Last week, I was helping a friend out. That's why I didn't post.


Belos/Raine was grinning as his ride brought him closer to the remains of his former castle. All along, the power to destroy the Demon World had been within his reach!

As a Titan nothing could stop him! True, he have to find a new host if was to return to Earth triumphantly. No, he could use the Titan's magic to construct himself a new body, one that would live eternally!

"You'll see, Caleb. I'll finally prove to you I was right all along!" Belos/Raine cackled.

"I'm not letting that happen!" Raine yelled in his thoughts. They fought to regain control. Belos was a master when it came to handling matters of the mind.

Regrettably, he wasn't prepared for Raine's mental attack when they pushed past his senses by singing an annoying song.

Eda had taught them every version of the song after visiting a theme park.

"It's a world of laughter, a world of tears. It's a world of hopes and a world of fears. There's so much that we share. That it's time we're aware it's a small world after all."

"It's a small world after all. It's a small world after all. It's a small world after all. It's a small, small world."

Belos/Raine covered their ears trying to block out the song. This caused Raine to start singing louder. "Shut up! I command you to be quiet!"

Raine wasn't going to take orders from a genocidal monster. They had to keep fighting to regain control of their body.

"There is just one moon and one golden sun. And a smile means friendship to everyone. Though the mountains divide and the oceans are wide. It's a small world after all."

"It's a small world after all. It's a small world after all. It's a small world after all. It's a small, small world."

Belos/Raine was starting to his balance as thrashed from right to left. He had to make this torturous music stop!

Raine started to sing the third verse of the song. For some reason, it never was made part of the attraction.

"It's a world of wonder, a world of worth. And in years to come we'll know peace on earth. We will open our eyes and we'll all realize, It's a small world after all."

"It's a small world after all. It's a small world after all. It's a small world after all. It's a small, small world."

"Stop distracting me! You're going to make us crash!"

That was Raine's goal. They decided to sing a verse that had been added to an updated version of the song.

"It's a small world after all, no matter if you're big or small. Come on, everybody, let's bounce to this. Let's play some love with a little twist."

"It's a small world after all. It's a small world after all. It's a small world after all. It's a small, small, small, small world!"

Belos/Raine couldn't take it anymore. In a desperate attempt to end the torment, he flew the star straight into a tree. The impact sent the body crashing to the ground as the star turned to dust.

Belos/Raine lay sprawled out on the ground. A huge bump was forming on the forehead of the body. If there weren't signs of shallow breathing, anyone would have mistaken this as a corpse.

The eyes slowly opened, and the body sat up while flexing its fingers. A sigh of relief was audible.

"He's out cold. I need to find that dagger before he wakes up. Ow!"

Raine touched the left side of their body. There was a jagged cut reaching from the stomach to the hip. If they had been, flesh and blood, they would have died from the impact.

"I can't let that slow me down. Dig down deep, Raine. The entire population of the Boiling Isles is counting on you."

That sobering thought was motivation to start walking no matter how bad they hurt. They hoped the mind link went both ways.


At the castle ruins, Luz trying to figure out how to use the medicine Daria made on the slow-beating heart. The Boiling Isles didn't use needles. She was also afraid if she poured it over the heart, it wouldn't do anything.

"I wish Hunter had been clearer on how to administer the medicine for the heart," Luz lamented. If he hadn't been in a hurry to stop Belos, he would have mentioned if she had to inject curative or physically splash it on the heart.

"Eda, what do you think we should do?" she questioned anxiously. She was trying to be strong but all she wanted to do was cry.

Eda could tell that and knew she needed to handle her foster daughter's emotions carefully. "I'm not sure, kiddo. Even if I had access to my magic, I don't know many healing spells."

Luz sagged against the wall. Even after all this time, Eda still had the magic-blocking anklet on. The Collector was unable to take any action since it was under the spell of the Titan's glyph language.

The Collector was puzzled by their behavior. Did it really matter how the curative was delivered? They hadn't realized they had said that out loud until Eda said yes.

"Collector, you're an immortal so it doesn't matter how you take medicine. The Titan isn't and with his remains getting weaker, using this medicine wrongly could speed up the loss of magic."

Eda made a passionate gesture to highlight the significant losses they had already endured, which the Collector had not considered. The Collector proposed using telepathy to communicate with Hunter, but Luz rejected the idea.

She worried it could be a distraction with Belos on the run and Hunter's team looking for him. Plus, Belos and the team might already be in a conflict.

Hunter would likely speak the answer out loud. Belos would know what was going on and have the advantage. No, they couldn't contact him.

King added crow phones had stopped working when the Collector had transformed the Boiling Isles. They couldn't call Daria and ask even if she had a crow phone.

"We can't waste time sending someone to Hexside to get the answer. By now they've set up solid defenses to keep Belos out. That probably includes teleportation spells," he pointed out.

"If they're even still there. Amity wouldn't leave the student body on a dying island when there's a fleet of boats to escape it," Luz pointed out.

"What about your mom, big sis? You told me her job was to fix animals. The Titan looks like a lot of the animals from your memories."

Luz scolded the Collector for reading her mind without permission again. "Titans are intelligent beings who can communicate with words. My mom treats animals that can't communicate with words."

King seemed thoughtful. Maybe his dad's heart could tell them what they must do. He slid out from Eda's arms and approached the slow-beating heart.

The others watched at him. They were wondering what King intended to do.

King stretched out his hand towards the heart and then stopped. His dad's heart seemed to beat a little faster. Almost as if it was trying to entice him to touch it.

He braced himself and placed his hand on it. He was holding back his revulsion the best he could. He better do this quickly before he started vomiting.

"Dad, I hope you can hear me. An evil maniac wants to use your remains to destroy everyone. We can prevent that but I need your help to do it."

"We have some medicine for you. We know we're supposed to use it at your heart. What we don't know is how to give it to you. Please, help us help you."

At first, nothing happened. The heart kept beating slower and slower. King was about to withdraw his hand when he let out a yelp.

"AHH!" he screamed. An image appeared in his mind. It was him standing in the front of the heart. His claws were covered in the curative. He then dug them into the flesh of the heart.

A wave of dizziness rolled over the little Titan. He teetered backward and was caught by Eda. "You okay there, son?"

"I will be once my head stops spinning." King turned his head in time to avoid barfing on his adoptive mother. Eda just patted his back to soothe him.

The Collector cleaned up the mess. Once King could stand properly, he did what the vision showed him to do. When he retracted his paws, the curative was sucked inside.

Luz held hands with Eda. They were both praying that the curative would work. For now, all they could see was the curative slowly circulating through the heart.

The heart started beating faster as the curative entered the bloodstream. The entire vein network underneath the Boiling Isles started glowing. As the curative spread out, the soil and plants returned to their original colors.

The areas the Collector had changed slowly reverted to normal. The desolated spot that was used for the teleportation spell, was sprouting new grass. Within a few minutes, the Boiling Isles looked healthy again.

The small group looked out the remains of a window. They were in awe of the curative's power. It was a miracle.


However, the mission was not yet complete. Although the Titan's body was no longer in shock, it was now King's responsibility to restart the magic cycle.

"I guess it's my turn once more, huh," King stated nervously. "Heh, who knew I would be the savior of the Isles."

He placed his paws on the heart again. With sweat trickling down his face, he tried to link with his father's spirit again. "Dad, can you hear me? How do I restart the magic cycle?"

King waited for a response. When a few minutes passed without a response he asked again. No images appeared in his mind nor did he hear any whispers of what to do.

King removed his paws and looked at his family. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do. How do I even start something like this?"

"According to the Bat Queen, you need to use your own magic to start the cycle again," Luz stated determinedly.

King responded he was unsure if he had magic. He looked at the Collector and asked if they knew how Titan's manifested their magic.

Floating upside down, the Collector shrugged. "I spent a lot of time playing with the baby titans. They had their sonic scream, and if they were in danger, they could grow to the size of a pony."

"I only saw the mature Titans use magic. I never saw them use spell circles." They scrunched their eyes closed trying to recall what happened when the Titans attack them.

"It's been so long, it's hard to remember. I remember seeing symbols glowing on their body when they used magic. I think it was their language."

Luz reached into her fanny pack and pulled out some glyphs. "Do any of these look familiar?"

The Collector took the glyph for lightning and studied it. Floating right side up they looked excited. "I know this one! The Titan used it to keep me away while he finished the imprisonment spell."

Luz looked at King, "Try using a glyph or combo to restart the cycle."

Removing his paws from the heart he asked the Collector for the glyph. They handed it over gladly. He held out the glyph and tapped it.

A bolt of lightning struck the heart. It started beating more rapidly eventually slowing down again. "I don't think it's working," he said in a deadpan voice.

Eda told King to relax. "You're overthinking this. I bet if you relax your mind, your instincts will tell you what to do."

The Collector, who had been looking out the ruined window, coughed loudly. "Um, I think we need to speed this game up." They held their hands to their eyes like binoculars.

"Ray-Ray's body is marching this way. They're carrying a mini sword and…. Oh, now they're trying to stab themselves. Oh, I see, big brother and the others heading straight towards them."

Eda demanded to know where Raine was right now. The Collector said they were in the forest. That was almost halfway to the castle on foot!


Belos/Raine was attempting to reclaim control of the host body. Raine had discovered the dagger Belos used to kill his brother. He also used it every time a grimwalker betrayed him.

He had kept it safely hidden. The last link to his past on Earth. Now, Raine was doing their best to plunge it into their heart.

"I will not let you kill me!" Belos voice rang out loud. He regained partial control of the hand with the dagger. He pulled it away from the body's chest.

The other hand grasped the wrist of the one holding the dagger. It was trying to pull the dagger closer. "I'm the one dying here! I'm going to take you down with me!"

The struggle continued as the kids flew closer. They could hear the two voices shouting. They sped up in hopes to end both the argument and the lives of the two people.

Hunter focused his gaze as he spotted Raine, who was possessed, up ahead. He noticed that even one of the gentle Coven Heads was willing to risk their lives to prevent Belos' evil plans, which reminded him of Flapjack's bravery. Hunter hoped that his sacrifice would enable him to finally defeat his tormentor and return home.

"I'm going to avenge you, Flapjack. Waffle, if the situation becomes life-threatening, I want you to get out of here. I won't let Belos kill you."

"I won't let Belos kill you, either. I won't abandon you. I promised my brother I would watch over you and I intend to keep that promise."

Removing one hand from the staff, Hunter drew a spell circle and launched a fireball at Belos/Raine.

The two minds stopped squabbling long enough to deflect the fireball. As soon as they were safe, Belos finally regained control over the body. With a deranged expression on his face, the former emperor whistled loudly.

The sonic whistling knocked Hunter off his staff. Willow swooped in and caught him. Gus created a hundred illusions of the couple to keep Belos/Raine from attacking the real ones.

He did a second pass with Vee. She opened her mouth and started sucking in magic.

"Not this time, you repulsive reptile!" Belos/Raine summoned three trombones. He snapped his fingers and they launched several metallic projectiles at Vee. The basilisk jumped off the staff.

She tumbled towards the ground. She started to shift shape only to be struck by a projectile. She shrieked as she was rammed through four trees. Her entire chest was one giant bruise.

She let out a moan and was unable to move. The trombones fired smaller projectiles at her. She got hammered as they tore into her scales. She covered her face to protect her eyes.

"One more round should finish you off!" Belos/Raine with his voice laced with madness. Before he could use the trombones again, they were stabbed with a sharp vine.

He scowled as he summoned another instrument. This time it was a keyboard. He banged the keys as a wave of music magic took over the area.

Willow was lifted into the upper atmosphere by her staff. Gus was being pushed towards the Knee by the magic. Belos/Raine searched for Hunter but couldn't find any trace of him.

The ground beneath Belos/Raine burst apart. Hunter shot up and smacked his tormentor right in the jaw. The monster fell flat on his butt.

The boy gained some height and then dive-bombed the man. Hunter started to summon another spell circle when Waffle took over and shot up. The boy narrowly avoided getting a nasty cut across his face.

"You're not getting away that easily!" Belos proclaimed. Using Raine's magic, he formed a staircase of musical notes. He started climbing while brandishing the dagger.

"Your fate is to die by my hand, Hunter! Don't draw this out!" Raine's limbs started to stretch as the green ooze began coming out of the puppet's body.

Waffle could feel the anger and hatred Hunter was feeling because of his tight grip on the staff. Her witch was trying to fight her. To force her to turn back and face his tormentor head-on.

"Stop resisting me, Hunter! You won't defeat him if you attack him head-on!"

"Give me control, Waffle. He needs to pay for what he's done!"

"My brother didn't want you to die. Don't let your need for revenge cloud your judgment. We need to work together to end Belos!"

Hunter took a few deep breaths. He knew she was right. He needed help to put an end to all the pain. "Fly higher! We need to get the Captain back!"

Willow was struggling to regain control over her staff. "Clover! Fight the spell!"

"I can't! You're going to have to let go!"

"At this altitude? The gravity will pull me down faster than I can cast a plant spell to catch me!"

"If you don't, you'll die due to a lack of oxygen."

"Willow!"

The plant girl whipped her head around to see her boyfriend coming after her. She squinted and saw a greenish blob climbing a staircase of music notes. Belos!

"Captain, jump! I'll catch you!"

Without hesitation, she pushed herself off the staff letting gravity take over.

Belos/Raine saw this as an opportunity to strike. He stretched out his limbs, the hands transforming into blades. He aimed them at Willow's falling form.

A wall of solid rock fell onto his staircase. He screamed as his stolen body was hurdling toward the ground. With him out of the way, Hunter was able to rescue his girlfriend.

Gus, who had managed to regain control of his staff, was utilizing the construction spells Matt taught him, to create a prison chamber.

Vee, who had slightly recovered, was using plant glyphs to create a cushion for Belos to land on. She wanted him dead but first, they had to get him out of Raine's body.

As soon as Belos's landed in the flower petal pile, Gus slammed a cement roof over the top of the cell. There was no way out except a tiny air vent. Vee slithered over and started consuming the raw magic.

Belo's magic tasted worse than before. It smelled like rotting meat and the taste was similar to garbage. It was taking all of Vee's inner strength not to throw up the magic, lest it return to Belos.

"Keep it up, Vee! Just a little more and we can attempt the exorcism on Raine!" Gus called out to Vee.

She gave him a shaky thumbs up. Hunter and Willow touched down. They rushed over to help.

They had just arrived at the cell when it burst apart. Sludge went flying everywhere. Belos panted trying to regain some of his former strength.

After a few moments, he dashed towards Hunter with the dagger raised. Before the teen could do anything, the dagger was plunged into his chest!

Everyone screamed as Hunter started to bleed. They rushed to help only for the monster to whip them away with his overstretched limb.

"You have plagued me enough, brother. Your legacy, both Hunter and the Clawthorns, ends tonight!" Belos twisted the dagger causing more blood to spurt.

That's when Raine had enough. Amassing all their mental strength, they whistled a high C.

Even though the whistling was only in his mind, Belos roared in pain. He covered his ears trying to block the sound but it wouldn't stop. Raine's body started to retch and out spewed the sludge monster.

He hissed before grabbing the dagger and racing away.

"He's going after the heart again!" Vee shouted. "We need to go after him!"

Gus shouted at her there was no time. They needed to help Willow with saving Hunter's life. He ordered Vee to check on Raine.


Meanwhile, at the docks, Amity was helping the kindergarteners onto a boat. The Council had decided to join the evacuation when they heard about it from Bat Queen. A few students were helping with getting people on the boats.

She had finally managed to get Brax on the boat but the rest of his classmates were too scared.

"Come on, kids. It will be alright. We're just taking a short boat ride," she said gently.

"No! I'm scared of water!" the Usurper cried. "I don't want to get on the boat!"

"I can't swim!" the blond pigtailed girl stated frightfully.

"I want my mom." another one whimpered.

Amity took a deep breath. She couldn't lose her temper now. "I know all of you are scared. Sometimes we have to do scary things. I need all of you to be extremely brave right now."

She looked past the little kids at the Isles. Despite the changes to the isles, Amity felt in her bones that Belos was still alive. None of them were safe as long as he lived.

"Right now, my friends are out there trying to stop an evil force that wants to destroy our home. The only way they can is if they know that we're safely off the Boiling Isles."

"Can you please do this one task for my friends? For me, please?"

The little kids nodded. One by one they climbed aboard the boat. Amity smiled pleased to see the children she loved acting very mature. She turned her head to look at Camila.

Camila was helping some of the elderly residents get on one of the boats. Her calm and caring nature shone through her despite her uneasiness around the demons. It just proved that Camila was the best mother in either world.

Camila needed to take a break for a few minutes. She wasn't used to helping elderly beings. She stared at the Boiling Isles impressed by its renewed beauty.

Then her eyes returned to the skies. Something was causing the stars to dim. A cold wind blew around her causing her to shiver.

"Please, Luz. Be careful and return to me," Camila softly prayed.


Back at the castle ruins, King was frantically trying to call on any magic to restart the cycle. He placed both paws on the heart. "Please, if I possess any magic let it come out."

His claws glowed bright white. Behind him, Luz and Eda gasped in delight. The Collector cheered for him.

Feeling confident, he gently drew on the heart the transfer glyph. The glyph started to glow white. His body tingled as the dormant magic inside him started rising.

"Yes! This is going to work!" King shouted out loud. He felt the magic gathering in his claws. He drove it forward expecting to go inside the glyph.

The glyph glowed bright and then snuffed itself out. Everyone let out a groan. A tear fell from King's eyes. "I don't know what went wrong. Everything was going great then nothing."

"I'm a complete failure. The Boiling Isles are doomed because of me!"

"King, you're not a failure," Eda said hugging him close. Both of them started crying loudly. That caused the Collector to cry as well.

Fighting back tears, Luz forced herself to go over to the organ. She could see the traces of the glyph. She thought over everything she learned. The answer was rattling around in her head.

The answer swiftly became clear. "Eureka! I know what's wrong!" she exclaimed.

The others looked at her as if she was crazy. "It's so obvious why didn't I think of it before?" She turned and looked at King excitedly.

"You're a baby Titan according to the Collector. You're just imitating your father's language. You need to communicate in your own language."

King replied that's what he was doing. Luz shook his head and said that King needed to create his own language to talk with the Titan. "Languages change and evolve. That's why you need to come up with your own."

King was about to reply when cold laughter rang out from the doorway. Everyone spun around and was treated to the sick sight of Belos's sludge body.

"How pathetic. The Owl Lady's vermin is the last hope for the Boiling Isles. Killing you won't take long."

Eda switched to her harpy form. The Collector stood in front of King. To their left, Luz was holding tightly to her staff. Stringbean animated herself to hiss at Belos.

"You're not going to touch a hair on my son, you s***** bastard!" Eda snarled. Her talons grew longer and sharper.

"Get out of my way you witch! My destiny is at hand!"

Luz twirled her staff to charge it up. Once there was enough magic inside, she thrust it toward Belos. A beam of magic shot out and tore through the shoulder of the monster.

Belos roared then charged forward. Eda, Luz, and the Collector rushed to meet him. King stood in front of the heart and was ready to protect it.

Belos flicked out his extra-long limbs. Luz dodged while Eda flew out of the way. The Collector managed to lean under the limb.

They created a couple of star minions. They whirled through the air aiming for various parts of Belos's body. The horrible horns on the sludge monster's head came off.

Belos used his dagger to deflect the attacks aimed at his chest and arms. In response, he sent a wave of sludge towards the Collector, who transformed into their shadow form to avoid being poisoned.

Eda divebombed Belos trying to take his head off. The monster was sparred as he collapsed. His legs were liquifying around him.

He screamed as he pushed on. There was a loud squelch and Belo's top half dislocated from his bottom half. It was too much for King and he lost his lunch.

Luz hollered at the others, "His decaying is accelerating! Keep him busy until his clock runs out!" She made a massive ball of light blinding the Belos.

King fired a sonic scream. Belos barely avoided a direct hit. The hit caused the sludge on the left shoulder to vanish. Now they could see his shoulder bone.

Eda came back around for another pass. She grabbed his right shoulder, trying to pull the limb off.

"LET GO!" The sludge he left behind gravitated to Eda. It started covering her body.

Eda had to release the monster. She attempted to shake off the sludge. "Why won't this disgusting sludge come off?" she shrieked. By now it had encased most of her body.

"EDA! Hold still!" King shouted as he took a deep breath. Before he could let loose another sonic scream, the floor he was standing on gave out. The tiny Titan fell towards the basement.

"KING!" Luz shouted. She got on her staff and moved to catch him when she heard the Collector crying out in pain.

Swiveling around, she saw that Belos had glued them to the Titan's heart. They were trying to get free but couldn't do so.

"You don't know how good it feels to finally get rid of you. I've been waiting for four hundred years to squash your annoying little voice!"

"Stop this! You're going to ruin the game forever!" They cried as they continued to struggle.

"This isn't a game. It's my DESTINY!" Belos thrust the dagger, with its point covered in toxic sludge, forward. He was aiming for the Celestial's chest.

The Collector shut their eyes. They heard a loud squelch and a gasp of stupefaction. Opening their eyes, they beheld the cruelest of sights.


The infected dagger was lodged in Luz's heart. Blood was coming out of her mouth. Her skin tone paled as she sank to the ground.

The Collector shouted "BIG SIS!" They gained strength and pushed through the goop, ignoring Belos as they ran toward her.

Luz's eyelids were fluttering. Her body felt cold, and the voice shouting her name sounded distant.

"Big sis! Stay with me, big sis! I'll heal you!" The Collector tried to use their magic but discovered something was growing on their hands. It looked like a fungus.

"What the…?" Dark laughter filled the air. Using Luz as a distraction, Belos had managed to merge with the Titan!

A twisted pale green fungus was spreading across the castle as the ruins started coming down. The Collector grabbed Luz and started trying to drag her out of the room.

From out of the earlier hole, King emerged riding Luz's staff. He grabbed the Collector and Stringbean scooped up Luz in her newly formed arms. Eda had finally freed herself and was giving them cover as they escaped.

Landing on the other side of the ravine, Eda started shaking Luz. "Kid, wake up! Luz, answer me, please!"

There was no response. Eda tried again and again. Luz didn't respond.

King pressed his claws to Luz's neck. He got teary-eyed when he felt no pulse. He didn't want to believe it.

Luz's body started to fade away. The trio tried to hold onto her. They couldn't, and the girl's body vanished. All that was left was a few golden globes of light soaring away.

"NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Eda's voice echoed across the Boiling Isles.

In the remains of the castle, Belos laughed manically. "Now is my time!" he crowed. Far away at the skull, one of the eye sockets started glowing bright blue.