All characters from Disney and other properties are owned by their respectful owners. The OCs made here are written entirely for the story. Enjoy the fic.
Chapter 98: Rings of Fire
Years ago…
The symbol of the Tarot Guild was up on display as Craig and the Producer escorted the scared eight-year-old Emily Tricks down a corridor.
"Where… are we?" Emily asked them. "Why are we here?"
"Oh don't worry, you're just going to meet the one in charge," the Producer said while leading Emily to a door. She knocked on the door and a Tarot Guild soldier looked through the eye holes. "This is the Producer, we are here to see Grimmhammer."
The door opened and the three entered a throne room. Emily looked ahead and saw the pig demon known as Grimmhammer, scarfing on his food served by a servant in chains.
"Hello, Grimmy," the Producer spoke to him.
"My, if it isn't my old acquaintance the Producer," he responded while turning to Emily, who hid in fright. "And who pray tell is this child?"
"Meet Emily Tricks, she was recently abandoned by her horrible parents," the Producer explained, patting Emily's head, "She has no home to go to, so now we place her under your care. Hopefully she could be of… use to you."
Grimmhammer looked at the young Emily, who was scared of him. "Now why do you look fearful, child? I'm not gonna hurt you," he told her while nodding for his servant to walk away. He turned back to Emily. "Do you know any spells?"
Emily gave a nod. "I… am good with light spells, which help with my illusions…"
"Illusions… well then, I'm sure that I can find a use for that," Grimmhammer said before he looked at the two scouts. "Thank you for bringing her here, I'll be taking it from here now."
The Producer and Craig made their exit, leaving Emily alone with Grimmhammer.
"Say, do you like to play games?" Grimmhammer asked, holding up some cards. "Hexes Hold'em, heard of it?"
Emily shook her head "N-No," she said quietly.
"Then let me teach you how to play!" Grimmhammer said as he stood up and sat on the floor. "Come now, sit down so I can teach you how to play!"
Emily looked unsure, but decided to do as the man said as she sat across from him.
"Now then, it's all about strategy," Grimmhammer told her while setting up the cards. "Now, first thing you have to do is set up your cards into five rows…"
And so, Grimmhammer began to teach Emily everything he knows about Hexes Hold'em. On her first try, she lost when she couldn't pick which card to use against him. After a few tries, she eventually won one game. And then, she won another, since truthfully Grimmhammer let her win a few times so she would get more comfortable.
"You're doing well, Emily," Grimmhammer commented.
"Yeah… this game is a lot of fun," Emily replied with a small smile due to her victory.
Grimmhammer smiled as well. "Say, why don't we stretch our legs out and show you around?" he asked as he stood up and offered his hand to her.
Emily accepted and the Boss proceeded to take her around the base. "So… what is this place's purpose? Does… the Emperor's Coven know?" Emily asked.
"The Tarot Guild is an old guild. It was around long before the age of Belos," Grimmhammer explained while passing tapestries that had the symbols of tarot cards. "Back then, we were a thieves guild. We traded, smuggled, and scavenged goods. We took from the rich and stealed from the middle-class. We were basically capitalists," he joked. "But then when Emperor Belos rose into power, he dismantled our organization! The Tarot Guild was believed to be no more." He looked down sadly. "It was here before the Emperor's Coven… and it will be here after! Because we're going to make a comeback and reclaim our glory! And thanks to the Producer, members have been planted not just in the Emperor's Coven, but in many other covens as well!"
"How do you… evade from being noticed by the Emperor?" Emily asked him.
"The Producer has her ways," Grimmhammer explained. "We control the crime in the Isles and we keep doing so in order to take what is rightfully ours! The Emperor's Coven doesn't even know that we still exist, because Belos is just too preoccupied in hunting down wild witches." Emily flinched, which he noticed. "Something the matter?"
"No, it's just…" Emily looked down sadly. "My parents… were wild witches…"
"Oh…" Grimmhammer said, faking sympathy. "I am so sorry, young one. But why would they ever abandon you?"
Emily hesitated before answering. "It's because of the Owl Lady, since I caught boiling pox thanks to her. My parents decided that I was too much of a burden when I grew sick… so they left me and I had to survive off of rotten food and dead rats for a month before I was found… I was… alone…" She teared up. "When I learned that they abandoned me… I couldn't believe it at first… I didn't want to be a burden and I didn't ask to be cursed with the pox..."
"Oh, now don't you cry, Emily," Grimmhammer said as he wiped her tears away. "What happened to you wasn't your fault… it was the fault of your parents and the Owl Lady!"
Emily looked up to him as he continued. "Wild witches like her always make the lives of honest witches like us hard. They don't like joining covens and they believe they are better than us, going around hurting whoever they like! How many lives have those coven-refusing witches ruined? Let me tell you, those wild witches are a burden to society! And I know that you're not a burden, are you?"
She shook her head. "No I am not!" she declared, wiping away her own tears. "I'm never going to be a burden ever again!"
"That's good to hear, my dear," he told her while having his hands behind his back. "And if you wish to join us, I can give you the skills and training to become a part of something greater!"
Emily nodded. "I won't let you down… when can I start?"
Grimmhammer just smiled. "Well first thing you can start with… show me what you can do…"
As time passed, Emily grew accustomed to life in Tarot Guild. She trained hard and worked harder, eager to prove her worth and earn approval. One day while waling through the base, she spotted an older girl with Grimmhammer.
"Ah, Emily, good timing!" Grimmhammer spoke up. "I would like for you to meet the latest member of the Tarot Guild and a student of the Beast-Keeping Coven… Sonya Mera."
The teenage Sonya looked down at the young Emily, giving her a smile. "It's nice to meet you, Emily. The Boss told me a lot about you when he adopted me."
"Adopted? I'm as well," Emily replied, extending her hand. "Nice to meet you, Sonya."
Sonya shook Emily's hand. "Likewise, Emily," she replied. "Say… do you know how to play Hexes Hold'em?"
Emily smiled, holding up a deck "I got my own deck…"
And so, the two spent some time together, playing their card game. At one point Sonya was shocked to see that Emily had a wild card with her.
"Damn, so close…" Sonya snapped her fingers. "You're good for your age."
"I've learned from the best." Emily responded, while under the table she had performed an illusion to cheat.
Later, they were both training in combat together. Sonya and Emily were swinging their bo staffs to clash against each other. Eventually, Sonya got the upper hand.
"Oof!" Emily shouted as she fell back. "No way, you cheated!"
"I'm bigger, older, and," Sonya said as she pointed her staff at Emily. "Think of it as payback for cheating." Emily's eyes widened. "Oh? You thought I didn't know? Your illusions were a bit lacking."
Emily looked down. "I'm still working on it..."
Later, the two took a stroll through a garden together, getting to know each other better.
"It's… nice to have someone closer to my age around here," Emily said as she and Sonya walked together. "Where did the Boss find you, Sonya?"
Sonya smiled. "Well… I used to be part of the circus. It was a small circus, but I was raised there by my beast-taming parents. They're… gone now."
"I'm so sorry," Emily said, sounding sympathetic. "Were you… abandoned?"
"No, they were killed by the beasts they tried to control in one act," Sonya clarified, her face blank. "I can still remember… the slaughter, the blood… how their flesh was ripped as their bones were crushed by the teeth of the unicorn that killed them. I still remember that unicorn stabbing my mother in the face through the horn…" She looked at the young Emily, whose eyes widened in shock and fear. "It was the worst day of my life." Both girls were silent for a moment. "You assumed they abandoned me…"
"Oh? Sorry," Emily replied while looking down "It's just… my parents abandoned me when I was sick…"
"You have my condolences," Sonya said. "But hey, one orphan to another, we just gotta stick together, you know?"
Emily nodded in agreement. "Of course."
Emily stood by the Boss's side, seeing one of his men standing in front of him.
"Take a look, Emily," the Boss said, pointing to the henchman. "He had some of our men captured and petrified over the failed delivery. He shall be made an example!" He gave the executioner a nod.
"No, please!" the henchmen backed away, only for the executioner to pull the lever, sending him into a pit to be fed to the animals. "AAAHHH!"
Emily was unable to look away…
On a boat in Lake Lacuda, Emily was being taught by a Tarot Guild member.
"Now they don't check for bodies in the lakes anymore, so it is the perfect place to dump them," spoke a biped duck demon who was dressed like a 1930s gangster. "That's why they call me, Quakus the Disposer!" He held up a bag containing someone inside. "Now help me throw him in the lake."
Emily was confused. "Who is he?"
"Oh just some kid who knew too much," he said while pulling out a kid in an orange hoodie and a gag. "Tough luck, Kenny."
"Hmm! Hmmmhmmm!" Kenny cried as Quakus and a reluctant Emily held Kenny up and dropped him into the lake. "WHMMMHMHMMM!" he cried as he was being scolded while Quakus dropped the cement block tied to him, making him sink down.
"Another one bites the dust!" Quakus declared before casually turning to Emily. "So, want a Newt Burger?"
Emily was up in a torture chamber, watching as people were tortured, whipped, and had their limbs pulled out.
"As you see here, there are many that failed to do as they were told," spoke her instructor, a black hooded demon with a rat-like appearance. "See that guy over there? Couldn't pay his protection money," he said to the guy being zapped to death. "That lady over there? We're gonna turn her into a chair to sell off."
The lady looked at Emily as her body was painfully transformed into a chair by the spell. "Kill… me…"
Emily flinched as she tried to look away, but sooner or later, she was gonna get used to this kind of life. She had to…
Emily was in her room studying when she heard a knock on the door. She answered it and saw that it was Grimmhammer.
"Hey, how's studying going?" Grimmhammer asked her.
"It's been going well, sir," Emily responded.
"Good, cause here's something that I think you've earned," he said as he handed her a present.
Opening it, Emily held up a little knick-knack of a tree with sunglasses.
"Thought you'd be a little interested in these little knick-knacks. Got it from a trip to the Night Market," he said to her.
"I love it!" Emily replied with a smile.
"I knew you would," he said with a nod.
There were plenty of moments like these. But these were the moments when Grimmhammer was in a good mood. When he wasn't…
Some time later, Sonya was in her lab as she heard knocking. Going over to the door, she opened and saw Emily… with a black eye.
"Emily, what happened?" Sonya asked her. "He… did it again, didn't he?"
The young Emily sniffed. "I… I was just… we were talking and I ended up talking back…" She wiped her tears as Sonya went to hug and comfort her.
"Shh, there, there," Sonya said, bringing Emily in. She sat down with Emily on her lap as the younger girl cried onto her shoulders. "I'm so sorry that he did this to you…"
Emily sniffed. "I-I just… was only making a suggestion…"
Sonya looked down at her sister and was quiet for a moment as she considered something. "Emily… have you ever thought of running away?"
Emily quickly shook her head. "No… because I know that I won't make it far and I have nowhere else to go anyway," she said as she looked down, tired. And she couldn't leave anyway. Not after everything Grimmhammer had done for her. Most of the time, he was good to her. "I'm… trapped here."
Sonya caressed Emily's cheek. "Emily, I promise you that we're going to make it through this together."
"R-Really?" Emily asked her.
"Yeah, cause us orphans have to stick together," Sonya said while wiping away her sister's tears. "I have your back, you know?"
Emily gave a small smile, while going down to embrace Sonya. "Thank you."
She would always have Sonya…
Years later, Emily began attending Glandus. She met up with Sonya at her lab.
"Emily, how's school?" Sonya asked her.
"It's… okay, I guess," Emily responded. "But I've managed to make some friends. Tito Jackwitch is an interesting guy, and then there's Nina Fangs, a werecat."
"A werecat, you say?" Sonya asked, looking interested. "I'd like to meet her someday…"
"Plus me and Stella are planning another date," Emily said with a smile. "I… I like her, Sonya. She's so kind and gentle, I think… I love her."
"It's good that you've created an inner circle," Sonya complimented. "You really did a good job on that."
"Thanks," Emily responded, feeling proud.
"But it's not enough," Sonya said while turning to her.
"W-what do you mean?" Emily asked, sounding nervous.
Sonya sighed. "The Boss is starting to think that you're not… ruthless enough. So I think that it's time for you to meet a… friend of mine."
"A friend?" Emily asked.
"She means me, kid," said the figure that stepped out of the shadows, surprising Emily. "The name's Lupe, a member of the Tarot Guild like you," he introduced. "And one of Dr. Mera's recurring clients."
"Lupe, this is my little sister, Emily Tricks," Sonya introduced as she turned to Emily. "Emily, this man is going to be training you. I think you will have a lot to learn from him…"
It was during this training that Emily experienced true hell…
She was pinned to the floor when Lupe held her by the neck. She struggled to get him off of her. "Let me go!" she cried, before getting smacked across the face.
"Shut up!" Lupe yelled at her. "Never beg or ask! You gotta fight your way out!" He then started punching her again and again, beating the lesson into her.
He threw her across the floor, after which Emily struggled to get up. She coughed out blood. She then felt her hair pulled up while Lupe raised his knife under her chin.
"I can kill you here and now for being such a weakling," Lupe snarled while grinning at Emily's fearful look. "Right… be afraid, be afraid of being a burden," he told her. "You hate being a burden, do you? Everyone does. But there are those like me. I'm stronger than everyone else. Better than everyone else. And I know it. Same goes for Belos, the Coven Heads, and those positioned in the Emperor's Coven. They are strong witches! They knew that in order to make it to the top, they had to become predators, not prey! Lions, not lambs!"
He retracted the knife while letting Emily go. Her nose and mouth was bleeding as Lupe leaned over to whisper into her ear. "You better hope those little friends of yours don't realize how weak you are! Because then they'll leave you and you won't have the power to keep them from leaving you, just like your parents did…"
Emily's eyes widened.
At Glandus, Emily was hanging out with her friends while under the bleachers.
"So they kicked you out of Grudgeby?" Tito asked Nina.
"Yeah, but I was gonna quit anyway. Can't stand the Rusty Smidge rule," Nina responded, while turning to Emily and noticing how she seemed more… quiet than usual. "Are you alright, Emily?"
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, just… didn't get enough sleep," Emily responded after snapping out of her distant look.
"Were you studying?" Stella asked her.
"Yeah, studying…" Emily gave a nod to her friends.
Emily was being pushed face down into the water for a long period of time. She was then brought up by Lupe after she tapped out.
"I tapped out ten minutes ago!" Emily cried out.
"Good, your endurance is improving," Lupe commented as he dragged her along. "Come on, we're going to test those arms of yours with my makeshift arm-cruncher!"
Emily looked confused. "Arm-cruncher?" She then noticed on a small table where two concrete blocks were slamming down between two cuffs and a pair of gloves in the front.
"This will help straighten your arms a little!" Lupe declared with a sadistic grin.
Emily hid the fact that her arms are aching while holding her backpack.
"Emily, are you alright?" Nina asked her in concern while walking with her to class.
"I'm fine," Emily responded, shifting her eyes away.
"Are you sure?" Nina asked. "Cause you've been quiet lately-"
"I'm fine!" Emily burst out and gave Nina an intense glare. Realizing Nina's startled look, she looked away. "Sorry… just a little… you know, forget about it," she said as she walked to her class, leaving Nina looking at her in confusion.
Emily has been running through this thick forest with only a knife on her. She was running, being chased by Lupe who was hunting her down and forcing to survive.
She eventually ended up in a field of tall grass. She looked around, hearing the rustling noises. She held her knife up as she got ready for him to pounce on her at any time…
Only to be tackled by a blur…
Emily had a stoic look while hanging out with her friends by the lockers.
Stella noticed this. "Emily… you've been quiet all day… everything alright?"
"Just fine," Emily responded as she walked over to the restroom. "Be right back."
Once Emily was in the restroom, she found herself alone. Looking around, she realized it was safe to drop her illusion…
Using her illusions, she was able to keep up appearances at Glandus. She did not want anyone, not even her friends and girlfriend, to see her like this, as she dropped the illusion.
She appeared to have a limp. Her hands were covered in bandages, her face showed scratch marks and there were bruises on her neck. She had a black eye. This was the toll Lupe's training had on her, what he would do to her for every failure. All to teach her, to force her, to be ruthless. To be more like him…
She would have cried, but her tear ducts were already dried up…
Lupe brought Emily to a chamber which had a tied up witch with a bag over their head.
"Alright, so if you really are determined to rid the world of wild witches, I'm going to help you," Lupe said while pulling the bag off of the witch's head.
"Where… where am I?!" he cried out, looking around. "I'm not in the Emperor's Coven, am I?"
"This guy here's a Wild Witch. Refuses to join a coven so he can go around to make others miserable," Lupe explained to Emily, whose face was blank.
"What? No! I just want to be left alone!" the wild witch claimed, turning to Emily. "Please… help me!"
Lupe handed Emily the knife. "However you kill him, cut his throat, stab him in the stomach… think of him as the Owl Lady…" he told her while Emily looked at the tied up man, who just looked… scared.
"Please… please no!" he cried out while Emily walked up to him slowly.
Emily looked at the knife, then to the man. She knew that if she refused… Lupe would straight up kill her. She gave the wild witch a stoic and blank look, betraying no emotion.
"You should've joined a coven, wild witch," Emily told him while knocking him down and standing on top of him.
"It's just not right! I don't want to be forced into a coven!" he cried while Emily kicked him in the face.
"Shut up!" Emily shouted, her hands shaking as she held the knife up. "Wild witches like you are a disgrace to the Titan!" she shouted as she swung her knife down, the man screaming louder with each stab. "You cost me my parents! My life! You! Will! Pay! Eda!" she shouted as she continued to stab the wild witch until he stopped screaming…
Lupe gave a nod, smiling as he looked proud of what she had become. "Atta girl…"
Emily was alone, standing over where she had killed the wild witch while Lupe left to feed the body to the animals.
She was in a state of shock. She was covered in blood and the bloody knife fell from her hands. She was shaken, shaken that she had taken a life. She looked at her own hands and her expression became… distant.
She stopped herself from shaking. She shut her eyes and tilted her head up. Lupe hadn't beaten her, which meant that she had not failed. Which meant that she wasn't weak.
The shock passed as Emily wiped the blood splattered from her face.
Emily was sitting with her friends at the lunch table as they were talking.
"Hey Emily," spoke Tito. "What's with that look?"
Emily looked at her friends. "Well, I've just been thinking lately… about the future."
"The future?" Stella asked.
"Nina, Tito, you two want to be top of the tracks, do you?" she asked them.
"Well, yeah," Nina said, nodding.
"Then it's time we get to work…" Emily suggested.
The white haired previous principal known as Principal Acne was making an announcement.
"As of now, due to the realization of how much of a failure this track is, the Illusion track and its programs are canceled," Acne declared which caused the students around the school to whisper to themselves with questions of worry. "Now don't worry, that doesn't necessarily mean those who were in Illusions are expelled. Instead, they shall be placed in different classes of their choosing."
After Principal Acne finished making the announcement over the speakers, he turned to Emily. "There, I did what you said…"
"Good," Emily replied while holding his squirrel Palisman in a cage. "Here you go, now let's not talk about this incident again, shall we?"
Emily entered the Construction Track classroom, where she spotted its newest student, Cain Saltstar. She grinned and walked over to meet Cain.
"Hello, you must be Cain, the new top student," Emily said before being confronted by the Rumble Brothers.
"Yo, who do you think you are talking to the top dog in class?" one Rumble Brother asked.
"Yeah, beat it, newbie!" the other replied.
"It's cool, she can speak to me as she wants," Cain told the brothers, dismissing them. "Sorry, ever since I beat the last top student, people have been hanging around me like flies."
"No worries, I get it," Emily waved it off. "My name's Emily Tricks, by the way."
"Cain Saltstar," he responded while turning to his work.
Emily looked at his helmet. "So… what's the story behind the helmet?"
"That is… something too personal," Cain responded.
"Oh, sorry." Emily responded. "Just wanted to make some small talk. You must be the strongest one in the family, right?"
Cain shrugged. "About as strong as my little brother at Hexside, but not as strong as my sister."
"What about your parents?" Emily asked him.
"My father's the strongest, but my mom…" Cain was silent for a moment.
"I have heard about your mother, Delara Saltstar," Emily replied, her tone sympathetic. "I'm… sorry for her passing. She was a great Oracle Head."
"Thank you," Cain said while shifting away.
"Tell you what, if you need help adjusting around here, I can be of help," Emily offered, extending her hand. "After all, I think you could use a friend…"
Bela walked down the hall with a Newt Burger order she was taking to her sister. She sighed before hearing a voice.
"Cana doesn't treat you well, does she?"
Bela looked around. "What? Who's there?" she asked before she was grabbed and pulled into the lockers…
Bela looked around, finding herself in a dark, cramped room. "Hello? Who's there? Where am I?!"
"You let your sister do these awful things to everyone while they are under her rule," said the voice.
She backed away, only to find fog surrounding her. She panicked as she tried to find an exit, only to be levitated up and find herself in a distorted classroom. In front of her was Cana. "C-Cana?"
Cana smiled before her face turned into a ghoulish looking expression. Snakes sprout from her eyes, grabbing Bela's wrists and pulling her towards her as her mouth enlarged with flames coming out.
"AAAH!" Bela cried out, struggling to get away but she was still pulled into the flaming mouth. She then found herself surrounded by her classmates, all who had suffered under Cana.
"Everyone is suffering because of you!" the voice accused.
Bela fell to her knees. "No… no please! I-I'm just-"
"Afraid? You are too afraid to stand up against your sister, that you'd rather suffer more from her abuse than standing up to her?"
Bela found herself in cuffs while looking at a mirror. Her reflection showed bruises, scars, and a tattered uniform.
"Look at yourself," her reflection told her. "This will continue if this keeps going on like this!"
Bela stammered as she started to break down. "I-I-I-"
"Do you really want Cana to continue abusing her power over you?" her reflection asked as the mirror showed Bela memories of all the times Cana mistreated her. From the smacking, to the electrocution, to putting her on a literal leash. "Both you and this school would be better off if she was no longer around…"
Bela watched the memories of herself being abused and used like a toy by Cana. She then looked up and saw herself as nothing but a puppet with strings attached to her limbs. And above that she saw a large Cana holding a controller attached to her strings.
Cana was waiting on her throne when she saw Bela coming back.
"Finally! Where's my order?" Cana asked, only to sense something was different. "Whoa… Bela… what are you doing with that-"
ZAP!
"AAAHH!"
Glandus held a memorial service with everyone dressed in black.
"Here lies Queen Cana," Principal Acne declared as staff and students alike gathered in the auditorium, with Cana's picture frame placed on a chair. "She may not be dead, but her reign is over since she will have to remain in quarantine and will be with us no longer, all thanks to her sister, Bela, wherever she is. It's such a shame, since she was such a promising young girl…"
Emily, who was amongst the crowd of students, secretly smiled to herself. Her illusions had done their job. The position of queen was now vacant…
Emily stopped by at her sister's lab, having been asked to drop by.
"You got something to show me, sis?" Emily asked her.
"Yes," Sonya replied while holding up a box. "A present for you."
Emily opened the present and to her shock she saw that it was a flying monkey Palisman. "A Palisman? You got me a Palisman?"
"Yes," Sonya responded with a smile. "Found him running around and rather than turn him into the Emperor's Coven, I thought that you should have him."
Emily smiled as the Palisman changed into a staff. "Thank you… he'll be so useful when I try-out for Flyer Derby."
"Flyer Derby?" Sonya asked her.
"Thought I could get some more credibility," Emily explained. "Grudgeby team is already full, so I am going to use Flyer Derby as a way to boost my reputation."
"Then you'll be needing this for good luck," Sonya said as she handed Emily a small knick-knack of a shrunken head playing the guitar with sunglasses.
"Thank you," Emily said with a smile. "With this, I'll be sure to win."
While using her new staff, Emily managed to pass off her magic as 'construction' magic during tryouts, using it to trick the other players while grabbing their flags. She flew up to place the flags on the poles.
"Welcome to the team, Ms. Tricks!" announced the team captain. "With your flight skills, I know we'll manage to win the Derby Bowl!"
"It would be an honor," Emily replied while looking at Stella, who cheered for her from the bleachers.
During a Flyer Derby game, the Glandus team known as the Red Rottens were facing off against the St. Epiderm team, the Blue Quads, led by Riley Strange without the spot around their eye.
"Careful, Strange may be an Illusionist, but don't underestimate them!" the captain warned.
"Don't worry, they won't be a problem." Emily responded as they heard the whistle to start the game.
Both teams scattered and flew around, Emily soon managing one flag from one player. She flew up to place the flag on the goal, earning her team a point.
"One of the Red Rottens has taken the first flag, eliminating the first Quads player! Oh, and apparently another one by the same player: Emily Tricks!" spoke the announcer.
Emily smiled as she was on a roll as she went to take the next flag from another player, Tina, who dodged Emily's attempts to get her flag. However, Emily soon found her own flag snatched away by Riley.
"Got your flag!" Riley declared.
"What?!" Emily shouted, seeing Riley making off with her flag. "Come back here!"
"Emily, wait!" the captain declared but Emily didn't listen.
Emily reached out to grab Riley's flag from their beagle staff. However, Riley split into three which confused Emily.
'They're illusions,' she realized and she could easily tell which of them were illusions. She spotted the real Riley. "Hey! Get them!"
However, her three Glandus teammates went after the Riley duplicates instead, allowing their flags to be snatched away by Tina and her other teammates.
"No!" Emily shouted while shooting out spells against them, but they managed to dodge her attacks before placing the flags on the goal post.
"St. Epiderm wins this game!" declared the announcer.
Emily gave a scowling look as she flew down to the bleachers, where her captain confronted her.
"You lost us the game!" the captain shouted at her, but she just walked past him.
Emily started lashing out in the locker room while Stella was present with her.
"That fucking captain!" Emily screamed as she slammed her fist on the locker.
"Emily, calm down, it was just a loss…" Stella tried to reassure her.
"Calm down? We would have had it if not for Riley and their cheap tricks!" Emily barked while steamed with anger.
"Emily," Stella calmly spoke as she reached out for her shoulder…
"I'm just-AHH!" Emily, without thinking, lashed out and struck Stella across the face, knocking her to the lockers. Her anger quickly died down when she realized what she just did and saw Stella crying. "Oh no…" she said while kneeling down to Stella. "Stella, oh Titan are you alright?"
"I-I-I…" Stella felt her bruised shoulder while a red mark on her face was shown.
"I didn't mean to do that!" Emily insisted as she went to hug Stella. "I am so sorry, babe. I didn't mean to hurt you! It was just… the captain's gotten on my nerves and that Riley really riled me up!"
"I-It's okay, I understand," Stella replied as she winced. "It really hurts…"
"Come, let's take you to the Healing ward," she said while helping her girlfriend up. "We can say that you tripped over something…"
"Yeah," Stella nodded in agreement, accepting this as an accident…
After that, Emily started planning and calculating the downfalls of her many enemies, real and potential. First were some construction students she saw as threats to her…
"Man, with Cana's seat left vacant, we might get a shoe in for the position!" one declared.
"Nah, we have to beat the Top Juniors in order to go up there!" his friend replied. "Cana's inner circle are fighting for that position!"
"At least our grades are almost above Saltstar's!" he replied.
Emily, overhearing them, gave a grin, since she knew targeting those two would be a piece of cake…
The two construction students, Gor and Mek, were doing their work in the workshop. But while trying to focus, their vision started to get blurry…
"Huh?" Gor asked while using the buzzsaw, hitting something.
"AAAAH!" Mek cried out while holding his bleeding fingers. "Dude! What did you do?!"
"WAAAHHH!" Gor responded in shock.
Gor was taken away by the Emperor's Coven. "Wait! I didn't mean to! I didn't mean toooo!" he cried while Mek was taken to the Healing Coven to try to reattach his fingers.
Everyone at Glandus was staring out the windows while Emily only gave a smirk..
Next was the Top Oracle student, who was walking down the hall when he suddenly stopped, "Ah… ahhhh!" he suddenly screamed and rushed to bash his head on the locker repeatedly.
All the students nearby watched as the top student from the former Queen's inner circle kept bashing his head repeatedly. Some tried to stop him, but he kept bashing. Emily hid nearby while hiding her smirk.
The Top Potions student was pouring his potions into his small cauldron. What he didn't realize was his formula was sabotaged by the invisible Emily. She made her escape before he stopped one of the potions into the cauldron…
BOOM!
Emily had made it out in time while the bell rang an alarm that caused all of Glandus to evacuate.
The Top Healer was checking the jars of diseases on a shelf when it was suddenly knocked over towards her.
"AAAH!" she cried as they spilled all over her. The invisible Emily rushed out of the classroom.
"Help! The Abominations have revolved!" shouted the Top Abomination student as he was thrown out the window. "AAAHH!"
Emily, who was holding a spellbook on Abomination control, closed it as she walked away while whistling.
The Top Plant student found herself running before a large plant snatched her up, causing her to scream. "Nooo! I command you!" she shouted while Emily watched from around a corner.
The Glandus Flyer Derby captain was doing practice with his team. While snatching the flag from his fellow player, he flew toward the goal…
"Captain, look out!"
"Huh-?" the captain looked forward and realized that the goal post was much closer than he thought it was. He tried to stop himself, but it was too late and he ran right into it, having somehow misjudged the distance….
"CAPTAIN!" the rest of the team cried out as they rushed over, Emily trailing in the back.
"Oh Titan… call the Healing Coven!" a teammate cried out.
Riley Strange, having just left school, decided to fly home while talking on the crow.
"Yeah, Danny, I know I'm gonna be a shoe-in for the Derby Semi-Finals," Riley said. "Me and Buster's got this in the bag against Merlin Meadows! We're so stoked about it!"
But then suddenly, a beam hits Riley's left eye. "AH! What the Titan?!" Riley cried out, losing control and falling toward the forest ."AAAH!" they cried out while crashing through the trees and the branches, which broke their fall.
Riley laid down on the ground, opening their eyes as they groaned and got up. "What… what hit me…?" they asked while wincing at their hands. "AAH! My hands!" they cried out while looking around. "Buster? Buster!" they cried out, only to find a broken staff. "No… nonononono!"
They rushed over and found the end of the broken staff and their Beagle Palisman… Buster, all broken.
"No… NOOOOO!" Riley cried out, kneeling down. "NOOO! Buster!" They held the remains of Buster with their broken hands… and a black spot grew around their left eye.
Staring down at them was Emily, who was actually shocked that their spell had resulted in the Palisman's death. For a moment, she looked guilty. Then she flew away, trying to brush it off. "It was their cockiness," she said to herself.
Emily was walking with Stella and Nina when Emily noticed the werecat stop walking and freeze up.
"Nina, what's wrong?" Emily asked before seeing who Nina was looking at. "Oh…" she said, noticing walking down the other side of the hall, goofing off with each other, were Nina's previous assaulters from the restroom that Emily had to rescue her from some time ago. "Why are you still afraid of them? You are so much stronger than they are."
"I know but…" Nina looked down while turning and walking briskly away.
"Nina!" Stella called out to her.
"You go tend to her," Emily told Stella before she turned to Nina's oblivious assaulters "I'll be right… back…"
Nina sat in a fetal position in the indoor gym while Stella sat beside her, patting her back. Coming over to them was Emily.
"Nina," Emily spoke up. "Are you alright?"
"I'm… fine, it's just…" Nina turned away from Emily, who went to sit beside her.
"I'll take this from here, Stella," Emily told her girlfriend, who stepped away as she left them be. "Those guys… you're still afraid of them, aren't you?"
"Yeah… which I hate," Nina admitted, tightening her fists. "Even though I got this new power, even though I was able to beat that jerk Silas… why? Why am I still afraid of those two that attacked me in the restroom? Fuck, they were about to…" She didn't finish as she buried her head in shame.
"Oh, would you stop?" Emily asked. "Look at me." Nina looked at her. "Nina, I know what it's like to be scared. Even when you possess the power and think you're able to protect yourself, you're still scared of being hurt again. Because you still remember that feeling of helplessness and how they made you feel powerless, worthless even." She tightened her fists. "But you shouldn't be scared of them… they should be scared of you. So make them."
Drawing her spell circle, she levitated the assaulters into the gym. Nina was shocked to see them all tied up, gagged and beaten.
"Do whatever you wish to them, consider them a gift," Emily said while looking at Nina. "I promise you, Nina, that I'm going to help you with your dream. I'll take you to the top with me, with me and Stella in the Emperor's Coven, while you get to be Head of Beast-Keeping." She helped Nina up, brushing a strand of her locks from her face. "We're going all the way together…"
Nina calmed down upon hearing Emily's words and she hugged her friend. "Thank you," she said as Emily hugged her back.
"It's no problem, I'm always here for my friends." Emily told her. "Honestly… you, Stella and Sonya are more important to me than anyone else. You're even my best friend after Stella." She smiled at her and then turned to Stella. "Come on, Stella, let's leave Nina be."
Stella followed Emily, while Nina was left with her tied up assaulters. She looked angry as she started to transform…
"You… want me to join the Emperor's Coven with you?" Stella asked as they walked down the hallway together.
"If it's any coven, I wouldn't mind," Emily responded. "But I do expect you to be by my side, no matter what."
"O-Okay," Stella replied while looking back to the gym door. "That was a nice thing, what you did for Emily."
"Anyone who messes with me and my friends will pay the price," Emily declared. "Nobody will cross us and get away with it. Not anymore…"
It is now the present day as Emily, dressed as a coven scout, looked at the door to Abel's office. She just stood there, contemplating if she should go in or not. Her hand reached forward to knock… and she hesitated before she withdrew her hand away from the door.
She shook her head before turning away. Like she was going to vent about her issues to the assistant of the Emperor himself…
Emira walked through Bonesborough, looking for her brother. She decided to check one of the places she knew he tended to frequent… his favorite comic book shop. It was where he went for his Captain Coven comics.
"He's gotta be in there," Emira said as she walked to the store, not noticing or acknowledging Jackson Hearts standing outside smoking.
As she entered, she looked around until she spotted Edric… with Mel's gang.
"So… are you guys going to buy something?" asked the Comic Book Wizard, who was a witch man with a brown poncho, a brown wizard hat, and glasses. "Like, this isn't a library."
"We're just looking for what to get, Wiz," Edric said to the shop owner.
"Yeah, so hold yer fanny pack, man," Blazer told him.
"Hey, I'll have you know that fanny packs are helpful in keeping useful items! And this fanny pack is magic!" the wizard said while unzipping it. "I keep a pocket dimension in there! One that will warp your simple mortal minds!" he declared dramatically before his voice became calm. "It's also good to store my snails."
Cups and Mugs walk up to him.
"So… how many snails would it take to have that fanny pack?" Cups asked him.
"And how much would you fit it in?" Mugs questioned.
"The fanny pack's not for sale," the Comic Book Wizard declares.
"Ed!" Emira shouted as she walked over to her brother. "I've been worried sick! Why didn't you come home last night or answer my texts?!"
"I was with my friends," Edric responded, turning away from Emira. "And I wanted my space. I'm surprised that you're even worried about me."
"Of course I'm worried about you, you're my brother!" Emira tried to reach out to him, but he scoffed.
"I thought you don't want to be stuck with me forever?" Ed pointed out to her.
"It doesn't mean that we're still a family," Em countered.
"Family?" Ed scoffed at her again. "Look around you, Em, our parents are divorced and Amity has replaced us! So are we really still a family?"
"Yeah, you tell her, mate," Eustace said, patting Ed on the back as the others hollered.
"And you think those guys are your family?" Emira asked, pointing to Mel's gang.
"Hey, we are just friends helping him in his time of need…" Trini said as she walked up to her with a smirk.
Emira glared at her and Mel's gang before turning back to her brother. "Ed, I don't think you should be hanging around with these guys, I have a bad feeling about them."
"They're here to help me," Edric argued.
"Help you? Ed, these guys look like they'd go to Glandus! And I'm pretty sure some are older, and one of them is a pirate!" Emira countered as she pointed to Eustace.
"Hey, who are you to judge me by my appearance? How do you know I don't just like to dress like this?" Eustace asked while adjusting his jacket.
"Well, you kinda are…" D-Josh muttered.
"Alright, alright, calm down everyone!" Mel said as she got in between Ed and Em, turning to the latter. "Look, Emira, I am sorry for what happened last night at the trial. I'm sure that Edric didn't mean to disappear and not contact you…" she said while patting Edric's shoulder. "He was… very upset about the trial. I thought you'd understand."
Emira sighed. "Ed… just come home. Amity's upset and Uncle Geist-"
"I'm not coming back," Edric responded, looking away from her. "Em, I want my own life, something that you should understand considering how much time you've been spending with Viney and your St. Epiderm friends lately. Amity's already got a life at the Owl House, but where does that leave me?" He turned back to her. "At least I found these guys."
"These guys are bad news! Donna told me about Eustace and Serpentina! They got her hooked on drugs and then ditched her when she had a stroke!" Emira pointed out.
"Ugh, do you really believe that, Ed?" Serpentina asked, crossing her arms.
"I-" Edric said before pausing. He looked… conflicted.
Mel, seeing this, turned to Emira whose eyes flashed red for a second. Emira's expression changed to anger.
"I can't believe you," Emira said in an irritated tone. "You'd rather hang out with a bunch of punks than with your real family? After everything I've done for you, this is how you repay me?!" she snarled while Edric backed away.
"Em…" Edric raises his hands up.
"Don't 'Em' me!" Emira snarled at him, pointing at his chest. "How can you still act so selfish and childish! I matured and Amity matured, so why can't you!"
Edric looked hurt and he turned away from her. "You're starting to sound like mom…"
This made Emira even madder as she grabbed Edric's collar. "Don't you dare compare me to that woman! I am nothing like her!" she growled as she was pulled away by Trini, while Mel helped grab Ed back. "Let me go!"
"Calm down!" Trini told her, as Emira felt her hand cupping her face as she whispered into her ear. "Maybe you'd look good with your mama's hips…"
PUNCH!
Trini was punched to the floor by Emira and everyone fell silent. The Comic Wizard stood up. "Hey, hey! No fighting in my store, alright? Or I'll call the scouts!"
Mel spoke up while grabbing the shocked Ed. "Come on, Ed, let's get out of here," she said while the gang started filing out of the shop, while Serpentina and Blazer helped Trini up.
Emira just stood there as they left, clutching at her head. She looked down at her hand, her knuckles sore from the punch as her hand shook. "What the…? What came over me?" she asked herself as she started to calm down.
"I don't know, but at least they're gone from my shop," the Comic Wizard said. "You should get out of my shop too."
At the Conformatorium, Emily was being escorted by a guard.
"You have ten minutes with the prisoner," he declared while Emily passed by other cells containing some faces she recognized like Ruth, Weaselton, and Athena, the latter shooting her a glare. Emily also passed the cells of Tom, Goonla, Levi, Katya, Amber, Derwin, and Boris, who all noticed Emily passing by, along with Eyepatch and a prisoner with a skeleton head and a green mohawk. He was wearing a scout uniform...
Emily finally stopped in front of a specific cell, the guard stepping back to let her talk. "Hey, are you awake?" she asked the prisoner who laid on their cot.
"What the… Emily? Is that you?" they asked, rising up as they were revealed to be… Tito Jackwitch.
"Hello, old friend," she said to him.
"Oh my stars and gardeners, it is you!" Tito shouted as he ran over to the cell bars, allowing Emily to get a good look at her and see that he had an aftershave. "How you been, girl? You still look nice. I heard you got bailed…"
"Yes, by Head Witch Graye," Emily replied. "I was made his apprentice."
"Wow!" Tito replied in awe. "I'm impressed, my emerald friend! Congratulations! Say, have you heard from Nina?" he asked her in concern. "I hope they haven't…"
"Relax, she's fine and currently living under the Beast-Keeping Head," Emily reassured him. "Like Cain, she's on parole."
"Oh, have you spoken to her?" he asked her.
"...Yes," she lied. "We stay in touch, to let each other know how we're doing. And don't worry about Stella, she was bailed out and she and I are still inseparable."
"Well that's good to hear," Tito responded. "But the big question is…" He grabbed the bars as he yelled intensely. "WHY AM I STILL LOCKED UP IN HERE?! I hate it here, Emily! This place is all dirty with rats and leaky ceilings! And there's no privacy in the toilet..."
"Relax, I'll see if I can do anything," Emily responded, lying through her teeth once again, since she knew that if she released him, he would go straight to Nina and she would blab to him about everything.
"Well you better, I don't know how much longer I can survive here," Tito responded. "My daddy cut me off so that I'm still locked in here…" he said with a sigh while looking down. "Especially with that Tarot Guild nonsense…"
Emily flinched and looked down as well. "Yeah…"
Tito looked up at Emily. "So… is what I heard about this Tarot Guild true? Did we both turn a blind eye to what was really going on at Glandus?"
Emily was silent, reluctant to answer. "Do you… know what happened to… Bria? I know that you were the last to see her with Craig."
Tito sighed. "Honestly, after Craig dismissed me, I didn't see her again and I tried to forget about it," he said while leaning on the wall. "When she didn't show up at school, I assumed that she dropped out… until I saw the missing posters. I tried to tell myself she probably just ran away… but I knew better than to ask questions," he said with guilt flashing across his face. "It's not like I forgot to ask, I just… didn't want to ask because I was afraid of the truth… and the accountability that would come with it…"
Emily sighed. "Tito, you are not to be blamed for this, you were just doing what you were told."
Tito looked away. "Yeah, well… is that really good enough?" he asked her… and Emily found that she had no reply. "You know, when my family heard about what I had gotten myself involved in, to say they were disappointed was an understatement. My whole music career down the drain, just like many child stars before me! My brothers decided to move on without me, even replacing me with my sister, Janice, who's apparently got a starring role in that sitcom, 'Groan Times'!"
"I'm… sorry, Tito," Emily told him.
Tito looked down. "My old man said that I'm not good enough to wear the family's flashy jacket. I'm going to be disowned…" Tears streamed from his eyes as Tito realized something. "My Titan… that's why I'm still here, isn't it? My family didn't want to bail me out or negotiate anything like Cain and Stella's families did… because they've basically abandoned me!" This caused Emily to wince as she was reminded of how her parents abandoned her. Tito sniffed and started to cry. "Bad for show business, I guess!"
He wailed and Emily was forced to watch as he went into an emotional breakdown. "Tito I'm…" She didn't know what to say to him now and she didn't like being reminded of her past, so she turned away. "Excuse me," she said while walking away from his cell, leaving Tito to tears.
Walking away, Emily thought about Tito's situation… and how it was similar to her own.
"Emily Tricks, I assume?" a voice asked, interrupting her thoughts.
Emily paused and turned to the cell next to her. She noticed the long-eared rabbit prisoner looking at her. No, he was studying her. "You know me?"
"Daughter of Margo and Hamilskin Tricks… and the apprentice of Adrian Graye… how is he, by the way?"
"Um… how do you know of him?" Emily asked in confusion.
"Let's just say that… I'm an old, dear friend of his," he told her.. "You could say that he used to have some… wild times in his youth."
Emily found her curiosity piqued. "What do you mean by that?"
The rabbit grinned. "Me and Adrian go way back… I knew him when he went by Walter Wildes and he and I were part of the original Shadowy Secret Exposers."
Emily's eyes narrowed at the rabbit demon. "Who are you?"
"Well, Little Jade, if you must know… you can call me… Professor Cuddlebuns," the rabbit demon said with a grin, creeping out Emily.
Emira was in front of Viney's house, letting out a sigh. She went up to knock on the door. Someone answered it … it was Tina.
"Emira?" Tina asked her.
"Tina?" Emira responded. "Is Viney home?"
"My parents and I were called by Aunt Betty and Atkin," Tina responded. "Have you seen Viney? She hasn't been home since before I got here."
"I've been texting her, but she hasn't responded to any of them," Emira mentioned.
"Come in, maybe you should talk to Aunt Betty about this," Tina said while letting Emira in, leading her to the kitchen where she saw Betty with Atkin at the counter with Tina's parents.
"Emira? Oh thank Titan you're here," Betty said to her before turning to her brother and sister-in-law. "Marcel, Frostine, this is Emira, Viney's girlfriend."
"It is nice to meet you, Tina has mentioned you,." spoke Frostine Ryu, a slim witch woman with a tall figure, long white hair, clear blue eyes, pale skin, long neck with long limbs, and a white long snow-patterned robe with blue trims and blue boots. She had a Healing Coven sigil.
"Yeah, we've uh… seen the trial and we want to give you our condolences," Marcel Ryu said. He was a short male witch who was as short as Tina. He had a bald spot, with two black hairs on each side, and he was wearing a small cap and a brown button shirt with black pants and boots. He had the Beast-Keeping sigil.
"Thank you, and it's nice to meet you two," Emira responded before turning to Betty.
"Care to explain when was the last time you heard from Viney, Aunt Betty?" Viney asked.
"Well, it was this morning," Betty said while Atkin held her hand. "She went out with Puddles without a word, I thought that she was just doing her morning flights like always… but she didn't come back or call."
"I came here after she called and then we decided to call the Ryus and ask if they heard from Viney," Atkin added.
Emira shared a worried look with Tina. "Mind if we look into her room? See if there's anything that could hint at where she might have gone?"
"Of course, if you could find anything, let us know!" Betty told her while Emira and Tina headed up to Viney's room.
Once they were in the room, they looked for clues to where Viney could be.
"Have you contacted any of Viney's friends?" Tina asked her.
"Just texted Jerbo and Barcus, along with Skara, Cat, Bo, Luz… they haven't heard from Viney either," Emira responded after checking her scroll. She then felt her foot hit a board under her bed. "What the…" Emira knelt down, pulling out the board and seeing that it was covered in newspaper articles and a map. "Tina, I think I found something."
Tina walked to see what Emira found. "Newspaper articles…?"
"Yeah… about a series of… arsons," Emira noted. "Some of them are recent and it looks like Viney thinks they are connected…"
At the Emperor's Castle, Emily walked up to knock on Adrian's office door.
"Come in," he said from inside. She opened the door and as she entered Adrian looked up at her. "Apprentice, what brings you here?"
Emily closed the door behind her. "Um… I came here to ask… a question…"
"Oh? A question?" Adrian asked, his lips curling in amusement. "What pray tell would you like to ask? My starring role? My fanbase? How did I get this position?"
Seeing he was up in his own ego, Emily broke it down. "It's about… a certain someone that you might know…"
Adrian raised his eyebrow. "Oh? Who? Cause that doesn't really narrow it down, I've met a lot of people…"
"...does Cuddlebuns ring any bells?" Emily asked him.
Adrian's eyes widened. "What… what did you just say?" he asked as he rose from his seat, walking around his desk heading towards her.
Emily backed away. "I-I mean, if it's something you don't-"
SMACK!
Emily was struck down to the floor, hard. She looked up, shocked by Adrian's anger towards her. He grabbed her by the shirt as he pinned her down to the floor, his hands gripping her collar.
"Don't you ever mention that name again!" he shouted at her, enraged. "You will never speak this name in my presence again! Do you understand me, Tricks?!"
"Y-Yes, sir!" Emily replied, having a sore mark on her face.
"Good!" Adrian said as he brought her up. "Now where did you hear it from?" Emily looked down, causing Adrian to bark at her. "Look at me when I'm asking you a question!" he shouted, making her look up at him.
"A-A-At the… Conformatorium while visiting a friend," she admitted.
He grabbed her by the arm, making her wince. "You listen here and you listen good, you little green twit! You will stay away from that Conformatorium, or else you'll end up like your no-good parents! You understand me?" He shook her while Emily winced again. "Do you understand me?!" he demanded with a threatening look.
"Yes! Yes, I understand!" Emily cried out.
"Good girl." Adrian responded before he shoved her away from him. "Now get out."
Emily was shaken, but did as she was told and headed out of his office. Adrian watched her leave before letting out a sigh. He slumped back to his desk, opening a drawer and pulling out a bottle of apple blood. Popping the cap off, he engulfed the whole bottle…
Flying through the sky, Emira sat behind Tina as she led her spider staff around to look at the places in Bonesborough that had been recently burned down. They saw the burned ruins of stands and buildings.
"This arsonist really has his work cut out for him if it is the same guy," Emira commented.
They landed near the most recently burned building. Tina looked around and found scorch marks, while Emira checked out some burned items.
"Luckily, no one was reported hurt," Emira said in relief. "But… I remember this building. This was just a small business that sold antiques."
Tina found some pieces of small wings on the floor and she levitated those wings into a tube. "Found something."
"Good, we can analyze it later," Emira replied before she noticed Tina staring at her. "What?"
"I just… want to say I'm sorry about what happened yesterday… about your family," Tina said with a sympathetic tone.
"Oh… thanks, but don't worry about it," Emira responded while turning away. "I already knew that a divorce was inevitable between them."
"How are Amity and Edric doing?" Tina asked her.
"Amity is coping, while Edric…" Emira remembered what happened earlier and she sighed. "I think he's shutting himself off and I saw him hanging out with those new friends of his from the beach."
"From what Donna indicated, those new 'friends' of his are trouble," Tina pointed out.
"Yeah, I have a bad feeling about them too," Emira said. "Speaking of, how's Donna doing? Is she okay after her recent attack…?"
"She was shaken, but fine," Tina responded. "Thank the Titan Luz's mom, Eda, was there."
"Yeah, thank Titan," Emira replied, feeling the same. "Do you know why Viney's so interested in this arsonist guy?"
Tina shrugged. "I have no clue. I may be her cousin, but she never mentioned anything about an arsonist. What about you? She's your girlfriend."
"She hasn't told me anything," Emira admitted. "The only stuff from her homelife she talks about is how her mom's boyfriend can be embarrassing in a lovable way." She did think that Viney's mom knew something, based on how she had looked when she saw the board. But she didn't say anything, just that it was important they found Viney before she hurt herself.
Emita then heard her scroll buzzing and she pulled it out. Tina got a buzz as well.
"It's an Alert," Tina realized. "Another fire has just happened!" She turned her spider Palisman into a staff and jumped on, Em getting on behind her.
The two flew over to the site of the recent fire, just as the fire department was putting it out.
"That's the Kitty Cafe," Emira pointed out as she gasped, seeing the scouts placing blankets over the burned bodies.
When they flew down, they immediately rushed to a guard. "What just happened here?"
"Just another fire. Third one this week," he replied while looking at the bodies. "Too bad for the shop owners, along with their costumed pets..."
Emira and Tina looked at each other, frightened. "I don't understand, how did this happen?" Tina asked.
Emira looked around and noticed, flying in the distance, Viney on her griffin…
Emily came to the training room, meeting up with Cross. He saw her and noticed her bruises.
"Hey, are you okay?" he asked her while in a tank top and black jersey pants and sneakers.
"I'm fine," Emily replied while in a black top and jersey pants, her arms shown to have some bruise marks from Adrian's hold on her, along with the mark on her cheek.
"But what about those bruises?" he asked.
"Oh these? They're just from a fight against some goons I encountered earlier," she lied.
"Oh… do you want to go stop by the healing ward to get yourself treated?" he offered.
"I'm fine, let's just spar," she told him as she got into a fighting stance.
Cross looked hesitant, but decided to not pry any further as he got in a fighting stance. Emily made the first move as she charged in with a punch, which Cross blocked before he pressed her arm against her back. Emily hooked her leg over his, causing him to fall to the floor but he swiftly used his foot to sweep through her leg to make her fall as well. "You gotta do better than that."
Emily narrowed her eyes at him as they both got up. They started again as she threw the first punch, which he blocked again. Emily then delivered another punch which he blocked with his hand. She gave him a hit to the shoulder. Cross was going on defense, noticing her aggression from each punch and kick she swung at him.
"Come on and fight back!" Emily demanded.
"You were on offense," Cross pointed out. "A good offense requires a good defense."
Emily just gave him a nasty look as she charged at him. She jumped up to deliver a swinging kick, targeting his face. He blocked it with his arm and as she stepped down she swung her other leg at him. She ended up kicking him back before she delivered a punch which he ducked underneath. He swung his own leg at her feet, making her trip and fall on the mat.
She rolled back up and glared at him, which Cross noticed. She charged at him while delivering a kick which forced him to do a cross-block. She swung again as she did a double kick while Cross dodged her attacks. She chased him again as she raised her fist up to bring him down, but Cross grabbed her arms and managed to pin her down. But she kicked him off as she delivered another kick that he blocked, Cross uses his palm to block another punch from her.
This wasn't enough for her, since she wasn't done. Emily wanted to prove she was better than him. She wanted to beat Cross so she could prove to Adrian that she had what it took to take on the mantle of the Golden Guard.
After trying to strike him with a knife-hand strike, Cross blocked her attack again. He sent a punch at her which she dodged. She then charged to wrap arms around him, trying to get him down but he prevented her from doing so. Keeping his feet still, Cross held his ground while Emily tried to pin him down until he felt her loosen and managed to escape from her grip.
That's when he took on the offense, throwing the next punch at her which she dodged. He sent another punch, followed by a kick which Emily kept from hitting her. He swung his foot at her, which she ducked under as he threw another punch to her. Emily fought back as she threw a punch at him as well, their fists crossing each other as they collided with their faces, sending them back.
The two backed away from each other, wincing as Cross and Emily looked up at each other. Cross spoke up, "Let's just… call it a draw."
Emily looked at him before shifting her gaze away. Looking and feeling tired from the sparring match, she nodded in agreement.
"I'm going to hit the waters," Cross said while going to his water bottle. He looked at Emily. "Hey," he called her and she turned to him."Whatever you're going through right now… you should deal with it. Because clearly, something is off about you today," he pointed out before he left the room.
Emily looked down, alone in this room with only her thoughts…
Viney flew on Puddles, searching the ground for someone when she noticed she was being followed.
"Viney!" Emira called out to her while riding with Tina. They flew next to her. "Viney, we've been looking for you!"
"Go away," Viney told them, only for Tina to use her staff to block her path.
"Is that any way to talk to your girlfriend, Vines?" Tina questioned.
"This is something that I have to take care of myself!" Viney declared while having Puddles to fly around them.
"Vines!" Emira shouted while Tina steered her staff to follow her.
Viney knew they were still following her so she had Puddles fly faster. But Tina kept up the pace. "You know I was in Flyer Derby once too!" Tina reminded Viney.
She knew that they would just keep following her, so Viney had Puddles land on the ground. The two followed her, Viney turning to them. "This doesn't concern you guys."
"Uh, we like to disagree, Vinella," Tina said while Emira looked shocked.
"Wait… your full name is Vinella Potts?!" Emira asked, while Viney turned away with a shrug. "But beside that, why are you flying around town looking for this arsonist?"
Viney just looked at the ground, not answering. Tina spoke up. "We went to your room and found the newspaper articles… Viney, we're concerned about your interest in that guy. Why is he so important to you?"
Viney looked at them and much to their shock, Viney was mad. "You wanna know why? It's because he's the one who killed my dad!"
All three girls were silent as the shock of the news washed over Emira and Tina. Viney looked back at the ground, tears leaking from her eyes…
"Viney…" Emira said.
"We didn't know," Tina said while Emira walked over to Viney.
"My dad… he was a scout," Viney said while pulling up a broken mask and taking a good look at it. "He was one of the best ones…"
Viney as a toddler was just playing around with her toys when she heard someone coming in. She looked up and saw a scout kneeling towards her. Removing his mask, she saw it was her dad and the young Viney went to hug him.
"Daddy!" Viney cried out, hugging him. "Caught any bad guys?"
"Took on a few thieves here and there," he replied, holding up a tooth. "Even got one of their teeth."
"Can you show me how to punch like that to get teeth out of my enemies?" Little Viney asked him, making him chuckle.
"Sure, cupcake," he said as he rustled her hair, making her giggle.
"Even though his scout duties kept him busy, he still made time for me and mom."
On one of his days off, Viney and her dad, Arnold, were on a walk when Viney spotted a fallen demon bird. She went over and tried to heal it, her father going over to join her.
"She's not waking up!" Viney said while her father summoned a blanket to wrap around the bird.
"Come on, let's take her to the Beast-Keeping Coven," he told her.
At the Beast-Keeping Coven, a vet walks up to them with a saddened look.
"I'm sorry… there's nothing we can do for her," she said and a distraught Viney was hugged by her father.
"I'm sorry, love." Arnold said to his daughter while Viney just looked down sadly.
"When he wasn't making the Isles a better place, he was making sure to be there for me when I needed him."
Little Viney, while in bed, was being comforted by Betty and Arnold.
"Why did the bird have to die?" Viney asked. "I wish we could've done something."
"Oh sweetie, I'm sorry," Betty told her while rubbing her back.
"We tried our best, Viney," Arnold reassured her. "I'm upset too… but sometimes we can't do anything about it."
Little Viney pondered. "Well… maybe we can help the next bird that gets hurt. And the bird that gets hurt after that! I think… I want to open my own veterinarian clinic so that I can heal the animals."
"Well, I'm sure you can find a way to do that," Arnold encouraged.
"And we are here to support you," Betty reassured her as they hugged their daughter.
"He is even the reason why I have Puddles."
Arnold held up an egg to the six-year-old Viney. "Is that…?"
"A griffin egg," Arnold said. "Eberwolf said that the mother left it behind and I thought you could use a friend so you won't feel as lonely whenever I'm away."
"Wow… thanks, daddy!" Viney replied with a smile before they heard Betty walking up.
"Arnold," she spoke up, holding the crystal ball. "It's Leonte."
"But then he got called into action…"
Little Viney overheard the conversation between her dad and Captain Leonte.
"Lynn Floyd used to be part of the Beast-Keeping Coven until he burned down his post," Leonte explained. "He calls himself 'Firebees' and he's been committing arsons around Merlin Meadows. We're calling in all scouts to deal with him."
"Don't worry, sir, I'm on my way," Arnold said while hanging up.
"Dad?" spoke up Viney, causing Arnold to turn to her. "You're going to fight another bad guy?"
"Yes, and sorry that I have to leave so suddenly," Arnold responded, looking guilty. "But I promise to make it up to you when I come back."
Viney smiled, as she went to hug her dad, "Then go catch that bad guy for me, and get his teeth as a trophy for me!"
Arnold smiled and patted his daughter's head. "I promise," he said with a smile.
Later, they heard the doorbell scream. Viney woke up and wondered if it was her dad. As she walked out of her room, she found her mother at the door with some scouts… who held up a burnt mask.
"We're… sorry," Leonte said solemnly while Betty looked upset.
"No… no, no, nooo…!" she cried, kneeling down on the floor while Viney looked at the burnt mask.
"Mommy?" Viney spoke up, looking worried as Betty turned to her. "What… happened to daddy?"
Back in the present, Viney looked down at her father's mask. "He was called in to face off against this guy who calls himself Firebees, who is apparently obsessed with the firebees which he uses for his arsons. My dad was one of the scouts that was trying to stop him in a warehouse… which he set to explode," she explained to them. "I have been keeping track of his appearances over the years and when I heard about the recent arsons yesterday… I realized that he was back in Bonesborough. He's back to commit as much chaos and death as possible, though I think there is a pattern and I want to put an end to this mass-murderer."
After hearing her out, Emira went to hold Viney's hand. "Vines, I'm so sorry for what happened to your dad."
"I didn't know that's how Uncle Arnold died," Tina admitted. "But we can help you take him in."
"Yeah, once he's put away, he won't hurt anyone ever again," Emira replied.
But Viney pulled away. "Actually… I'm not planning on turning him in," she said, her expression becoming angry. "I'm going to kill him."
Outside of Metropelvis, there was a farming area by the left thigh of the Titan. Over at Satorius Acres, Lindsay Shystream was paying a visit to a friend.
"Here you go, Linds," spoke a country-accented witch girl with blond hair tied into a ponytail, green eyes, freckles, orange skin, and brown horns above her head. She wore blue overalls over her robust physique along with blue gloves and boots as she handed Lindsay some apple pies. "Granny Courtland's fresh apple blood pies."
"Thanks, Jackie," Lindsay replied while grabbing the pies. "Are you planning to see Tracy at the Bonesborough Brawl tonight?"
"Oh I can't wait to see Speedemon trying to win," Jackie Courtland declared. "Of course, I'd have joined if I didn't have to help out on the farm with mah folks. Tell yer Aunt Dorothy I said hey!"
"I will, thanks!" Lindsay responded as she headed back to the farm with her pies, meeting up with her family. A barking Scottish terrier demon ran up to her. "No, Jojo, these pies are for later."
"Oh come on, one little snack, sis!" Jojo begged but Lindsay walked past the demon dog.
"Them's Courtland pies, Lindsay?" her dad asked while holding a box of plants.
"Yes, dad," Lindsay confirmed.
"P;ease place them in the kitchen, dear," Lindsay's mom replied while feeding the demon cows.
Lindsay nodded as she headed inside, seeing her elderly great-aunt Dorothy cooking in her cauldron. "Aunt Dorothy, Granny Courtland's pies came in."
"Oh now that's sweet of her," Aunt Dorothy, a gray haired cyclops woman, replied. "But if she thinks she can bribe me into letting her win at Fantasy Grudgeby, she's gonna do better."
Lindsay laughed as another farmer rushed in.
"Dorothy, Lindsay! You wouldn't believe who's out here!" he declared.
"Who, Uncle George?" Lindsay asked him.
"The Golden Guard!"
Lindsay's only eye widened and she rushed out to see if what her uncle said was true. She, along with her parents, looked up to see the Golden Guard hovering over them on their staff before they landed on the ground.
"Uh… greetings from the Titan, farming witches!" the Golden Guard declared. "Would um… Lindsay Shystream be available by any chance?"
"Um… I'm here," Lindsay said as she walked up, but her aunt stopped her.
"What would the Golden Guard want with you, Lindsay?" she asked her.
"Don't worry, Aunt Dorothy, they saved me at the Coven Day parade, remember?" Lindsay said while walking up to the Golden Guard. "I'm sure Mr. Guard isn't here to cause any trouble."
"Of course," the Golden Guard said as Lindsay got them to follow her behind the barn. "I just… want to talk."
"You think she's going to be alright?" Lindsay's mom asked.
"Hope she ain't in trouble or anything," Lindsay's dad replied.
Once Lindsay and the Golden Guard were out of sight, she turned to them and sighed. "I think… you can take your mask off now… Emily Tricks."
The Golden Guard looked at her in shock and was quiet for a moment before she reluctantly removed her mask. "How did you… know?"
"Well, I have… sources that told me your true identity," Lindsay replied, not mentioning that she heard that she was the Golden Guard from Luz, since she was afraid how she would react. "I've heard a lot from you, especially from… people who aren't fond of you."
"Oh…" Emily responded, realizing that some of the Glandus students who transferred to St. Epiderm would have probably been able to tell Lindsay all about her.
"But there is one thing I have to ask," Lindsay said, trying to stay calm despite her fear. "Why did you save me on the day of the parade?"
Emily looked down, staring at her mask. The truth was… she wasn't completely sure herself, since it happened in the heat of the moment. She thought about her answer before looking back up at Lindsay. "Because when I wear this suit and mask, there is a duty and a responsibility that comes with it, and that includes prioritizing the safety of civilians." She remembered when she led the Grim Goblin away from everyone at St. Epiderm, another example of this.
Lindsay nodded. She looked… satisfied by the answer. "Well, that's good to hear," she said before she looked down awkwardly and rubbed her arm. "Say um… I have some errands that I have to run in town and, well, maybe you could accompany and protect me."
Emily was surprised by this request. "You… want me to protect you?"
"Well, you did it before," Lindsay pointed out. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I am absolutely cautious around you… but you still saved my life and that has piqued my curiosity. I have heard a lot about you, but I would like to get to know you myself before I reach any conclusions. So would you like to… hang out?"
"That… sounds nice," Emily admitted. "But it'd be strange to have the Golden Guard accompany some random civilian…"
"Why not just put on a disguise?" Lindsay suggested.
Later in Metropelvis, Lindsay was humming to herself while hanging out with a disguised Emily, who appeared to have blue skin with white hair, yellow eyes, and was wearing a black and red dress. She had an odd look on her face as she questioned herself.
'How did I end up in this situation?' she thought to herself while accompanying Lindsay.
While escorting Lindsay, Emily saw Lindsay waving around to various people who waved her back.
"Good evening, Lindsay!" spoke a demon at a newspaper stand.
"Evening, Mr. Hodgers!" Lindsay waved to him before she waved to a rat mother of three. "Congrats on your newborns, Ms. Rattigal."
"Thank your friend for the cakes, Lindsay," the rat lady replied with her newborns crying.
"You sure know a lot of people around here," Emily commented as Lindsay stopped at an outdoor stand.
"I tend to befriend anyone I've met, and most people here know my family," Lindsay explained while paying for an order. "Thank you."
"Give my regards to your auntie, Lindsay," spoke the owner.
If Emily didn't know better, she would suspect that Lindsay was some kind of… don based on the amount of respect she got from the people around her as Lindsay made her stops.
At a music store, Lindsay listened from a record and offered a headphone to Emily, who looked hesitant but Lindsay insisted. Emily gave a nod as she listened.
Next stop was the magic pet store, where Lindsay helped the store owner move around a large bag of pet food. "Thank you for helping me, Lindsay."
"Anytime, Mr. Horror," Lindsay responded while Emily looked at the pets.
"Is your friend interested? I can probably cut a deal," Mr. Horror offered. "But I can't guarantee her that they're not cursed…"
After that, the two would stop to get something to eat as they wait for a notdog. While they waited, Emily noticed showing up across the street… was Cross, who was accompanied by his mother and his older sister.
Cross's sister, a semi-complex older girl with dark hair with orange streaks, golden eyes, and a gray tunic with a gray skirt, orange leggings, and black flat shoes, noticed Lindsay. "Cross, is that girl from your class?"
Cross turned and saw Lindsay, who noticed him. She waved to him and he waved back… but then he noticed the blue girl with her. He looked at her long and hard before he realized… that's Emily with Lindsay…
"Someone has a crush~!" Cross's big sister teased.
"Enough, Zee," Cross told her.
"Come on, now, let's head back home," spoke their mother, a woman with orange hair with pink skin, blue eyes, and the green robe of the Plant Coven.
"That's Cross, he's from my school," Lindsay told Emily. "Funnily enough, I once thought he was the Golden Guard."
"What… do you think of him?" Emily asked her as she watched Cross walking away with his family.
"I think he's nice," Lindsay replied. "And his family is nice as well."
"Yeah, he seems nice…" Emily agreed, still watching Cross and his family. "Lindsay… what's your family like?"
"Well, they're very kind and we look out for each other," Lindsay responded. "My little brother Jojo always gets into trouble, my mom and dad work mostly on the farm. My dad's in plant and my mom's in beast-keeping. My Aunt Dorothy is pretty much the head of the house and she's under Beast-Keeping along with her brother Uncle George. I have an older brother who moved out of the farm to make it big at Titanwood. Sometimes I wonder if he's doing well." She then turned to Emily. "How about your family?"
Emily paused and Lindsay realized that she just overstepped.
"Oh… I'm sorry, that must be a sensitive topic," Lindsay said as she shut her eye in fear.
"No, no it's… it's fine," Emily responded, looking down while rubbing her own arm.
Once they received their notdogs, they found a spot to eat.
"My foster dad was a piece of shit," Emily explained, the colorful language surprising Lindsay. "But I still wanted to impress him more than anything else, because he did raise me and he did give me a lot. And now he's dead and… I was upset at first, but now I'm not sure. I am worried about my foster sister though, since I heard she recently got into trouble." She sighed and took a bite of her food.
"How did you… end up becoming the Golden Guard?" Lindsay asked her after an awkward silence.
"Well, after the Glandus War, I was paroled and made Head Witch Graye's apprentice," Emily explained. "Shortly after that, the original Golden Guard went missing and Graye had the idea of using me as a stand-in for the Golden Guard to create the illusion that he's still around and not missing, since that would be good for morale. I still don't know what happened to my predecessor or even who he was."
Lindsay nodded as she remembered someone, someone who was close to Emily. "What about your girlfriend, Stella? Does she know that you're doing this?"
Emily looked down at her notdog, hesitating slightly. "We're… not together anymore."
"Oh… sorry," Lindsay replied while looking down at her notdog. "Is… that why you came to me? Because you two broke up and you were looking for a rebound?"
"Honestly… I don't have anyone at the Emperor's Coven to talk to, well… nobody I could trust anyway," Emily admitted. "I thought that I could go to you since you seemed to like me as the Golden Guard and I could hide behind a mask… but you somehow knew it was already me." She looked at Lindsay, who seemed nervous. "Who… told you about me?"
"I… can't say," Lindsay replied. "It's a bit… confidential."
Emily nodded, staying quiet for a moment. "How much do you know of my… actions?"
"I do know that you hurt a lot of people at Glandus. How you were an opportunist… b-word, their words, not mine," Emily clarified. "You were abusive towards your own girlfriend, ran Glandus like a tyrant, almost got someone killed, were involved with an organization that ran some kind of trafficking ring, and the double-crossings." The more she listed off, the more Emily seemed to lower. "Oh, and I was told how you stabbed Nina Fangs and rendered her infertile."
Emily's eyes widened in shock as she turned to the cyclops biped. "What? Is… that last part true? Nina's… interfile?"
"I'm afraid so," Lindsay nodded. "So… all of this is true then… right?"
Emily frowned while looking down. "Yes," she admitted. "And if you really have heard all of this… why? Why would you want to hang out with someone like me while knowing all of this?"
Lindsay hesitated before answering. "Well… I wanted to reconcile the Golden Guard that saved me and my friends with the monster I heard you are. I guess I wanted to see for myself if you're evil or not." She was silent for a moment. "Why did you do it?"
Emily avoided her gaze. "It's… complicated."
"Well, let's start with Luz Clawthorne," Lindsay said, making Emily's eyes widen. "I still don't know the full context behind your grudge against her…."
Emily realized something. "Wait… it's her, isn't it? She was the one who told you I was the Golden Guard! How do you even know her?"
Lindsay was taken aback. "I've… met her, recently. She's a nice girl… with a colorful vocabulary. But why do you hate her so much?"
"You wanna know why?" Emily got up. "Because her mom infected me with Boiling Pox when I was eight years old! All because her little brat got beaten up by some other kids at the slayground! She didn't care about the collateral damage and because of her, my parents abandoned me! The Clawthornes ruined my life!" she shouted in anger while turning to Lindsay, who just looked confused.
"That's… it?" Lindsay asked, tilting her head in confusion.
"What?" Emily asked her.
"I kinda got the impression that you had a deeper history than that… but did she even know who you were until recently?" Lindsay asked. "This grudge sounds… unnecessary."
"Unnecessary?" Emily scoffed. "I had to survive by eating rats before I was found by the Tarot Guild!"
"And did you already hate her then?" Lindsay asked her.
Emily thought about that and realized something. "No… I didn't… not at first. Not for a few years. And when I saw her getting beaten on the slayground, it did cross my mind that I should help her, but I didn't get the chance…"
"So what changed?" Lindsay asked. "What made you hate her?"
Emily didn't answer.
"Did you really spend years hating a girl who didn't even know you existed?" Lindsay asked.
Emily scoffed. "After everything she put me through, she should have known who I was."
"Why? From what I'm hearing, it sounds more like Luz was just the victim of an assault and you were just accidentally caught in the crossfire when Eda cast that boiling pox curse to protect her daughter," Lindsay pointed out. "Any parent would do that, I don't believe they did it out of malice."
"Bullshit!" Eda called her out, making Lindsay flinch. "How could you defend what Eda did? She wanted that crowd to suffer and I was just a child! I became a victim of her actions and she never thought twice!"
"I'm… sorry, that is fair," Lindsay said apologetically. "You hating Eda is… justified and maybe Eda should answer for that… but what about those caught in the crossfire of your actions, just like you were caught in the crossfire of her actions? She was so focused on protecting her daughter that she didn't stop to think about who she was hurting. How many people have gotten hurt because you were so focused on your own goals?"
Emily looked taken aback. "I… don't know."
However, as they talked, someone nearby spotted Lindsay… with an unfamiliar girl…
Outside of Ollie's fruit bar, a certain man had stopped by.
"Yes… I'm here, my flame," spoke the man in a dark trench coat. He wore a mask and had a burned, bald head. He had gray piercing eyes through the eye-holes of the mask and he wore burnt clothing underneath his coat and black boots. Under his sleeves were some firebees crawling out. "This place… perfect for my hive…" He summoned his firebees from his coat and they went towards the building…
FRIZZ!
A wall of ice blocks the path of the firebees. "What?!" Firebees shouted as Emira dropped her invisibility spell, revealing her, Viney and Tina.
"You want this place? You'll have to go through us," Tina declared.
"It's over, you monster! Your arson days are numbered!" Viney declared as she summoned Puddles.
"No! You three will pay for interrupting my work of art!" Firebees shouted while sparking flames from his burnt hands. "I will gladly burn you to crisps!"
"Let's see you try!" Emira said while she and Tina each drew spell circles that they jumped through, engulfing them in light…
As Tina appeared as Ghostina, Emira Blight appeared as Ms. Chevious. Her outfit changed into a navy-blue top hat with a light-blue masquerade mask, her hair appeared to be blue and straightened. She wore a blue vest with the navy-blue long-sleeve button shirt underneath, a white ribbon bow with her green gem, and a blue cape connected to the back collar. She wore a black leotard underneath, along with gray leggings and blue high-heel boots.
When Viney got a good look at Emira's heroic outfit, she was unable to stop herself from briefly blushing. "Em…"
"Call me Ms. Chevious," Emira told her, while focusing on Firebees as she flashed him with a light spell.
Firebees dispelled it with his flames, which he shot at his opponents. Ghostina phased out while Viney flew up with Puddles and Ms. Chevious disappeared once the fire went through her. Confused, Firebees saw Ms. Chevious appearing next to him.
"Peek-a-boo," she said before delivering a kick towards him, making him crash into some boxes.
Firebees growled before he saw Viney riding down on Puddles who screeched at him. Firebees clapped his hands as he sparked flames, shooting at them which made Viney and Puddles steer away. Firebees sent out his firebees at them, only for them to be frozen by Ghostina's ice blast.
"Thanks, T!" Viney declared, while shooting sleep spells at other firebees, disabling them. She used a spell on Puddles, who flapped her wings and shot out sharp projectiles at Firebees, ripping his coat and hitting his leg as he dodged them.
"AAH!" he shouted while Ms. Chevious snapped her fingers and sparkles of light appeared to blind him. He responded by having his firebees crawl out from his sleeves and his mask. "You all will burn in my rings of fire!" he declared while spreading his flame, Emira using her cape to protect herself before Viney swooped in to grab her away from the flames.
"You okay?" Viney asked her.
"Yeah, nothing burned," Emira replied before she realized that her cape was on fire. "Shit!"
Viney put out the flames on her girlfriend's cape with an ice spell. Viney glared at Firebees while they, along with Ghostina who had floated up to join them, saw him surrounded in a ring of fire. "Stay back."
"Vines, what are you-" Emira saw Viney jump off of Puddles, alarming her and Ghostina. "Viney!"
Viney summoned her Manticore staff and swung it around while drawing an orange and blue spell circle as she landed on the ground, putting out the flames with a blue wave. She faces off against Firebees, his flaming insects surrounding them.
"Are you prepared to get burned?" Firebees asked her.
"I can mend bones," Viney said while marching up, swinging her staff to shoot out a beam of magic to ward off the firebees. "So I plan to break yours!" she declared while swinging her staff, shooting out a burst of magic that froze the bees while Firebees backed away.
"No… my bees!" Firebees declared as Viney rushed up to him and punched him in the stomach. Using her magic, she used her punch to break his ribs, causing him to cough out blood as he was knocked away. "You… you're ruining my work…!"
Viney pulled out her father's mask. "Do you remember this? Do you know what you've done to me?!" she demanded.
Firebees held his stomach while looking at the mask. "Is that… supposed to mean anything to me?"
"This mask belonged to a great scout!" Viney declared. "Arnold Potts… do you remember how you killed him?!"
"That name… holds no meaning to me!" Firebees revealed as he coughed when he laughed. "I've burned so many over the years… I don't keep count!"
Angered by the answer, Viney let out a growl as she used a spell. "Bone Breaker!" she declared as she punched Firebees again, sending a ricochet of waves into his body, before she decked him in the face.
"ACK!" Firebees cried out as he hit the ground. Still alive, but his bones broken and his teeth falling out of his mouth as he coughed.
Viney was about to send in more punches… until Emira called out to her.
"Viney, stop!" she shouts as she had Puddles land on the ground, coming over with Ghostina.
"But he killed my dad!" Viney responded.
"I know, but are you really a murderer?" Emira called her out. "I know you, Viney. You're not just a Beast-Keeper, Vines, you're also a Healer. You took an oath! And your dad wouldn't want you to end up like that guy!"
Viney looked down at the defeated Firebees, who couldn't move. She wanted to kill the man who killed her father, she wanted to make him feel her pain… but he was already down, lying there unconscious. She brought her hands down calmly to her side, making her decision.
Emira walked over and held onto Viney's hand, causing Viney to look up to her girlfriend. The two then hugged, having a moment after stopping the bad guy, who Ghostina went to tie up.
Meanwhile, Emily and Lindsay were continuing their discussion.
"Honestly, I just got used to it," Emily told Lindsay while recounting her childhood. "Growing up in the Tarot Guild, it just became… normal."
"Emily… this is not okay," Lindsay pointed out, looking horrified from what she heard about how normalized violence was during Emily's childhood. "It sounds like… you didn't have a normal childhood."
"Of course I didn't," Emily pointed out. "There was this one time I saw one of the Tarot soldiers stealing from my father. When I told him about it, not only did he execute that soldier… but he had my back whipped thirty times for not stopping him. I still have the lashes…"
Lindsay was shocked by this. She thought about saying something, about comforting Emily… but then they both heard the sound of cawing. Lindsay noticed some crows flying around above them. "Crows…?"
It was then the crows formed and jumping down and kicking Emily away from Lindsay was Beocrow, aka Crowbar. Emily's illusion dropped and she went back to her green appearance.
"Titan's Crack!" she shouted, seeing the black-clad hero.
"Stay away from her, Tricks," Crowbar declared as he was joined by Tyrone, Sarah and Minerva.
"Lindsay, are you alright?" Sarah asked her while in her black and yellow suit and helmet that had gray antennas.
Minerva was dressed in a red bandanna mask and had her ears drooping down. She was also in a red suit black thigh-high boots and was holding the clef of her cello, aiming it at Emily. "You will not lay your hands on her!"
Emily got up and backed away. "You don't want to mess with me, I'm an apprentice of Head Witch Graye!"
"Yeah, but you're still kind of a criminal… so the Emperor's Coven probably isn't going to bring you back up, right?" Tyrone, aka Minos, asked.
Emily gritted her teeth and moved toward Lindsay, but was prevented by an Abomination rising up. Standing on it was Gavin, who wore a mask and a purple sleeveless top, white gloves, violet pants and white boots with a dark purple cape.
"Leave her alone," Gavin told Emily with a glare, trying to hide his fear.
Lindsay was shocked by all this. "Wait! Guys, nothing happened, she didn't do anything to me!" she told them. "We were just talking!"
"Lindsay, she can't be trusted," Sarah told her while stepping close to her.
"I wasn't doing anything to her!" Emily shouted while trying to get to Lindsay, but Gavin blocked her. She narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm going to give you one chance to get out of my way and leave, Nightshade!"
"N-no," Gavin told her, stepping down and standing his ground. "I'm not afraid of you anymore, Tricks!"
Emily continued to narrow her eyes at him… before she vanished, alarming the team, until a giant version of her head popped in front of Gavin. "Boo!"
"AAH!" Gavin backed away, but then was hit in the side by the real Emily, knocking him down.
"You want to tango, Tricks?" Sarah asked, summoning her potions. "Taste some of Potion Ranger's home brew!" she shouted while throwing her potions at Emily, who kicked each of them and caused them to explode into a cloud of yellow smoke.
"Guys!" Lindsay tried to object, but her friends kept their focus on Emily.
Emily found herself blinded by the cloud, looking around as she felt a crow peck her at the back of her head. She winced, rolled over, and vanished.
"Keep your guard up," Crowbar said while spreading his crows around to look for Emily through the yellow cloud. He was then kicked in the back unexpectedly by the invisible Emily.
Potion Ranger used her lens to see around. "You can't hide, Emily, I can look through your aura with these lenses!" she declared. "Lunar Tune, clear the smoke!"
Minerva, aka Lunar Tune, used her cello to clear out the smoke. They don't see Emily at first, but then they spotted her hiding in a corner.
"There she is!" Minos charged at her with his horns, about to tackle her down.
"Minos, wait!" Potion Ranger tried to stop him, but Minos ended up running through an illusion, crashing into the wall. She then noticed something behind Lunar Tune. "Lunar!"
But it was too late to warn Minerva as she was struck to the head by Emily's hand-chop, followed by a swinging kick that caused her to drop her cello and fall. Emily was then hit by a paint potion, which revealed her appearance. She stopped being invisible, turning to Potion Ranger.
Lindsay tried once again to object. "Guys, you should-"
"You're gonna pay for that!" Potion Ranger shouted while throwing out more potions, but Emily rushed in and dodged them before she caught one potion and threw it back at its sender. It splatted to the floor, causing Potion Ranger to be trapped in a gelatin imprisonment. "Ack!"
"You shouldn't have underestimated me," Emily told her before Crowbar delivered a kick to the side towards her. Emily backed away, sees the gothic hero standing up, ready to fight.
"Minos, you alright?" Crowbar asked while Minos tried to free himself from the wall.
"Horns are stuck," he admitted.
"Then I'll take it from here," Crowbar said while Emily dashed towards him, jumping up and kicking at him. He blocked the kick as Emily landed and swung another kick to him. He delivered a punch towards her which she blocked as Emily then did a knife-strike to his throat, causing him to choke. She then used her illusions to spark a flame in front of him, but he didn't flinch. Surprising her, he showed no fear at the possibility of being burnt.
Emily decided to vanish again. Crowbar got on the defensive, looking around as he prepared for her to strike. It was then he felt a kick to the face. He hit a bench and Emily appeared and was about to deliver the finishing blow…
Until a flash of blue light sparked between her and Crowbar. Backing away from the flash, she looked up and saw, to her shock, Riley Strange levitating down.
"Emily Tricks," they said as they landed. "Riley Strange, top Illusionist, former captain of the Blue Quads… we've met before, have we?"
Emily glared at them while Lindsay tried to object. "Guys, just-"
"I'm not going to be beaten by you again, Strange!" Emily used her illusions to vanish again, going in for a sneak attack against Riley who looked around for her. Emily delivered a kick to them, but to her surprise, Riley dispersed. It was just an illusion.
"Vanishing spells? Simple," Riley said as they appeared behind her. She swung her fist at them, but they poofed. Another illusion.
"Come out and face me!" Emily snarled before she was hit by a light wave from Riley, knocking her to the street.
"You know, you really give us Illusionists a bad name," Riley told her with a frown. "Here's the deal, Tricks. Stay away from Lindsay and go back to whatever swamp you came from."
Emily growled, her eyes glowing red as the illusions of flames rose around her. "Never underestimate me!" she snarled while Riley prepared to perform a spell.
"STOP IT RIGHT NOW!"
The sound of Lindsay shouting caught everyone's attention. They turned to see her with a mad and disapproving look. "All of you cut it out right now! You should be ashamed of yourselves! Is fighting really your first resort instead of listening to what I have to say? There didn't have to be a fight!"
"But Lindsay," Riley spoke up. "We were just making sure you're far away from her."
"Nothing happened!" Lindsay screamed. "Emily showed up and I asked her to be my escort while I was just running errands! And yeah, I am aware of what she's done, and she doesn't deny it!" she revealed, which surprised her friends. "I was just trying to get a better understanding of her! Did any of you ever thought and try to understand your enemies without resorting to violence?"
"Well, to be fair, they usually instigate the violence, which Emily did," Minos pointed out.
"Yeah, because you were provoking her! And even if she tried something, I know how to take care of myself," Lindsay told them while helping up Gavin. "I am top of Beast-Keeping, you know?"
They all looked down awkwardly as Beocrow spoke up. "Sorry, Lindsay, I guess we were all just a little… worried."
"Yeah, we're just afraid that you would get roped into trouble again," Sarah said as Minerva helped free Tyrone from the wall.
"I know," Lindsay replied in an understanding tone. "You guys were just looking out for me. And I appreciate that. But I think I was actually making some progress with Emily before she showed up," she explained. "She is not innocent by any means, but I think she came to me because she needs help, not more hostility." She turned to look for Emily, only for her to have already been gone.
"She's gone…" Gavin said while looking around.
Sarah's visor confirmed it. "She's already left."
The coven scouts had arrived along with the fire department, the captured Firebees now being escorted into a wagon. Viney along with Emira and Tina were making their statement.
"We are just glad he is going to finally answer for his crimes," Viney told a dalmation biped demon scout with a fireman hat.
"That was very dangerous what you girls did, but since we've been hunting this bastard for years… good work. I expect he will face immediate petrification for his crimes," he declared. "Now, what are your names?"
"Viney Potts, Ms. Chevious, and Ghostina," Viney told him.
"Viney Potts… wait, you wouldn't happen to be Arnold Pott's kid?" he asked her.
Viney was caught by surprise. "Yeah…"
"Aw dude, no way!" he spoke up, shaking Viney's hand. "I'm such a fan of your dad! He's one of the bravest scouts there was. You know, they used to call him Hit Griff because of his famous two-back fingered punch! Your dad saved my life when I was a teen."
"He did?" Viney asked in surprise as the scout showed her his burn mark on his arm.
"Pushed me out of the warehouse before that arson guy…" he said, lowering his head in respect. "I owe it to him, which is why I work at the Emperor's Coven's firehouse department. Name's Dale, most call me Party Dog, I work part-time at house parties."
Viney smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Dale," she said as Dale was called back by his squad.
"Nice chatting with ya, Viney. If you ever need anything, I'm your guy!" Dale vowed while walking to rejoin his squad.
"Hey," Emira spoke to her. "How are you feeling right now?"
Viney looked down at her hands, which were clutching Firebee's teeth after she snagged them as a trophy. "I feel… closure," she admitted. "Thank you, both of you for your help."
"Hey, we are just glad you didn't have to do this alone, Vines," Emira said to her. "We're always here for you."
"And in the future, don't forget that you have a support system with us," Tina told her, patting Viney's shoulder. "If you ever need to talk, we're here."
Viney smiled at her girlfriend and her cousin, wrapping her arms around both of them in a hug. "Thanks."
"I think I'll leave you two be now," Tina said as she phased through the ground. "I'll let my folks know that you're alright…"
After she phased away, Emira turned to Viney. "Is she like, part-ghost? I've met her mom and… she's so snowy…"
"Maybe," Viney replied with a shrug. "By the way, I like your Ms. Chevious look… so majestic."
"Oh, thanks." Emira replied, brushing her hair. "Glad you like it, I wasn't sure if you'd think it was a little too flashy. Though, these leggings just cover my stubs."
"Come on, Em, I like your stubs," Viney said while kissing her girlfriend on the cheek, making Emira's face turn red all over in a blush. "Come on, there's somewhere I would like to take you to," she said, holding her girlfriend's hand.
Meanwhile, back at the Emperor's Coven, Emily was walking through the halls before she was confronted by someone who stepped in her way… Cross.
"Drakescale," Emily said in a monotone voice.
"Why were you hanging out with Lindsay?" Cross demanded to know.
"I can hang out with whoever I please, and so can Lindsay," Emily pointed out. "Why? Are you jealous that I'm… stealing your girl?"
Cross narrowed his eyes. "I'm just worried," he claimed. "Worried about Lindsay's safety and I don't want her to see her get hurt. She's a nice girl, and frankly, you don't deserve her."
"Oh? What does that mean?" Emily asked him, snarling slightly. "Why don't you tell me how you really feel about me instead of hiding behind niceties, Drakescale?"
"I just don't trust you," he admitted to her.
"Good," Emily replied, walking past him. "Because you shouldn't. We're rivals, after all. The Golden Guard is not just a role we're sharing… it's a competition."
"Competition? I don't even want this role!" Drake pointed out, turning to her. "I was roped into this because Adrian blackmailed me and threatened my family! I didn't have a choice!"
Emily paused, looking back at Cross. "It doesn't matter what you want, Cross. Because you are still a threat to me regardless," she said in a softer tone.
"Emily, this is what Adrian wants, to have us at each other's throats," he pointed out to her. "Maybe you believe you have a future here as either the Golden Guard or a future Coven Head, but you're just a tool in the eyes of Adrian and the Emperor's Coven. We both are! Useful tools that can be discarded when we're no longer of value."
Emily didn't seem shocked by this. "Making myself useful and proving that I'm not a burden is nothing new for me. I already know all this and I have every intention of continuing to make myself useful until I become irreplaceable." She turned away. "You're nothing more than an obstacle in my path."
"To what ends?" Cross asked.
"My ends… are to get everything that I deserve," she said while no longer bothering to look at him. "And I'm willing to wait for my chance to be more than I'm currently am, no matter how long it takes."
And then she left, leaving Cross alone in the castle's halls.
Over at the Coven Scout Cemetery, where all deceased coven scouts were laid to rest, the trio of Viney, Emira, and Puddles stood in front of a grave.
"Hey dad," Viney said to the tombstone of Arnold 'Hit Griff' Potts. "It's… been a while. I would like for you to meet my girlfriend, Emira.".
"Hey, Mr. Potts," Emira said, waving.
Viney held up her father's old mask. "They finally caught him… I gave him the old two-finger punch, just as you taught me," Viney replied. She sat next to his grave, Emira joining her. "Mom's doing alright… she's dating again. I think you'd like Atkin, he's pretty cool." She looked down as she continued. "Puddles grew up to be a good girl, she's the best griffin you could ask for." She petted Puddles, tears streaming from her eyes. "I miss you… I miss you a lot, and I hope that you see the kind of witch I grew up to become and that you're proud."
Emira laid her hand over Viney's. "I'm sure he's proud of you, Vines."
Viney nodded. "Thanks, and… I'm sorry for not being there for you yesterday. I must've been a lousy girlfriend to you…"
"Hey, it's no sweat," Emira responded. "I forgive you. And honestly, when I learned about what you've been through, I felt… bad."
"Felt bad? Why?" Viney asked her.
Emira looked down. "This whole time we have been dating, I have been relying on you to be the shoulder I cry on whenever something fucked up happens. During the time my sister was missing, I depended on you, but I don't think you ever depended on me. I was a mess and you had to be my rock… and that was unfair for you. I want to be your rock too."
"I think we can both be messes together," Viney said as she smiled and laid her head on Emira's shoulder. "Does this feel good?"
"Yeah," Emira said as she caressed her face, looking at her dreamily. "I-"
But it was then that Puddles rose her head, startling the two. "Puddles? What's wrong?" Viney asked as Puddles made a hissing and coo noise.
"What's wrong with her?" Emira asked.
"Not sure," Viney replied as they heard a groan.
The two turned to the groaning noise and were shocked to see someone coming toward them "Oh my Titan…"
"Help… me…" spoke a teenage witch girl with red eyes, pale skin, and long white hair that hung off the side of her head while the other side had short brown hair. She wore a red long-sleeved shirt with black shorts, black leggings above her knees, and sneakers. She was holding her bleeding side. She looked like she'd been stabbed. "Mother… fu…" She collapsed to the ground, alarming the two.
They rushed over to the girl. "Hang on, we'll get you some help!" Viney said as she and Emira tended to the stranger…
Emily was walking by herself through the halls of the castle, looking up at the propaganda posters for BIG as she passed them. She stopped in front of the poster of the Golden Guard, thinking to herself.
"Guess we all are born with parts to play," she sang while touching the poster. "Some of us are stars, and some are just in the way…."
She looked at her sigil, feeling it. "I know I was meant for glory, but that's never what my story brings… and yet I keep on waiting."
"When you have the passion and the drive," she sang as she continued walking. "You expect your moment, center stage, to arrive!" She looked at the Coven Head posters before subconsciously creating an illusion of Nina, Stella, Tito, and herself walking past while laughing. She reached out to them, but they walked through her and she found herself staring at an illusion of her younger self. "I show up with a heart a-blazing, ready to achieve amazing things… but I'm left waiting in the wings…"
"I hear my cue, and yet I'm kept there waiting," she sang as she saw illusions of the former top students from Glandus, staring at her. "Know what to do… and still I stand there waiting! It's always someone else who sings, while I'm left waiting in the wings!" She turned and saw illusions of Luz, Amity, Gus, Riley, and Cross looking at her blankly.
Angrily she brushed off the illusions. "And so I keep on keeping on, my chances come and then I blink and they're gone!" she declared as more illusions of people she knows surround her. "Always overlooked unfairly! While pretending that it barely stings!" Her former Glandus classmates, the members of LOWTH, Luz and her friends were all around her. "And I'll shed no tears! I'll only keep on waiting- if no one cheers, well, I can keep on waiting~!"
She looked to be in the middle of a breakdown, gripping her head tightly as she felt the judgmental eyes of her illusions. Looking up she saw Adrian, Grimmhammer, Lupe, Sonya, and Belos towering over her.
"Who cares how loud!" She managed to disperse the illusions before she fell to her knees. "The silence rings…" She looked down at the floor. "You'll find me waiting in… the wings…"
For a moment, she just stayed there.
"Emily Tricks," spoke a coven guard, breaking the silence. Emily turned to her. "Head Witch Graye told me to get you. He says to get into gear, since something is going down at the Bonesborough Brawl… BIG has been called into action."
Emily stood up, wiping her eyes. "I'm on my way." she declared, hoping this would be her chance...
So none of y'all expects an Emily chapter, have ya? Doubles as a Viney chapter.
So to explain some things, while writing the last few chapters, we've realized that we needed to spend some more time with Emily before the Brawl because of our plans for the Brawl and how it gave us the chance to explore where Emily learned some of her behaviors from and the implications of her being raised by a criminal organization from a young age. It's basically not pretty, especially those who get the reference with the "arm-cruncher" and realize the implications in how much Emily's back then noodle arms felt. However, despite exploring Emily's past, it is in no way of justifying her actions, especially against Luz, as it merely explains them. She was taught, molded and groomed into this lifestyle. Sonya was no better to her as she is to Nina. Grimhammer is also shown that he won't stoop to struck Emily as well for questioning his authority. But hey, glad that another daughter-hitting bastard got what he deserved?
Originally, Viney's B-plot was going to be during the Bonesborough Brawl since it's a 2-parter, but we've compromised into using it for the Emily chapter, as the Brawl would be in the next chapter.
This also showcase a bit on the families of some of the St. Epiderm students, particularly Tina and Lindsay's. Tina's mom, Frostine, is more based off of a Yuki-onna, or specifically combining Bleach's Rukia's Zanpakuto's spirit, Sode no Shirayuki, with Pokemon's Pheromosa, and Morticia Addams. Tina's father, Marcel, is based off of, well, Danny DeVito, and a reference to his character from Taxi.
Then we meet Lindsay's family, as she lives on the farm side. Yeah, she's pretty much Dorothy with an Auntie Em expy. Both her parents are alive, and Jojo is basically a stand in to Toto. It also explores the lives of the characters from St. Epiderm, like Riley used to be part of the Flyer Derby team until their unfortunate accident renders them to have broken hands, and losing their Palisman, and how they have that spot on their eye. It also gives chance to show Lindsay deciding to have an understanding approach, as well, she's more idealistic out of the members of LOWTH. More idealistic than Donna.
We also have the limelight to Viney for the B-Plot, as we've hinted and then explored her backstory surrounding her father, and how she is drawn to vengeance against Firebees. It was always the plan that we've set up Viney's dad was dead. This is pretty much a way for Viney's character arc to end and the ending with her at the cemetery is similar homage to Casey Jones visiting his dad's grave in the TMNT 2003 cartoon. Which is funny that both Viney and Casey's fathers are named Arnold, which was pretty much on accident.
Firebees is considered a one-shot villain in this, but the inspiration of him was from Firefly from GI Joe, specifically GI Joe: Renegades. Dale, the dalmatian party dog is an expy of Geoff, mixed with GI Joe's Barbeque who is said to be a party animal.
Other OCs introduced are Quakus, from the flashback as a body disposer. We've also come across some of Cross's family, Zee his older sister, and his mother Claire.
Also we have an introduction to Emira's hero persona. Basically, as Ms. Chevious, she is pretty much a mixture of Zatanna and Tuxedo Mask. Along with Minerva, and Sarah's outfits, with Minerva's name Lunar Tune is a play on "Looney Tunes" and Lunar as in the moon which connects to rabbits, and Sarah as Potion Ranger as a play on to "Power Ranger" and her Potions Track. Gavin hasn't come up with a hero code name yet.
The title of the chapter, "Rings of Fire", is a full on reference to the 1963 Johnny Cash's hit song. And the song for the chapter is "Waiting for the Wings" from Tangled to be sung by Emily, which has been the plan to use this song for a while and Emily was the perfect choice for it.
Also, yes, the Red Rottens are indeed a play on to the Really Rottens from the Laff-A-Lympics, cause you can't just pass that up.
And now here are some of the reviews:
Franco Almiron: 1) Eventually. 2) I don't know if I'm ready...
OMAC001: Depends on what path this Luz goes...
Shuffollower: Thanks for the review, and don't worry, this takes place before the summer so it's not too late in this timeline.
Crosshot: Yup, both Viney and Emira's backstories.
Ultimate-drax: Check out PeterVanHelsing's DA for the Wolf House intro...
Next week, we turn back time of this day, as it's time to brawl…
