically gasped when she heard that. "Good Witch Azura 2: Field of Deadly Fates! You watched it too?"

"Uh, yeah. It went disastrously wrong. My teammates got hurt. All because I had an idea of how things should be. I pushed them too far." Amity made a sad look. "I never played again after that day." Amity turned to Luz, only to find their faces incredibly close. She yelped, stumbled back and fell, blushing heavily.

"Ah! Sorry." Luz helped her up. "I just really love backstories." She looked down to see Boscha and her teammates entering the grudgby field. She stood up and handed Amity Willow's hair clip. "I know what to do to make this up to Willow. Thanks."

Amity looked down at the hair clip.

Luz approached Boscha. "It's after school," said the grudgby captain. "Where's the leader of the loser brigade?"

"I'm here on her behalf. We forfeit." Boscha raised an eyebrow at the human's statement. "And I'm here to tell you that I'll take Willow's place as your water gofer, target practice, whatever you need."

"Wow, you're really a good friend...And a perfect target." When Boscha set the grudgby ball she was carrying on fire, Luz knew right then and there that she really didn't think this through. "THINK FAST!" Luz ducked just in time. She watched as the ball flew threw the air and hit a tree, causing it to explode. Boshca summoned more balls, set them on fire and telepathically flung them at the frightened human. It was like trying to outrun a meteor shower.

Seeing her friend in genuine danger, Amity ran to find her friends.

In the greenhouse, Willow repaired Gus' flags with surgical precision. "There, that ought to do it."

The boy held the flags close. "These are flags of surrender now."

Suddenly, Amity burst into the greenhouse. "Luz needs our help! I know she pushed you guys, and she always gets in over your head. She can be so stupid, which I love- I mean hate! In any case, she needs you right now, which is sweet- I mean, I hate it, and it's dumb!"

Willow and Gus stared at her. "You lost me," said the latter.

"Just, here." Amity handed Willow the repaired hair clip. She smiled, knowing this was Luz apologizing for what she'd done.

Gus made a face of determination and bravery as he waved his flags. "Can we resist the call to action? No! May the flags be raised once more."

Back at the Owl House's grudgby match, Eda tried scoring a goal, but Hooty blocked the ball, allowing Lilith to grab it. "Hooty! Whose side are you on?"

"I'm an unbiased participant, hoot-hoot." In other words, an obstacle.

Lilith ran by Eda. Selwyn suddenly appeared and breathed fire at her, but she jumped over the dragon's head and scored a goal. King marked the score, now tied five to five. "Point goes to Lilith. We're at a tie here, folks."

"Time for one more play," said Hooty.

Eda smirked as she pulled out her cheat box, making sure no one was looking. "Just one little trick and the game will be mine." But when she opened the box, she found nothing but a letter reading, "I noticed your lunchbox was getting dirty so I cleaned it! LOVE, LUZ!" The Owl Lady cursed at her apprentice, "Dang it, Luz! Your nonsense has gotten into my head. Well, time to do this the old-fashioned way."

"Taking your time," Lilith taunted. "Nervous?"

"Not today, sister."

Hooty blew the whistle, beginning play again. Eda grabbed the ball and made for the goal with Lilith chasing her. Hooty emerged from the ground, blocking Eda's path. "It's me again!" He yelped in pain when she jumped on his face, giving her some leverage. Lilith tried to stop her, but it was too late. "NO!"

Eda scored the goal, winning the game. King did a little victory cheer routine. "Ha ha! Game over! Team Owl House rules supreme!"

Eda did a victory dance of her own. "Yes! Still got it! Still got the skills to pay the bills-"

"NO!" Lilith slammed her fist on the ground, she sounded like she was on the verge of a mental breakdown. "No! I can't go back to the Emperor empty-handed."

Eda sighed. Though they were on opposite sides of the grudgby field, she was still her sister. Eda plucked off her ring and handed it to Lilith. "Here. Tell them I put up a heck of a struggle."

Lilith stood up and put her cloak back on. "I will be back for you. And next time, I won't be alone."

"I'll be waiting."

"I'll be waiting too," shrieked Hooty. "Hoot-hooty-hoot!"

Lilith turned to leave, but she stopped and said, "Edalyn, there's something else you should know."

"Oh, what is it?"

"That if I don't catch you, sooner or later, the Emperor will send Walter."

There was a sudden change in the air. Eda's eyebrows raised. Selwyn let out a whimper and hid in the garage. King squeaked and hid in Eda's hair. Hooty let out a hoot and buried his head in the dirt. "So Emperor Belos is considering sending the royal executioner to catch me? He must be desperate."

"Please, I beg you! Join the Emperor's Coven! If not for your sake, or for mine, do it for your son! You know what Walter is capable of! And if he were to meet your human..."

Eda slammed her staff onto the ground, causing a small tremor. "He won't," she said threateningly.

"I won't be able to protect you if he's called," Lilith said desperately. "Please! Don't resist, I beg you!" Eda's response was to walk back to the Owl House and slam the door. "Foolish sister."

Eda walked to the couch, slumped into it, then slammed the coffee table without warning. "Walter. He's going to send Walter?!"

"Eda, what's going to happen?" asked King.

"Get me my spell books. We're going to have to double the magic barriers."

Back at Hexside, Luz was still running for her life from Boscha's barrage of grudgby balls. "Having fun yet? 'Cause I'm just getting warmed up." Suddenly, a grudgby ball hit her in the face and she landed on her posterior. "What the heck?!"

By Luz's side stood Strix, armed with a grudgby pitching machine. "Strix! You're back!"

"You know, I'm kind of getting tired of having to save your butt all the time." He then said to Boscha, "Think you're so tough, star player," he sneered. "Let's see how tough you are!" He activated the machine, firing grudgby balls like a machine gun, forcing Boscha and her time to duck. He laughed maniacally only to stop abruptly when a vine suddenly shot out of the ground and flung the pitching machine into the air.

"That's enough, Strix." Willow stood between Strix and Boscha. "Boscha. Your issue is with me, not Luz. Leave her be."

"Willow!" Luz ran up to the plant witch and embraced her. "Willow, I'm sorry I got you into this mess. You're right, I got my head too stuck in the movie biz."

"It's okay. I know you were just trying help in your Luz way. But now let's finish this... my way." Willow said to the three-eyed girl, "The game is back on."

"You need four players on your team. Where's your fourth?"

Willow, Luz and Strix looked up at the bleachers to find Gus, his flags hooked up to IV stands. "Well, uh..."

"Right here." Amity, wearing her old grudgby equipment, stepped forward and stood next to Luz.

Boscha shook her head in disappointment. "You just destroyed your social life."

"Nah. I think I've made it better."

Both teams, now clad in grudgby equipment, got into positions and the game started. "GO WILLOW!" shouted Gus.

"There's something on your shoe," Willow said to Boscha.

"Like I'd fall for that," the three-eyed girl said with a scoff. But she looked down and her eyes widened when she saw Strix tying her shoes together. He looked up at her and giggled sheepishly before running off. "Why you-" She fell flat on her face when she attempted to grab him.

Willow caught the ball and cast a plant spell that dragged her underground then launch her out, helping her score a goal.

The game progressed. Amity used an abomination to hold back a giant pendulum that popped out of the ground, allowing Luz to score another goal. Gus created illusion duplicates of himself to cheer Luz, Amity, Strix and Willow on.

One of Boscha's teammates, Amelia scored a goal for her team after dodging vines, arrows and a column of flames. "Nice work," said Luz, impressed.

Amelia didn't reply at first, then she smiled and high fived her. "Thanks." Her smile disappeared when Boscha coughed loudly and motioned her to come back.

The game progressed further. Boscha threw a flaming grudgby ball at Luz, who blocked with an ice glyph, cooling the ball down in the process. He caught the ball and his eyes widened when he saw, in the embers, a symbol shaped like a flame in a circle. "LUZ! NEW FIRE SPELL!"

Luz was amazed. "Well, what are you waiting for?! Use it!"

"Right!" He cast the fire spell glyph, setting the ball aflame. "Whoa. Amity!" He tossed the ball, which flew over Boscha's teams' heads and Amity used her abomination to score a goal.

The score was tied nine to nine. Willow's team huddled up. "There's time for one more play," said Amity.

"And this play could determine whether us underdogs win of lose," said Willow.

"Here's what I have to offer." Luz showed the team cards with all the glyphs she and Strix learned so far.

"I think we should try this one." Willow pointed to the plant glyph.

"The Thorn Vault again," Strix questioned. "You're sure about that?"

"I'm ready this time."

The players broke up and both teams faced each other. In the stands, Gus did a strange cheerleading routine with his clones.

The ball launched up and Luz caught it. "Watch out!" Amity pushed Luz out of the way of Boscha, getting tackled as a result.

"Amity!"

Strix tackled Skara to the ground. "Come on, Luz," he shouted. "She gave you an opening to help us win! Take it!"

Luz nodded. She ran from Amelia and Cat and planted the plant glyph onto the ground before giving the ball to Willow. Willow jumped onto the glyph, which launched her up into the air and allowing her to score the winning goal. Willow cast a spell that grew a bush out of the ground, allowing her to land safely.

Luz and Strix ran up to her and pulled her into a group hug. "Whoo! You did it, Willow! We did it! We won!" Suddenly, something strange happened. Boscha's team suddenly scored 999 points! The victorious smile remained frozen on Strix's face, but his eyes twitched with disbelief and slight insanity. "What?"

In Boscha's hand was a gold beetle with jeweled eyes. "Oh, thorns," muttered Willow.

"Wh- What happened," Luz asked, still trying to comprehend what the heck just happened.

"She caught the Rusty Smidge."

"The what?"

Boscha laughed as she tossed the beetle up and down in her hand. "Yeah, while you were celebrating your 'victory', I caught this guy. It means I automatically win. All magic sports are like this."

Strix stuttered, "But...no one...we didn't even see...we weren't told..." Finally, his frozen smile gave way to anger and he let out a scream. "WHAT WAS THE POINT OF ALL THAT, THEN?!"

Luz nodded in agreement. "That just invalidates all our efforts! If catching that thing is so important, why do anything else? There's no reason to watch any of the other players! That's such a stupid rule!"

Boscha didn't care. "Well, we beat them and proved our social dominance. All is right in the hierarchy." She turned to leave, but she realized no one was following her. "Hey!"

Amelia, Skara and Cat shook Luz, Willow and Strix's hands. "Good game, Willow," said Skara.

"I had so much fun playing you guys," said Amelia.

Willow blushed and said, "Really?"

"Willow, you're really good," said Cat. "Would you want to be on our team?"

"Mm, thanks for the offer, but I think I'm done with grudgby for a while."

"Uh, guys," Strix said. "Are you forgetting something?" He gestured to the other side of the field, where Amity was struggling to get up.

"Amity!" The trio ran to their fallen friend.

She groaned and grabbed her right leg. "I think- I think I hurt my leg," she said. But, I'll be okay."

"Are you sure?" asked Luz. "I could help carry you if it really hurts."

Amity suddenly started blushing and said, rather stupidly, "I'm fine! Who's Amity?"

"Aaaaand, scoop!" Luz carried the injured girl in her arms, but this only made her blush even more and she stammered, "Oh, wow. Sports."

Strix put his hands on his hips and said sarcastically, "Mmm-hmm."

Gus ran down to greet his friends. "Can we have another montage?"

"No," Strix shouted suddenly. "No montage!"

"Too late," said Luz. "Montage activate!"

"Oh, you've got to be-"

What happened next was a montage of Gus, Luz, & Willow all scoring goals, followed by Gus using his illusion magic to change Willow's team's score of 10 to 1000, followed by the three running up to the Owl House (and stepping on Hooty in the process), followed by King, still in his cheerleader outfit.

"You're- You're not gonna show this to anybody, right?" he asked.

Luz giggled while she recorded everything on her phone. Eda said, "Of course not. Keep cheering."

The montage continued with Amity, now with a Healing Coven cast on her leg, walking with crutches into the Owl House, with Hooty sitting her on the couch with Luz and Willow, surrounded by Gus, King, and Eda.

Finally, Strix asked, "Seriously, why are we doing this?"