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 111: So IFWOT?

That evening, Eda flew back to the Owl House. Outside she found King in his pizza guy uniform.

"King, what's with the getup?" Eda asked him.

"Haven't you heard? I got me a job!" King declared. "I'm the pizza guy!"

"Huh, usually when I get a job it takes a few days before they decide to hire me," Eda commented. "How'd you get a job so quickly?"

"Well, I was at this pizza joint and they were short on staff. So I was asked if I knew how to ride on a rat worm, and I replied 'used to joyride on one once' and bam! I got a job as the pizza delivery boy!"

"Well congrats, King!" Eda said proudly, patting his skullcap.

"Thanks! And the nice scouts offered to watch over Kay while I went job searching," King mentioned.

"What?!" Eda exclaimed as the front door was opened, showing Luz.

"Mom, King," Luz said while behind her was Cat. "Welcome home."

"Hey Luz, I got a job!" King declared.

"That's great, King! Welcome to the workforce," Luz said, nudging him. As Eda and King came inside, they both noticed Cat present in the living room.

"Hey um… Cathy, right?" Eda asked her.

"It's Cat, ma'am," Cat replied.

"Right, what are you doing here?" Eda asked her.

"Oh, I was just telling Luz about this Titan-shattering revelation I've had about my family history that I thought you guys would be interested in knowing about," Cat said. "And Luz just told me about some interesting, yet tragic parts of human history."

"Well, what did you both learn?" Eda asked.


Upstairs, Kay was in her tank while Maurice sprinkled some flakes in her tank for her to munch on. "WEH?!" Eda and King could be heard shouting from downstairs, making Maurice turn his head.


The two looked at Cat in shock. "You have a human ancestor, Cat?!" Eda exclaimed.

"Yeah," Cat replied. "I met an ancestor of mine today and long story short I might be about a quarter human."

"Wow, that is… wow," King said in surprise.

"Me and my family were shocked as well," Cat said, nodding. "Though apparently my ancestor was never able to change into an alternate form unlike Luz, she did learn some glyph magic… and a lot of other things."

"Cat said that her ancestor may have seen the Horned King," Luz mentioned, which shocked Eda.

"You mean the Horned King that you saw and was responsible for creating the Inner Demon?!" Eda asked, Luz and Cat nodding.

"And she said she also spoke with the Titan," Luz added.

"The Titan?!" Eda exclaimed, even more shocked. "How?"

"Apparently the Titan was able to speak to her on the Knee," she explained, wondering how Amity would react to this. "Cat's ancestor, Jamila, was having nightmares about the Horned King and the Titan, who sounds like a pretty nice guy, gave her some advice about dealing with them."

"He told her to ignore the nightmares and have a good life," Cat recited. "She mentioned that the Titan warned her about becoming obsessed with what the Horned King showed her or offered her, telling her that no good would come from it."

"Looks like Burpos didn't heed that warning," Eda commented under her breath.

"Wait," Cat realized, turning to Luz. "You said you saw this… Horned King, this thing that my ancestor saw in her dreams?"

Luz nodded before looking down. "Yeah, I saw him before when he tried to take Maya's soul," she said, feeling her body shake slightly as she said this, though she didn't know if it was her shaking or Maya.

"What?!" Cat exclaimed. "When was this?"

"When Amity first disappeared," Luz explained. "What you described is what I and Maya saw, though he then took the form of Otabin in order to try to get me to let him have Maya. Later, we learned that this creature has connections to both the Inner Demon and Belos. And more recently, we even learned that he has been influencing other realms outside of the Demon Realm, such as the Human Realm through this Radio Demon that I met in Hell. He may also be connected to this other Horned King from a realm called Prydain. We are still trying to find out more about him, though the information you gave certainly helps." She turned to Eda and King. "According to Cat's ancestor, the Titan told her, the Horned King is invisible to those who were born in the Demon Realm, since they are under the protection of the Titan. But since I was not born here, the Horned King was able to appear to me and I was able to hear him."

"That… makes sense," Eda said, stroking her chin. "Did you find any more leads today, Luz?"

"You mean about finding Perry or stopping the Inner Demon?" Luz asked with a sigh. She shook her head. "No. After school, I did some digging in the Bonesborough Library and I even interrogated Wrath. I found out nothing except that Wrath apparently got demoted for stealing the lunches of his co-workers, if you believe it."

Eda nodded and turned to Cat. "Well, thank you for the information, Cat. We appreciate it."

"No problem," Cat commented as she stood up. "Well, it's getting late, so I'll be going. See you tomorrow, Luz."

"Yeah, take care," Luz replied as the two hugged each other.

"Maybe ask one of the scouts to escort you home," Eda advised her. "Just to be safe."

"Okay, thanks Ms. Clawthorne, and bye King," Cat replied as she walked out of the Owl House.

"So… revelations about Cat's bloodline aside, how was school today?" Eda asked Luz once they were alone.

"Well… I think I may have made a deal with the devil," Luz replied as she took a seat on the couch. She sighed. "Again…"

"Uh… what?" Eda asked in worry.

"Faust wants me along with Nina to participate at the IFWOT that's going to happen tomorrow," Luz explained, which shocked Eda.

"What?! Oh not again," Eda said while rubbing her temple. "I can't believe this is happening again… and on a weekday?"

"Yeah, Faust personally made sure that the IFWOT would happen tomorrow since it's been rescheduled a lot and was even in danger of being canceled," Luz explained. "He seems very invested in it and he said that if I do this, then he won't expel my friends like he was threatening to do, and Amity might possibly get reinstated into Hexside."

Eda sat beside Luz. "Tell ya what, how about I accompany you tomorrow and make sure there is no funny business? I just hope that Terra isn't the head proctor again this year…"

"You think that might happen?" King asked her.

"Yeah. With our luck, we would end up with someone like her," Eda replied. "I mean, you know how these things go. History tends to repeat itself."

"So we better watch our backs," Luz replied with a serious look. "Though maybe it won't be too bad. I mean, after everything we have been through, earning a ribbon sounds almost easy."

"Careful, Luz," Eda warned. "Don't jinx it…"


The next morning, Luz and Eda decided to stop by at Bump's place before school and see how the former principal was doing. Luz rang the doorbell as it screamed.

"Go around the back!" Bump's voice was heard from the back of the house.

Luz and Eda looked at each other before they went around the house and headed to the backyard. There, they spotted a garden and to their surprise they spotted Willow tending to it alongside Bump.

"Hey Luz!" Willow spoke up, seeing Luz and Eda coming over.

"Ah, the Clawthornes," Bump said as he stood up with his cane. He was wearing an apron, baggy pants, and boots. He wore a sunhat and several gardening tools were being kept on his person. "This is a nice surprise. Welcome."

"Wow, I didn't know you were into gardening, Prince-B," Luz commented, looking around at the lively garden in the backyard, which included a bunch of flowers, vegetables, and even an apple tree and grape bush.

"Yeah, this is my first time learning about this too," Eda commented, just as surprised by the existence of the garden. "And what is Willow doing here?"

"Well, I asked Willow to help me with my garden, since the demons I hired to watch over it while I was in the Healing Coven didn't do a good job," Bump said while frowning at his withered plants. "Looks like this one didn't get enough water."

"Principal Bump," Willow said as she walked up to him with a basket of vegetables and fruit. "I found these to be edible enough. Already inspected them for worms and bugs, not too much damage."

"Thank you, Willow. I knew I could count on you," Bump commented. "You've been a big help. I should have asked you to watch my garden in the first place."

"Thank you, sir," Willow said with a smile.

"Huh, never realized you and Bump were best pals, Willow," Luz commented, both she and Eda's surprised by this.

"Well, it turns out that he's just as passionate about gardening as I am," Willow replied.

"It's something of a hobby of mine," Bump admitted. "Sometimes I wonder if I should have joined the Plant Coven instead… even if that would have meant dealing with Terra more."

"Yeah, not a good trade-off," Eda commented.

"But I am happy to see you both are here," Bump said. "Why don't you come inside. Willow, think you take over from here?"

"I got it, Principal Bump!" Willow confirmed as Bump invited the Clawthornes inside his home.


Inside Bump's home, the shelves and walls were covered with mementos from his long teaching career, documenting his time as a teacher, a vice principal, and a vice principal. These mementos included photos, articles, awards, and letters from his previous students. Luz and Eda looked around as they sat on the couch, Bump serving them tea.

"Wow, you have quite the collection," Luz commented.

"Thank you, I like to keep reminders of the students whose lives I had a role in shaping," Bump replied as he sipped his own tea. "A lot of them have actually sent me gifts and letters telling me about how grateful they are to me."

"Not surprising, since you are a good principal, Bumpy," Eda said. "Better than Faust wished he could be."

Bump nodded. "So um, how is Amity, by the way? I know Faust expelled her, but ever since the Bonesborough Brawl I have been worried about her."

"Don't worry, she's safe," Luz reassured him.

"Yeah, she's no longer on the Isles either," Eda said.

"Well, that is good to hear," Bump said with a relieved look. "If it were up to me, I'd still welcome her at Hexside, Fae or not. Unfortunately, Faust doesn't share my opinion…"

"I do have a chance to get her reinstated and keep my friends in school, but for that I have to participate in the IFWOT this year," Luz explained.

"The IFWOT?" Bump asked, forming a smile. "Ah, that takes me back. I always enjoyed going there with the best students of Hexside. Well, except for the years when Snapdragon was in charge, but fortunately that happens very rarely."

"I bet it does…" Luz muttered.

"So H.B., when will you take up principal-ling again?" Eda asked him.

"Yeah, or are you still considering retiring?" Luz asked him.

Bumps looked down, feeling conflicted. "I'm… still not sure about it."

"What do you mean?" Eda asked him.

"Well look around you," Bump said, having Luz and Eda look around at his mementos. "All of this is why I became principal in the first place. Sure, I am looking forward to my eventual retirement, but I also love my students, helping them become better witches, and watching them succeed. Even the difficult students." He grabbed something from under his table, a scrapbook that he showed to Eda. "Look at this, Edalyn. I devoted an entire book just to you."

"Me?" Eda asked, opening the scrapbook. She flipped through it, noticing that her complete criminal history was in these pages… but also her achievements as well. "Dang, I didn't know that you were keeping all this. I only thought you grew to love teaching again after I left."

Bump chuckled. "Honestly, I think that Hexside just wasn't the best fit for you," he admitted. "Back then, I wasn't willing to change our curriculum and I probably should have tried to meet you half-way instead of forcing you to conform to the school's authority… which we both know was a mistake." Eda grinned at that. "But despite that, you were not a bad student, Eda. Yes, you goofed off and caused trouble. But you, like your sister, were the top of your class. I should have let you explore your options more, like I decided to do with your daughter and her friends. But I did learn from having you as my student, Eda. I learned to be a better principal. And… I am proud to have had you as my student. And proud to see the witch you have become."

Eda was touched by this, though she looked away. "I… I'm not sure about that, Bump…"

"You found your own way of doing things and I am sorry that I wasn't able to help you more during your time at Hexside," Bump admitted sadly. "But you are still one of the finest witches to have graced the halls of Hexside and you are proof of my philosophy that no child is irredeemable. And that applies to your daughter, Luz, and Amity, Willow, Gus, and Boscha as well. I am glad that Boscha is doing better, by the way." He turned to Luz. "I have even heard that you two are friends now."

Luz smiled. "That's correct, actually."

Bump chuckled. "A Clawthorne and a Hieron being friends. I never thought I would see the day." He fell silent, thinking about something. "I suppose there is still work that needs to be done before I even think about retirement. I should face Faust at the least. I have, admittedly, never managed to successfully stand up to him."

"Yeah, it's about time you should," Eda said, slamming fist into her palm. "Show old Fausty that you're not giving up without a fight!"

"It is long overdue, yes," Bump contemplated, while turning to Luz. "Anyway, I do wish you luck at the IFWOT, Luz. Though I have faith that you will do well. You are your mother's daughter, after all."

"Thanks, Principal Bump," Luz said, giving him a nod.


Dog Harwitch was listening to his music while heading to school on his white dog Palisman that had large ears flapping out. "Thanks for the ride, Snoop," Dog said as he landed, his Palisman sitting on his shoulder and turning into earmuffs.

Dog walked up to Merlin Meadows, which wasn't far from Bonesborough. It was a three story building that was rectangular up frontal and back, and square on each side. The entrance had a blue triangular hat-shaped design with the sign 'Welcome to Merlin Meadows High: Home of the Night Owls!'

He walked in, passing by his fellow Merlineans. He waved at them and they waved back. "Yo Dog! Love the sick tunes you made!" shouted one student.

"Thanks," Dog nodded before he looked up at a portrait in the hall. "Sup, founder," he said as he gave it a peace sign. The portrait was of a bearded man with glasses and an owl on his shoulder. He was holding up a crystal ball while twirling his hands around it. The plaque under the portrait read: 'To our town founder: Merlin the Mysterious'.

The interior of the school had blue halls, the white lockers having black stars and moons on them. The school was quite simple in terms of its building.

"I heard that our school has a good chance of becoming one of the top three now," one student said as Dog walked past the Ghoul Girls and several other students.

"I hope so. I am so tired of being overlooked, our school deserves to be recognized in the same breath as Hexside and St. Epiderm," another student replied.

"But ever since Glandus got shut down, that spot has been open," another student said while noticing Dog. "What do you think, Dog?"

Dog gave a hum, "Well… I'd say we'll be in a shoe-in for the Grudgeby school championship," he said as the students happily nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, with Boscha out as their captain, Hexside won't know what will hit 'em with Speedemon as our star player!" one cheered.

"Actually, they still have a Saltstar on their team," Drusilla pointed out.

"Oh yeah, my sis's boyfriend," Dog mentioned.

"Though what do those other schools have that we don't, anyway?" Gnashley asked.

"Legacy," Helga admitted while next to Gnashley and Belawolf. "I mean, the Big Three have been around since before Belos became Emperor. They are the originals and all the current Coven Heads have graduated from one of those three schools. That is why those schools get the most attention. That is where all the big name witches come from. Merlin Meadows hasn't been around for very long in comparison. We need more representation…"

"Might as well compete for the Magilympics, I say," Ester mentioned, popping her head through the wall.

"Alright, my Top Merlin Meddlers, time for a meeting!" shouted a voice over the intercom.

Everyone looked up at the intercom before the top students, including Dog, began to move.


"Alright, my splendid duckies!"

Sitting on her chair with her feet up the table was a girl with messy indigo hair, brown eyes, and pale skin. She wore sunglasses, a black t-shirt with a blue and white letterman jacket, blue cargo pants and black heel-boots. She had three ear piercings on her left ear. "You all know why I've called you here?"

"It's about the IFWOT, ain't it, Fan?" asked one boy who had half spiky blue hair, tanned skin, and black eyes. He was wearing a blue poncho with a light-blue shirt, gray pants, and brown snow boots.

"Exactly, Kevin!" Fan replied as she got up. "Today's the day where we're gonna show our Merlin Meadow strut by winning a ribbon! And then we'll be recognized as the school that's going to take Glandus's vacant spot in the Big Three!"

"I don't know if they'll take us seriously though," Tracy Speedemon admitted. "I mean, we're the only school on the Isles that doesn't have uniforms."

"Yeah, and our dean's chill like a selkidomus," Dog said.

"So um, who's going to attend the IFWOT anyway?" Brenda asked.

"Our smartest, strongest, and most creative will represent our school!" Fan declared. "Tracy, the fastest demon alive, I want you to go."

"Yes!" Tracy shouted as she thrusted her fist down in victory.

"Brenda, we're gonna need our best healer," Fan said before she turned to Kevin. "Kevin Shrubs, you're our best Beast-Keeper, so you'll go too."

"As I should," Kevin responded with a smirk.

"And finally, there's Gnashley," Fan said as appearing from the shadows was Gnashly. "Her skills will definitely be needed for this."

"Guess I'll cash in my off day," Gnashly responded with a shrug.

"Unless someone else wants to volunteer instead?" Fan asked as she looked around at the rest, turning to Dog. "What about you, Dog?"

"Oh no thanks," Dog responded. "I'm just gonna chill for the day. Besides, my sister's crazy friend Luz Clawthorne is going to be there."

"Clawthorne, you say? Interesting…" Fan replied with a smile before she turned to Gnashley. "Oh Gnash, do you know which students from St. Epiderm will be at the IFWOT?"

"Well, I do know that their class president will be there," Gnashley said. "The Danny guy, I'm sure that he's-"

"You can leave Danny to me," Fan responded. "I know how to psych him out… hehehehe…"

"Is she going to evil laugh again?" Brenda asked, turning to Helga who was also part of the top students. She just shrugged.


Later that afternoon, once school was out, Luz and Eda flew together to the convention center.

"Man, I can't believe they're still hosting it here after all these years," Eda admitted. "To think I am back here again… and with my own daughter for her first IFWOT."

"Instructing Future Witches of Tomorrow… well, it's a unique acronym," Luz commented as they settled to the ground. Outside they spotted Nina, with her were Skara and Lambi.

"Yo, Ska! Lambi!" Luz waved to them before turning to Nina. "Fangs."

"Clawthorne," Nina replied dryly.

"So, are you two also here to participate?" Eda asked Skara and Lambi.

"No. Actually, we're just here to be Nina's moral support," Lambi replied.

"Well, I'm here to support both Nina and Willow," Skara said as Willow walked up behind Luz.

"Hey again, Luz," Willow said, causing Luz to spin around.

"Willow?!" Luz asked, both she and Eda being caught by surprise.

"Well hot-dang, didn't think I would be seeing you here, Will-O-Wisp," Eda commented.

"Me neither, but I was nominated," Willow admitted with a smile. "Since Simon couldn't participate thanks to his arm, he asked me to take his place. He insisted, really. I agreed and-" She shrugged. "-here I am."

"Well this IFWOT just got extra cool with you around," Luz said with a grin. "Wait, there are supposed to be four students representing Hexside, right? So if you are also the third student, then who's the fourth…?"

"That'll be me!"

Hearing the familiar declaration, they turned to see someone running toward them and doing a flip in order to make an impressive entrance… only to hit the ground hard. "D'oh!" he cried out as he rolled over. It was Dusty Bringems, who now groaned in pain.

"Easy up, Dusty," Nina said as she helped him up. "You okay?"

"Oh I'm just fine, Nina!" Dusty declared. "I'm just excited to be here again!"

"You've been to these before?" Luz asked him.

"That's right!" Dusty confirmed as he started to brag. "I've been coming to these kinds of things for years and I have collected tons of ribbons! It's like a big game!"

"Wait… how many times have you come here, Dusty?" Skara asked him.

Dusty paused, realizing what he had said before quickly trying to change the subject. "Oh just a few- say! Let's go get our badges and see who we have to compete with this year!"

"Yeah, let's get this over with," Nina responded as she and Dusty walked towards the line along with Skara and Lambi, who offered to help Dusty with any injuries.

"Do you need any help, Dusty? That looks like a nasty fall," Lambi said.

"Nah, I'm good. I've been eaten by worse!" Dusty shouted while Eda narrowed her eye at Dusty.

"Hey mom, you alright?" Luz asked her, noticing this.

"Yeah, just… something about that Dusty boy seems… familiar," Eda admitted as she, Luz and Willow followed the others to get their badges.

After receiving their badges, Willow spoke to Nina. "Hope you don't mind me asking, but would this be your first time at the IFWOT?"

"Yeah, it is," Nina replied. "I remember they sent Tito and Ruth last year. I honestly never really paid much attention to these, since I never thought they'd allow me in one."

"So would this also make you the first werecat to try to earn a ribbon from the IFWOT?" Luz asked. "At least, as far as I know."

"Yeah, the schools on the reservation don't partake in the IFWOT and other school competitions," Nina admitted. "The activities we do instead are similar but… kind of lame."

"Well, look at it like this," Lambi suggested. "Now you have a chance to not just represent your new school, but the other werecats at the Torsa Villa as well! Imagine how everyone would react if you win a ribbon?"

"Hmm, yeah," Nina admitted, smiling. "That would be nice."

"If they haven't changed things that much since I've been here, then you kids will be fine," Eda said as they walked through the door. "Though I guess it depends on which Coven Head you end up getting. But who knows, maybe you kids could end up making a new friend!"

Inside the convention center, they spotted several groups of students waiting for the event to begin, along with the scouts and proctors getting things ready. Luz and Nina immediately noticed a trio of St. Epiderm students: Donna, Cross, and Danny.

"Aw crap…" Nina muttered when she saw Donna.

Skara noticed this. "Wait, I thought you and Donna were back on speaking terms?" she whispered.

"We are, but things are still… awkward," Nina whispered back as she and the other Hexside students went up to greet the St. Epiderm kids.

"Hey, Donna, nice to see that you're here along with Crisscross, and… Dilburn," Luz said as she and Danny glared at each other.

"Luz, Eda, Nina… wow, I'm surprised to see you guys here," Donna replied while noticing Lambi standing next to Nina. "So… you guys are representing Hexside this year?"

"Willow and Dusty are, me and the bad ol' puttytat have no choice," Luz admitted.

"At least we know some of the people here," Willow added.

"Yeah, it's good to see some familiar faces, right Nina?" Skara asked, nudging the werecat.

"Yeah, um… nice seeing you again, Donna," Nina replied, rubbing the back of her head.

"Yeah, it's um… same," Donna replied, sounding and looking just as awkward. "How have you been doing lately?"

"Oh, pretty good," Nina replied while glancing at Donna's classmates. "These must be your other classmates…" She looked at Cross. "I do recognize you. We met briefly. Cross, right?"

"Yep," Cross admitted. "I'm here because Beel and Veronica aren't available."

"Yeah, Veronica's spending time with her family at the unicorn ranch," Donna mentioned. "And this is… Danny."

"I will try not to judge you for being acquainted with the enemy, Donna, since we still have a ribbon to win," Danny said, crossing his arms. "These other schools may think St. Epiderm is vulnerable because of the current shutdown. They may think we are weak. But we will show them! Though I am…" He narrowed his eyes at Luz. "…disappointed by who Hexside has chosen this year."

"Hey, Willow's probably the strongest one here, Dilburn," Luz declared, narrowing her eyes at him. "Besides, at least we are all here. You seem to be missing a fourth witch."

"Minerva is running a little late, but once she comes through that door, we'll be an unstoppable team," Danny said confidently.

Just then, Cross spotted who was coming from the front door. "Um… might want to rethink that."

Danny turned around and his eyes widened. "What the… WHAT ARE YOU THREE DOING HERE?!"

"We're here to represent St. Epiderm, Dilburn," Muka said as she was accompanied by her sisters Gorlei and Ashey.

"The Graux Sisters?" Nina said in surprise. "How'd you guys end up in St. Epiderm?!"

"Nice seeing you too, Fangs," Muka said as they walked over. "After Glandus fell, we managed to get ourselves transferred to the most prestigious school in the Isles. Helps that a lot of the people there have dirt on them… including the corrupt president here."

"Corrupted?! I am not corrupt!" Danny claimed.

"Mhmm, says the one who shook hands with the Golden Guard, who turned out to be Emily Tricks," Muka pointed out, which shocked Danny.

"Would you keep quiet about this! There are coven scouts around," Danny told her. "Wait, what happened to Minerva?!"

"Oh, she couldn't make it," Muka claimed. "Something about looking for her missing cello or something…"


Standing on a rooftop in her own hero gear was Minerva, who looked at a photo of her missing cello.

"I will find where they hid you, my cello," she said as she put on a mask and began to hop from building to building.


"So we helped ourselves and convinced others to nominate Gorlei to represent St. Epiderm at the IFWOT while we're here for moral support," Muka said while patting her younger but larger sister. "That won't be a problem, right?"

Before Danny could speak, Donna intervened. "Of course it won't! Gorlei is a fellow St. Epidermite like the rest of us, so why don't we give her a chance to participate?"

"Without Minerva, we are still short one student," Cross pointed out while Danny sighed.

"Fine… I guess I'm outvoted," Danny said. "But there better be no trickery or cheating from you three. I want St. Epiderm to win this fair and square!"

"Oh Daniel~!" someone called out.

Danny's eyes popped out. "No… it can't be," he said as he slowly turned around and saw another group of students coming over.

"Why the shocked face, Danny?" Fan asked with a smile. With her were Kevin, Tracy, Gnashley, and Brenda. "I thought you would expect to see me here…"

"Fanny…" Danny grimaced.

"It's Fan, Dilweed, Fan Burndil!" Fan declared.

"Wait, you know this girl, Danny?" Cross asked him.

"Of course he does, after all, we're twinsies!" Fan revealed, which surprised Donna and Cross.

"You have a twin sister?" Donna asked Danny.

"But they don't look alike," Nina pointed out.

"We're fraternal twins," Fan explained as Dusty gasped when he saw who was with her.

"Kevin Shrubs!" Dusty shouted, pointing at Kevin.

"Well, well, if it isn't Dusty-Boy," Kevin said with a smirk. "I'm not surprised to see you here."

"You know this guy, Dusty?" Nina asked him.

"My greatest rival in Beast-Keeping," Dusty said as he narrowed his eyes at Kevin. "He thinks he's all great with the Beasts he's tamed and he wants to prove he is better than me! He even has his own cheer squad!"

"You mean my fans?" Kevin asked as he pointed to the Merlin Meadows cheer squad.

"K-E-V-I-N! Kevin! Kevin! Go-Go!" they cheered while Kevin just brushed his hair.

Fan, meanwhile, went over to the Clawthornes. "Hi I'm Fan, representative of Merlin Meadows, and you must be Luz Clawthorne, and- gasp, the local hero, Eda the Owl Lady!" Fan greeted the Clawthornes. "You are an inspiration for all witches, you know? You too, Luz."

"Um, thanks," Luz replied with a nod. "For Danny's sister, you don't seem too bad."

"Oh don't mind my brother, he's always a stickler," Fan said. "But I gotta thank you, Luz. Because of you, Merlin Meadows has opened its own multi-track program."

"Seriously?" Luz asked in surprise. "Wow, I thought Hexside was the only school with multi-track students."

"And it has done wonders! Tracy was just in Illusions, but now she takes up Bard and Construction," Fan said, gesturing to Tracy.

"I'm the school's fastest demon alive," Tracy said before she made a quick run and came back with some notdogs. "Notdogs, anyone? No? More for me!" she said as she ate every notdog in seconds.

"And Gnashley here is in Illusions and Plants," Fan explained.

"Hey," Gnashley said. "You may not remember me, but I used to buy human junk from you at the Bonesborough market."

"Huh, I think I do remember you," Eda recalled. "You were really into ninja-related stuff, right?"

"That's right," Gnashley confirmed. "Do you have any more human junk, by the way?"

"Well, I don't have any access to the Human Realm anymore," Eda lied. "But I do have one human item you could be interested in." She pulled something from her hair and threw it to Gnashley. "Here, an old wakeman. Had one back in the 80s. On the house."

"Oooh…" Gnashley said in awe, looking at the wakeman.

"And this little healer is Brenda," Fan said as she patted Brenda's back.

"Um… hi," Brenda responded, a little nervous.

"Don't mind her, she's just shy around new people," Fan said.

"Wait a second… there are five of you!" Danny pointed out.

"That's because I, as the school's president, am just here to support my classmates and friends," Fan clarified while turning to Donna and Cross. "I'm sorry if my brother is brash, he's always stern and cranky when his blood sugar is too high."

"Hey, it's no problem," Donna reassured her while Danny fumed in silence.

"I have a sister who, while not like Danny, can be irritating at times," Cross admitted.

"Try living with a bunch of siblings," Nina muttered.

"Wow, and you must be Nina Fangs," Fan said, walking over to her. "I must say, we don't see enough werecats outside of the Villa but I'd like to say it's nice to meet you."

Nina was surprised by this. "Um… nice to meet you too… not a lot of folks around here would give me a warm greeting."

"Well it's just as my stepdad would say, never judge a book by their cover," Fan said. "I'd like to get to know some potential new friends first, unlike Danny who judges pretty much everyone he meets right away."

"I don't judge everyone!" Danny claimed.

"I would say otherwise," Donna muttered.

Fan then turned back to Luz. "I also want to let you know, while the news about your girlfriend, Amity, is shocking, I know full well that she didn't ask for any of this," she said, patting Luz's shoulder. "It must be really hard for you and her. You have my condolences."

"Um, thanks. And don't worry, my girlfriend's fine and safe," Luz said. "But I am glad someone knows that her being part-Fae didn't erase the good she did."

"Of course! After all, she along with you were the heroes who helped stop the Coachman and Glandus. We appreciate your service," Fan said. "Danny, why didn't you give her any condolences about Amity's situation?"

"I-It didn't cross my mind…" Danny muttered.

"Oh, so you think that just because she's part-Fae, she's not worth giving condolence to?" Fan interjected, tisking him. "Danny, I thought victim-blaming was beneath you, hasn't your step-mom taught you anything?"

"She's your step-mom too!" Danny argued while his sister kept teasing him.

Luz just smirked as she leaned over to Willow. "You know, I'm honestly glad to be here," she said in amusement.

"Clawthorne!" someone shouted.

Luz turned around and saw that coming over were a bunch of students from another school specifically Hogwash. Leading them was a bowl-cut brown haired witch boy with black glasses, black eyes, and gray skin with a horseshoe scar on his forehead. He wore a white poncho with a black vest, orange Beast-Keeping sleeves and leggings, and black boots. "We meet again, you terrible trout!"

"Oh great, who the fuck is this loser?" Nina asked.

"I am the greatest student from Hogwash and the Chosen One! Larry Coppers!" he declared with a terrible cockney accent. "And I am here to exact my vengeance upon you, Clawthorne! Well, I came for a ribbon, but I will get vengeance upon you after that!"

"Yeah/You tell 'em, Coppers/He's our chosen one!" his goons cheered. They included a purple-skinned demon with tongue-like hair, a demon with a literal butt-shaped face, a frog-faced boy, and a witchling girl with brown hair.

"Luz, what did you do to that guy?" Willow asks her.

"Nothing much… well, he was trying to flirt through his bragging, and I wasn't having all of that," Luz said. "So I hit him with his glasses on, then hit him using his glasses, ruffed him up a little, and tied him to a rocket that sent him all the way to Palm Stings." Luz saw how shocked everyone looked. "That was during my aggressive times…"

"Geez, Luz, and I thought I was too extreme," Nina said.

"…How are you not checked in?" Cross questioned.

"Yo, baby bro!"

Cross froze upon hearing his sister's voice. He turned around and spotted her coming over. "Why are you here, Zee?"

"What? Can't I come here to cheer for my bro and his friends?" Zee asked. She was wearing an orange short top and a gray short-sleeve jacket, fur trims on her shoulders and sleeves, a black belt with a gray skirt with fur trims, and shin-guards connected to her sandal boots.

"Oh, you must be Cross's sister," Donna said as she walked over to her. "Hi, my name is Donna. A classmate of his."

"Donna… ooh, Cross never told me he knew such a girl as beautiful as you," Zee commented. "Are you his girlfriend?"

"Um, no, we're just acquainted with each other," Donna said, a little embarrassed.

Cross sighed. "Donna, don't mind my sister. She's been pulling this kind of stuff for a while just because I told her I'm not interested in dating yet."

"Come on, first you bring that Atos girl home for a 'study session', then you bring that fawn girl over for a plant project, and then the farmer's daughter…" Zee listed off.

"Give me a break, will ya, Zee," Cross complained.

"Whatever happened with Lindsay anyway?" Zee asked, much to her brother's annoyance. As the two siblings bickered, everyone else just watched them.

"Geez, is everyone's siblings going to show up?" Luz asked.

"It's times like these I'm glad I'm an only child," Willow commented as Lambi nodded in agreement.

"Honestly, I wouldn't mind having siblings…" Donna said.

"I suggest one younger sibling. They're easier to handle… if they don't run off," Nina suggested.

"Sorry I'm late!"

Nina was startled when Felicia popped up near her, causing her collar to shock her. "YAAH! Not again…" she said after she fell.

"Felicia? What are you doing here?" Skara asked while she and Lambi helped Nina up.

"Well, I wanted to cover the annual IFWOT. Lots of story possibilities and a potential interview with a Coven Head," Felicia replied while turning to Donna. "Donna! Babe, it's good to see my fellow gymnast again. How are the others doing?"

"Great, Felicia," Donna responded. "We have all missed you since your transfer."

"As long as you keep away from other people's business…" Cross muttered while overhearing their conversation.

"Are you alright, Nina?" Lambi asked while checking her for injuries.

"Just a shock," Nina responded, but then her eyes widened and her fur raised. "Aw shit…"

When everyone else saw what Nina was looking at, they fell silent as well. Larry Coppers, however, felt like he was being ignored. "Oi! Why isn't everyone paying attention to me?! I gots an accent!" He didn't notice that his goons had run away. "You tell 'em guys, that I am the most important kid in this town!"

"Oh are you?" someone asked.

Larry Coppers turned around and his eyes widened. "YAAAH!" he cried as he ran away… from Principal Faust.

"I hope I'm not late for your eventual failures…" Faust said.

"Uh, what brings you here, Fausty?" Eda asked nervously.

"Ah, Edalyn, so you showed up as well," he said while cracking his neck. "Good. I would like you to be here when I make an example out of your daughter. I am here to oversee the progress of my students. How history repeats itself, the top students and the two criminals of Hexside… though this time I'll be witnessing it personally," he declared while walking towards a booth. "And I look forward to savoring the expulsions…"

"That's Hexside's principal?!" Donna exclaimed in shock.

"He'd look like he'd fit as a Glandus principal," Muka whispered.

"Nah. Trust me, he'd be tame compared to Acne and McScream," Nina commented.

"And now, students! Time to meet this year's head proctor for the IFWOT!" someone announced.

Everyone turned to the stage where they saw a white, icy mist form. It was then they saw a blue mask gliding down to the stage, a shadowy figure managing to grab it through the mist. And coming out of the mist was Hettie Killington Cutburn.

"Greetings, future witches!" Hettie spoke up, "I am Head Witch Hettie Killington Cutburn, and welcome to the Improving Future Witches of Tomorrow, also known as… the IFWOT!"

Eda and Luz gave a sigh of relief, thanking the Titan it wasn't Terra. Donna looked relieved as well that it was the head of the Healing Coven.

"Now then, let's start with-" But then someone loudly rushed through the front doors, interrupting Cutburn.

"Hey, sorry I was late!" Kyle shouted. "Had to help my dad, but now I'm here-" He didn't get to say anything further, as he was stopped by a scalpel in front of his face "YAH!" he backed away, seeing the one who threw it at him and stopped it was Cutburn. The scalpel was then levitated back to Cutburn.

"Now, now, it's rude to interrupt someone when they're speaking," Hettie said calmly. "Luckily I stopped myself, or else there'd be an incident." Her blue lips smirked.

"Kyle, are you alright, man?" Muka asked in a whisper, looking concerned when Kyle joined his fellow St. Epiderm students.

"I… think I just saw my life flash before my eyes…" Kyle replied with a shiver while the others looked very concerned. They may have not gotten Terra, but Cutburn wasn't much better…


Meanwhile, at CATT's headquarters, the rebels had gathered around a table covered with photos of Coven Heads, scouts, and other coven members.

"Alright, we have to consider potential allies," Raine said while pointing to the photos with their stick. "These are the current Coven Heads right now: Alador Blight, Orsan Pawculus, Napoli McGrady III, Adrian Graye, Calypso Brooke, Terra Snapdragon, Ulrich Hammers, Hettie Cutburn, and Weevil Vitimir. If we could get just one of them on our side, we would have a huge advantage. Unfortunately, many are… unsuitable."

"Cutburn? Will sooner harvest our organs," Steve pointed out. "We don't know enough about the Napoli kid, Graye and Vitimir are too sneaky to be trusted…"

"Perhaps Calypso could be of help," Lilith suggested. "I was friends with her once and her daughter, Skara, is close to Amity and Luz."

"I don't think that's a good idea right now, Lilith," Raine told her.

"They're right," Odalia confirmed. "It's not that I don't trust Calypso, but she's probably just as much of a security risk as Alador. Especially since we know Terra Snapdragon supplied her tea to Arthur and Destiny in order to control Alador." She turned to Raine, who gave a saddened look to Odalia.

"Snapdragon's tea is the reason why my first rebellion failed," Raine explained, showing guilt about what happened. "I should have been more careful, but instead I fell under Terra's influence, which led me to sell out the BATTs. Any of the newer Coven Heads would be easy marks for Calypso to influence. Both Alador and Calypso became Coven Heads at the same time, so since Terra is controlling Alador, there's a good chance that she's also controlling Calypso as well. We have to be very careful about this."

Lilith gave an understanding nod before she turned to Bindell. "Then how about Flora?"

"There is a reason I don't want her to know that I'm here, Lilith," Bindell told her. "I don't think we can trust her, since she is way too close to the Emperor."

"I can agree to that," Vina said. "Flora isn't a traitor unlike you, Lilith."

"What about that Orsan guy?" Bunker asked.

"Absolutely not!" Steve suddenly shouted, his face twisted in anger. "Because of him, many coven scouts, ones that I knew, were massacred. He knew they'd fall into a death trap. He. Is. Not. Trustworthy."

"Me and Eber… don't trust him… for our own reasons," Darius said mysteriously while Eberwolf nodded in agreement.

"But what about your um… 'contact' in the Emperor's Coven?" Steve suggested, turning to Lilith. "Think he could help us out?"

"Yeah, he'd be of good use!" Star replied.

"I don't want to get him involved in this, for the same reason I don't want Luz involved in this," Lilith said. "He is already putting himself in enough risk by being back there in that castle. In fact, I want to get him out of that castle before the Day of Unity and make sure he is far away from Belos before we try anything."

"Agreed," Darius replied with a nod.

"How about… Ulrich?" Lilith suggested. "Out of all the Coven Heads, he is the least power-hungry. I know that most of the Coven Heads are driven by their own ambitions, but Ulrich has always stood out to me as someone selfless in his motivations. He is in this for his family and for the Isles, which I always found… admirable. He has a strong sense of values and I believe that he would be the most open to reason."

"Yes, so we'll put Ulrich as a possible ally," Raine said. "He may have helped end my first rebellion, but he didn't know what was really at stake and, well, we have all done things that we regretted." They looked around at the others gathered around the table.

That was when Darius spoke up. "Me and Eber… knew one Coven Head… who previously wished to go again… Belos."

"Really? Who?" Raine asked.

"Delara… Saltstar," Darius revealed, which shocked Lilith.

"Delara!?" Lilith and Odalia exclaimed.

"I… I had no idea Delara wanted to betray Belos," Lilith said in shock.

"Um, can you bring me up to speed?" Star asked, raising her hand. "Who is Delara and what is the big deal about her?"

"Delara was the previous Oracle Head before Orsan and is what you would consider as a 'miracle witch'," Hikari explained. "I've read that she was born prematurely and nobody thought she would live long. But she miraculously pulled through."

"She is an impressive woman," Raine explained. "I remember her being very sickly and pale as a kid. The healers thought that she couldn't survive through her teens, but despite everyone doubting and underestimating her, she managed to surprise everyone by surviving to adulthood through her own determination and stubbornness before marrying Samwitch Saltstar. They also say she couldn't survive after giving birth… three times, but she managed to make it through."

"I'm surprised that she has lived for that long," Vina said, being familiar with the woman who surpassed Apollus.

"I do remember that during her time as an Oracle Head, she had worked up building programs to help witches find cauldrons, but that program and others were later shut down after her death," Odalia said. She looked down. "When she was alive, I remember disapproving of her sympathy toward the poor and wilds. I thought she gave out handouts too easily. But she was probably one of the finest witches I have ever met. Too good for Belos's coven system…"

It was then that Lilith realized something and she turned to Darius and Eber. "We were told Delara died of the Red Death, but… was Belos actually responsible for Delara's death?"

Darius and Eberwolf looked at each other before Darius answered. "We don't… know," he admitted. Truthfully, they had both suspected that Delara had been murdered for a long time, especially because of a conversation they once had with Delara…


A cloaked Darius and Eberwolf were meeting a cloaked figure in the Bonesborough Night Market. The cloaked figure gestured for them to follow them into a building, where they closed the door behind them. The figure then uncloaked herself… and gave a relieved smile.

"Darius, Eberwolf," Delara greeted. "I'm so glad that you two got my message."

"So why did you call us out here?" Darius asked while Eberwolf gave their usual snarling noise in curiosity.

"I've called you two here because I wanted to talk to you in private, away from the Emperor and the other Coven Heads…" Delara looked down. "I've recently had some doubts… about our Emperor."

"Doubt?" Darius asked, a worried look forming. "Delara, you're not thinking of committing treason… are you?"

Delara looked up at them and put on a stoic face. "Yes," she confirmed, shocking Darius and Eberwolf. "I believe that I have no choice in the matter. I have been trying my hardest to reform the system that Belos created, but now I've learned that he has rejected some of my proposals. We're supposed to help our fellow witches, not petrify them." Her eyes narrowed before she shut them while squeezing her own hands. "I just… I wonder if what we've been doing really is for the good of the Isles… or even if it is what the Titan wants."

Eberwolf looked confused, as did Darius. "What do you mean by that?"

"How do we even know it is the Titan he's talking to?" she openly questioned. "What if he's talking to… something else?"

"Delara, where is this coming from?" Darius asked.

"I've had a vision," Delara explained. "A vision I received from the Knee. I believed that this vision was from the Titan himself, and it's like… he's been trying to tell me that he wants me to stop Belos." She looked at the two, who looked worried for her. "I know it may sound crazy, but it's the truth. You two understand, right?"

Darius and Eber both looked reluctant. "Delara, while what you're claiming is incredible… but, you don't really have the proof to back it up," Darius pointed out.

Delara sighed. "Of course you two don't believe me. I should have known as much…"

"But we do understand your frustration, Delara," Darius said while Eber nodded in agreement. "We sympathize with you, but we're not willing to go as far as what you're suggesting. So, I'm just going to wish you luck, old friend, and suggest that you be careful, since even having such thoughts could put you in danger."

Despite her disappointment, Delara managed to smile. "I will, Darius," she promised while patting his shoulder and Eberwolf's head.


Back at the IFWOT, the students had started doing the different challenges.

"Alright, if you all are smart enough to solve these challenging puzzles, you'd get some points up for a ribbon," spoke a coyote biped demon in a black robe, his 'Intelligence' stand showing many scientific displays, a jar of Jelly-bees, a written riddle, and a puzzle box.

"Ha! This won't be so difficult for me," Danny said confidently as he started with the puzzle box that was mixed up. "All I need is to get this puzzle box in the right order of sides, right? Easy enough," he said as he kept turning and folding the sides of the box. "Wait… this isn't right…" he said, having some difficulty.

"Can I see that?" Luz asked.

"Tsh, I doubt that you could figure it out," Danny said while Luz looked at the puzzle box and started turning the corners of it. "Puzzle boxes like these are notoriously difficult. There's no way someone like you would solve this-"

"Done!" Luz shouted as the puzzle box opened up, revealing some candy inside.

"Very good!" the coyote proctor declared while Danny looked shocked.

"But how?!" Danny exclaimed.

"I just think outside the box, literally," Luz said, pointing at the corners. "The corners are loose in this, so if I turn them into a certain angle with the white line painted on, it leads me to the center."

Danny blinked, but shook his head. "Well, that's just child's play. I'll just figure out this riddle then," he said as he read the riddle. "'I'm as light as a feather, yet the strongest person can't hold me for much longer than a minute. What am I?'… strong as a feather… a mouse? No, a bird? A paperweight? But how is a paperweight stronger than a person?"

Brenda, who read the riddle, wrote down her answer and showed it to the proctor.

"My, you are a smart little one," he commented. "That is correct!"

"What?!" Danny turned to Brenda. "What did she write?!"

"Breath," the proctor answered.

"Yeah, I'm pretty good at solving riddles," Brenda answered. "It's kind of my hobby."

"Smart kid," Luz complimented.

"Um… thank you." Brenda said while turning away.

"Okay, so I didn't solve two challenges for intelligence," Danny said as he started sweating. "I'll just try to figure out how many Jelly-bees are in this jar here!" he said while looking at the jar, analyzing the jelly-bees. "If I could just measure the size of the bees, follow by the measure of the mass of the jar…"

"2245."

Danny turned around and saw Gorlei showing her answer for the proctor to read. "That's right!"

"What?!" Danny exclaimed. "But… how did you count so quickly?!"

"Sorry, Dandoodle, but I guess Gorlei is good at her math," Muka said while Ashey hid a trash can away that contained another jelly-bees container that had a label that told how many could be in a jar. Though Danny did not notice that…

"Wow, I have never seen Danny get this stressful over this kind of thing," Donna admitted as she watched her friends.

"Yeah, he's always like this," Fan replied, standing next to her while stirring her own drink.

"So, uh, what can you tell me about yourself, Fan?" Donna asked, turning to Fan. "Danny never mentioned you before."

"That's because I'm a socialite who puts him to shame," she declared. "Like, I like to meet and greet new people, hoping to make everlasting friendships. I live with my mom and step-dad while Danny lives with dad and our step-mom."

"Oh, so despite being fraternal twins, you two have different surnames…" Donna pointed out.

"Yeah, Danny's the Dilburn while I take my mom's maiden name, Burndil," Fan said, which confused Donna.

"So wait, your parents originally married each other as Dilburn-Burndil…?" Donna questioned.

"I know, right?" Fan asked. "So what can you tell me about yourself, Donna? I hear you're quite the top student there in St. Epiderm."

"Well, I don't brag about it much," Donna replied. "I just excel in Healing and became top of my class for it. Other than that, I do gymnastics and skinnis from time to time. Plus I sometimes volunteer at the Healing Coven and at Scooter Crane's Home for Unwanted Witchlings and Demons."

"Righteous," Fan replied as Zee joined in.

"Hey, Donna, having a good time at the IFWOT?" Zee asked her.

"Oh, I'm having fun so far," Donna assured her.

Zee smiled. "Say, Donna, I know that I may sound a little intrusive, but since you seem to be good friends with my brother, do you two hang out much?"

"Well… we don't hang out regularly," Donna admitted. "And we aren't that close either, since Cross tends to keep things to himself. Which I'm not saying is a problem, but I don't think he would be interested in hanging out."

"Maybe you two should give each other a chance," Zee encouraged her. "I'm sure you would like to get to know him more and Cross keeping to himself does tend to be a problem, but if you show him a good time, he may open up."

"A good time… wait, are you suggesting that I date him?!" Donna asked in surprise.

"Why not?" Zee asked with a shrug and a smile. "He keeps insisting that he's 'just friends' with the girls that he brings home and you seem to be a really nice girl who could help him get out more. And you can't deny that he isn't good-looking…"

"Um, I don't know," Donna said hesitantly, looking both embarrassed and uncertain. "I've never been on a real date with anyone before…"

Of course, Donna didn't want to mention Nina to either Fan or Zee. Nor did she want to mention how she recently almost got married…

"Well, maybe it could be a good experience for you as well," Fan suggested.

"Yeah, just think about it," Zee said to Donna, patting her shoulder. "Since he refuses to ask a girl out, maybe he needs to be asked out instead."

Donna looked over at Cross, who was using his plant magic to form a model out of small vines. "I'll… think about it," she said, admitting to herself that Zee was right about Cross not being bad-looking at the very least…

At the 'Creativity' stand, Cross had a model ship from his plants for the proctor to see. "Very nice," the proctor said. "What model ship is this supposed to be?"

"The S.S. Druid," Cross explained. "From the 'Flaming Druid Incident' where a traveling picnic boat carrying a group of witches caught on fire for unknown reasons. Only survivor was just one young girl, name unknown, followed by a hollowing laughter." He twirled his fingers as red blooming flowers spread out around the grassy-boat model and made screaming noises.

"Screaming-Lilies, clever," the proctor said while writing down on his clipboard just as they heard the echoing laughter. "And nice use of the Hardy-Har Hibiscus."

At another booth, a skeleton of a beast was displayed. Nina just watched in a deadpan manner while Dusty and Kevin kept fighting over the skeleton.

"I'm telling you, that is supposed to be a prehistoric griffin!" Dusty declared. "Look at the wings, and the hunched spine! Obviously, it's from the mighty hippogriff!"

"And I say you're wrong, like always," Kevin argued. "Because this is obviously from a thornback cockatrice. You can tell by the shapes of their claws and how narrow the beak is."

"It is a hippogriff!" Dusty declared.

"Cockatrice!" Kevin argued.

The two argue about it over and over, Nina looking pretty annoyed by their antics. Next to her was Tracy.

"I didn't think this would end up being some form of a pissing contest," Nina muttered.

"Yeah, I hear those two get at it sometimes," Tracy replied while turning to Nina. "Nina, right? I think I've heard about you from Andrea and Lindsay."

Nina turned to her. "You know Pinkjoy and Shystream?"

Tracy nodded. "Yeah, I have known Lindsay since daycare, and Andrea and I are neighbors and good pranking buddies. She told me a lot about you, new cheerleader and all."

"Yeah, it has been going pretty well so far," Nina said. "I know it surprises people, but I'm just not looking into sports right now. The head cheerleader's a little intense, but Andrea tends to lighten the mood."

"That I do!" Andrea shouted after her name was said three times.

Nina jumped back after Andrea startled her out of nowhere, causing her to feel a shock. "GAH! PINKJOY?!" she exclaimed at the happy-go-lucky witch. "What are you doing here?!"

"Cheering you on, silly!" Andrea replied while raising her pom-poms. "Hi Tracy! Nice seeing you after the Brawl last weekend!"

"Nice to see you too, Andrea," Tracy responded awkwardly.

"It's super nice to see you too, Tracy~!" Andrea replied with a big smile. Then she noticed a cloud of punching and kicking had occurred nearby. "Um, Nina, I think your friend is having a little tussle."

Nina got up, seeing Dusty and Kevin fighting each other. "Ugh, it's like dealing with my siblings," she muttered as she marched towards them. "Alright, alright, break it up, you two!" she said while grabbing and pulling Dusty and Kevin away from each other.

"I'm telling you, it's a hippogriff, you overconfident scab-picker!" Dusty yelled.

"And I say it's a cockatrice, ya pimple-teeth prudence!" Kevin shot back.

"Alright, enough!" Nina shouted at them, "Both of you, are you two beast-keepers or children?!" she told them off as she let them go. "Now let me see what you two are arguing over…"

Nina looked at the display of the bird-like creature. She examined the bones, but found that something seemed off about it.

"Wait… so you guys think it's either a hippogriff or cockatrice?" Nina asked them.

"You have to believe me, Nina, it has to be a hippogriff!" Dusty shouted.

"Cockatrice," Kevin said, crossing his arms.

"Actually," Nina said as she pointed at the winged bones. "These wings do look to belong to the ancient hippogriff, but the claws… they do look to belong to the cockatrice. Hippogriffs have four claws while the cockatrice has three… these bones are mixed up!"

"That is, um, correct," said the proctor, who appeared to have a fly's head as he got up and walked towards Nina. "I have, um, purposely placed the bones like this just to, uh, see if anyone can figure it out. But, uh, as it turns out, it was you, Miss, uh, Fangs."

"No way… you're Professor Malcolm Flytrap," Nina pointed out. "I've heard about you!"

"That's me," he replied. "And I must say, um, Nina, that you have a keen eye."

"Um, thanks, sir," Nina responded while hearing Andrea cheer.

"Yeah! Go Nina!" Andrea cheered, which earned a smile from the werecat.


Meanwhile, the Healer students like Donna and Brenda were led to some covered up tables.

"Now, this is a special challenge that Head Witch Cutburn has set up for the Healing Trackers," spoke the proctor, who snapped his fingers, unveiling the tables. "In this challenge, you'll be tested on how you operate!"

The students saw actual people on the table, with their bodies split open to show their organs. The students all gasped at this.

"Um… are we really performing actual surgery?" Donna asked, raising her hand up.

"Yes," the proctor confirmed. "You'll be tested on your healing skills as you operate on a patient. There will be a buzzer that will go off if you perform wrong. Your assigned surgeries are placed on the cards on the table."

Donna looked and saw that she got heart surgery. "This is some kind of sick joke…"

Brenda looked at hers. "I guess a leg surgery won't be too bad," she said while looking at the patient's leg… the bones sticking out from his shin and knee. "Holy… Titan…" she said as she gulped.

One Healer student was performing their surgery as he put one part of the bone into place. This caused a buzz which startled the student. "Titan's Crack!"

Donna, who looked at the heart, gulped as she used the tools. "Alright… let's get this heart out and replace another," she said while going to perform the heart surgery…

"Um, excuse me, Head Witch Cutburn," a scout said to the Head Witch as she watched the challenge. "Isn't this a little… irresponsible? Aren't those actual patients? And aren't these children?"

"They are still healers, aren't they?" Cutburn asked. "If they wish to be a part of my coven one day, they must meet my standards. Besides, I thought that most of the challenges didn't reflect real world scenarios and I wanted to create what I felt was a more… practical challenge."

"Oh Titan, the blood got in my eye!" one student shouted.


For Willow, she had started to excel throughout these challenges.

In a 'Strength' challenge, she wore the same guard outfit as the opposing students, while Tracy stood next to her. Once the proctor blew his whistle, the two stepped back as they charged at their opponents. Tracy used her speed with ease, intercepting her opponent and knocking them down. Willow also charged at her opponent, who threw the first punch. But Willow grabbed their arm as she body-slammed him down to the matt.

Next was a Plant challenge, where Cross demonstrated his plant growing skills. Willow did the same by spreading sunflower seeds into several pots. Her eyes glowed green as she raised her fists up, causing sunflowers to bloom out of the pots, nice and tall. Then the roots of the sunflowers burst out of the pots and the sunflowers stood up and started to dance around. The proctors and Cross were surprised by this, while Skara was nearby happily cheering for her girlfriend.

Another challenge for Willow had her flying on her staff. She along with Gnashley raced through some rings up on the roof of a flight challenge. Another opponent, Larry Coppers, tried to catch up with them on his staff and zap them with his wand, but Willow blocked the attack with a large leaf. Gnashley disappeared and reappeared in front of Coppers, using a light spell to flash at him, causing him to fly down to the safety nets. Willow and Gnashley then flew towards the finish line, neck to neck. But in the end, Willow won by a strand of her hair.

Yes, Willow was a challenge-winning beast.


Later, Luz was doing a guitar riff solo during the Bard challenge. She bent back while strumming her guitar, the other bard students in shock at how good she was.

"No way!" Grip, the proctor for this challenge, said in amazement. "I don't think I have ever seen a witch with a killer riff like that!"

Luz continued to strum while getting into the vibe. As she finished, she then slammed the guitar while slapping a fire glyph on it. "Yeah! Rock on, bitches!" she declared with her peace symbols up while kneeling down at the flaming guitar.

"Luz! The fire is going to spread to the stage!" Willow shouted.

Luz realized that the fire on her guitar was spreading. "Oh shit!" she said while using her ice magic to put out the flames.

Grip sighed and turned to a scout. "I think it's time we have a break…"


Break time came as everyone went outside to either have a snack or hang out with each other.

"Ooh, I've never heard music like this before," Lambi admitted while listening from one earphone connected to Nina's earphone. "What's this band called?"

"TLC is what Skara calls it," Nina replied while holding up a CD player. "She and Luz have been trading music. Human Realm music is surprisingly good."

"Yeah… this is good," Lambi replied, bopping her head. "Don't go chasing waterfalls…"

"Please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to," Nina sang along with Lambi. Tugs was seen sitting between them at their table, Nina petting him.

Donna sat not too far away, watching Nina spending time with Lambi. She started to grow jealous while drinking her ghoul-aid. She then gave a disgusted look. "Ugh, the Ghoul-Aid still tastes bitter this year…"

"Yeah, mom said the goods here are always garbage," Luz replied while walking up to sit with her. "Of course, not surprising since this IFWOT business feels like it's been set up on a shoe-string budget."

"Yeah…" Donna replied in agreement before turning to look at Nina again.

"Staring at the werecat?" Felicia asked as she popped up, which startled Donna and Luz.

"Titan, don't scare us like that, Felicia!" Donna scolded her.

"Sorry, I got scared off after trying to interview some of the students around here, and the proctors… and Cutburn," Felicia responded with a brief look of horror. "So Donna, Luz, how have your experiences at the IFWOT been?"

"Pretty okay, so far," Luz responded. "Though I only agreed to this so I could get Amity's expulsion reversed and help my friends remain in school."

"Noble, now that's going to make for a good story, Clawthorne," Felicia replied while turning to Donna. "And what about you, Donna?"

"Well, other than the real-life heart surgery I had to do, it's been pretty fine for me," Donna said while shifting her eyes away.

"Hmm, well, now if I could also ask you another question, Ms. Masterskull, are you considering something between yourself and Mr. Drakescale?" Felicia asked, making Donna's eyes widen.

"What?!" Donna exclaimed. "There's nothing going on between me and Cross!"

"Really? Cause one of my ghosts overheard Zee talking to you about him," Felicia brought up, making Donna sighed.

"Yeah, Zee was suggesting that I… hang out with him more," Donna admitted. "But I don't know if I would be interested in dating… especially after the Wonderland wedding fiasco."

"Wonderland wedding?" Felicia asked in confusion.

"Oh… is this about Nina going out with Lambi?" Luz asked her, changing the subject and getting Donna to look at her. "And don't deny it, I saw you looking at them from a distance."

"Ooh, I didn't think you'd be the envious one, Donna," Felicia commented.

"I'm not jealous," Donna denied. "I'm… happy that Nina is going out with Lambi. She seems like a nice girl. And I'm just not ready for dating…"

"Wait, so you've never tried dating before?" Luz asked her and Donna shook her head. "Huh, I assumed you've been in the dating game before."

"No, I haven't," Donna said with a sigh before she started to go off on a tangent. "And it's just… I guess Nina dating someone just makes things… a little weird, you know? I'm not used to seeing her date, even though we fell out of touch for two years… and then she came back into my life and told me that she was in love with me and I didn't know how to react and when I learned about all the bad stuff she did I didn't want to take a risk with her, so I told her that I didn't feel the same way toward her and rejected her pretty harshly. Later I realized how hurt she was and even after she saved me things have been awkward between us. And now she is already dating another girl so soon after I rejected her and it isn't like she isn't allowed to do that, but it is still weird and I don't know if she's also into-"

"Donna, Donna, slow down," Luz told her. "I mean, wow. That is a lot. You two… are a lot. But look, if Nina can go out to date others, why can't you? Why not have some fun in the dating game?"

"I-I just don't know if I can," Donna admitted. "I got no experience, like what if I just get hurt or if I end up hurting anyone…"

"Donna, babe," Felicia said as she patted the silver-haired girl's shoulder. "Look at you. You're beautiful, smart, and one of the bravest witches I know." She leaned over to whisper to her. "If you can help take down a criminal organization and fight off against a scarfish, then picking up boys or girls should be easy pickings."

"Easy…?" Donna asked her.

"Look, it doesn't even have to be a date you ask them out on," Felicia advised. "It could just be… asking someone to hang out with them as a friend and see where things can go from there."

"Yeah, I mean, when me and Amity went on our first date, it wasn't intended to be a romantic one," Luz admitted. "I did already have feelings for her, but we weren't dating yet and my main goal was to just show her a good time. There is no reason a date has to be romantic if you don't think you are ready for it."

Donna considered this. "Well… it could be worth a shot," Donna said while looking over at Cross, who was conversing with Danny. "I'll… decide after the IFWOT."

"Um, excuse me," said someone. The three turned and saw Brenda. "Um… can I speak with you, Luz Clawthorne?"

"Me?" Luz asked and Brenda nodded. "Um, sure. I'm free to talk. Later Donna," she said as she walked with Brenda to talk to her in private.

"See you, Luz," Donna waved at her while Felicia leaned over to Donna.

"Just think about it, Donna," she whispered to Donna. "This could be a way to make Nina jealous…"

"Jealous?" Donna asked, feeling Felicia's tail brushing under her chin.

"That's right, my foxy friend," Felicia soothingly said, hanging her arm on Donna's shoulder. "Believe me. When something is taken, people want it even more. That is why you are upset that Nina is dating someone who isn't you, right? Well, if she was to learn you were… off the market, she would go back to wanting you again. And in any case, just look at Cross, he's still single, but ready to mingle."


Away from the others, Luz and Brenda began to talk privately.

"So… what's up?" Luz asked her.

Brenda looked down, playing with her thumbs. "Um… i-it's just… do you… r-remember my sister…?"

"Your sister?" Luz asked her while Brenda continued to look down.

"About two months ago, my sister did something awful," Brenda explained. "And… at a party, she attacked this one girl and… you managed to stop her before she went further…"

It was then Luz realized who Brenda meant. "Wait… you mean to tell me that your sister is…?!"

"Bangles," Brenda revealed, looking up to Luz with a guilty expression. "I… didn't know if I should confront you or Amity about this. I-I don't know if you'd blame me or hate me even…"

"Hey, I won't hold a grudge towards you over what Bangles did," Luz reassured her, kneeling down to Brenda's height. "I didn't think you'd be Bangle's sister of all people, given that you're not the first mummy biped in the Isles I've met. My mom dated one once." She saw Brenda's guilty expression and sighed. "Do you… want to talk about your sister? How did she end up so…?"

"Mean?" Brenda asked. "Well, our parents aren't around much, so it was just the two of us most of the time. Bangles took care of me at first and I looked up to her, but over time she grew meaner and… abusive." She patted her own arm and started to shiver, as if she felt a familiar fear "S-She… would tell me that it's my fault our parents aren't around, and if I ran away, I won't survive…"

Luz looked disturbed by this and sympathetic toward Brenda. "How can your sister treat you like that?"

"I don't know what made her turn out like this," Brenda admitted. "But eventually, she got arrested and one of my friends offered to have me live with them. But still… I still feel guilty over what she did to Amity. I just wish to tell her how sorry I am."

"Well, I'm sure Amity won't hold it against you." Luz reassured her. "It was your sister that mugged her, not you. She attacked Amity and you had nothing to do with it. Bangles did all of that of her own choice. But she's not here, and you don't have to worry about her anymore."

Brenda looked up at Luz. "You're… right, she wouldn't."

"Have you… ever talked to your sister after her arrest?" Luz asked her. She felt one of her own fears creeping up on her as she wondered if Bangles was also one of the witches she messed with who ended up being 'silenced'.

"No… I haven't heard from her since her arrest," Brenda admitted while looking worried. "But I have been worrying about whether there's a possibility that she got out…"


"And then, when I showed our aunt the class project model I did on the Titan's anatomy, Fanny had to show off with her ventriloquist show, with a living puppet!" Danny complained to Cross, both sitting on a bench while eating their snacks. "My sister just likes to make me look bad. I mean, I'm not the bad guy. I just take my position seriously. You understand about sisters, right? How complicated and mischievous they can be..."

"Yeah, Zee's kinda the same but on a whole different level," Cross responded. "Like, she's always invested in my dating life, just because she has more experience and considers herself an expert. I mean, it's not like it didn't cross, no pun intended, my mind, but I'm not so sure if I'm ready for that kind of thing."

"I'm sure your sister means well, Cross," Danny said as he sighed. "But you know, I'm glad that we can have this talk. I don't know who to talk to about these things, other than with Riley but they're not here."

"Yeah, and Teri's still missing…" Cross lamented.

"I know," Danny said as he looked down with a frown. "I hope that he's alright."

Cross then gave Danny a look. "So… I gotta ask… about the whole Golden Guard being… Emily Tricks…" He noticed Danny flinching as he turned away. "Danny?"

"I… I don't know what to think," Danny said while looking down. "That the Emperor's Coven has allowed someone like her to be the Golden Guard? Even though they knew that she's a criminal? Why would they give the Golden Guard position to her after her arrest… unless she's really been the Golden Guard all this time…" He rustled his hair in a panic. "That could explain why she appears in golden sleeves…"

"Danny, don't panic. You're starting to sound like Beel," Cross warned.

"The worst part is that I shook hands with her, on stage," Danny said as he shook. "I'm the class president… stuff like this can give me a bad image. Muka's already mentioning it… for once, I don't think I look forward to school opening back up."

"Danny, it wasn't your fault that you were deceived," Cross reassured him. "How could you have known that Emily Tricks was the Golden Guard? I'm sure that the students will understand since they were deceived as well. Though it isn't like Emily isn't the only messed up witch in the coven system. Snapdragon has homicide written all over her and I once heard that Cutburn will harvest your organs if you make her mad..."

"It is… deeply disturbing." Danny admitted. "I guess, it's just… I've been president for two years and I've really been looking forward to being in the Oracle Coven, or trying out for the Emperor's Coven… even if I have been worried that my magic wouldn't cut in the Emperor's Coven, that I'm not powerful or worthy enough. I don't want to think that I will be stuck working in a museum or a library my whole life… but now I'm not sure."

"Don't sell yourself short," Cross said. "I mean, you've run things well enough at school."

"Up until now! Especially with the Grim Goblin attacks," Danny said. "I thought coming here would be a chance of redemption. Earn a blue ribbon, and the whole 'shaking hands with Emily' thing will be forgotten… but I doubt it will." He sighed. "My sister being there is just a reminder that… she's better at making connections with everyone, and I hardly ever make friends… other than Riley and the student council that tolerate me. Is it that wrong to be a rule follower?"

"Inherently, no," Cross answered. "I mean, I can understand that there are rules made for a reason to keep people safe. But there are some rules that don't make a lot of sense. Like, did you know in Palm stings that it's a felony to try to eat bricks there?"

"I've actually read about that… that's an obvious rule to follow," Danny replied.

"Yeah, but that's just common sense. You don't really eat bricks, so why should it be a felony?" Cross asked him. "Though admittedly, if you really want to prove your sister wrong, you can try to be more sociable and lighten up. Try not to antagonize people, because usually it causes a lot of people to dislike you."

"I… I think I can do that," Danny replied. "Thanks for the talk, Cross. I guess opening up helps."

"Yeah, it… really does," Cross agreed.

Danny looked up at the sky, giving a relieved sigh. "Though I do wonder where Emily Tricks is nowadays…?" he asked out loud, not noticing Cross making a nervous expression.

"Yeah," Cross said while looking at the ground. "I wonder…"


Faust came back into the convention center while eating a Newt Burger… very aggressively. He noticed Eda leaning on a pillar in the stadium.

"How long have you been standing there, Edalyn?" Faust asked her.

"Long enough to build myself up to give you a piece of my mind," she hissed at him as she crossed her arms. "Like for making Luz go through the same punishment at the IFWOT like I had, for one,"

"She should be honored to participate in the IFWOT and win a ribbon for her school," Faust responded.

"Please, we both know that both she and you are here in the hopes that she will humiliate herself. And as if expelling Amity isn't enough… now you're threatening Gus, Willow, Eve, Boscha and Cat?!" Eda looked angry at her former principal. "You know something, Faust? I used to be afraid of you. But now all I see is a grouchy old man who was never interested in helping kids. Instead, you were always more interested in punishing your students and taking credit for the achievements of the few who did excel under you. Bump did more good for his students than you could ever do because he actually cared." She gave him a glare. "What are you even trying to prove with all of this?"

"All I'm doing is continuing my study into the nature of evil!" Faust claimed. "Just as you were my subject back when you were at Hexside, your daughter and the werecat are new breeds of evil whose depravity will-"

"Studying evil?! You're still on with that bullshit?!" Eda shouted at him. "For the Titan's sake, Faust, not everyone is inherently evil! You wanna know what I've learned? No kid is irredeemable. Instead, they may have trouble at home or join bad crowds or have no positive influences in their lives or…" She then made a realization. "My Titan… of course you'd want to be a principal again, cause it's always about control with you! That's why you came back, ain't it? So that you can feel like you can control these kids' lives."

"I do not need to answer to the likes of you, Edalyn," Faust declared.

Eda narrowed her eye at him. "Alright, have it your way. I already got my answer," she said as she decided to change the subject. "By the way… do you remember Orange?"

"Yes, I do," Faust responded.

"Does he have a son?" Eda asked him. "I ask cause that Dusty kid looks exactly like him…"

"That's because it is him," Faust responded, surprising Eda. "Why do you look surprised, Edalyn? I thought you would have figured that Dusty Bring'ems or Orange are one of the same… because he's immortal."

"Immortal?" Eda asked.

"Ever since I started out as a principal long ago, that boy has been a student at Hexside, showing up every few years with a different name and a different team of beasts at his disposal. I have never been able to figure him out. He is… an enigma. He's one of Hexside's seven unsolved wonders…"

Faust walked past Eda, who was left with the thought of Dusty being immortal…


At the Construction Coven, Ulrich had received some surprising guests in his office.

"Right now I'm supposed to be having a meeting about a rebuilding project," Ulrich said, crossing his arms while sitting at his desk "But then you two showed up, which is surprising. Not many outside of my coven come by to visit this old man," he said to the guests, Lilith and Bindell. "And it would be nice to see you again, Lilith, if circumstances were better…"

"It is nice to see you too, Head Witch Hammers," Lilith responded.

"Just call me Ulrich," he told her. "Honestly, I may be one of the few Coven Heads that understands your situation, Lilith. The others had already disowned and disavowed you, which I am sure you are aware of, but I respect your decision to leave the Emperor's Coven. I don't like it, but I respect it. Especially since I understand the delicate balance between loyalty to family and loyalty to the Emperor. It is… not easy."

"Thank you for understanding, Ulrich," Lilith said with a respectful nod.

"So that is why you left the Emperor's Coven, right?" Ulrich asked. "Because of your family? You never made an official statement about it, but there have been a lot of rumors circulating around. Some are… less believable than others."

Lilith gave another nod. "Yes, it was because of my family. I felt as though I could no longer trust Belos, which started when I learned that he had kept the existence of my niece a secret from me. After that, I began to worry about what his plans for my family really were, especially for my niece. When forced to choose between the Emperor's Coven and my family, I chose my family and it is a choice that I have not regretted."

"And once again, I can understand and respect that," Ulrich responded before his expression changed. "However… I do not approve of your affair with Odalia, especially since it destroyed her marriage with Head Witch Blight and tore apart his family."

"Hey, that's a bit unfair don't you know," Bindell told him, but Lilith patted her hand.

"It's alright, Bindell," Lilith assured her.

"But it wasn't your fault, you and Odalia were both drugged!" Bindell pointed out.

"This isn't about me, Bindell," Lilith told her. "I wouldn't be able to convince him anyway and that is not why we are here." She sighed and turned back to the Construction Head. "Ulrich, what do you really know about the Day of Unity?"

He raised his eyebrow to the question. "I know that it's supposed to purify all magic under the coven system, that it will eradicate wild magic, and that it will allow Belos to take a new form given to him by the Titan himself, which will unite the Isles, making us stronger than ever."

"But what does purifying magic and eradicating wild magic even mean?" Lilith questioned. "Have you ever asked him what the real reason for the Day of Unity is?"

"He said that it will help defend ourselves against our enemies," Ulrich said.

"Ah yes, vague enemies," Lilith said with a nod. "How are your sons, Ulrich? Driller, Picket, Jack? How old are they now?"

"My oldest, Jack, is twenty," Ulrich answered. "They're good, strong men. They make me a proud old witch." However, he felt somewhat uncomfortable while answering this and he felt a growing suspicion toward the Clawthorne woman. "What… what are you really doing here, Lilith? Cause I don't believe that you're here just to catch up."

"He's onto you," Vina whispered.

"I'm just… worried, Ulrich," Lilith admitted. "I'm worried about whether Belos really has all of our best interests in mind or not." She sighed and looked down. "I've… had a lot of time to think and I have been using that time to reflect upon my past actions and everything I did in the name of the Emperor, everything that it cost me then and is costing me now. I even hurt my own family because for years Belos promised me that he would cure my sister's curse. And despite that, he was still willing to sacrifice me and my sister in order to bait a Fae." She gave him a look. "What was it that Emperor Belos always said? To be great, you have to make sacrifices. Tell me, Ulrich, if Belos were to ask you to sacrifice your own sons to achieve his goals, would you go along with it?"

"Where are you getting at, Lilith?" Ulrich asked her with a stern look, crossing his arms.

"I don't wish for you to make the same mistake as I did, Ulrich," Lilith told him. "You're not like the Coven Heads, you aren't interested in only yourself. I don't want you to be betrayed like I was. And think about how Belos tends to attract the worst people to work for him. Witches like Terra, Adrian, Vitimir… they aren't in this for the same reasons you are. But Belos doesn't care about why you are doing this. He is only interested in results and unquestionable loyalty. And to achieve that, he will promise you whatever he needs to: power, position, a secure future for your family, a promise for paradise… but he will break that promise just as easily as he makes it and will sacrifice all of us if he has to, just as his own words would suggest."

Ulrich seemed to consider this. "Well what other choice do I have?" Ulrich asked her. "Belos is at least offering a better future and I haven't heard any better offers."

"Because that's what Belos wants, for everyone to think he is the only path to salvation and that only he can save everyone," Lilith pointed out. "He wants us to believe that his way is the only way, regardless of what his way entails. He wants people to be scared of what happens otherwise."

Ulrich looked hard at Lilith. "I could tell Belos about this, you know," he suggested. "I could tell him that you and Bindell came to me and tried to fill my head with doubts. Because it sounds like you are trying to convince me to betray him…"

"And I know that you won't tell him," Lilith said. "Because you are a good witch, Ulrich. A witch too good for someone like Belos."

"And what makes you sure I'm not?" Ulrich asked her, making Bindell glance nervously at Lilith. And though Lilith tried to keep her face stoic, she was starting to get worried. Ulrich was smart, he knew Lilith had ulterior motives for coming to see him from the moment she came in. And if he did tell Belos…

"Ooh, you overplayed yourself, Lilith," Vina whispered in her ear. "If he tells Belos, it will all be over for you and your family. You are a fool…"

As she listened to Vina, Lilith knew she was right. She had to change her approach. She took a deep breath and continued. "Because if you tell Belos about this, I'll just tell him that you know he's Philip Clawthorne and that he was once a human." She saw Ulrich's shocked face when she said this and she gave a small smile. "Yeah, that will go well for you and your family."

Ulrich was shaken to the core. "Lilith… p-please tell me you're joking…"

"I don't joke about this, Ulrich," Lilith responded. "You can go ahead and ask Belos himself… if you want to take the risk of… disappearing." She saw Ulrich was sweating, something very unusual for the Coven Head. "Me and Bindell will make our leave," she said as she and Bindell got up. "What you do with this information is up to you. But I'm not scared to say what is on my mind anymore… and I don't want you to be scared to say what is on your mind either. Maybe you should… think about it."

Lilith made her leave with Bindell following her, leaving Ulrich to his own thoughts about the bombshell that Lilith had dropped on him. He was shaking as Bindell and Lilith left.

"Was that really necessary?" Bindell asked Lilith, who kept a calm expression.

"I just told him what he needed to hear," Lilith replied. "Give him something to think about."

Vina, however, was impressed by what Lilith pulled and she smiled. "Now there is the Lilith I remember…"


Back at the IFWOT, the students were performing more challenges.

"What do you find in a potion store to make a scrying spell?" the proctor asked, the contestants being Tracy and Gorlei as Tracy pressed a buzzer. "Merlin Meadows!"

"Um… a Snaggleback's… toes?" Tracy asked.

"Survey says," the proctor pointed to the board, which flipped to show the answer. "Snaggleback's Snaggleteeth! Ooh, so close! Epiderm?"

Gorlei held up a sign that read 'Porcuspine Quills.'

There was a ding. "Porcuspine Quills! You are correct!" the proctor declared as the students clapped for Gorlei's victory.

"Way to go, Gorlei!" Muka shouted as she hugged her large sister and patted her back. "I knew you could answer it!"

Gorlei gave a thumbs up while covering the answers on her sleeve with an illusion.

"Does Glandus always have some bright minds?" Luz asked while clapping.

"Honestly, they probably cheated on those challenges," Nina admitted. "And I'm not surprised. The Graux Sisters are infamous con artists and racketeers…"

Throughout the IFWOT, the Graux sisters demonstrated their cheating ways. Gorlei ended up at another challenge where a scared looking proctor pulled up a question.

"It cries after getting pulled from the ground-" The proctor heard Gorlei's buzzer and saw her answer displayed on her podium. "What is a Mandrake? You are correct, Gorlei!" He pointed to her while Larry Coppers and Kevin looked down in frustration, having lost again. Nobody noticed the proctor looking nervous when he saw Ashey holding up a suspicious photo of him, making him gulp.

Another challenge had the students show off what they painted. Gorlei showed off her… abstract artwork. The proctor turned his head as he was about to fail her… until he saw Muka and Ashey giving him threatening glares that caused him to rethink her grade. He gave her a point.

"Gorlei, you've won this challenge of making the best cookies!" another proctor declared during a bake off as the students clapped. The proctor then looked down in his pocket, hiding his stash of snails. He turned to Muka, who gave him a thumbs up, and he responded with a thumbs up back.


Later at the stadium, the audience was filled with teachers, classmates, adults, and scouts as the participating students came in. Nina and Willow waved up to Skara and Lambi, who were watching them along with Eda, Andrea, and a glaring Faust. The participating students then turned their attention to the stage, where they saw Cutburn appear.

"Well, congrats on completing those challenges, but let's see how you kids do well in this final challenge," Cutburn declared. "For your final challenge, you will be paired with a partner of my choosing. This is a trust challenge, since these witches may be your future coven mates and it is important to trust them. You can check your badges and depending on what color they are, they're your partner for the trust building challenge, and your selected partner will hold the items for it." She then snapped her fingers. "Those with the items will be tasked to shoot an apple off of their partner's head."

Suddenly, all of their badges changed color. Luz looked at hers, which was orange, and she looked around and saw Nina, who also had an orange badge. There was also a blindfold, a bow, and an arrow in Nina's hands.

"Well shit…" Luz said.

Danny looked at his badge and saw that Gorlei also has the same color and the items. "I guess… you're my partner then," he said while looking nervous. "This is fine."

Kevin had realized that Dusty was his partner. "Welp, guess we're gonna have to trust each other, Kevin," Dusty said while holding the bow and arrow.

"I'm doomed…" Kevin replied in a deadpan tone.

Cross saw that Willow had the bow and blindfold. "So um… how's your aim?"

"Well, I'm ninety percent sure I'll miss you," Willow said, which didn't put Cross at ease.

Donna saw Brenda holding the bow and arrow. "You won't hit any vital spots, right?"

"Well, if I do I can probably heal you," Brenda offered.

Donna sighed. "Thanks."


"Is it safe to use real arrows?" Lambi asked in concern.

Eda was also seriously concerned about this, so she turned to Cutburn. "Yo, Cuttie Burn!"

"It's Head Witch Cutburn to you, Owl Lady," Hettie responded.

"Don't you think it's a little unsafe to use real arrows?" Eda asked her.

"I can assure you that the arrows won't hit any faces or vital organs," she responded. "They are under a spell to stop and just fall down before they hit anything. Relax, nobody is going to die."

Skara noticed Luz and Nina arguing. "I don't know about this at all…"


"Look Fangs, let me have the blindfold and arrows," Luz told her.

"And get us in trouble with Cutburn?" Nina asked. "No way, I was given the items, which means I am supposed to shoot. Don't worry, I promise not to hit you."

"No way I'm letting you shoot at me," Luz said while crossing her arms.

Nina narrowed her eyes at Luz. "Oh, is it because you don't want anyone shooting at you? Or is it because it is me? You don't trust me, do you?"

Luz thought about that, remembering how she didn't tell Nina where Emily was the other day. "You're right," she admitted. "I don't trust you."

Nina just nodded. "So it is going to be like that then? Even after we worked together to take down Sonya. Even after I helped you fight Mel's gang to save Donna and you and Amity's brothers?" She saw Luz turn away from her. "I thought we were past this, Luz."

"Well, maybe we're not," Luz said. "Yeah, sure we teamed up before. But that was against a common enemy. We agreed to a truce after our duel, where I wouldn't mess with you and you wouldn't mess with me. But we only agreed to tolerate each other. You said it yourself, we did not have to like each other. And we do not have to trust each other."

Nina looked down at the ground, knowing that this was going to be difficult. She let out a sigh.

"I'm sorry," she told Luz with a sincere tone. "For real this time, since I will admit that I wasn't being genuine before, that I was trying to play you and Skara and her family. But… I'm not doing that anymore. I've had a lot of time to reflect on things, Luz. On the Glandus War, on being Emily's underling, on the people I've hurt including your friends, on the example that I'm setting for other werecats... I'm not proud of who I was. Which is why I'm not taking my second chance for granted anymore and why I'm trying to be a better witch, the witch I always wanted to be and should have been all along. But at some point I just... lost sight of that and became a bully. I... nearly killed Boscha during the war and if she had died because of me, I would have never been able to forgive myself. I want to think that I am getting better, thanks to Skara and her family and thanks to Dr. Traveler. But... I think I need your help too."

Luz looked at Nina in surprise. She was especially surprised to hear her mentioning the incident with Boscha, which she never knew about. It reminds her of her own incident with Hunter.

'I… think we can trust her, Luz,' Maya said in her head. 'Because I think she's pretty much just like us."

After giving it some thought, Luz nodded. "Alright," she said as she held up a hat that contained an apple. "Let's hope you have a good aim… Nina."

"I'll just have to rely on my senses and your instructions," Nina replied with a nod as she put on her blindfold.

"Here goes nothing," Luz said with a sighed as she got in place.

"Alright, everyone's positions are set. Targets, stand still. Blind archers, prepare your shots! You have five arrows to use as five chances to get your targeted apple," Cutburn declared, seeing those holding their arrows. "Now then… ready, set, aim…"

Nina took a deep breath, clearing her own mind to try to aim the arrow at the apple on Luz's head while blindfolded. Whenever she heard Luz give her instructions, she moved the arrow slightly to adjust her aim. Then Luz held her breath in anticipation while Danny looked nervous, Donna and Cross looked focused and Larry Coppers was shivering when Tracy was blindfolded.

"Fire!"

They all released their arrows. Nina shot her arrow, sending it flying towards Luz. Eda, Skara, Lambi, Andrea, and Faust watched in anticipation as the arrow flew over Luz… and hit the apple.

"One apple hit! Team Orange has completed first!" the proctor declared as Nina removed her mask.

"Heh, told ya I can do it," Nina said to Luz.

"Wasn't worried for a sec," Luz claimed.

An arrow missed Danny, almost hitting him by the side of his face. "Um… Gorlei, maybe you should aim up…" he recommended, but Gorlei instead shot down, almost hitting Danny's feet. "Gah! Gorlei, seriously, you can stop now!"

Brenda and Willow both got a few misses before they hit their partner's apples, but then they too had to duck as blindfolded Gorlei kept firing her arrows, now firing blindly.

"I thought she had only five arrows?!" Cross exclaimed.

"Duck and cover!" Kevin shouted as he lowered his head.

"Did I win?" Dusty asked, lifting his blindfold only to find an arrow in his knee. "… Wow, I got shot in the knee… I mean, YAAAAH!" he screamed as he fell.

Eda and the girls ducked as a few arrows flew into the audience. One arrow flew towards Faust, who looked unfazed as the arrow stopped midair and fell into his lap.

Gorlei was about to shoot another arrow, until a speedy blur grabbed them away from her. "Alright, you can stop now!" Tracy told her while Gorlei removed her blindfold.

"Danny, are you alright?" Cross asked him.

"I… think I almost saw nana…" Danny replied while shivering.

Kyle, who had been on standby, rushed into the stadium and managed to remove the arrow from Dusty's knee, healing the injury as Nina walked up.

"Dusty, are you alright?" Nina asked in concern.

"Don't worry… it's nothing but a scratch," Dusty reassured her while Kyle wrapped some bandages around his knee.

"I thought the arrows aren't supposed to hit anything vital?!" Eda shouted at Cutburn.

"A knee injury is hardly considered vital," Cutburn shrugged while Eda glared at her.

"You don't have much bedside manners, do you?" Eda questioned.

After treating Dusty, Kyle walked up to Gorlei. "Excuse me, Gorlei, but that was pretty reckless of you," he said. "Someone could have gotten hurt if you shoot around like a…" He noticed Gorlei's glaring as well as Ashey walking up to him. Both sisters gave him threatening looks. "Like uh…" He backed away.

"Kyle!" Donna shouted as she, Danny, and Cross moved to stop the Graux sisters from bullying Kyle again…

"Gorlei, Ashey!" spoke up Muka, who walked over to Kyle's defense. "Don't even think about picking on him, he's our homeboy now, ya hear? And Gorlei, Kyle is right, you know full well that your shooting still needs work!" she scolded Gorlei who just snarled, but backed down, knowing her sister was right. Muka turned to Kyle. "You alright, Kyle?"

"Uh… yeah, thanks for defending me, Muka," Kyle replied, both grateful and confused. "I'm… honestly surprised."

"Well, consider us even for helping me out at the beach," Muka replied, lightly punching his arm. "Just so you know, we got your back from now on, right?" She turned to her sisters, who gave silent nods.

Seeing this, Nina blinked in confusion. "Well, that's something you don't see every day."

"Honestly, it is not that surprising," Luz replied, turning to the werecat. "I mean, you helped me, right?"

Nina smiled. "Yeah, well, us 'criminals' have to watch out for each other, right?"

"Yeah," Luz agreed as she sighed in relief. "I'm just glad this whole thing's almost over."

"Clawthorne!" someone shouted.

Luz turned to see Larry Coppers again. "Oh… forgot you existed," she said, seeing his apple still on his head as it just fell off. "No like in this challenge, huh?"

"You think yer so great, don't ya?!" Coppers demanded with a scoff. "But really yer pathetic! Especially fraternizing with a lycan!"

"The only pathetic one I see here is you, Coppers," Luz responded as she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Well at least I'm not dating a Fae!" Larry Coppers mocked out loud, drawing in Luz's ire. "Yeah, what kind of witch would not only fraternize with a lycan, but date a despicable Fae like that Amity bitch, who dares to try to trick us and live among us?! Why if I were to catch her, I'd-"

PUNCH!

Everyone was shocked when they saw Larry Coppers being punched to the ground hard. All turned to see who had punched him, but it wasn't Luz, nor was it Nina…

It was Donna, who suckerpunched the Hogwash student right in the face. She had a very pissed off look thanks to Coppers's rant. Coppers hit the ground, knocked out with a fist printed on his face.

"Would you shut your damn mouth, you piece of shit?!" Donna shouted at him. As she adjusted herself, she looked at the others and saw their shocked expressions. "Um… sorry, I just didn't like what he was saying."

"It's alright, Donna," Willow replied while her hands stopped glowing. "You beat me to it."

"I might have turned the guy into ribbons," Nina commented, though she was certainly in awe of Donna's punch.

"Whoa, now that's a killer punch," Tracy commented, impressed.

"Larry! Oh Titan, you punched his lights out!" one of Larry's goons said after checking the knocked out boy. "How dare you punch out our star student!"

"You St. Epidermites will get it now!" another replied the Hogwash students ganged up to take on Donna.

Luz and Nina jumped to Donna's defense, the two delivering a kick towards the two goons in the front. Another goon tried to attack them with a spell, but was tripped by some vines summoned by Willow. When one Hogwash goon tried to attack, Cross joined in by sending gushes of water towards him.

"Aw yeah! Brawl!" Tracy cheered while ducking under the fist of another Hogwash student trying to hit her before she dashed around and kicked him in the side. "Whoa dude, watch the hair!" she said while seeing the other students brawling at each other. She spotted Brenda having tripped and fell, so she ran up to grab Brenda and take her out of harm's way. "You alright, Brenda?" she asked.

"I'm alright," Brenda replied.

The Graux sisters also joined the fight, punching not just the students, but the proctors as well. The Hogwash students and teachers ended up fighting pretty much everyone as the stadium erupted into a chaotic brawl.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" the spectators shouted.

Danny tried to back away, only to bump into his sister, whom he turned to. "Well this is some mess…"

"Yeah, looks like you won't be getting a ribbon this year, huh, Daniel?" Fanny asked with a smirk.

"Oh put a sock in it, Fanny!" Danny told her off. "I can take you putting me down, but there's no way I'm letting you drag my school's good name in the mud!"

"You're just jealous because I know how to be a people-person!" Fan declared.

"I'll show you who's a people person!" he declared, clapping his hands as a spell circle was drawn from his feet. Once he stepped on it, a burst of purple light shone. "YAAAHHH!"

"Bring it on, Danny-Boy!" Fanny shouted as she made duplicates of her own illusions, which all surrounded Danny. The duplicates started snapping their fingers. "This is what we call, Jazz Snaps!"

Gnashley saw one student about to punch her, but then she disappeared and was replaced by a log. While invisible, she tripped the student over. "Not what I had in mind for a day off…" she muttered to herself.

Dusty and Kevin were fighting as well… though they would probably be doing that even if the rest of the brawl wasn't going on. "Admit it! I am the best beast-keeper there ever was!" Dusty shouted.

"No, I am!" Kevin shouted as he decked Dusty off of him, the two continuing to brawl.

Felicia, meanwhile, was in her seat filming all of this. "My Titan, this is good footage!" she declared with glee.

"Yeah! Kick their asses, Cross!" Zee shouted while sitting next to the fox biped, cheering for Cross.

Eda, along with Skara and Lambi, just look shocked while Andrea was cheering with her pom poms. "Go! Kick their asses!"

"Shouldn't this be something you should stop?!" Eda demanded, turning to Cutburn.

"Look, they are not paying me extra for this," Cutburn said with a shrug while sipping her tea. "Any injuries here just means they will have to pay more snails to cover for their medical bills."

Eda just glared at the Head Witch before she heard an explosion. She turned her head and saw that a hole had been blasted in the wall of the stadium and coming out of that hole was another figure…

"At last… my revenge shall commence!" the villain declared. He was a lime-skinned man with pure red eyes, a black top hat, and furred pointy ears. He was dressed in a long black coat, a suit with a skeleton tie, and black rubbery boots that squeaked at each step, which made Faust flinch. "For it is I, Squeaktoed-Jack, am here to-" He noticed no one was paying attention to him due to the brawl that was happening in front of him. "What the fuck is going on here?!"

Luz decked one goon trying to attack her while Nina jumped over a bigger Hogwash student trying to tackle her, causing them to hit the wall of the stadium. When Nina landed, she was standing back to back with Donna.

"This is not how I pictured my first IFWOT," Nina commented while blasting a light spell at one punk. "And who knew you'd have a strong right hook?"

"I learned from a great koala master, thank you!" Donna responded while shooting an ice blast at another.

Squeaktoed-Jack snarled before turning to one of his men. He was a gray-skinned witch man with a red afro and a white large pop-collar disco outfit with red boots and a red medallion. He was holding a lute. "Let Disco Drew handle this, boss," he offered while playing the lute, which made a seventies-sounding tune as he strummed it.

Through his magic, the lute caused everyone to stop fighting and turn to the group of villains who had entered the stadium.

"Now as I was saying… it's time for us to get our revenge on our mortal enemy!" Squeaktoed-Jack declared.

"When did you pissed off these guys?" Nina asked as she turned to Luz.

"Not me," Luz replied while turning her eyes to Eda. "Mom?"

"Honestly, I don't recognize them," Eda admitted.

"Oh I have no beef with you, Eda," Squeaktoed-Jack revealed. "We already have a vendetta against someone else in this building!"

"Then who?" Eda asked as Squeaektoed-Jack cleared his throat.

"A certain principal who expelled me for having shoes that were not sufficiently squeaky!" he declared, causing Eda's eye to widen.

"Wait a sec… Burty?!" Eda said in shock. "My old grudgeby captain?"

"And he's after Principal Faust?!" Skara asked while turning to said principal.

Faust just gave a tired sigh. "Not again…"

"Yes! Ever since my unfair expulsion, I've sworn vengeance against my old principal!" Squeaktoed-Jack declared. "So I ended up working at the shoe-making coven, where I learned how to terrorize with the squeakiest boots I've ever made! And then, I met up with others who were expelled from Hexside like me, such as Disco Drew!"

"Here to get funky, party people," Disco Drew greeted.

"Ratagoulie and his Abomination, the Gumbomination!"

He gestured to a green skinned, broad-shoulder rat-biped witch hybrid with a brown handlebar mustache, a black button vest with a pink shirt, purple pants, and black boots. Next to him was a pinkish Abomination with red eyes. "Say hi, Gumbo," he told his Gumbomination before turning to Faust. "You know, I was here as a student once."

"And lastly, Shivers, the demon with shivering hands that vibrated through this wall!"

He gestured to a blue twin-horned demon wearing shades and a black and brown suit. His large hands and forearms were vibrating. He also wore orange boots. "The Construction Coven should have done a better job with this place."

"And together, we make the new premiere revenge team… the Ex-Siders!" Squeaktoed-Jack declared as the team struck a pose, with Squeaktoed-Jack lowering himself with his arms spread and knees up. Shivers on the left crossed his arms while leaning right, while on the right Disco Drew raised his arm up while leaning towards Shivers. Behind them, Ratagoulie had his arm up while having his back facing everyone and the Gumbomination lifted its knee up while forming its arms in a T-pose.

'Did they just do the freakin' Ginyu Force pose…?' Luz thought in confusion. "So let's be clear, you guys are after Faust? And not me, or my mom, or perhaps the lazy Healing Head?"

"No, we're just here for Faust," Ratagouile confirmed. "Like, he expelled me for chewing too loudly, so I made an Abomination out of gum."

"And he expelled me for shivering too much!" Shivers claimed. "It was cold in my classroom that day!"

"Okay… then what about him?" Luz asked, pointing to Disco Drew.

Disco Drew looked down. "I got expelled for only saying hi to his niece once…"

"How is this principal not locked up in the nuthouse?!" Cross questioned.

"You think we haven't tried…?" one scout said while groaning.

"But now that we're all here, including Faust… we're just going to go on ahead and take him down, squashing his head with my mighty squeaky boots of DOOM!" Squeaktoed-Jack declared. "Ratagoulie! Grab him!"

Ratagoulie commanded his Gumbomination. "Gumbo, take Faust!" he ordered while his Gumbomination stretched out its arms to reach toward Faust, sticking to him.

Everyone made sure to get out of the way as the Ex-Siders as Eda got the girls up, though Andrea was already gone, having left with Tracy during the brawl. "Come on, let's clear out!" she said while Faust struggled against his bonds.

"But what about Principal Faust?" Lambi asked her.

"It's his mess to deal with," Eda replied. "Besides, he can handle them."

Faust managed to free himself from his sticky bonds. "You think this is the first time one of you has tried to attack me?!" he declared while glaring at the Ex-Siders.

"Well one of us couldn't beat you," Disco Drew said.

"But all of us against you?" Ratagoulie asked.

"Balances the odds," Shivers replied as they all sent out their attacks towards Faust. The maniacal principal blocked their spells and blasted back at them with a fire spell, but Disco Drew used his lute to put the flames out each. Shivers vibrated his hands on the floor, which sent vibrations that made Faust tumble out of the bleachers and land into the stadium.

Cutburn sighed as she walked over. "Alright, I'm putting a stop to this-" But she didn't get the chance, as her hands ended up covered in Abomi-gum. "What the-?!" Her feet were then bound to the floor.

It was Ratagoulie, who used his Abomi-gum to trap the Coven Head. "Sorry, don't want any interference," he said while rushing to fight Faust, passing by the coven scouts who were now stuck to the walls.

"Um… what about us?" Nina asked, raising her hand up.

"We have no beef with you children, just get out of our way!" Squeaktoed-Jack told them while rushing in to kick Faust with his boot, but Faust blocked it with a defense spell.

"Is that the best you can do?!" Faust shouted while dodging the Abomi-gum.

While many students had already fled from the stadium, Luz, Nina, Donna, Cross, and Willow watched the fight from the sidelines as Eda came over to them with Skara and Lambi.

"So… should we stop this?" Willow asked.

"We probably should…" Cross said.

"I think we can just let Faust handle this," Eda responded. "I mean, no biggie for us to interfere."

Luz said nothing as she watched Faust fighting off the Ex-Siders. He shot his flames at Shivers, who dodged them. He then blew flames out of his mouth at Gumbo while twisting his own neck to shoot flames from his eyes at Disco Drew, who shouted and ducked down.

"Hey, watch the hair, man!" Disco Drew shouted as he shook his fist.

Shivers placed his hands on the ground, creating a shock-wave spell that he used to launch himself up to deliver a kick towards Faust, who had his back turn. He turned at the last second but before he could do anything, he was kicked to the floor. Faust responded by spewing more flames from his body, but he got hit by a water spell launched by Ratagoulie.

"Insolence… you've all proved me right when I expelled you!" Faust said before getting stomped in the back by Squeaktoed-Jack. "OOF!"

"Oh? And who do you think is responsible for placing us on our path to villainy?" Squeaktoed-Jack asked with a grin. "We never even thought about doing anything sinister until you expelled us… all because of those ridiculous rules of yours… you disgraced us and we have been waiting to tear you down for years!" he said while jumping up and down on Faust's back, making the old principal groan. "I'll keep stomping you until your back snaps in two!"

"Ow! Ooh! Stop!" Faust demanded while feeling himself bound by the Abomi-gum, allowing Squeaktoed-Jack to continue whaling on him.

Realizing that Faust was down and couldn't defend himself, Luz tightened her fists as she sighed. "Guys, I can't believe that I'm saying this, but… we have to help him."

"What?!" Nina, Willow, and Skara exclaimed in shock.

"Uh, why would you want to help that crazy maniac?" Nina questioned.

"And it isn't like he brought this on himself…" Eda pointed out. "This feels like karma more than anything else."

"Look, I know that Faust is a pain in the ass, but I can't just let him get pummeled like that while he is defenseless," Luz argued. "And I don't think Principal Bump would want his students to just stand here watching an old man beaten by real criminals. And it's just like mom said, we have to be better than Mel, better than Emily, and better than Faust." She looked up to Eda, who was surprised to see Luz wanting to help out someone like Faust.

"Well… using my own words to make a point…" Eda gave Luz an approving nod. "I've saved Faust's life once, might as well save it again."

"And so will we," Willow said as Skara nodded.

"And we're here to help," Donna said while Cross gave a nod.

"What about you, Nina?" Skara asked as she looked at the werecat, who seemed baffled by this.

Nina just looked at them and Lambi, who gave her a smile. Nina then sighed. "Well… might as well help out."

"I'll help out too!" someone shouted.

Everyone looked up to see someone jump down into the stadium to join them. Cross wasn't surprised at all to recognize his sister. "I got some beasts that can help take these guys down. Besides, can't let my bro be the only one having fun."

"Of course…" Cross said in a deadpan tone.

"Wait a second! Cross! Donna!" Danny shouted as he ran up to them, Fanny following him. "You guys don't have to do this, we need to clear out of here and get to where it's safe-"

"Danny, don't worry about us," Donna reassured him. "Besides, we can't run while someone's in need of help."

"Yeah, not in my nature," Cross added.

"Then… I'll help out too," Danny decided, which surprised Fan. "Any way I can… it's the least I can do."

Cross and Donna looked surprised as well as Luz and Nina. Then Cross nodded at Danny. "I think there's one way you could help. As president, it's your duty to help out the students, so maybe you can help clear everyone out of here and not get caught in the crossfire."

Danny smiled and gave a nod. "As president, everyone's safety is on me! Come on, Fan, let's round up everyone to the fire exit!" he said as he went to help out the students.

Fan blinked. "What character development for my brother did I miss?"

"I'll help too!" Lambi offered as she followed them.

Luz then noticed Grip, who was about to sneak out until she called out to him. "Hey you!"

Grip was startled and he pointed to himself. "Me?"

"Yeah, you're from the Bard Coven, do you know any motivational fighting music spells?" Luz asked him, which made Grip smile.

Meanwhile, Squeaktoed-Jack jumped up once more. "Haha! One more squeak, and it's off to Hell with you, Faust!" But before he could land on Faust's back, he got shot by a spell, sending him crashing into a wall. As the Ex-Siders turned to see who had shot him, vines managed to grab Faust away from them. "Who dares interrupt my revenge?!"

"Us," Luz declared, having cast a light spell. Standing by her were Eda, Willow, Skara, Nina, Donna, Cross, and Zee. Faust had been brought towards their side by Willow's plant magic.

"What's the big idea?!" Disco Drew demanded.

"Yeah, we told ya kids to stay out of the way!" Ratagoulie declared.

"Yeah, well, we may not like Faust that much, but we're not gonna watch an old man get pummeled," Luz told them.

"We've decided to be the better witch," Eda declared while raising her staff.

"I would have thought you'd see it our way, Eda," Squeaktoed-Jack said. "Don't you remember how bad Faust is?!"

"He may be a grouchy old control freak, but then again, I've met worse people," Eda said with a shrug.

"Then I guess all of you meddling kids will have to be taught a lesson!" Squeaktoed-Jack declared. "Ex-Siders, attack!"

It was then that the students and Eda began their fight against the Ex-Siders. Squeaktoed-Jack went up against Luz and Eda as both Clawthornes changed into their altered forms. Disco Drew ended up facing Skara and Willow, Ratagoulie took on Donna and Nina, and Shivers ended up facing off against Cross and Zee.

Grip, who was up on stage, started to play his bard guitar. "What are you doing?" Cutburn asked while still stuck to the ground.

"Playing the right battle music," Grip said while as he started to sing into the mic. "I was born in a crossfire burnicane! And I howled at the morning boilin' rain!"

"Sweet fighting music," Disco Drew said while playing his lute, shooting lightning at Willow. Skara summoned her own violin as she strummed a blast against Disco Drew, countering his strikes.

"But it's all right now, think I'm gonna last!" Grip sang. "But it's all right, I'm jumping flapjack, just a dash, dash, dash!"

Drew fell back just as Willow stomped on the ground while her eyes glowed green. Vines sprouted out and entangled Disco Drew, trapping him and separating him from his lute.

Squeaktoed-Jack jumped up as he dodged Luz's ice blast. Eda swooped in to grab him by the shoulders, bringing him up high and slamming him to the ground. He pushed her off of him, glaring at the Owl Lady and her daughter.

"To think I used to have a crush on you, Edalyn," he muttered.

"Aw, how nice… too bad you were never my type," Eda said while shooting a fire glyph at him. Squeaktoed-Jack jumped back as he avoids the blast.

"I was raised by a toothless, wicked old hag!" Grip sang while stomping his foot. "I was schooled with a staff to keep me on track!"

Ratagoulie commanded his Gumbomination to stretch its arms to stick Nina and Donna to the ground. Nina jumped up while Donna shot an ice blast at the Gumbomination. She managed to freeze the Gumbonination, causing it to chip away.

"Gumbo!" Ratagoulie said while getting kicked in the back by Nina. He glared at the werecat and threw a punch at her, which she dodged. She flipped upside down, grabbed his arm with her legs and then threw him down to the ground. "Gah!" he cried out as he fell on his back.

"But it's alright now, think I'm gonna last! But it's all right, I'm jumping flapjack, just a dash, dash, dash- oh!" Grip did a high kick while playing his instrument, continuing to sing while the battle went on.

Danny and Fan had managed to get everyone out of the stadium. "Is that everyone?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, though we had to pull these two out of the way," Brenda responded while holding onto Kevin and Dusty. With them were Kyle and the Graux sisters, Lambi, and the Hogwash students, who had to carry the unconscious Larry Coppers and other unconscious students. Brenda, Kyle, and Lambi tended to the wounded.

Meanwhile, Cross and Zee faced off against Shivers, who sent out his shock-wave magic attacks at the two Drakescale siblings. "Time to summon that big, turtle cat of yours!" Cross told Zee as they avoided the attacks.

Zee nodded and pulled out her own staff. Its Palisman was a teal-colored turtle with a blue shell that had a blue gemstone on its back. She drew a summoning circle with her staff and coming out was a large, lion-like beast with a green armored shell. Shivers looked fearfully at the large beast. "Get em, Yang!"

"I was down on my luck, I think I got wasted! I fell down to my feet, and I thought that I fled! Yeah, yeah!"

"Um… nice Taraskit..?" Shivers backed away as he sent out his attacks, but Yang the Taraskit let out a mighty roar at Shivers, sending him back into the wall. While Shivers was dazed, Cross used his plant magic to wrap him up and pull him into the ground. "Gah!" he cried out while only his head was sticking out. "I can shiver myself out of here!"

"So you think," Cross said as he did a swinging kick to Shiver's head, knocking him out.

"I frowned at the feeling of dread! Yeah, yeah, yeah!"

Squeaktoed-Jack stretched out his boots to launch against Eda and Luz. Luz flew up as she shot fireballs at his rubber boots, which caught aflame. "Be careful, you putrid, bat child! You could have burned rubber!" he shouted while putting out his flame with a water spell. But this gave Eda enough time to deliver a kick to his face by her talons, sending him rolling across the ground.

"I was found at the beach where I have bled! My, my, yeah!"

Squeaktoed-Jack got up, but his rubber boots ended up freezing thanks to Luz's ice blast. His boots didn't stretch out and instead he fell out of them. "Oof!" he cried out as he fell. Once he got back up, he was met with kicks from Luz and Eda, sending him into the wall.

"But it's all right now~! Oh I think I'm gonna last! But it's all right now~! I'm jumping flapjacks, like a dash, dash, dash!"

As Grip finished, Luz and Eda had managed to tie up Squeaktoed-Jack along with the rest of the Ex-Siders, the students having been triumphant. Felicia suddenly popped up, though this time Nina was expecting it. "Alright! This is fantastic footage! Two school rivals teaming up to stop a bunch of supervillains known as… um, are the Ex-Siders spelled with just the letter X, or 'Ex' like an ex-boyfriend?" she asked the Ex-Siders.

Eda, meanwhile, turned to Faust, who managed to get himself back up. "Well, I guess you owe us something called a… thank you, Fausty?"

"I doubt it, Edalyn," Faust told her off while brushing himself off. "I could've taken these four down without your interference!"

"Geez, ungrateful, much?" Zee questioned.

"I expect nothing from him, yet still feel disappointed," Nina commented while crossing her arms.

"Sir, we just saved your lives!" Donna pointed out, slightly angry about him.

"After all of that, you won't even say a thank you?" Luz questioned.

"I didn't ask for you all to fight my battle against my former students who turned down a life of crime," Faust said with a stubborn tone. "All you did was get in the way!"

"Now really, Johnathorn, is that any way to show gratitude?" a female voice asked.

Everyone turned to see who had come into the stadium. It was a mid-short length middle-aged witch woman with dark skin, curly brown hair with brown eyes, a blue headscarf, and beetle earrings. She wore a pink gown with long sleeves, a blue cloak and black boots. A green dragon Palisman with red eyes and small wings rested on her shoulder.

"Principal Rashwood," Faust said. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh I'm just here to see how my Merlin Meadows students are doing at the IFWOT," Rashwood said. "I would have shown up earlier, but I had an old friend to visit…"

When Eda and the Hexside students saw who followed Rashwood into the arena, their eyes widened.

"No way…" Skara said.

"Bumpipuss!" Eda shouted happily, seeing Principal Bump coming in with his cane.

"Prince-B, you're here!" Luz said excitedly.

"Yes, yes I am here," Bump said as he waved to them. He looked around. "Ah, this brings back memories. Hello, Head Witch Cutburn."

On stage, the scouts were trying to get Cutburn out from her sticky trap. "Get me out of here!" she shouted.

Bump then turned to Faust. "And we finally meet again, Faust, after all these years. I've got a lot to say to you."

"Oh really? What of it?" Faust asked him.

"Well, for a time I considered retirement… but I saw my students save your life from these criminals that attacked you, it was just one of many reminders of why I became a teacher and a principal in the first place," Bump explained while narrowing his eyes at Faust. "And a reminder why you were never fit to be Hexside's principal. Not back then and certainly not now. I may have let them down before, but I have a responsibility to my students and my school. So I've decided to come back as principal, meaning you are dismissed from your duties as acting principal."

This caused his students and Eda to smile. Faust, however, wasn't smiling. "Me? Dismissed? I'm not going anywhere, Bump. Since you have allowed Hexside to become infested with unruly students, I've decided to stay as principal full time!"

"No!" Skara exclaimed.

"Principal Bump, you can't allow him to do that!" Luz shouted while glaring at Faust.

"Yeah, don't let the kids suffer years with that guy," Eda said.

"I don't plan to… because I challenge Faust to a witch duel," Bump declared, which shocked his students and Eda. "The winner will be the true principal of Hexside."

"A witch's duel? You dare to challenge me, Hieronymus?" Faust responded, scoffing at Bump's declaration. "Very well… but the loser steps down from being Hexside's principal… permanently!"

Everyone looked worried as they turned to Bump, who paused for a moment before sticking his cane into the ground. "Very well," he said as he walked up to Faust with his hand up. Faust grasped it to shake it. "May the best witch win."

"This will be your final downfall, Hieronymus," Faust said as he turned to the students. "Clear out! A witch's duel is about to commence!"

Eda turned to the others. "Alright, kids, let's clear out," she told them while everyone left the stadium, giving Bump and Faust their space.

Once it was just the two of them in the stadium, Rashwood cleared her throat. "Alright, the witch's duel between Hieronymus Bump vs Johnathorn Faust shall commence, the winner becomes principal of Hexside! Let the duel… begin!"

Bump and Faust were having a standoff. They walked backwards while narrowing their eyes at each other. The two were silent, continuing their stand off from a distance, waiting to see which one of them would strike first…

It was then that Faust's eyes flared up along with his mouth as he drew a large spell circle to summon flames. The fire took the shape of the dragon as it surrounded Bump. Faust launched himself up as his hands summoned fire and he blasted at Bump with fire balls.

Bump drew a spell circle to block the fire balls with his red magical barrier. He then created another barrier to shield himself from Faust's other flaming attacks. He then took a step, drawing a spell circle on the floor and creating a geyser of Abomi-slime that exploded from the ground and was aimed at Faust. The horned principal fell back, but slowly levitated himself down with his flames as he gave a snarl.

It was then Bump summoned Frewin from his head, forming him into a staff and letting his hair loose. He drew a large green spell circle, shooting a green blast of magic at Faust while Faust fought with his beam of fire magic. The two began shooting beams at each other, all the while blocking and deflecting their attacks.


"Are those two really in the best fighting conditions for this?" Donna questioned. As a Healer this did concern her.

"Yeah, Bump was recently discharged from the Healing Coven, and Faust almost got his back broken," Willow pointed out.

"At this point, I'm not surprised that the Healing Head is allowing this," Eda pointed out, seeing the Healing Head just sitting down while sipping her tea.


Faust and Bump continued on their attacks. "Just give up, Bump! We both know you could never beat me!"

"Oh please, Fausty," Bump responded with a smirk, "In all my years as a principal, I've learned not only how to discipline my students, but to discipline adults like parents and teachers as well, and that includes you!" His eye glowed green as suddenly, bursting from his green spell circles were several Abominations. The Abominations formed into a wave of Abomi-goo that swarmed over Faust. Bump had to keep himself from falling over by holding his staff for support, since that kind of magic could tire him out a bit.

However, Faust wasn't so lucky. He kept shooting his flames at the Abominations, but they kept coming towards him. The purple slime went past his feet and he was pushed back by the Abomi-goo wave as large purple palms struck out, hitting Faust against the wall. The large, purple hand kept Faust pinned to the wall as he was hit by the full force of the Abomi-wave, then it melted to the ground.

As Bump took a breather, he looked at his opponent. Faust was covered in Abomi-slime, but he was not done yet. His eyes shot open and there was anger in them. He managed to pull himself free of the wall and he tried to draw a spell circle again… only to just shoot a little spark of flame.

"I… can't believe this…" Faust muttered.

"Do you plan to continue, Faust?" Rashwood asked, acting as the referee.

Faust snarled while turning to Bump. He then felt something rolling down his face and he felt it, his eyes widening when he realized it was sweat. After some consideration, Faust… decided to walk out of the stadium.

"I'm too tired of this," Faust said while exiting out.

"Then the winner of this witches duel is Principal Hieronymus Bump!" Rashwood declared, pointing at Bump. "The true principal of Hexside!"

Everyone cheered, especially the Hexside students. "Yes, yes, I'm glad that I'm back as well," he said, smiling and waving while they continued to cheer for him.

"You hear it right, my viewers!" Felicia said while looking at her camera ghost. "Principal Bump has reclaimed his position as Hexside's principal! Thus ending the short-lived Second Faust-Era of Hexside!"

"Welcome back, Bumpy!" Eda cheered alongside Willow and Skara, Nina clapping for the principal's return as well. Luz then tapped Eda's shoulder, making her turn to her daughter. "Yeah, Luz?"

Luz pointed at the exit Faust had gone through. Realizing what Luz meant, Eda gave her a nod as she followed Luz to the exit while everyone continued to cheer.


Outside of the convention center, Eda and Luz spotted Faust in front of a carriage in the parking lot.

"Come on, open up," Faust grunted as he tried to open his carriage's door.

"Faust?" Luz asked.

The former principal turned around and saw the Clawthornes. "What do you two want? Here to gloat about my failure? Well you two got your wish."

"Actually, we just want to see if you're okay, believe it or not…" Luz replied as Faust managed to get his carriage open.

"What's in there?" Eda asked while getting a closer look. "Are those… clothes and… food?"

Faust snarled. "This is none of your concern!" he told them off as he got in, grabbed a carrot, and tried to get the ratworm to eat it. "Come on, eat it, you stupid ratworm! I said eat so we can get away from this place!" The ratworm, however, was unresponsive.

The Clawthornes realized something and they looked at each other awkwardly. "Faust… do you live in that cart?" Eda asked him.

"I SAID IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!" Faust shouted at them, letting out a frustrated yell. But then, much to Luz and Eda's shock, Faust… started to cry. "Bwaaahahahaaaahhh!" he cried flaming tears as they steamed from his eyes. He sat down in his carriage, covering his face. "Go ahead and mock me all you want! I can take it!" he shouted at them.

"To be honest, it just makes us feel bad…" Luz admitted.

"What happened, Faust? Why do you live in your carriage now?" Eda asked, actually concerned.

Faust sniffed. "Marriage is what happened," he explained. "Sometime after I first left my job as a principal, I got married and after a while, my ex-wife decided to divorce me and got me to sign away everything to her! I loved her and was willing to change for her… but she just slammed divorce papers on me and I lost everything! My home, my stuff, my pet sharkdog… guess that's what happens when you marry Terra Snapdragon…" he said while wiping his eyes. "Since then I've been living out of my carriage… and out of the school when I started as acting principal."

"That would explain why you were at Hexside that night," Eda said, remembering that Faust was at the school on the night when Puck almost blew Hexisde up while possessed by the Inner Demon.

"When the Emperor's Coven offered me my old job back, I leapt at the chance because… because I felt like it was all I had left at that point," Faust admitted while looking down. "I was just trying to relive what I thought were the best years of my life… but now that Bump is back to reclaim his position, I am left with nothing once again."

"Well if you feel like you had nothing, why not just join the Emperor's Coven?" Luz asked him.

"Tried that, but at the time Lilith was working there and she rejected my application… so I hopped from one job to another to fend off evil, but none of them stick. I've even tried a self-made business but that didn't pay rent," Faust states with a surprisingly saddened look.

Eda and Luz actually felt bad for Faust, seeing him jobless and homeless. Even though he was an off-putting demon, he was still a person. But it was then that Luz had an idea.

"Faust, I think there is a school that has a position open for you to fill," Luz suggested. "Glandus."

"Glandus?" Faust questioned. "Wasn't that school destroyed?"

"Actually, Sandra heard from her ex-husband that the Construction Coven are planning on rebuilding and remodeling the school, with the Superintendent planning on redoing the school's curriculum," Eda explained.

"Yeah, so this new Glandus would need a principal to help run and keep the students in line, and to background check on the teachers so there'll be less corruption," Luz said.

"Yes… Glandus would need a principal of my caliber, to look for and weed out the evils in these students," Faust said while turning to Luz and Eda. "But why would you want me to get a new job? I thought you two hated me."

"Well, to be honest, you do come off as deranged," Luz said. "And we could've left you to your fate with those Ex-Siders… but that would only prove you right about us being 'evil'. And I don't think Bump would appreciate it if we did let you die. I mean, we're not Millar-style edge-lords."

"And you know, you may be what Glandus needs," Eda admitted. "You may have been a bad fit for Hexside, but you could be the perfect fit for Glandus."

"Hmm… Glandus was filled with evil before," Faust considered as he stood up. "If I had been in charge there before, I wouldn't have let this Emily Tricks have her way in the school… alright, I think I'll contact Freewitch for the position as Glandus's new principal. My decree for the school will be 'those who perform great evil shall be smite with punishment with my hammer of justice.'"

"Yeah… I wouldn't recommend the smiting part," Eda suggested.

Faust then turned to the two. "You don't hear me say this often, but… thank you, Clawthornes," he told them while getting back in his seat and getting the ratworm to slither. "Giddy up!" he told the ratworm, leaving the convention center.

"Do you think we've made the right choice?" Eda asked Luz. "Recommending Glandus to Faust?"

"Only time will tell," Luz responded. "But hey, I'm willing to bet that we did."


And so Eda and Luz headed back inside, where Cutburn had some ribbons to hand out.

"And so, for your performance during the challenges and for stopping a group of oddly dressed criminals, you get ribbons," Cutburn said while passing out ribbons to Donna, and then Cross, and then Nina and Willow. She turned to Luz. "Ah, there you are, Clawthorne, you also get a ribbon as well for the Bard challenge and fighting the Ex-Siders."

"Sweet," Luz replied while receiving the blue ribbon.

"Wow, you got a blue ribbon, Nina!" Skara said proudly, Lambi and the others having all come back into the stadium now that the Ex-Siders had been taken away and the duel was over.

"How does it feel to get one?" Lambi asked while Nina looked at her ribbon.

"It feels… good," Nina replied with a smile. "I could get used to this."

"Well, I have to say that I am proud of all of you," Bump said after walking over. "Luz, Willow, and Nina, you have represented Hexside well today." He then nodded at Nina. "Oh, and it is nice to finally meet you in person, Ms. Fangs," he said with a smile.

"Um… thank you, Principal Bump," Nina said. She hadn't expected a response like that, but it did make her feel… acknowledged.

Donna smiled at Nina before hearing Cross shriek which made her turn around. "Cross?" she asked, seeing that Rashwood's dragon Palisman was on his shoulders, rubbing against his face.

"Um… nice dragon…" he said, patting the Palisman.

"Oh looks like Sparky has taken a liking to you," Rashwood said in amusement.

"Uh, you don't say…" Cross replied nervously while Sparky laid around on his neck. "Is there a way for Sparky to get off?"

Eda then walked over to Bump, clearing her throat. "Hey, Bumper-Sticker, glad that you're back. I missed you."

"I'm glad to be back as well, Eda," Bump replied. "And don't worry, I plan on getting Amity reinstated and undo whatever damage Faust has done."

"Yeah… say, I want to ask you something since you're here," Eda said while leading him away from the others to talk alone. "About Dusty," she whispered to him.

"Oh yeah, so you have realized that he's immortal?" Bump asked her, also in a whisper.

"So you and Faust knew?" Eda asked him.

"Yes, we both knew about Dusty's true nature, but we both pretended to not recognize him whenever he returned to Hexside under a new name, playing along with him," he admitted. "After consideration, we ultimately decided that Dusty wasn't doing any harm and we didn't inform the Emperor's Coven about him because, well, of what they might do to him. Like Cutburn for instance would probably want to cut him open."

"So what made you two decide to let him attend school?" Eda asked him.

"Well me and Faust realized that despite Dusty's questionable background, he just wanted to make friends, collect and train beasts, and play games. Well, Faust wanted to keep an eye on him for study. But I realized that while he is immortal, Dusty is still a kid deep down. And honestly… he just makes our jobs more interesting. So, his little secret is safe with me," Bump explained.

"Huh, well I guess he's not endangering the kids…" Eda replied while glancing at Dusty, who was checking out Zee's beast.

"Wow, I have never seen a Taraskit this big before!" he exclaimed while the Taraskit licked his face.

"Yeah, Yang is a good beast," Zee said proudly as Eda walked up to them.

"Hey, Dusty," Eda said as Dusty turned to her.

"Yes, Ms. Clawthorne?" Dusty asked her.

"Just wanted to say that it was nice seeing you at the IFWOT again… Orange," Eda said as she gave him a thumbs up before walking away.

Dusty started to laugh nervously. "Orange? My name isn't Orange!" he denied while Zee just had a confused look as she wondered what just happened.

After Eda walked away, she spotted the Hex teens talking among each other and she noticed Nina with her Palisman. "Huh, now that's a neat Palisman you got there, Fangs… you carved it yourself?"

"Actually, I received him," Nina admitted while petting Tugs, who was in her arms. "Tugs was given to me by Dr. Traveler as my therapeutic Palisman."

"Wait… Julia gave you this Palisman?" Eda asked while looking at the Palisman closely. "May I have a look at him? My family are Palisman carvers by trade."

"Um, sure," Nina replied while handing Tugs over to Eda, who took a look at him.

"Hey little guy, don't be scared," Eda said while looking at Tugs. "Hmm, he's well crafted and there are some nice markings on him." She referenced the swirls on the side of Tug's body. "I hope you are taking good care of this little guy, Nina De Niro."

"I am, Ms. Owl Lady," Nina confirmed while turning to Luz. "So… see you tomorrow, right?"

Luz nodded and smiled. "Yeah, see you tomorrow, Nina."


"And so today's IFWOT ended on a high note," Felicia said while filming everyone leaving the building. "Both of my schools managed to win some ribbons and Principal Bump has made a miraculous return!" she narrated while moving her camera to a pair of siblings. "But what about some old sibling rivalries?"

"Well, looks like neither of us won a ribbon, Danny," Fan said while with her classmates.

"Us? I thought you're here to represent!" Danny pointed out. "You didn't do anything!"

"Yes, well, next time Merlin Meadows will get the recognition it deserves and then I will bask in the glory while you lay on your own waste," Fan declared while sporting a grin towards her brother, who gave her a glare. "Anyway… see you at our older brother's dinner this weekend."

Fan rejoined her fellow Merlin Meadows students, who were heading off.

"Bye Luz," Brenda said as she turned to wave to Luz. "It was… nice meeting you."

"You too, Brenda," Luz said, waving back to her.

"Next time, Dusty-Boy, I'll be the victor!" Kevin declared as he walked alongside Gnashley while Tracy walked alongside Andrea.

"No, it'll be me!" Dusty shouted back.

The Hogwash students also left, one of them carrying Larry Coppers. "Come on, Larry Coppers, let's get out of here!"

"Our headmaster isn't going to like this…" another responded as they made their leave.

Donna stood nearby, watching Nina talking with Lambi. She sighed before seeing Cross talking with Zee. Thinking back to her conversations with Luz and Felicia, Donna made a decision.

"Cross!" Donna shouted, catching his attention as he walked up to her.

"Donna? What's up?" Cross asked her.

Donna took a deep breath. "I've been thinking and… well… would you like to go out with me sometime?"

This caught Cross off guard, as well as making Nina look up after her ears picked up what Donna said to Cross. Zee gave a smile while intertwining her fingers.

"W-Wow, Donna… I-I don't know what to say…" Cross said while Zee patted his shoulder.

"Cross, you gotta say yes," Zee whispered. "Just go on one date with her. Please."

Cross gave it some thought as he looked at Donna. He saw the hopeful look she gave, which made him feel guilty if he would reject her.

"Um… yeah," Cross said, giving her a nod. "I would like to go out with you."

Donna smiled. "Terrific!" she shouted.

Nina's eyes widened as she watched this, her ears suddenly dropping. This did not go unnoticed by Lambi.

"Hey, is everything okay?" she asked the werecat.

"It's… nothing," Nina said, trying to shrug it off while holding Lambi's hand. "Hey, why don't we get ice cream?"

"Oh, yeah that'd be great," Lambi said with a nod.

Just then, Minerva ran in holding her cello. She looked like a mess and there was a bit of fire on her shoulder. "I'm here!" she shouted, trying to put out the fire. She then looked around at everyone, seeing them staring at her. "Wait… did I miss it?!"


Night had fallen by the time that Eda and Luz had made it back to the Owl House, having finally returned home.

"Well, glad that's over with," Eda said as she slumped on the couch.

"Yeah," Luz replied with a sigh. "Wish Amity could have been a part of this adventure…"

It was then that the portal door appeared in the living room, folding up and opening. Gus and Eve came out, neither Luz nor Eda being surprised to see them.

"We're back!" Gus announced. "So what did we miss?"


In an unknown realm, filled with stars, Dusty appeared to be floating.

'Whoa… I'm floating!' Dusty thought as he spotted someone. An absolutely colossal figure wearing a lengthy blue and purple robe adorned in celestial imagery. They also wore a nightcap-like hat with a red five-pointed star ornament tethered to the tip. They had their back turned to Dusty. 'Who is… that?!' he asked, deciding to speak to the large figure. "Hey! Hello!"

The tall figure glanced at Dusty and he could see that half of her face was yellow and the other half was blue, while her eyes were a glowing orange. She let out an annoyed sigh when she saw Dusty. "What do you want now? Can't you see that I'm busy?"

"I was just wondering if you'd like to play a game!" Dusty said, which confused him as he wondered why he had said that.

"I have no time for games, brother," she responded and when Dusty floated closer, he saw what she was looking at.

"Oooh, what's that?" Dusty asked her.

She sighed. "A star map. It will lead us to a new world to archive."

"Ooh… I want a star map!" Dusty demanded.

"You will when you are ready for one," she responded as she moved past Dusty, taking the star map with her.

"I want one now!" Dusty demanded. The large figure looked at Dusty with a tired expression, then back at the star map. She began moving some of the stars around. "What are you doing?"

"Calculating the star alignment," she responded.

"Ooh, I want to try!" Dusty said while trying to float up and reach the star map, only for his hand to get grabbed by her.

"Don't touch that!" she scolded him.

Dusty glared at her, retracting his arm back. "Well why not? You and the others never let me help you archive the worlds! It's not fair!" he declared, throwing a fit. "I want to help! I deserve to help! I'm just as important as you!"

"Then why don't you act like it… Collector?" the Archivist responded, scolding Dusty.

Later, Dusty just floated away from the Archivist, rubbing his own arm. He was scowling and glanced back at her to see that she was focusing on the star map once again. He then looked down at his own fist, tightening it as he became filled with anger. He looked up and saw that he was now in front of a mirror in this strange realm. But the reflection wasn't his own… instead it belonged to a small child with tan-yellow skin, bushy white hair and eyebrows, and a large pale blue blotch that eclipsed the left side of his face like a crescent moon. He wore a dark-blue and periwinkle-gray pajama-like outfit with sleeves that had both sun and moon prints, a necklace, and a nightcap.

His yellow eyes with scarlet irises looked up to the reflection and scowled. He then punched the mirror, shattering it.


Dusty gasped, waking up from his nightmare. "W-W-What… that dream again," he said while looking at his surroundings. He sighed, as this wasn't the first time he had this dream…

He laid back down on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, which was covered in glow-in-the-dark star stickers. The walls, meanwhile, were covered in strange markings and drawings, some of them depicting the figures from his dreams, some of them depicting Titans and other monsters, and some depicting Fae like Lord Oberon and Queen Titania. This was Dusty's home, a place where he had been living… alone… for centuries…

Deciding to get some fresh air, Dusty got out of his bed and headed outside, climbing onto the deck of an old ship that had been wrecked upon the shores of the Isles for centuries. Certainly an unusual place for a kid to call home. He went to the railing of the ship and looked up at the night sky, at the stars. He wondered, not for the first time, if there was still someone out in those stars, beings like the ones from his dreams. They had come here long ago, after all.

The Archivists… and the Collector.

Dusty spotted a shooting star and as he reached his hand toward it… he started to float.


We all float up here…

So… yeah, Dusty Bring'ems is revealed to have ties to the Collector. Originally, we never planned for that to happened. But everything just ended up falling into place too perfectly. Especially with playing around his immortality, like the theory around Ash Ketchum. We can also safely confirm that the Archivists are indeed canon to the LCU.

To be honest, we're aware that most of you bloodthirsty readers wants to see Faust's downfall through his death. We've probably mentioned this before, but in case we didn't we're just gonna clarify: We're not going to kill off a teacher you don't like. That's pretty much what Faust is, just a stern teacher who pretty much has already lost everything through a nasty divorce with Terra Snapdragon, who took everything from him. Killing him off wouldn't be beneficial, as him getting an offer to work as Glandus's new principal makes more sense and was the real plan we've had for a long while. So y'all can rest those silly theories about killing off Faust, cause he's not really the worst villain in this story arc.

And to rest assure you, that the Ex-Siders are not connected to the Tarot Guild. They're an independent villains group team that are basically expies of the Enforcers from Jackie Chan Adventures, and The Marvel's Enforcers, with Squeaktoed-Jack as the leader and a parody of the Victorian-Era folklore legend, Steelheeled Jack. Having the actual Tarot Guild to crash in makes no sense since they'd want to have the least attention from the Emperor's Coven.

Most of y'all have thought that Terra Snapdragon would be up in this year's IFWOT… but if the Coven Day Disaster chapter was in any indication, there was no way she'd be picked. So the Emperor's Coven has picked a Coven Head for the annual IFWOT, that being Cutburn, just to give what her character is like as a way to explore her more than what canon could give us.

If Hexside is considered Zoey101, then St. Epiderm is basically 90210 of teen dramas. Basically, with Donna dating Cross. Now, we have been thinking about Donna dating someone else while Nina is dating Lambi. So we've decided that someone to be Cross, because we thought it would be funny. I mean, Cross is already in a love triangle with Emily and Lindsay, and now he's getting mixed up in the Donna/Lambi/Nina mess.

Oh, and about Larry Copper, the Harry Potter parody and his Hogwash goons? They've been mentioned all the way back in the early chapters of Book One, like in Chapter Four. So we took an opportunity to really make a deep cut about him. Like, Donna punching him is kinda symbolic, especially when everyone knows just how much of a piece of shit JK Rowling is. Those who are still HP fans who takes offense to the parody, well… to be honest, Harry Potter we don't think has aged very well. Especially with the chosen one plot and some parts that aren't as good. And I could never get into the Fantastic Beasts because it didn't really interested me that much.

Merlin Meadows has been mentioned for a while throughout the story. As it's the same school Dog attends as well as the school the Ghoul Girls expies go to. Hell, Rashwood is a complete expy of Miss Grimwood, as Kevin is basically a expy of Gary Oak for Dusty's rival.

Fanny Burndill is Danny Dillburn's fraturnal twin sister, as you can tell they're from divorced parents but Danny lives with their father and step-mom, while Fan lives with their mom and step-father. Thought of giving Danny a little foil, and reveal his family life as well, including having an older brother who's married.

Oh, mentioning about the proctors as you may have not picked up. The coyote proctor is a shout-out to Wile E. Coyote. As for Professor Malcolm Flytrap, is a reference to Jeff Goldblum's characters from The Fly and Jurassic Park. Also Hettie Cutburn's challenge for the Healers is a real like Operation game. The William Tell challenge is a reference to one of the challenges from Total Drama Island.

Jumping Jack Flash by Rolling Stones is used for the song parody of this fic. Bits of TLC is also referenced.

Also Zee's Palisman, Aqua, makes her debut along with Zee's beast, Yang the Taraski. Funny enough, I've based her outfit out from Yang from RWBY.

Now to answer reviews:

61394: Sorry, they didn't show up.

Spantidem7: Hypothetically, I know Eda would try to out-drink Queen Bee. Luz would avoid the drinks and candy as she wouldn't trust, and Queen Bee would adore King.

Ultimate-drax: Yeah, see how things work out.

Crosshot: Sorry, but Terra is most likely not even allowed to partake in the IFWOT if the Coven Day Parade incident is of any indication. She's not really public face number one right now…

Franco Almiron: Who knows….

Shuffollower: Well, given that if it weren't for Vina's interference, Terra could've ended up killing Eda and Raine. You'll find out soon what Terra and Jenny's thing is. Epidermites? Well, playing on words is my forte...

OMAC001: Zero, she's not allowed to be around children…

Krypton Joy Writes: Nope. Because Julia knows how things can play out and would only interfere if necessary, and it looks like things play out by itself. By then, I don't know how many chapters to go, but probably more than 10 right now. And as for Book 3, well it depends on how much we can cram in and it's going to be longer than the season 3 of Owl House. And no, don't expect any spin offs…

Matteso585: 1) She didn't. Just because we're seeing what happened doesn't mean she is recounting every part of it. 2) Which turns out to be Bump. Sorry but we won't kill off a teacher that you hate. 3) No spoilers. 4) They did… and Terra ends up divorcing him and took everything from him.

Now then for the next chapter, something lighthearted.