At the Owl House, Luz recorded King in the living room as he had a ducky sock stuck on his face.
"And right here, dear viewers, is the most rare footage that you will ever see; the King of Demons, who currently battles his mortal enemy, the Ducky Sock. And the question here is, who shall reign victorious in this battle?" Luz said, like if she were a narrator for an animal documentary.
King eventually tears the sock into pieces, then punches the remnants.
"Well, that answers our question." Luz simply said.
After he pulled her into the den and gestured her to sit down, King went towards his covered presentation and stood ready.
"Luz the human, today is the day you learn of the most dangerous monsters known to the Boiling Isles and what to do whenever faced with one!" King said as he grabbed the sheet over his presentation. "Welcome to the first lesson of...Demons 101!"
King then ripped the sheet over the presentation, showing Luz a bulletin board full of demon pictures of all shapes and sizes, while King put on a puffy professor hat on his head.
'So cute.' Luz thought about the hate before King began his lesson.
"Now, pay close attention, young human. Demon such as myself are deceitful tricksters of of the twilight. Born from sulfur and born to strike fear into their enemies!" King said as he walked across his presentation and pulled out a pen with a pink diamond on the tip. "We live to create chaos to all around around and our only weaknesses are purified water and passive aggressive comment, but those are only for the weaker demon so that weakness won't work all the time."
Okay, got it. Some demons are more self conscious than others." Luz said, taking in the information since it seemed legit aka the purified water weakness.
"I'm afraid so, even the creatures of darkness have their inner turmoils." King said dramatically before pulling out a drawing of a scary turtle like monster with pale blue skin, black finger and toe nails, and a spiky shell. "And this demon is the most powerful one recorded on the Boiling Isles, the Snaggleback!"
"Snaggleback?" Luz said as she leaned forward to see the drawing, crude as it may be the demon did look intimidating. "Looks like the name matches."
"That is does! Now-" King said as he was glad Luz was paying attention before the sound of thunder and the flash of lightning drew their attention
"Looks like I was right about the rain." Luz commented at the flash.
"Yeah, and trust me, the type of rain around here is something you do not want to be caught in." King said as he shook his head.
"Why? Rain is usually a good thing back home. It waters the plants, cools the air, and personally, it feels good in the summer." Luz said as she got up and headed to the door.
"Luz, wait!" King called out to her as she opened the door and looked out but not leave the doorway.
"I just wanna see this type of rain you're so worried about. It can't be as bad as you said it is." Luz said as she shrugged and leaned against the frame, looking towards a stray flower in the dirt.
"You'd be surprised, hoot." Hooty commented to Luz.
Luz waited a few moments before the rain began and a drop hit the flower but instead of do nothing to it, it caused the flower to burn and wither with slight steam coming off it.
"Wait, what just happened?!" Luz said in shock as her eyes widened and she took a step back.
"Boiling rain!" Eda said as she ran towards the Owl House while covering her face. "Everyone inside now!"
Luz didn't have time to react fast enough to Eda's burst of speed as she was roughly pushed inside the house and crashed into King's presentation display as Eda shut the door behind her.
"Woo, close call." Eda asked as she looked to her friends. "Everyone okay?"
Luz could only groan at her as she got up from the floor, surrounded by King's ruined lesson board as King himself popped his head up to see notes scattered across the living room.
"You're lucky Oliver trained Hunter and I because normally right about now, I'd be suffering either a concussion or be rendered unconscious. Good thing it's neither of those things or else we'd be in real trouble right now." Luz said as she rubbed her head. "Yep, that's gonna leave a bump in the morning."
As King got back up, he looked around to see someone was missing.
"Hey, where's Hunter?" He asked.
"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you guys." Luz said, getting back up. "He left back for the Human Realm a while ago. Said he won't be back for a few hours." Luz answered.
"Doing what exactly?" Eda inquired.
Luz raised an eyebrow as she placed her hands on her hips, giving Eda a "You know" look, with Eda understanding as she nodded.
"Ah, right." She said.
At a warehouse in the Human Realm, a fight ensues as various gunmen opened fire at someone on the ceiling, who hid in the steel framing. As the figure dodged gunfire, he then fired multiple two arrows at two men with assault rifles in their shoulders, knocking them down unconscious. The figure then fires a grappling arrow and ziplines down, his right hand gripping the line as he descends to the ground. The figure then let go of the line and landed on the pavement, rolling to his feet as he then stood up and revealed himself with a scowl on his face; it was the Golden Arrow.
Two other gunmen aimed their weapons at Golden Arrow but the Archer fired two bolo arrows, wrapping and restraining the two gunmen as they fell to the ground. Another gunman charged at him, but Golden Arrow swung his bow at his face and smacked him, knocking him down as another charged at Golden Arrow with a punch ready, but the Archer deflected his punch before landing a jab on his torso and flipping him to the ground.
Two more gunman charged as well, but Golden Arrow tripped one in the shins with his bow, and while the second one tries to kick him but the Archer instead blocks the kick and counterattacks with a jab onto gunman's torso, before flipping him to the ground and knocking him out with a hard punch to the face.
The Golden Arrow then heard a vehicle engine turned on and turned around to see that two of the last gunmen were about to drive and escape in a van.
"Not today." Golden Arrow sneered, before he shot an arrow at the van's tires, stopping the van from getting away. He then approached the van to see two of the gunmen, one was conscious while the other wasn't. With his bow curled up, Golden Arrow then ripped the driver's door open, pulled out the gunman in the driver's seat, and threw him out of the vehicle as the gunman hit the ground.
The gunman tries to get back up and run, but Golden Arrow grabs him, lifting him up in the air.
"Brickwell! Tell me everything!" Golden Arrow demanded, his voice sounding deeper due to a voice modulator.
"I-I don't know anything, man! I-I'm just a delivery guy and I was just-!" The gunman lied in fear before Golden Arrow slammed him to the ground, back first and planted a foot on his face.
"Yeah, you're a delivery guy and I'm the Flash." Golden Arrow growled. "You're going to tell me everything you know about Brickwell now, or else your next 'delivery' will be the one to a hospital!
"Okay, okay, I'll talk!" The gunman cried out. "I don't know much about why Brickwell is in New Haven, but what I do know is that he says that a city without any of the Worlds' Finest protecting it is a city worth taking. Without any heroes, New Haven will be his, and there's no Green Arrow to stop him this time...! That's it! That's all I know, I swear!"
Golden Arrow then glowered his eyes.
"I believe you." He said, kneeing the last gunman unconscious.
Golden Arrow then tapped his suit's comms. "Captain Batista, it's done. Brickwell's guys and his weapons are wrapped up and done for. Call it in."
"Excellent work, Arrow. I have a squad on your way right now." Captain Batista said on the other end of the call. "How many more drug and weapon caches does Brickwell have in New Haven exactly?" She asked.
"Not sure, but whatever Brickwell is planning in New Haven can't be good." Golden Arrow responded.
"I understand that, but remember, Arrow; this has to be kept between us." Captain Batista advised.
The Golden Arrow sighed. "I know, Peia. If anyone in the department found out about you working beside my partner and I, along with us providing each other with intel, then you might lose your job. I'll let you know if I find something, or if I have another thug tied up for you."
"Same here. Good luck." Captain Batista said before hanging up.
At Boneborough, residents were screaming and running from the boiling rain as buildings attached to the side of a cliff fell off. At her place, Willow takes plants off of a balcony by her window, exclaiming in pain as she did before she drags her curtain closed with her teeth.
About a half hour after Eda had explained to Luz about the Boiling Isles and it's plagues in the place of normal weather. Each one put more gore into Luz's mind than the last as this was more... repulsive to the violence she's seen and been through;
Gorenadoes: twisters the spin fast enough to rip a person limb from limb in the goriest fashion possible.
Shale Hail: Sedimentary rock slabs that rain down from above that can cause serious injury.
Painbows: normal looking rainbows that can turn you inside out if you look at it just once.
And last but not least, Boiling Rain: instead of being cool, it is scolding and burns like acid if expose towards to much of it.
Though horrible, the rain did answer the question on why this place was called "the Boiling Isles" to Luz and she also got more information on the Snaggleback from King, saying it was actually immune to the boiling rain thanks to it's shell and used it to hunt down any victims left in the rain.
"Well my shield spell will protect us from the rain and your made up little monster." Eda said to them as she walked to the front door, opening it to look out into the rain.
"Then hurry it up before my stucco melts!" Hooty said to Eda.
She just rolled her eyes and summoned her staff, twirling it around and slamming it into the ground to summon an orange bubble like spell to expand around her and cover the entire Owl House to block the boiling rain.
"Done and done by the one and only Owl Lady." Eda said as she shut the door.
"Hey, I've been meaning to ask but why are you called the "Owl Lady" anyway?" Luz asked as Eda strutted over to her and King.
"Well, the answer is simple. I'm as wise as an owl." Eda said as she pushed her hair behind her ear.
"Oh please, it's because you go all gaga around shiny things and get distracted." King said as he got his scholar/teacher hat back on.
"I do not!" Eda argued to the demon.
Instead of replying to Eda, King just pulled out the pen he used early and clicked the side to make the diamond glow pink and shiny. Eda's eyes went wide with awe as she stared at the shiny pen.
"Sparkly and shiny! I must have it for my nest!" Eda said as she was about to dive at the pen, until Luz gave her a good slap to the face to knock her out of the trance. "OW! What the heck, Luz?!"
"'I did it to stop you from jumping King." Luz said as Eda put a hand on her left cheek. "And what was that about a nest, like a really bird's nest?"
"Yes, I do and if you find that strange, you can judge me about it later." Eda said before yawning a bit. "Putting up that force field spell really took it out of me. I'm getting sleepy."
"You sure you're not just getting old? You have been getting slower lately." King said with sass before Eda pulled his hat to cover his face. "AH! The dark!"
"Aren't demon suppose to embrace the darkness instead of fear it?" Luz commented as she saw Eda walked away. "Anyway, sine we're all trapped inside, how about you teach me a spell? You've got no excuse to not teach me."
"Luz, but what about our lesson?! We never finished!" King complained as he took the hat off his head. "I was gonna teach you have to scratch a demon's tummy just right."
Luz rolled her eyes at this before going to King and scratch his belly a bit, making King jolt before he relaxed into the scratching as he began kicking his leg against the ground.
"Not to offend but I've scratched a few dogs and cats back in my world, so those should transfer to this." Luz said with a small smile as King slowly laid down with his belly up.
"Little to the left! More, more! Less, to the right! Just a little higher, little faster!" King said in pleasure before sighing in relief. "OH! That's the spot!"
"And with that, the belly scratching lesson is done." Luz said before she got up, leaving King on the floor as she went to Eda, who was now in her nightwear on the couch with her eyes closed.
The young archer stood over her magic teacher, casting her shadow over her, as she reopened her eyes to see Luz giving her a blank yet expecting look.
"AH!" Eda screamed in surprise.
"Look Eda, we had a deal, Hunter and I would help you with whatever you need help with and you teach us some magic." Luz said as she crossed her arms. "So how are we gonna earn a magic staff if you aren't gonna teach us some magic, or me for that matter?"
"I will teach you both magic, kid. Just not now." Eda said as she pulled a blanket over her head.
Eda sighed in relief of the silence as she tried to get to sleep again but was soon wide awake as she heard clicking, PEN clicking.
"The shiny." she whispered as she got up with the blanket over her head, turning around to see Luz holding the pen in her hand and the diamond glowing.
"I see I have your attention." Luz said with a smirk as she stepped back, making Eda jump like a cat on the couch arm. "You want it?"
"Yes yes yes!" Eda said with a rapid nod as Luz held the pen close and pulled back, making Eda lean forward to it before Luz suddenly pinched her nose and made her recoil in pain. "OW! Again?"
"Just teach me one single spell and I will let you sleep with the shiny pen. Deal?" Luz said to her as she clicked the pen off before holding it in her fingers.
"Hmm, I respect your cunning and tactics but I also hate you for them." Eda said as she rubbed her nose and got up, summoning her staff. "Alright, you've got your lesson."
Luz nodded to Eda as she sat down on the floor and paid attention to her.
"Now, if a witch ever wishes to become a magic master, they have to pay close attention and never make their teachers re...peat...themselves." Eda said as she began to doze off before shaking her head to stay awake. "To a witch, her staff is an additional source of power for when they need it."
"Okay got it." Luz said with a nod.
"But before a witch can earn their staff, they must learn to cast a spell on their own." Eda said as she threw her staff to the side. "So tonight, the first spell you will be learning is how to make light."
Eda turned and drew a magic circle in the air, creating a ball of light and making the light illuminate the room.
"Wow." Luz said as the ball slowly floated to her, stopping when she cupped her hands to hold it to her face before it popped like a bubble.
"Come on, that's basic at best!" King said as he got up and out of his scratching coma, she gave a GOOD scratch. "I can teacher her much more useful things, like learning how to avoid all the different ways a demon could kill you."
"As important as I think that would be, I refused to be killed so easily. demon or not." Luz said as he turned to him. "Besides, Hunter and I can already guess that some of those are no different than how a person could die in the human world."
"Oh yeah?! Name at least 3!" King said as he pointed to her.
"Ripped to pieces by sharp fangs and claws, eaten alive, and dragged into their lair to be held and saved for later." Luz said as King just blinked at her.
"Uuuuh, lucky guess?" He nervously said as Luz shook her head.
"We can do that part of your lesson later, King. Learning this spell can take less time." Luz said with a wave, turning back to Eda.
"Now, you humans think magic is something that can appear out of thin air but that's not entirely true." Eda said to Luz, looking down at her. "So where do you think magic comes from?"
"I don't know." Luz said as she shrugged. "The... heart? As lazy as that sounds?"
Eda stared blankly at her for a moment before smiling to her.
"You're actually right. The magic that witches and wizards uses comes from the heart." Eda said as she reached into her hair, pulling out a scroll and unrolling it to show a picture of a human heart with a green, sickly looking sack of flesh attached to it. "Right from their magic bile sack."
Luz gagged at the sight of the sack, holding back some normal bile in her throat before choking it down. She thought it looked cool but it was also incredibly disgusting with detail.
"Please get that thing out of my face." Luz said as she turned away from it.
'I wonder if Hunter has something like that...' Luz thought, shuddering at the thought that her brother might have a bile sack.
"Hm. Lightweight." Eda said with a smirk as she rolled the picture and stuffed it back in her hair. "Now, when casting a spell, always remember that the bigger the circle, the bigger the spell output."
"Wait!" Luz quickly stopped her as she pulled out her phone, opening the camera app and setting it to record. "Let me record it this time to look over, and to show Hunter when comes back. Do your spell directly at me, okay?"
"Whatever, kid. As long as I can get to sleep faster." Eda said as she pointed her finger towards Luz, drawing a larger spell circle and making a larger ball of light as Luz recorded it.
"Got it." Luz said as she saved the video and put her phone away. "Though I wonder if I'll be able to do them without that bile sack thing, or how Hunter will as well, considering how he never did magic before."
"Hmm, I wonder that too. Witches of old had a different way of using magic before the spell circle but I never got around to finding it." Eda said with a short laugh and a snort.
"Well, thanks to the video I recorded of your spell, I just may find it." Luz said as she got up from the floor.
"Good, now if you'll finally let me, I'm...going...to..." Eda said as she began walking away, slowing down gradually before she fell face first to the floor.
"Eda!" Luz shouted as she knelled down to her, flipping her over to see her snore a bit. "Man, you really must've been tired from the protection spell, huh?"
"Mmm... shiny... Must... get... shiny." the Owl Lady just mumbled in her sleep instead of giving Luz a solid answer, but she expected that.
"Well, I guess I should get her to bed and look over that video to find a way to use it." Luz said as King walked over to her.
"Eh, just let her sleep n the floor. Eda can sleep anywhere and not be bothered by it. Won't even wake up, easily." King said before he slapped her in the face. "Bap. See? Still asleep."
"Funny as that is, I'm not going to leave sleeping on the floor." Luz said as she moved under Eda, flipping her back over so that her chin was on her head before moving her arms back to hook her legs under her arm pit to lift her and stand up. "OH! Man, she is heavier than she looks!"
"I know! And how can you even lift her? You don't even look that strong!" King said as Luz sent a glare to him.
"Do you wanna see how strong I really am? I've lifted bigger and heavier stuff, even battled against people bigger than you!" She said as she began trudging Eda up to her room with King following behind.
'I wonder how Hunter's doing.' Luz thought in her head, wondering what her brother was doing back in the Human Realm.
Back in the Human Realm, the Golden Arrow then made his way to his motorbike but stopped when he felt rumbling as he heard a buzzing sound, and turned around to see that a figure standing a few feet away from him. The figure wore a protective all-black suit with a hood, pants, gloves, and a long, leather trench coat, but their mask was shaped as a spiral, as it emitted some sort of buzzing sound.
"Who are you?" Golden Arrow demanded.
The figure's only response was their mask morphing into a grid-like soundwave pattern as they unleashed a sonic scream, throwing Golden Arrow away as he screamed, crashing into a nearby wall. Disoriented from the blast as he closed his ears in pain, Golden Arrow groaned as he got back up, staggering as he did and his vision.
'A sonic scream? Like Dinah and Laurel?' He thought to himself before he dodged another sonic scream, flipping as he did before he lost his balance for a moment.
'That scream really pierced my eardrums there.' Golden Arrow thought to himself again as he winced from the ringing in his eardrums.
The figure's mask then morphed into another soundwave pattern that then unleashed another sound attack, only this time, the sound that came out were bursts of bullet-like projectiles. Golden Arrow quickly dodged these attacks, as he flipped across before pulling out and shooting an unknown arrow at the figure, deploying a locking collar around their neck.
The figure was about to unleash another sonic scream, but found themselves unable to due to the collar around their neck. They tried to pry it out, but it didn't budge.
"What's wrong, can't speak?" Golden Arrow snarks at the figure, as they still struggle to remove the collar from their neck.
"The arrow I fired you with was a sonic dampening arrow, which deployed and activated a locking collar that is currently generating a counter-vibration that prevents meta-humans with sonic screams like you from using their powers. In other words, as long as that collar is around your neck, you're not gonna be using your powers." He said.
The figure then stopped prying to remove the collar from their neck and started moving their hands, raising them, with Golden Arrow understanding that they are communicating in sign language.
"Regardless, I don't need my powers to kill you!" The figure signed before pulling out an army knife and twirling it. Golden Arrow could see that the figure was serious and not messing around, so he curled his bow and put it away.
They both charged at each other and began exchanging blows as the Golden Arrow deflected the figure's attacks and pushed their knife hand down twice as the figure pushed him off and tried to strike with their knife twice but Golden Arrow ducked to avoid. Golden Arrow then punched the figure on the face and with a leap, kicked them into the gunmen's van, denting the door. The Golden Arrow then rushed the figure and with a leap, kneed them into it, shattering the glass.
The figure then blocked another strike and punched him back before Golden Arrow flipped them to the ground. The figure got back up and grabbed Golden Arrow by the throat with their arm, as the Archer grunted in pain. The figure then threw him off and Golden Arrow fell over a car as the figure leapt over it and tried to punch Golden Arrow, but he rolled away to avoid as the punch shattered the concrete.
As the figure finally removed the dampening collar with their knife, Golden Arrow got back up as the figure tried to punch him twice but he blocked with his elbow before being pushed into the car. The figure kicked him back into it and took out the army knife, tried to stab again as Golden Arrow this time pulled out a tanto and blocked the figure's army knife, trying to push it back.
The figure used the strength in themselves to overpower Golden Arrow though he leaned his head to the side. The army knife struck into the van and the figure pushed them both to the side as the army knife tore a huge line in the van. The Golden Arrow grabbed the figure and flipped them both to the ground before flipping back up as the figure got back up too and tried to attack with their army knife as Golden Arrow blocked it with the tanto.
'I'll have to thank Luz for letting me borrow her tanto.' Golden Arrow thought.
Eventually, police sirens blared alerting the figure to run, but not before unleashing one final sonic scream at Golden Arrow, throwing the Archer towards a pillar, the latter screaming as he was thrown away once again. Now outside of the warehouse, the figure's mask then morphed into the same grid-like soundwave pattern from earlier as they then brought down the pillar and the entire warehouse down with their powerful sonic scream, trapping Golden Arrow and the gunmen underneath the rubble as it collapsed underneath them. The figure turned around and walked away, leaving the demolished warehouse in ruins and the others trapped.
Trapped underneath, Golden Arrow then used Luz's tanto to cut his own forehead to fake an injury before holstering it away. He then closes his eyes to fake unconsciousness, which is an old pro-wrestling trick he once learnt from Oliver Queen in one of his old lessons, forehead bleeds may look severe but they actually aren't. Golden Arrow then slowed down his pulse, playing possum.
Police cars arrived moments later, as New Haven Police Officers stepped out of their vehicles to see the collapsed warehouse, looking with horror.
"Oh my God...! Requesting additional officers at Long Wharf! Collapsed warehouse! Injuries and casualties unknown at the moment! Repeat! Backup is needed! And send in fire and medical services!" An officer called in via walkie-talkie.
After a surprisingly tough carry, Luz carried into her room with the door luckily left open and what she saw surprised her to a large extent. Apparently it was located right on the other side of the large, stained glass, owl eye-shaped window and in absence of a bed in the room, there was a literal bird's or owl's nest made of sticks, leaves, and vines next to a normal looking side drawer nightstand that had a bottle of glowing green liquid on it.
"Holy crap, she actually sleeps in a nest. Ahaha." Luz said with a chuckle.
"I thought the same thing when I first saw it." King said as they walked to the nest, Luz still carrying Eda to the nest before seeing the inside of it littered with the Boiling Isles' gold coin currency "snails", jewels, random human junk, and bones from an unknown creature.
The bones frightened Luz a bit as she gulped in a bit of feat, wondering just what creature those bones were from. She hoped they weren't human or elf like humanoids as most people here were before she put Eda in the nest.
'Bony remains, random junk, and shiny things. Is Eda actually part bird?' Luz thought as she turned to leave, not wanting to think about the bones as King watched her walk away.
"Come on, let's leave Eda to sleep." Luz said as she put her hands in her pockets, not looking back as King slapped Eda again.
"Bap! Ehehehehehe." he said with a giggle as he rushed after Luz.
After they returned to the den, Luz pulled out her phone and re-watched the video of Eda performing the light spell. At first glance, it looked so simple but she knew that had to be something behind it and would need to find it to learn this spell along with possible others during her time in this realm.
'Let's try this in slow motion and maybe invert the colors the a bit' Luz thought as she began tinkering with the video a bit, zooming into the circle, slowing down the video, watching it in reverse, inverting the colors.
She tried anything and everything her phone could do to find the secret behind the Boiling Isles' magic before remembering her worlds concept of magic, mainly through anime series and movies she's watched in her down time.
It was amazing how her home could come up with so many different ways for how magic could be used. Either from a countries strange history, ancient tomes, or from whatever a creative writer for movies or shows could come up with. There's Magic symbols, magical incantations, drawing a circular pattern with random shapes called "glyph."
'Wait, circular glyphs! That might be hidden in these spell!' Luz thought as she remembered every time Eda or someone else used magic here, they always drew them in circles and never any other shapes. 'But how do I find it?'
Luz was about to try something with the video again until King place a notepad over her phone while standing on a pile of books.
"Hey, Luz. Getting back to the topic of demons, let me tell you about you should really worry about!" King said before pulling up the notepad to show a drawn goldfish with small arms and hands under it with puckering lips. "Smoochy Pie, the Sweetie Baby!"
If this was a joke, it was not funny as she stared at the "demon" with a deadpanned face at how it looked absolutely ridiculous.
"It-It's a lot more dangerous than his looks and name give him credit." King said shyly as Luz wasn't looking impressed with the "demon."
"I'll just take your word for it since we have a term for this back on Earth, "looks can be deceiving."" Luz said as she pushed his notepad away. "Look, we can continue the lessons in a literally one minute, okay? I need to see if this theory I came to about using magic without a bile sack is correct and if I'm right, then Eda's questions on how ancient witches used magic will be answered."
King sat on the piles of books and looked away upset.
"Why is learning magic such a big deal to you, right now? I mean, you and Hunter both already have those combat and archery skills to beat people up, so why do you two wanna learn magic?" King asked as he turned his head to her.
Luz let out a sigh as she gave King her attention.
"Back home, Hunter and I were always seen as nobodies. While Ollie cared for us and raised us like we were his, there were lots of people that bullied me and Hunter because we were different. While I always tried my best at school, Hunter was great at various subjects and excellent in school, which earned him the trust and respect of our teachers. Some people called him either a prodigy or a nerd, but most students saw one look at him and no one wanted to be his friend, mostly because of how he looked and because we were siblings." Luz explained, with a frown before continuing. "They called me "weirdo", and "Luzer", among other things, while they mostly saw Hunter's appearance and called him either a "freak" or "elf", but they mostly made fun of our parents' deaths and mocked us for it..."
King's eyes widened in shock as he processed this, looking down in sadness as he did.
"But whenever I was bullied, he was there for me, ready to stand up against bullies and help me get out of those confrontations, and I was there for him in return when he was bullied. He may be my older brother, but I am just as protective as he is. Us Noceda Siblings have to stick together." She finished.
Actually, King could understand what Luz wanted, what she wanted for herself and her brother specifically. They both want to prove that they can be something more than just a freak or a loser. It was just like how he wanted people to take him more seriously as the (self proclaimed) King of demons and wanted them to tremble in fear of him and kiss the ground he walked on, not go gaga over his cute form and treat him like a cute, helpless baby.
"If...I leave you alone so you can test your theory for that spell, do you promise we can go back to my demon lessons afterwards?" King asked her as he showed her his notepad, showing the "demon" drew from before.
As said on Earth, "looks can be deceiving."
"Absolutely, King. Actually, your lessons may come in handy if we ever do run into other demons." Luz said as she grew a small smile, giving him a pat on the head. "Just give me two minutes, and I'll get back to you, alright?"
"Alright." King said with a nod to Luz.
Luz nodded to her friend as she pulled out her phone again, opening the video again and putting it to the right settings for her theory.
"Okay. Slow the video down to 25% speed, inverse the colors, define anything hidden by turning on the "bold font" setting." Luz said out loud as she went put everything into the video. "Here goes, time to see if I'm right."
Luz played the video again and watched closely as Eda's recorded self drew the circle slower and connect the ends. She watched and saw that just before the light ball, now looking like black ball with a sort of black mist around it, formed, something flashed in the circle with bold lines. Luz noticed and quickly rewind it, playing it frame by frame to see what it was that flashed like before except she now she had it in a complete 1 second frame. It was a full circle with a cone and smaller circle near the top, a line down the middle from the smaller circle, and a isosceles triangle touching the sides of the circle with two slashes in the middle.
"King, I think I found it!" Luz said as she quickly took the notepad from him.
"Hey!" he said as he saw Luz flip through it and pull out an empty page before pushing it back to him.
"I need the page, King!" Luz said as she looked back to her phone and copied the symbol carefully onto the paper, making sure there were no mistakes as she drew it completely. "Got it."
Luz showed the paper to King as she closed out the video, taking a quick photo of the drawing she copied before putting her phone away.
"So this is what you were looking for? A sort of symbol?" King asked.
"I think it's more of glyph, and Eda's theory of the old witches using magic differently is what drove me to this. Now, let's see if I'm right." Luz said as she gave a gentle tap to the glyph.
No less than a second later, the glyph began to glow before the paper began to crumpled into itself and become a ball of light, floating into the air before Luz as she cupped her hands under it. Both King and Luz were so shocked and happy about her discovery, Luz because she can now learn magic and King because now she can focus on his demon lessons!
"I did it. I did it!" Luz said as she picked up King and gave him a nearly suffocating hug. "I did magic! I found a way!"
"Good...for...you." King let out in short breathes as he was being crushed into the hug before Luz stopped and held him at a distance.
"Sorry, hehe, got too excited." Luz said with a chuckle.
"That's fine and now I can get back to teaching you about demons! Just like you promised!" King said with excitement before his stomach growled. "But first, we get snacks! I cannot teach on an empty stomach!"
"Hehehe, alright, teach. Let's take a snack break before getting back to the lessons." Luz said as she put him under her armpit, carrying him to the kitchen.
When they finally reached the kitchen, Luz put King on the island counter and went to the fridge for whatever passed for food.
"You want anything specific, King, or will you just eat anything?" Luz joked as she turned to him.
"Hmm, your humble teacher would like a-" King said/proclaimed to Luz before candle lamps around the house suddenly grew brighter before snuffing out and plunging the house in darkness.
"Umm, did Eda forget to pay the electric bill or something?" Luz asked, her instincts turning on.
"Maybe, but I'm not sure, Hooty mostly controls the lights here. Maybe he's snoozing as well." King said.
"HOOOOOT!" Hooty shouted in distress as crashing sounds were heard afterwards.
"Hooty!" Luz and King shouted in alarm as Luz shut the fridge, grabbed King from the counter, and ran to the sentient door.
When they got back to the den, they saw that the room had been destroyed with furniture smashed, windows broken, walls covered in long claw marks, and Hooty's door body on the floor with a large beast hovering over him. They couldn't see all of it, just its errie eyes reflecting light and its teeth clenched while doing the same but it was enough to make them shiver in fear.
"Grrrrr." It growled while dragging its claws on Hooty before it ran off.
With it out of sight, Luz calmed down enough to run over to Hooty and check on him.
"Hooty! Can you hear me?" Luz asked as she seat King down on him and looked into his eyes, seeing cartoonish Xs as she slapped his face a bit. "Come on, speak to us!"
"Wake up, you infuriating, door accessory!" King shouted in his face but got no reaction. "No use, he's out cold."
"And whatever attacked him could still be here, but how did it get here?" Luz asked as she got up and checked outside the door way. "I thought nothing could survive out in the boiling rain except that Snaggleback you told me about!"
"I don't know. Maybe it's a Snaggleback or some sort of new demon species that can survive like them!" King said.
"Maybe, but I think it must've gotten here before the storm began pouring." Luz theorized. "We'll figure that out later. Right now, we have to find Eda and-" Luz was cut off before she and King heard the beast shriek. The duo ran out the house to the barrier's edge and looked up to see another window smashed open, the beast entering the house once again.
"We have to stop that thing before it gets to Eda! There's no telling what it might do to her!" Luz said before looking to King, seeing him actually looking excited. "And why are you so happy about a monster inside our house?!"
Because this is the perfect opportunity to see your skills again! To see you fight against the beast in one-on-one combat, with your archery and fighting skills in hand and beat it!." King said as he punched his hand.
"You want me to fight that thing?!" Luz shouted in his face as she pointed to where the beast entered the house. "Are you mad?!"
"But you're fast and strong, you and Hunter proved that when you both showed us your skills!" King said as he pointed to her. "And we'd do this with Hunter, but he's not here right now. And besides, did you forget about Eda? She's still in the house snoozing away after your magic lesson, you just gonna leave her to be eaten?!"
The human groaned as she held her head, the demon was right. Eda was still in the house and they were likely her best chance to live to sleep through another night.
"Yeah, you're right but if we're doing this, we gotta do it right." Luz said as she turned to King. "You head back to the kitchen and I'll head back to my room real quick."
Luz was about to run upstairs, but King grabbed her leg in fear
"Wait! What are you gonna do exactly?"
Luz simply just let out a small smirk "Suit up."
King's eyes sparkled before he nodded went back to the kitchen and got ready for this beast. As for Luz, she went to her room and pulled out a purple trunk and opened it to reveal her Artemis suit. She then put on her suit as she then applied purple eye shadow on her eyes before putting the hood over her. Luz loads her crossbow with bolts before holstering it as she then draws out her steel fans.
Luz twirled her fans before she put them away and headed back downstairs to the kitchen.
"Alright, I'm ready. King?" Luz said as she turned King, seeing his armor was just a pillow taped to his chest and with his stuffed bunny, Francois, in his hands.
"Wee!" He let out as he held the bunny up in his hands.
Luz let her arms go limb before spotting a round pot strainer and placed it on his head and going towards some hockey sticks near the kitchen wall.
"King, when I said "suit up," I meant more than just a pillow." Luz said as she grabbed one of the sticks and returned to King, knelled down and pushing it in his hands. She knocked on his strainer covered head a bit before nodding. "There, now you've got at least some armor and a weapon."
Luz got up from the ground and pulled out a spare notepad she got from King along with the pen her used earlier, drawing the light glyph she learn and creating an orb of light in her hand.
They carefully made their way up the stairs and towards Eda's room, seeing the door slightly ajar.
"Be ready, King." Luz said as she lead the way into the room, moving the door completely open to see it was trashed like the den and her window broken! "Eda!"
"Oh no! The demon got her!" King said as Luz ran to the nest, checking for clues if Eda was taken alive or not.
"King, time to put your knowledge to use! How do we find it before it eats Eda!?" Luz asked him.
"Let me get my demon book, it should have some notes!" King said as he dropped the hockey stick and tried to leave but Luz stopped him and shoved the hockey stick back in his hands.
"Not so fast, little guy! We are not splitting up, that'll only lead to the demon picking either you or me off! We have to stay together!" Luz said as she pointed in his face before they both heard something whoosh past the door. "There it is, come on!"
Pick up the small demon and sticking him in her hoodie hood, Luz ran after the demon and ignored the danger to focus more on saving her teacher.
'I don't care what you are or where you came from put if you hurt my friend, I swear to the gods of this world, mine, and the next! Te enviaré de vuelta al infierno donde perteneces!' Luz thought as she rounded a corner, seeing dead end hallway with a closet. 'There it is!'
Luz marched to the door and opened it, King shivering in fear as they look around for the beast and saw feet under some coat racks.
"Nowhere to run now!" Luz shouted as she pulled back the coats and readied her steel fans but stopped when she saw what it really was, a very different demon than the one they saw earlier.
"Snaggleback?" King questioned as his fear disappeared, seeing the demon he made sound so ferocious actually be a small pink-furred demon that appears to be an ape with yellow fangs and a teal tortoise shell on his back with small spikes cowering with it's hands on it's head.
"That is the Snaggleback?" Luz asked as her anger and worry faded away, holstering her fans. "It is nothing like what you showed me in the den."
"I-I-I am terribly sorry, I just need a way to get out of the rain." it said to them in a gentle male voice.
"Then why did you bust into our home and wreck everything?" King asked as he pointed to the Snaggleback with the hockey stick. "Bad Snaggleback, bad."
"King, look at him, he obviously wasn't the one who busted into the house or did all the damage." Luz said as she moved the hockey stick away from the small demon.
"What? But wait, if he wasn't the one that did all this, what did we see earlier?" King asked as his fear was coming back.
A crash come from above them before a giant claw reached down and grabbed the snaggleback.
"Oh no! Help me!" he screamed as them as the hand pulled him up into a whole in the roof.
"Run!" King said as Luz quickly exited the closer, moving away right as the beast from before crashed down into the hall and faced the closet.
It growled eerily before hacking up the shell of the Snaggleback, eaten him before it slowly turned around to them and roared at the duo.
"AHH!" They screamed at it as the beast charged at them, trying to bite them until Luz ducked under the bite and uppercut it's jaw.
The beast recoiled slightly from the hit before shaking its head before roaring at them again, this time slashing at them. Luz lifted up her arms to block, thankful for the kevlar sleeves as they withstood the damage but the force sent Luz out of the small closet hallway and hit the wall behind her. King was quick to jump on top of her head to avoid getting crushed while Luz's suit absorbed most of the impact.
'Thank god for this suit.' Luz thought as she looked to see the beast charging at them.
"Run!" King said as he threw the hockey stick at the beast, getting it in the eye as Luz got up and ran away letting it hit the wall were she once was.
The human ran as fast as she could to get away from the beast as it chanced after them and wasn't going to stop until it ate them!
"It's right behind us!" King said as he looked back to it! "Do something, please! I'm too young to be eaten!"
Luz pulled out her crossbow and shot multiple bolts at the beast, but the bolts released several high-tension wires on impact, which wrapped the beast and hold it in place.
"What did you fire exactly?"
"I'll explain later, but we have to get moving. I'm not sure how long the snare will hold!
"Wait! What about that light spell you learned?! You can blind it or something to buy us more time!" King said as he quickly used his strainer helmet to block a claw slash that could've killed both of them. "Hurry, it's gaining!"
Luz didn't answer as she quickly pulled out the notepad and pen, drawing a big circle as the paper could hold for the glyph before tapping it and making a small orb in her hand.
"Here goes!" Luz shouted as she quickly spun on the balls of her feet and brought the light orb to the creature. "YAH!"
The orb popped with a flash as the beast got close, screeching in pain from the light but what it didn't know was that in that moment, Luz finally got a good enough look at it and what she saw shocked her to the core.
'E-E-Eda?' she thought as everything seemed to slow down around her while she saw her magic teacher, her friend, turn out the be the monster that was chasing them and wrecked the house.
She was covered in grey fur with ears bigger then before with grey hair coming out, black and brown feathered wings. Her arms and face were still the same but her eyes were now fully black and her legs shaped to look like the leg of a wolf but their a pair of owl legs. Luz stood there for a second as she saw Eda recoil in pain before her body moved before she could think and ran back to Eda's room, shutting the door behind them them. Before King could say anything, Luz quickly clasped a hand over his mouth, forcing him to be quiet as she heard Eda stalk past her room.
"Mmm!" he let out as Luz spun him to face her, making him stop struggling to see her shocked face.
"King, that thing...the one that's been destroying everything...is Eda." Luz said said slowly as his eyes widened in shock, letting go of his mouth as she put him on the floor.
"Bu-But how?! How did she turn into that thing?!" King asked as Luz was trying to think of an answer, looking around the room for close before noticing a bottle on the ground.
The same bottle she saw earlier when she brought Eda up to sleep in her bed/nest. She moved King aside and crawled to it, taking it in her hands before reading a tag tied to the top.
"An elixir a day, keeps the curse away." Luz said before turning to King, the answer now clear to her. "King, she's cursed! Eda has a curse on her!"
As Luz said that, a large clawed hand slammed through the door and shocked the duo. Thinking fast, Luz grabbed King and took him over to the balcony in Eda's room and ducked behind it.
"Don't make a sound!" she quickly and quietly said to King as Eda busted the door down, entering to try and find them.
They both kept quiet as she stalked around for them, sniffing around like a bloodhound. If they had any chance of trying to figure out a way to help Eda, they need to get her out of the room long enough for them to think of a plan! Looking around, Luz saw a small plant in a can and reached for it slowly. She quickly tossed it towards the door and made enough noise for Eda to notice it, running to catch her "prey." Once she was gone, the duo let out a breath of relieve as they relaxed for the moment.
"Oh man, this is bad! Eda's turned into a demon monster and we don't know how to stop her!" King said, slowly going into a panic before Luz took his strainer helmet off and patted his head to calm him down. "Luz?"
King looked up to her and saw the same thing he was feeling, fear yet he could also see determination. Like she had her fear under control and could think rationally in this moment more than he could.
"Calm down, please." Luz said to him as she took out the pen and notepad, placing them in front of King. "Right now, your demon know how is our only chance of helping Eda."
"M-Me?" King asked while pointing to himself.
"Yes, you. Who else could help in this situation than the King of Demons?" Luz asked him with a small smile on her face.
King then felt the last of his fear disappear as he picked up the pen and jumped into Luz's arms for a hug.
"Hehehehe!" he giggled before breaking the hug and turning to the notepad, drawing a quick picture of demon Eda. "Okay, serious time. From what we've seen, Eda's cursed demon form is large, fast, covered in feathers, and she has large black eyes. With demon that have large eyes, their always sensitive towards bright lights."
"Like when I threw that light orb at her in the hallway!" Luz said as she pointed to King. "So the key is to create a large enough source of light to knock her out!"
"And then we can drag her back her and fix her, she must have a spare bottle around here." King said to Luz.
"Now that we've got a plan, we just have to put it into play." Luz said as she stood up. "Come on, let's get to work."
Meanwhile in the den, Eda was stalking around for her prey and trying to find their scent. She was currently sniffing an open book with a witch diagram on it before she suddenly heard the sound of clicking. Standing on her hind legs, Eda turned to the source and saw King leaning against a doorway with the pen in hand as the diamond on top was glowing and shiny.
"Oh my, was it this? So shiny shiny, right?" he asked her while she was entranced by the shining light of the pen.
'Shiny.' the word came to her feral mind before she lunged at King, wanting the shiny!
King took off running and leading Eda to the trap he and Luz had planned. He took haste and turned corner before slipping around another, leaving Eda to try and catch him only to slip on a pile of books and papers that were left out for her. Eda was sent crashing into another wall before a tarp was suddenly thrown over her, causing her to growl and shriek as she tried to get it off.
"Sorry, Eda! This is the only way to help you!" Luz said as she was standing on top of a ladder, turning back to a wall and finishing a large version of the light spell glyph! "Time to end this nightmare!"
Luz then jumps off the ladder, letting Eda crash against the wall, activating the glyph. Screeching from the blinding light in pain, Eda then collapsed down on the floor, as everything went black.
"You did it, Luz! The plan worked!" King cheered as he ran to Luz, hugging her leg. Luz then picked King up and lifted him up as she then looked at him.
"No, King. We did it." Luz corrected before placing him down, but not without giving him a high-five, which he gladly returned.
She then reached into her pocket and pulled out a bottle of curse-fighting elixir, a spare they found in Eda's closet before putting their plan into action. "And now, Eda comes home."
Luz went to her open Eda's mouth and uncorked the bottle, slowly pouring all of the glowing liquid down her throat and waited for it to do it's job. King and Luz didn't have to wait long until the effect happened and Eda's jewel turned from black to it's normal amber color, her body slowly reverting back to normal along with her clothes.
"It worked, she's back!" King said, happy to see Eda was back to normal.
"Yeah, now let's get her back to her room. Hopefully she'll regain consciousness soon and we can get some answers while explaining to her as well." Luz said as she went to pick up Eda, with King helping her.
Back in the Human Realm, New Have Police Officers, firefighters, and medics arrive at the fallen warehouse, as police set up barricades and barriers. Multiple news vans arrived at the scene as each news reporter spoke about the details of the incident here, but not much because not a lot of them knew what really happened.
As New Haven Police Officers scrambled to search for survivors, Captain Batista sees a bow amidst the rubble so she quickly picks debris in a frenzy, to see the Golden Arrow's wounded and knocked unconscious.
"There he is! Help me get him out of there!" Captain Batista shouted, alerting everyone in helping her free the Golden Arrow from the debris. "Medic! We need a medic now!"
Three paramedics rushed to the aid and began treating Golden Arrow.
"Arrow! Are you with us?" One paramedic, a man, said to the Golden Arrow, but no response came from the Archer. "No response, he's out!"
Another paramedic, a woman, touched Golden Arrow's neck, checking for his pulse "We got a pulse! It's weak, but a good sign!"
"I'll have to remove his hood to check for any concussions." A third paramedic, another man, said as he goes in to remove Golden Arrow's hood, but a hand stops him from doing so.
"Do it, and a broken arm will be the least of your troubles!" Golden Arrow warned, grunting in pain as he let go of the third paramedic's arm and slowly got up, limping as his other hand grasped his abdomen. Arrow tries to walk away, but he stumbles a bit and nearly falls to his knees before Captain Batista catches him.
"Woah, woah, woah, woah! Arrow, you are in no condition to walk anywhere." She said.
"Captain, I've been doing this for about two years, and I've fought in worse conditions than this. Plus, if there's one thing I've learned in my training before that, it's how to deal... deal with, deal with and ignore pain-!" Golden Arrow said before he fell down to the floor, suffocating as he tried to gasp for air.
The medics rushed over to him once more and lifted Golden Arrow onto a stretcher, putting him there as one listens to his chest with a stethoscope, checking for his lungs.
"We got a collapsed lung, might be from the air trapped in him!" The female medic said.
"Alright, get the crash cart! He needs oxygen, go!" The male medic ordered the other two as they both got up and rushed away, as the former and Captain Batista turned back to Golden Arrow.
"Arrow, we're gonna have to rip the top half of your suit open so the medic can relieve the pressure but we're gonna need you to hold still, okay?" Captain Batista asked.
Golden Arrow said nothing as he suffocated, but gave a small nod as agreement and consent. The medic then rips open the top half of Golden Arrow's suit as he begins to apply some topical anesthetic onto Hunter's chest, then the medic wiped the anesthetic off with napkin before placing a catheter on his chest, right where his lungs are, and pulls out a needle from his medical bag. The other two medics returned with an oxygen tank
"Now, son, this is going to hurt. Are you sure about this?" The male medic asked.
"Do it!" Golden Arrow gasped, nodding his head in assurance.
The medic pierces Golden Arrow with a needle, who grunts loudly and gasps. The medic removes part of the needle, causing air to hiss out of Golden Arrow's chest. Golden Arrow groans as his breathing stabilizes, with the female medic removing the needle and the catheter.
The male medic listens to Golden Arrow's lungs with the stethoscope again, as the latter sighs with his breathing becoming normal again.
"Arrow, we'll have to take you to a hospital. You might have a concussion or fractured rib."
"No... no hospital!" Golden Arrow groaned in pain as he got up, picking up his bow with his right arm as he then curled it and pocketed it away, before a hand reached out, stopping him.
"The doctors need to do a full check on you! You have a broken left arm, and you might also have either a concussion, a fractured rib, or a broken bone!" Captain Batista protested.
"So what? As I was saying earlier, I've been trained by the Green Arrow. Not only in combat and archery, but also how to deal with pain and ignore it." Golden Arrow said before he readjusted his left arm, bones cracking as he groaned in pain. The sound of bones cracking caused Captain Batista and the medics to cringe, wincing at how painful that must've been. "And I've also faced dangerous enemies in worse conditions in the last two years. So I can handle this."
Golden Arrow then mounts on his motorbike and rode off, not saying anything as Captain Batista, the medics, and the civilians all watched him leave.
After Luz and King put Eda back in her nest, the Owl Lady woke up, gasping for air as she sat up in her nest. Eda then noticed there were still some feathers, before slurping up the rest of the elixir and watching as the feathers went away.
"Urgh! My head, what happened?" Eda asked before she gagged and vomited over the side of her nest.
Though it wasn't vomit as it was a giant owl pellet, ones that normal owls dedicate to get rid of the bones of their eaten prey. The pellet soon cracked open and revealed the eaten Snaggleback, alive and unharmed except for some discomfort.
"I'm just gonna lie here for a bit." he said as he just laid in the cracked pellet.
"And when did I ever eat you?" she questioned before King walked up to her.
"When turned into that cursed monster and ate him while hunting us." he said as Eda turned to him.
"King? What are you doing here and how do you-" she tried to asked before he shushed her and pointed up.
Turning her gazed to the ceiling, Eda was met with the surprising sight of light orbs, dozens in her room and floating all around.
"Where did these come from?" she asked the demon.
"From me." Luz said as she walked up to Eda, her suit, makeup, and gear now put away. Only with a notepad, pen, and her phone were in the human's hands.
"But how?" Eda asked.
"You showed me." Luz said as she show Eda her phone, showing her the inverted and bolded frame of the video she recorded earlier. "I was able to figure it out and found a spell glyph inside the circle you drew. I think this must've been how ancient witches did magic."
"Wow, you really did it." Eda said as Luz put her phone away.
"Yeah, I did." Luz smiled before her face turned into a frown. "How are you feeling, Eda?"
"Well, other than me having the worst headache in the Boiling Isles and my mouth tasting like roadkill... not feeling good." Eda said, looking down in shame and regret., "I apologize that you two had to find out about me like that."
"Eda, how did this happen?" Luz asked, as she sat down next to King.
When I was younger, about somewhere your age, Luz, I was cursed. I don't know exactly how it happened or who did it to me, but all I know is that if I don't take my elixir... well, you know." Eda revealed.
"So that's why people call you the Owl Lady." Hunter said, leaning on the doorframe, now in his casual clothes but with his left arm covered in a splint and his forehead bandaged with steri strips as he entered the room. Luz, Eda, and King all turned to look at him, but they saw that he was partially covered in bandages. Luz rushes to her brother with concern in her face.
"What happened to you?!" Luz demanded in Spanish, worried for Hunter.
"I'll explain later. But for now, are you alright, Hermana?" Hunter asked, speaking in Spanish as well
Luz didn't like it that her brother was dodging his current situation, but she nodded yes, responding to his question.
Hunter then turns to Eda again, "Like I was saying, is that why everyone in the Isles calls you the Owl Lady?"
Eda nods her head "No one likes having a curse, but if you take the right steps, then it's manageable."
"So are you okay?" Hunter asked.
"I should be asking you, what happened to you in the Human Realm?" Eda exclaimed, pointing to both the splint on his arm and the strips on his forehead.
"As I said to Luz, I'll explain later, but just answer my question. Are you okay now?" Hunter stubbornly said.
"Well, there's nothing for you three to worry about. It's all under control, and as long as I have my elixir, then I'll be fine." Eda responded.
After a few moments, Luz ran up to her brother, pulling him over.
"Well, Hunter, on the bright side, look what I can do now!" Luz said. She got out a pen and a small piece of paper, and drew the light glyph before then tapping it. It turned into a glowing ball of light, hovering in the air.
The sight of it impressed Eda and Hunter.
'Mamá, Papá, Ollie... I wish you were all here to see this. You'd be so proud of her the same way I am right now.' Hunter thought with a small smile as he remembered his adoptive parents and Oliver.
"Wow, kiddo... you learned your first spell." Eda said with a smile. "Look at what you did, all of this magic without a magic bile sack. Nice job, kid."
"Yeah, Hermana. That's some skill you got there." Hunter said, a smile on his face as well.
"Thanks, I had some great friends to help me out along the way." Luz said as she smiled at her and King.
"Hunter, you coming?" Luz asked her brother, who just stared down on the floor, his face in deep thought. "Hunter? HERMANO!"
"Huh?! What?" Hunter looked up startled as he was brought back to reality. "Oh. Sorry, Hermanita, I was just in... deep thought about something."
"Are you okay?" Luz asked, concerned for her brother.
"Well, other than the near-death experience I went through back in the Human Realm and the injuries that I've bandaged myself in, I'm fine." Hunter stated.
"Near-death experience?!" Luz, Eda, and King shouted.
"How badly injured did you get? What happened there exactly?" Eda demanded.
Hunter looked over to the others, seeing he had no other option but to explain. He inhaled a deep breath before exhaling and began explaining what went on there.
"I was in the middle of patrolling New Haven, until I spotted Brickwell's men selling illegal weapons to some gangsters at a warehouse in Long Wharf. I was able to stop them and interrogate one of Brickwell's men and find out why he wants New Haven, before I knocked the poor bastard out cold."
"Brickwell. Of course." Luz muttered in anger.
"I'm sorry, but who is this 'Brickwell' you two mention?" Eda asked, making air quotes at Brickwell's name.
"Daniel Brickwell, alias 'Brick'. He's a dangerous crime boss who's been in our city for six months, and we have been working so hard to bring him down, but we could never find anything against him. The local law enforcement and the entire criminal underworld call him 'Brick' because of his borderline superhuman durability, and his literal brick red-like appearance." Luz explains.
"How dangerous is he?" King asked.
"Very dangerous, King. He deals in illegal weapons, human trafficking, narcotic deals, and murder. He is basically someone who desires nothing but power and money, and he is a cruel, sadistic, and unstable son of a bitch who enjoys hurting and killing people. Even using brutal methods to show his power and make an example of them." Hunter says grimly, much to both Eda and King's shock.
"Well, why not let the professionals handle him then?" Eda asked.
"That's the thing, Eda. The first time we fought Brickwell, he dealt with us as if we were nothing. He was too merciless and too strong, he nearly killed me had it not been for Luz. From there, we also learned that there are some police officers, judges, and lawyers who are currently on Brickwell's payroll. Anything strongly-worded claim from anyone who dares speak against Brickwell and his crimes, and Brickwell and his team will deny it." Hunter revealed, much to Eda and King's horror. "So the best we can do for now is just take down his operations before our city becomes crime-ridden."
"Why not seek help from your other hero friends?" King asked.
"Because we have to do this ourselves, King. This is our fight, not theirs." Luz said, before sighing as she rubbed her eyes. "And besides, they might be busy with their problems at the moment."
"Anyway, like I was saying before; I stopped their weapons deal and was about to leave the warehouse, but then, out of nowhere, a figure appeared and blasted me with a sonic scream, and it disoriented me." Hunter said.
Luz turned to her brother in alarm "A sonic scream? Are you sure?"
Hunter nodded before continuing "I couldn't figure out who that mystery person was because they wore an all-black suit, but there was something about their mask... first, it was shaped as a spiral but then it morphed into a soundwave pattern."
Luz was horrified by this, as were Eda and King.
"So, who were they?" Luz asked
"I don't know, but there was something about them... they communicated in fluent sign language." Hunter said before shaking his head. "But regardless, we'll deal with that... sound assassin another time. So for now, we have to focus on Brickwell and take him before New Haven becomes Star City all over again." Hunter says, before wincing in pain and falling to his knees as he held his left side.
"Gah!" He yells from the sharp pain on his side.
"Hunter!" Luz, Eda, and King all shouted, in alarm and worry, as Luz and Eda rushed to help Hunter get back up.
He looked down to his side, wrapped in a cloth, to see it was staining red.
"You're bleeding!" Luz said in alarm.
"Hey, it's okay. I- I feel... fine... " Hunter insists, but he then passes out from the pain and collapses on the floor.
"Hunter!" Luz, Eda, and King quickly run to him and Eda picks him up.
"We got to get him to the Healing Coven, now!" Eda worriedly says.
Luz nods rapidly. "Let's go!"
Luz and Eda then rushed out the room, with Hunter in tow, as King looks on with concern and worry.
The Snaggleback, who listened the whole time, placed a comforting hand on King's shoulder. "Your friend will make it."
King sighed as he looked down "I know."
The Snaggleback then saw King's book on the floor and picked it up, looking at it. "You know, this book is filled with so many interesting things. Like this. I'm one of the strongest demons on the Boiling Isles, huh?" He asks pointing to the page that featured himself.
King turns to see what the Snaggleback was pointing.
"Yeah, I'm gonna have to edit that." He said, as he now saw that he was wrong
"Aw..." The Snaggleback groaned in disappointment.
Back in Gravesfield, New Haven, a figure with reddish, stony skin looked out to the horizon at his office, as he drank a glass of liquor; it was Daniel Brickwell, or known to many as "Brick". The doors opened as the mystery figure from before entered Brickwell's office, their mask hiding their appearance.
"Mr. Brickwell." The figure greeted, their voice distorted.
"Onomatopoeia" Brick greeted the figure back, without turning around. "Has our friend, the Golden Arrow been dealt with?"
"Yes. Although it is very unlikely that he died in the warehouse collapse." Onomatopoeia answered.
Brick just glowered his eyes before turning around. "Maybe, but no matter. I offered both him and his sidekick a deal, but like their predecessor, they have both proven to be quite as stubborn and valiant. And besides, for all those two can try to stop me, I almost have complete and full control of New Haven."
Brick gave an evil smirk as he walked out of his office. "Let them come and stop me."