Luz Clawthorne: Two Worlds, One Family

by JP-Ryder

Co-Author with BuckJohnson. After the events of Book One, the Clawthornes have two new guests to take care of. While Luz gets used to some changes and Amity does some soul-searching, new dangers come to the Boiling Isles. Will Luz and her family be able to stop Belos and save their home? Will explore dark topics and themes.

74. Chapter 106: Highway to Mel

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.

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Chapter 106: Highway to Mel

"Hello, Luz."

"Baron Samedi?!" Luz exclaimed, causing the Baron to chuckle while in Lilith's body.

"Yours truly," the Baron responded with Lilith's grin.

"Samedi?!" Kitsuni and Jack exclaimed. They were in shock, as was Hercules and his sons.

"Isn't he the guy that dropped by Bacchus's party once?" Alex said.

"Ah yes, Bacchus throws some of the best parties and always has the best wine," the Baron said, feeling nostalgic.

"I don't know what you're up to, but what did you do with the original owner of the body, Baron Samedi?!" Hercules demanded to know.

"Zeus's boy, I see," the Baron said. "To answer your question, while all of you fell into Mel's nightmare trap, I took the opportunity to claim Lilith's soul… I needed a body, so hers will do, since I do own her soul… if you don't wish for the confusion, just refer to me as they/them."

"You…" Eda snarled as she grabbed the Baron by the shirt. The Baron looked unfazed by this. "I don't know what sick game this is, but you get out of my sister's body right now! It is not yours!"

"Tell us where Lilith is now!" Hunter demanded.

"How can you just take her body like that?!" Amity called him out.

"Relax, she is safe… with my friends," the Baron answered calmly. "But I'm the least of your concerns right now. Mel is a far larger problem right now, so you should probably take care of her first."

"He's got a point," Puck said as he walked up to the group, rubbing his sides after his fight with the shadow. "Mel is making her way down to Tartarus as we speak."

"And she's going to release Cronus and who knows what else!" Kitsuni said with a worried expression.

Jack sighed. "I am afraid we will have to deal with the Baron later," he admitted. "Because our top priority does have to be to stop Mel."

Eda reluctantly let the Baron go, still glaring at him. "Fine, but as soon as we stop Mel, we are going to get to you," she warned the Baron-possessed Lilith.

"Oh, I have no doubt," the Baron said, creeping Eda out since he still sounded like her sister, just… different.

"Uh, I think you mortals should actually leave stopping cousin Mel to us," Alex told them.

"Wait, what? Hang on, we're not going anywhere," Eda said, turning to the gods.

"Yeah, after everything Mel did to us, we want to help put that bitch in her place," Luz said.

"I understand that and we're sorry but you guys are just going to have to sit this one through," Persephone told them. "As the true Queen of the Underworld, we can't allow mortals to get in the way."

"Now hold on there, Pinky.-"

"Luz, Eda, I think we should sit this one out," Hunter suggested. "I mean, we have who we came here for. We got both Ed and King."

"Yeah, I'm honestly fine with letting these gods fight Mel head on," Gus agreed. "We're tired from fighting these monsters and zombies, I think we just need a break."

Luz and Eda turned to each other, knowing that their friends were right. "Yeah, we should sit this one out," Eda admitted. "The adrenaline rush has got to us, almost forgot about the other mortal teens that are somewhere down here."

"Other… teenage mortals?!" Persephone asked.

"Yeah, Cross, and Lindsay came with us to save Edric, King, and a girl named Emily," Hunter said. "Mel sent her here to receive eternal punishment in her own personal hell."

"She sent a living mortal down here for eternal punishment?!" Persephone exclaimed, looking furious before she managed to calm herself down. "Okay, this is definitely a PR nightmare."

"Plus there are two others she kidnapped," King pointed out. "Some twin guys with red and blue hair…"

"Cups and Mugs." Edric said. "Mel had them captured as well for some belated father's day gift."

"The Holder brothers? Oh Zeus, not them…" Persy groaned.

"What? What did they do?" Gus asked.

"The Holder brothers are on my husband's… s-word list," Persephone explained. "Cups specifically, as when he died he tricked Hades into granting his life back. Cheating death is a death god's worst nightmare."

"He pulled a Sisyphus on Grunkle Hades?" Ani asked in shock. "Impressive."

"Looks like we gotta find these mortals as well," Hercules said.

"Yeah, we can't leave anyone behind. Not those brothers, Cross, Lindsay, or even Emily," Luz muttered while turning to the Baron-possessed Lilith, who smiled at her. "And we're not leaving Lilith behind."

"Didn't you guys bring in some reinforcements?" Hunter asked the gods. "Like, in case something really, really goes bad?"

"He's right," Willow said. "If this Cronus guy is really bad news, are you prepared to take him?"

"Hmm, yeah, one of us should go and get some back-up," Persephone said with a nod as Ani stepped up.

"I'll go," Ani volunteered. "I can round up some help, have Hermes send out an alert."

"Excellent, Anicetus," Hercules said, nodding.

"Wait," King said as he walked up to Ani while pointing to Laura and the animals. "Can you take them with you? Is there somewhere safe where you can take them?"

Ani looked at the animals. "Yeah, I'll get them all to a safer realm, away from here. At least until we can send them all home."

"You mean… we're really getting out of here?" the cat asked.

"We really are free!" the snake declared as the animal demons cheered as Ani led them all to the portal.

Laura turned to King, as she went up and hugged him. "Thank you, King," she told him. "For saving us."

"Yeah, no problem, Laura," King replied, surprised by the hug but he hugged her back. Once she released him from her hug, he watched her go with the animals.

"Ooh, she seems nice," Luz said to King, kneeling towards him. "She's your new friend?"

"Yeah, she's from another realm," King said while noticing Luz's look. "What?"

"Nothing, just… noticed that you have Clawthorne charm as well," Luz teased.

"What? Oh, nonono, we just met…" King stammered while turning away from Luz, who just chuckled.

"Alright, I think we've hung around long enough. Let's go stop Mel, find these mortal teens, and save the worlds," Hercules declared.

"We'll find the missing kids," Eda said while she turned to Ed. "If you have any idea where these Holder brothers are, it would help."

"Well, I don't know where she took them specifically," Edric admitted.

Persephone had a thought. "I may know where they may be…"

---

Meanwhile, Mel stood in front of the gates of Tartarus. She held up her keyblade and used it to zap the gates, causing them to magically open. As she entered Tartarus, she caught the eyes of its inhabitants.

"What be here?!" spoke one large red serpent monster with serpent hands, Typhon.

"Are we free?" asked the green female monster, Echidna.

"Who's there?!" cried out the blue four-armed serpent, Cetus.

"Attention prisoners of Tartarus!" Mel shouted as they all looked at her. "I am Melonie, daughter of Hades and your new Queen of the Underworld!"

"New queen?!" one witch woman spoke from the shadows.

"That's right!" Mel declared. "The Underworld is under new management, and you are all paroled! Y'all wanna be freed? Let's go spread some chaos!"

The inhabitants cheered as Mel freed them and they began making their way out of Tartarus. As Mel freed various large creatures, demons, Titans, and other evils, she passed by a pale witch wearing blue with a blue cape and ice-blue headband and black hair.

"Melinoe… such an honor to parole us-"

"Don't like a suck up, Hecate," Mel told her. "Go and have some fun or whatever," she told her while flying further into the depths of Tartarus.

Mel eventually reached the deepest depths of Tartarus, where she found a large figure who was covered in chains.

"It's nice to finally meet you… grandpapa," Mel told the larger Titan who looked down at her.

Cronus took a whiff. "Who might you be, little one? You smell like… a goddess."

"I'm Melonie, Hades's daughter," she told him. "New Queen of the Underworld, and I'm here to make you an offer you can't refuse."

"An offer?" Cronus asked.

"How would you, grandpapa, like to have a chance at vengeance against your own sons who placed you here? A once in a lifetime opportunity, to put Uncle Zeusy back in his place!" Mel offered him.

"Vengeance? Zeus?" Cronus asked while sporting a grin. "Now that's something I will gladly take!"

Mel grinned. "Excellent!" she declared while using the keyblade to unlock the chains around Cronus.

"Hehe… I've been feeling stiff for eons!" Cronus declared as he finally stood up, his massive body towering over her. "And now… the gods will know of my wrath!"

Mel smiled as she saw her grandfather take a step. However, she very quickly started to make her leave, knowing better to stick around too long…

---

The immortal heroes had arrived at Tartarus, where they saw the gates were opened, vile villains and monsters heading for the open gates.

"We can't let them get out!" Puck shouted.

"We must hold the line until reinforcements come!" Kitsuni said while using ninjutsu to form clones.

Cetus roared while stepping out as the immortals saw him along with Typhon and Echidna. Hercules knew the latter two.

"Well, well, if it isn't Zeus's boy!" Typhon recognized Hercules. "Grown up to be a god!"

"Typhon, right? You're the guy grandpapa took down!" Alex realized.

"Yeah? And who's asking?" Typhon asked, only for Alex to jump up in the air, and drop a kick to the chest.

"Hubby!" Echidna cried out, seeing Typhon fall back. Jack grew tall to face off the mother of all monsters, who blocked his attack. "You will pay for that!"

Typhon got up with help from Cetus. "These immortals are more trouble than our worth, Ty."

"Well let's see how they handle my kids!" Typhon declared.

"Kids?" Puck asked, only to see dozens of monsters coming through the gates.

"Oh my… they've been busy," Persephone said, seeing the sons and daughters of Typhon and Echidna.

"We can't let them out!" Puck shouted..

"I'll make sure they won't!" Persephone said as she pressed her hands on the ground, summoning large branches and plants that blocked the entrance and prevented the monsters and prisoners from coming through. The monsters slashed at the branches, but more popped up to replace them.

"If any of them escapes, we'll just have to punch them out, right dad?" Alex asked while he and his father pushed on the doors of Tartarus, though they were unable to close it all the way.

"Definitely, Alex." Herc nodded while they, along with Persephone, took the lead.

"You didn't bother a head count," said a voice.

They all turned and saw that Hecate had managed to sneak past them. They were about to attack, but she held her hands up. "Wait, wait! I'm not here to fight! I can help you!"

"You… want to help?" Hercules asked.

"I know that we've had our differences, with me trying to stage a company takeover twice," Hecate said. "But I really do want to help! I just want my freedom, and I'm willing to earn it. I've been rehabilitated, so can you give this old witch another chance?" she asked with a hopeful smile.

"Should we really trust her?" Jack asked Herc.

"I mean, she did try to take over the Underworld twice," Hercules replied. "It is why Hades banished her to Tartarus."

Persephone considered it. "Well… if you really mean it, Hecate, then I'm willing to give you a chance!" Persephone declared, much to Alex's shock.

"What?!" Alex exclaimed. "Are we really going to trust her?"

"Well, she's spent a whole long time in Tartarus, and I always believe in second chances," Persephone said.

"Thank you, my Queen," Hecate responded. "Because something tells me you are going to need all the help you can get…"

---

"Trini, wake up!"

Mel smacked Trini across the face, making her wince. "OW! Fuck, my face!" Trini said while noticing her reflection, her front teeth were chipped and she had a black eye. "My face! My teeth!"

"Forget about your fucking face!" Mel grabbed Trini by the shirt. "You let my Eddie go!"

"I was ambushed, alright?" Trini told her while Mel pushed her back.

"We need to get him back, there's no way I'm letting Mittens take away what belongs to me!" Mel declared, her eyes flaming. "That is my vow!"

"But what about D-Josh?" Trini asked, pointing at the paralyzed genie below.

"Leave him, he's dead weight now," Mel responded. "He was useful, but now we can't count on him retrieving my boyfriend." She then turned back to Trini. "I know that you ratted me out…"

"Oh? I thought you'd have figured out that I had told your dad already," Trini responded.

"I mean telling Eddie about those two hags!" Mel pointed out, her face angry.

Trini, for the first time, looked very nervous. She knew that when Mel really got pissed off, she wouldn't punish her like how she would like… Mel could end her.

"What… what are you going to do to me?" Trini asked nervously.

Mel stared at Trini. "Nothing… for now," she said while caressing Trini's hair. "After all, I still need you. How else am I going to create a new Mel-mania without someone to persuade others to join my cult?"

Mel walked around Trini, who gave a sigh of relief. The cambion then turned to follow Mel.

---

Edric led the heroes to where Mel's room was, which they began to search.

"Any helpful info about Mel would be great, Ed," Luz told him. "Like, do you know any weaknesses or something to help take down a mad goddess?"

"I'm not sure if she has any weaknesses, other than her anger issues," Edric responded.

"That could work," Boscha said. "If anything, anger issues can be one's worst enemy. I know from experience…"

"Boscha's right, we can use something to make her mad," Eda said. "Like anything to mock her for…?"

"Well, other than her daddy issues, and that she does hate her mom from what I've learned… there are also these… siblings that she once knew, human in fact," Edric mentioned.

"Siblings?" Amity asked.

"Yeah, from what I've heard, they used to be friends with her until she had a falling out with them because this girl, Aurore, who blamed Mel because her brother fell victim to a curse, though Josh said that she didn't really do it," Edric said, which made Amity's eyes widen.

"Wait, wait, wait… her name was Aurore?" Amity asked him, recognizing that name. "What can you tell us more about her…"

"All I know is that she's some duchess from a place called France in the Human Realm," Edric responded. "Just mentioning them makes her angry."

"Aurore… that sounds like this girl I met before in the Human Realm, who had this radical hatred towards Fae," Amity mentioned.

"Wait, you mean the girl from the Northwest party?" Luz asked.

"Wait," Boscha spoke up, confused. "How did you meet a duchess in the Human Realm?"

Luz and Amity paused, realizing that Boscha doesn't know about where Amity, Willow and Gus really were. They looked at each other.

"I think we should tell her," Sam suggested to Amity, who gave a nod.

"Well… you see, about um…" Eda tried to explain, but Amity stepped in.

"No, Boscha, you deserve to know the truth," she said. "You know how me, Willow, Gus, and Eve were captured by the Tarot Guild? Actually… that was a cover story."

"What?" Boscha asked.

"When I went up to the Knee to look for Titan's Blood, me and Hunter actually encountered Puck disguised as an old man. He stranded me in the Human Realm, just as he did to Eve, Gus, and Willow," she explained. "All of us were separated, but luckily we managed to meet up in a place called Gravity Falls."

"I only realized later that they were in the Human Realm after having Morty and Summer help work a makeshift portal door, which didn't really work as intended," Luz added. "But after gathering some resources and with Matt and the Smiths' help, we managed to make a new portal door and rescue everyone."

"Did… all of you knew?" Boscha asked, looking at everyone, including Hunter. They all nodded.

"It was important that Belos didn't know, cause we know he would want that portal door and if he realized we had one he would stop at nothing to get his hands on it," Luz explained. "Please don't be mad at us for keeping this from you, Boscha. It's very important that Belos or the Emperor's Coven don't know that we have had access to the Human Realm recently."

Boscha gave her a look of reassurance. "I'm… not mad. I totally get why you didn't say anything about it and I wasn't in the know. I mean, we only recently became friends. So of course I wouldn't be privy to information like that right away. Who else knows?"

"Well, Skara, Bo, Matt, Emira, Viney, Jerbo, Barcus, Amelia and Cat, the Smiths, Odalia, and Willow's folks," Gus counted.

"And Uncle Geist," Edric added.

"Not to mention the SSE, since Eve was also trapped with us," Amity added.

"Okay, so then why is Puck helping us now?" Boscha questioned. "Even after everything he did to you guys?"

"He wasn't in the right state of mind at the time," Luz clarified. "Belos killed him and the Inner Demon got a hold of him when he regenerated."

"As long as Fae souls are intact, they can't really die," Amity explained.

"Well, unless they foolishly trade their souls away to someone and it comes time to collect, like with the Coachman," the Baron pointed out. "Though even then, sometimes the Fae come back… wrong."

"I see…" Boscha said, while looking at the Baron. "So… what's the deal with you… Baron guy who's possessing Lilith?"

The Baron smiled. "You're Nicole's girl, right?"

This caught Boscha by surprise. "Wait, you know my mother?"

"I thought that would pique your interest," the Baron teased.

"Okay, that is enough," Luz said as she marched up to them. "Again, where's Lilith?" she demanded.

"Hmm, I'm not sure if you'd like the answer…"

"Tell us where Lilith is this instant!" Amity told him off. "What you're doing… it's just not right!"

"We want her back!" Luz demanded again.

"Well it's too late for that… because she's already given up," the Baron said, which shocked the two.

"What?" Luz and Amity asked in shock, Eda looked shocked as well.

"What the hell do you mean she's given up?!" Eda demanded to know.

"Lilith let herself believe that she didn't deserve to be in your lives anymore after all the sins she's committed and all the damage she has done to your lives," the Baron explained. "She believes that you are better off without her… so I've taken possession of her soul and her body. I've been meaning to see how her body would do and I really do want to help stop Melinoe."

"We had a deal!" Luz pointed out, grabbing the Baron's, or Lilith's, shirt.

"I know we did, child… but you still haven't lived up to your end of the deal," the Baron pointed out.

"Deal?" Willow asked, turning to Luz. "What does he mean by that?"

"Yeah, what kind of deal did you make with that guy?" Boscha asked while Luz let the Baron go.

"It… look, we have to focus on finding those two brothers right now," Luz told them.

Hunter, however, angrily marched up to the Baron. "I find it hard to believe that Lilith has given up, why should we trust your word?"

"Believe me or don't, it doesn't matter either way," the Baron said while readjusting themselves.

"You… didn't eat any food, did you?" Willow asked Edric, pointing to a platter of food.

"No, I was on a hunger strike," Edric responded. "I was tempted, but I didn't want anything she gave me."

"Well, it is a good thing you didn't," Eda told him. "Cause if you did, you'd have been stuck here for all eternity."

Ed's eyes widened at that. "What?! Mel never told me that!"

"Well once we get home, you'll be given the best welcome back feast." Amity told her brother, who gave her a smile.

"I hope so, cause I could use a big meal," he said while going under the bed, pulling out the Sword of Adam. "Looking for this?"

"The Sword of Adam!" Amity said while Ed handed it back to her. "Thanks, Ed, I-" She looked and noticed the look he gave, a look of guilt. "Ed…?"

"You deserve better," Edric admitted and Amity realized what he meant.

She patted his shoulder. "Ed, maybe we can discuss this when this is all over."

He nodded. "Yeah, we should."

---

Meanwhile, the trio of Cross, Lindsay and Emily were making their way through the Underworld, Pain and Panic leading them.

"Thank you for agreeing to help us find our friends, Mr. Pain and Panic," Lindsay told the imps.

"It's no problem," Pain replied.

"Y-Y-Yeah, just don't tell Mel we helped you," Panic said while shivering. "We are more afraid of her than our boss…"

"So… how did you guys get here?" Emily asked. "And… who else is with you?"

Cross and Lindsay shared a reluctant look. They didn't know if they should decide to tell Emily who came with them yet.

"Well, the only way they could have gotten here is with a token," Panic mentioned. "And I think I remember the boss gave one to that witch girl for finding Spot…"

"Yeah, what was her name? Lizzie? Luna? Laverne?" Pain asked.

"Well I know it's not Shirley," Panic replied before he snapped his fingers. "Wait, I know! It's-"

"Luz Clawthorne?" Emily guessed, causing Cross and Lindsay to look at her. "She's here, isn't she?"

Cross reluctantly replied. "Y-Yeah… along with her mom, and her friends."

"Really?" Emily asked, narrowing her eyes. "I doubt they all came to save me…"

"Well, Mel did take Luz and Amity's brothers as well," Cross admitted. "They just let us tag along so we could get you."

"Of course…" Emily muttered.

"But Ms. Owl Lady did agree that you should be rescued, even argued with her daughter over it," Lindsay pointed out, which made Emily scoff bitterly.

"Yeah, probably just to ease her own conscience for cursing me," Emily said while looking down. She sighed. "Not surprised that Luz wanted to leave me here to rot… which I don't blame her for. Still surprised that you guys came for me."

"Not just that, we literally went through Hell for you," Cross pointed out.

"I still fear that the crazy tour guide will come after us," Lindsay admitted.

Emily decided to not question that. "But when we get back… where would I go?" Emily asked. "I can't go back to the Castle…"

"Well… how about you stay with me and my family?" Lindsay suggested.

Emily looked surprised. "R-Really? But… what if they don't want me there? I don't want to intrude-"

"We'll figure it out together," Lindsay reassured her, patting Emily's hand. "In the meantime, we should find the others…"

Cross turned to Pain and Panic. "You know where you're going, right?"

"Oh definitely," Panic nodded.

---

Hades was being dragged down into the River Styx by the souls. He tried to get them off of him, pushing them off but he kept getting pulled in.

"Get off of me!" Hades shouted while he started to remember the last time he fell into the River Styx…

---

Thousands of years ago…

It has been a while since he was knocked into the River Styx. It wasn't easy, but he had finally managed to climb out of the river of souls.

"Gah! Finally!" Hades shouted as he made it to the surface. "Good Gaia, At least I didn't fall into the Lethe this time…"

After climbing onto the banks of the River, he began muttering to himself. "Okay, so my plans to rule the cosmos hit a little snag, made a bad gamble with the nephew… but hopefully once I suck up to my brother when I see him again… oy, that's not-" He then noticed some flora around. "What in Helio's flames…?" He looked around and noticed blooming fauna all around the Underworld, much to his confusion. "How long have I been gone…?"

He headed for his throne, marching up some steps, various demons and skeletons noticing Hades's presence.

"H-Hades?!" Pain exclaimed in shock. He and Panic were at a water cooler.

"H-H-Hades… y-y-you're back!" Panic said nervously. Both were wearing snake-ties.

"Yes, yes, I'm back," Hades said as he ignored the imps, continuing to head to the throne and found sitting on it… the pink-skinned goddess, Persephone, who was in the middle of a talk with a black winged deity woman. "What the…?!"

Persephone looked up at Hades. "Oh… you must be Hades," she said while turning to the deity. "Nyx, you can be dismissed now," she said, standing up while Nyx left. "So… you must be Mr. Hades, it's nice to finally meet you-"

"Yeah, yeah, okay first question, who are you?" Hades asked. "And why are you sitting on my throne? And why does this place suddenly look like the Garden of Eden?"

"Oh, since we haven't formally met, my name is Persephone," she introduced.

"Wait, Demeter's girl?" Hades realized.

"Yes, and I'm also the goddess of the spring… and the new ruler of the Underworld."

Hades looked at Persephone with a blank expression. "What."

"Well, after you went absent, the Underworld fell into disarray without a ruler," Persephone explained. "So Zeus decided that he needed to place someone else in charge… which is where I came in! I volunteered to be in charge of the Underworld because I wanted the extra responsibility, and well you don't see many goddesses getting a big promotion like this-"

"Wait, wait, wait, so let me get this straight," Hades interrupted her. "Did… did my brother place a spring goddess in charge of my domain?! Not to mention-" He summoned Pain and Panic, holding them by the tails. "You gave my minions ties?!"

"Um sir, calling us minions is derogatory now," Pain said.

"Yeah, yeah we prefer to be called employees," Panic added. "Plus this counts as employee abuse."

"Hey, put them down, right now!" Persephone told Hades, surprising him. "Mr. Hades, I would not allow a hostile work environment in my domain."

"You… you honestly think you can tell me what to do? Hades? The Ruler of the Underworld? Lord of the Dead? While you are nothing but some little spring goddess who thinks she can play in the big boy's game?!" Hades barked at her. "If you think that I am going to let some little garden maiden take over my turf… YOU HAVE ANOTHER THING COMING!"

He burst into flames while glaring down at Persephone in anger, but the goddess wasn't fazed by this at all. "Are you done?" she asked him calmly while Pain and Panic hid behind her.

Once Hades calmed down, he looked at his former minions. "You two are taking her side?!"

"Well, Persephone's a lot nicer than you were, sir," Pain said.

"Y-Yeah! She helped us go through a little rehabilitation through seminars and granted us well deserved holidays off…" Panic added. "We um… prefer her over you, sir."

"You plubes prefer little miss sunshine over me?!" Hades called them out while turning to Persephone. "What… what makes you qualified to rule the Underworld?!"

"You're not the first who said that," Persephone said while looking at Hades, standing her ground. "You know, as a spring goddess, I've always been underestimated by those who think all I can do is grow some grain and cause some flowers to bloom. But I wanted to do more than that. When I volunteered, I was heckled by the 'big boys' who didn't think I can do it. Ares, Narcissus, my ex Apollo, didn't believe that I could handle it. But I've proved my worth! Thing is, I've been underestimated for too long and I'm not going to let the traitor of Olympus tell me off and question my authority here!"

She snapped her fingers, causing large branches and vines to sprout and entangle Hades. "What the… what are you doing?!"

"Booting you out of my kingdom, your ex-highness," she declared as Hades was thrown out of the dark kingdom… with a complimentary tote bag.

---

Later, Hades went up to the gates of Mt. Olympus to file a complaint, even if it meant facing… his brother again.

"Hades," said a golden skinned godly man with white curly hair, a beard, blue eyes, and a purple roman toga around his most muscular physique. He looked at his brother sternly. Alongside him was Hermes.

"Zeusy," Hades responded. "Man, lots of things have changed since I've been gone… are these tablets new?" he asked, holding up a tablet with a mirror attached to them. "Anyway, I've come back and I know that the last time I was here we both left on some bad terms-"

"Oh, so you've met Persephone," Zeus indicated. "Well someone had to run the Underworld and she'd be good to represent both Olympus and the Underworld."

"And the charts there are always banging!" Hermes shouted while holding up the charts that went up.

"Yeah, but maybe we could work something out, eh? I know that my little company takeover around here was a little-"

"By company takeover you mean trying to overthrow me and rule Mt. Olympus and the cosmos?" Zeus pointed out, making Hades wince. "If you wish to have any position in the Underworld, perhaps I can get Persephone to hire you as her employee."

"E...EMPLOYEE?!" Hades looked pissed off. "You want me to be her minion?! I'd rather serve that mortal King Xerxes I than that pampered madonna! I've been running the Underworld far longer than she has been playing hopscotch with those little spring nymphs!"

"Well then if you're not satisfied with a lower position… you can just leave the Underworld," Zeus pointed out. "Though you should know, brother, you're not exactly welcome here in Olympus right now, after your actions against my rule."

Hades looked slightly panicked, realizing that his brother was right. If he wasn't welcome in both Olympus and the Underworld… he'd have nothing.

Swallowing his pride, Hades begrudgingly agreed. "Fine, I'll… work under Persephone as her… employee."

"Wow, I didn't think he'd accept it," Hermes commented.

"Glad you've agreed… now get out," Zeus told Hades. "You are hereby banished from Mount Olympus until further notice."

"For your crimes of conspiracy, usurpation, enslavement, attempted nepoticide, fratricide, kidnapping Zeus's son and having him turned him into a mortal, and treason," Hermes listed off, making Hades wince.

He was then promptly kicked out of Olympus.

---

"Okay, so I know this place better than you do, not to brag," Hades said as he sat in a chair while Persephone read through his resume. "And you know, I kept this place together in shape, not one complaint. So uh, whadda ya say, dollface, huh?"

"Firstly, don't call me dollface," Persephone told him. "Call me 'your queen'. Secondly, there is a position where you can work…"

---

And that was how Hades began to work under Queen Persephone. He gathered some scrolls to be placed on a desk and read them over.

"Let's see… calculate the deaths in Thebes, followed by a disaster of thousands of souls…" Hades said while using a Greek plate calculator. "Gods, I hate math."

---

"You want me to do what?" Hades asked while standing in a large blue yard.

"Cut the grass for the souls so they feel more welcome," Persephone said while patting a large demon goat. "This goat was a gift from the Norse Gods after settling a deal with Hela."

"Since when am I a gardener?" Hades spat.

Persephone made a phone gesture. "Hey, Zeus, want to know how uncooperative your brother is-"

"Alright, alright! I'll do it," Hades said while getting up on the demon goat, holding its horn while the goat started to munch on the lawn while Hades muttered to himself. "High demanding little, pixie haired-"

"I heard that!" she shouted, prompting Hades to lower his head.

---

Hades was later tasked to walk Cerberus, who was named Spot now.

"Geez, I can't believe she named you Spot," Hades said while walking him around in the Human Realm and keeping him on a leash. "At least, better than Pluto," he muttered. It was then someone threw a disk which prompted Spot to rush off, dragging him along. "AH! SPOT! CALM DOWN! OW!" he shouted while being dragged through the ground while Spot ran.

---

Coming back from another task, Hades noticed a line full of nymphs of all kinds; meliae, dryads, naiads, nereids, etc. One of them was Minthe.

"What's with all the nymphs?" Hades asked while Panic passed by.

"Oh, well Queen Persephone wanted to be more inclusive in her hiring," Panic explained. "She even has plans for the River Styx to be more welcoming!" He showed Hades a planner that contained a drawing of the River Styx using nymphs to welcome souls. "It even comes with a jingle! ~It's a Small Underworld after all~!"

"Oh boy…" Hades groaned at this.

---

At a bar, Hades drank a glass of worm ale as he complained about his new job.

"That Persephone is such an insufferable goddess!" he grumbled while drinking. "She thinks that she can boss me around just because she's the new girl." He rested his head on the counter, looking at the mulch in his drink. "I tell you, she is eventually going to ruin everything and then everyone will be crawling back to me, begging for me to retake the throne. But I can't even fathom why someone like her would actually choose to run the Underworld. Like Zeus did not appoint her. She volunteered. The only other person I know who wanted the job for herself was Hecate but she's in Tartarus."

"Oh I couldn't agree with you more," spoke a familiar voice, revealed to be the spirit of Jafar. "That girl doesn't know her place…"

"Yeah, well, she at least can't get any worse," Hades said as he continued to drink.

---

"THIS IS WHERE I DRAW THE LINE!" Hades shouted while seeing the future plans for the Underworld. "I can take the gift shops, the zen garden and seminars… but if you think you can give the Underworld a new coat of paint! THINK AGAIN!"

"I thought this place could use some more color around, especially with the new agriculture here!" Persephone argued. "This place has been cold and grimy for years!"

"The cold and grimy colors have character!" Hades shouted at her. "Gods, letting a spring goddess run things around here, what sense does that make?!"

"Oh, like you did a better job in running things around here?" Persephone told him off. "Gods, you always had it out for me just because I've made this place a little better than how you ran it."

"Please, this place was fine when I ran it!" Hades scoffs.

"Yeah, sure, with all the conspiracies, the employee abuse, and creating a toxic workplace," she listed them off. "You even used the Fates, which we aren't supposed to do!"

"I would've won if not for those two screw-ups messing it up!" Hades shouted.

"You will not talk about your employees that way!" she shouted back. "This is the kind of behavior that costs you your rule, your title, and your self-respect! Not like you had any in the first place."

"Respect? Do you think you know anything about me, pothead?" Hades asked.

"Well I know that you are seconds away from being fired from the place that you so desperately want back-"

"I DIDN'T EVEN WANT TO RULE THE UNDERWORLD IN THE FIRST PLACE!" Hades shouted while bursting into flames, which caused Persephone's eyes to widen at the slip up.

"Wait, what?" Persephone asked, while Hades paused when he realized what he had said. "You didn't… want to rule the Underworld?"

Not saying a word, Hades stormed out the room. "Hades, wait!" Persephone tried to stop him, but he was gone.

---

Outside of the throne, Hades watched over the River Styx while flicking his cigar. He gave a tired sigh as Persephone managed to find him.

"Let me guess… you want to tell me that you have a no smoking policy around here?" he asked.

"Actually, I wanted to check to see if you're okay, Mr. Hades," Persephone said. "Looks, I know that we've butted heads but this time, I'm willing to hear you out… I mean, you don't have to talk about it if it makes you uncomfortable. But I'm just curious… why did you say that you didn't want to rule the Underworld?"

Hades turned to Persephone while taking his cigar out and putting it out. He looked hard at her, realizing that she did want to hear him out and he figured that he might as well get it off his chest. "Well… unlike you I didn't volunteer to rule the Underworld, that was something my brother tasked me with. Truth is, I hate it here… but, it's all I have now, alright? This place is… my life." He sighed. "It's not like you'd understand anyway."

Persephone stepped closer to him. "You want to know why I wanted to rule the Underworld? I love my mother, but she is very… smothering. And I felt trapped in the role she placed me in as the goddess of spring, probably like how you felt trapped in the role you were placed in. I got tired of blooming flowers and growing crops…" She demonstrated this by growing a flower from her hand. "And like you, I was ambitious. I wanted more. I wanted a chance to prove myself , that I could handle more responsibility. And I got that when I volunteered to rule the Underworld. But I guess I did want to make it more like home, despite the point of me coming here in the first place. Because that is still a part of me, a part of my life." She sighed. "I'll admit, I may have been so desperate to prove myself that I went a little overboard… I guess pink wouldn't fit the Underworld's aesthetic. You do have much more experience than I have in ruling around here."

"Huh… well, at least you finally admit it," Hades said.

She just slightly glared at him before continuing. "Okay, maybe I should hear you out some more, because you do have experience. And I could use the help, especially with the new religions and cults popping up in this age."

"Ugh, don't even get me started," Hades groaned.

"Look, we start off the wrong foot so why don't we just… start over?" Persephone suggested while extending her hand. "Hi. My name is Persephone, goddess of spring."

Hades looked at her hand, then up at Persephone as she smiled at him. After a moment, he reached out and shook her hand. "Hades, lord of the dead. Nice to meet you, Persephone."

---

As Hades continued to be dragged into the depths of the River Styx… someone grabbed him and began to pull him up. Hades looked up and when he saw who saved him, to say he was surprised was an understatement..

"Hang on!" Zeus declared while swimming back to the surface, he and Hades making it to the land. "Hades, are you alright?" he asked while Hades gagged.

"Not the first… time being in there," he said while coughing. "But… thanks. Wait… what are you doing here?"

"Because we have a situation right now!" Zeus explained. "Your daughter, Melinoe, has opened Tartarus… she intends to free Cronus!"

Hades's eyes widened… in fear. "WHAT?!" he shouted, actually sweating. "She's releasing dad?!"

Hades spaced out for a moment, fear overwhelming him. The fear that his father would escape Tartarus. The fear that his father would come for him. The fear of reliving his greatest nightmare of being trapped in his own father's stomach after getting eaten by him…

"Hades! Snap out of it!" Zeus called out, shaking his brother. "I need you! Your wife and daughter need you! They are both in danger!"

At the mention of his wife and his daughter, Hades snapped out of it. "Right, sorry it's just… you brought back some bad memories… of being eaten by Cronus…" He sighed and looked around the dark and gloomy Underworld, a place that often reminded him of his father's stomach. "Not that I could have forgotten…"

A flash of guilt appeared on Zeus's face, knowing what his brother was referring to. He placed his hand on Hades's shoulder. "I know…" He wanted to say more, but there was no time. "Come on, we need to go."

Hades looked up at his brother, nodding. "Fighting side by side. Just like old times…"

---

Meanwhile, Luz's group followed the sound of screaming until they found a screaming guy chained up to the wall with Cups and Mugs.

"Found you guys!" Edric said, seeing the two brothers chained up to the wall.

"Ed! Glad that you're here!" Cups shouted. "Since Mel took her old man out, she has had us chained next to this guy."

"AAAAAAAAAAH!" the old bearded man screamed.

"He's been screaming like this for hours now," Mugs said while Amity used her sword to slice the chains off of them, releasing them.

"Oh thank you! Are we going home?" Cups asked.

"Yeah, we're all getting out of here once we find the others," Amity reassured them.

"Not under my watch!"

Everyone turned and were shocked to see Mel and Trini behind them.

"You mortals aren't going anywhere!" Especially you, Edric!" Mel shouted, pointing to Ed.

"Oh fuck off, you two-faced bitch!" Luz shouted, flipping off Mel. "You think you can have anything you want just because you're a god? Well, you're nothing but a thot!"

"We're leaving and you will never see Edric again!" Amity told her off.

"Plus without your genie friend, it's just you two," King pointed out.

"Yeah, just us two," Mel repeated before snapping her fingers, causing the floor to crack open. Luz grabbed Amity while Willow pulled Edric and King away while Eda grabbed Cups and Mugs from the crack, a wall of flames shooting out and separating Luz and Amity from the rest of the group.

"Luz/Amity!" the others cried out while Luz and Amity turned to Trini and Mel.

"Now it's just two on two… rematch!" Trini declared while changing into her true cambion form as she flew up towards them, seemingly to target Amity until she was pounced on by Luz in her Maya form. "Hehe, knew you'd come flying to save your girlfriend from me!"

"Don't you ever shut up?!" Luz shouted while blasting Trini with an ice spell.

Mel brought out her keyblade, going down to fight Amity, who donned her Abomi-Knight armor and clashed her sword against Mel's keyblade.

"You won't stop me, Mittens! I AM A GOD!" Mel declared.

"Which is pretty gross!" Amity shouted while her shadow kicked Mel back. "You're like thousands of years old and you're going after my brother… you're a fucking groomer, you know that?"

"I consider myself a teen!" Mel declared while clashing her keyblade against Amity's.

"Doesn't matter! You're still a creep!" Amity shouted at her.

Meanwhile, Luz was kicked to the wall by Trini, who used her talon feet to pin Luz down as she punched her. Luz then cast flames at her, causing the cambion girl to be pushed back. Trini snarled as she dodged Luz's light beam and a bunch of icicles. Luz formed her wings like a drill, charging at Trini who dodged the attack, causing Luz to end up digging a hole through the wall. It was then Trini charged down on her as the two crashed through the walls.

---

Back at the Gates of Tartarus, Persephone held the barrier for as long as she could while the others battled the monsters that squirmed their way through. Hercules and Alex punched them back while Kitsuni burned through them. Hecate assisted Persephone, watching her back and protecting her while Puck and Jack fought side by side, stabbing and slashing at the monsters.

"I don't… think I can… hold up much longer!" Persephone said while straining herself.

"You have to, my queen! Or else he will come through!" Hecate warned.

Hercules slash a monster's tendril with his sword while noticing the barrier breaking. "Oh no…"

Persephone kept the barrier up as much as she could, making her sweat. But eventually, she grew tired, the stress from all of this was too much for her. Eventually, she fell to knees as the barrier broke down. "I'm sorry… I'm at my limit now," she said while Kitsuni jumped to her side.

"You did the best you could," Kitsuni reassured her while the branch barrier breaks down and Typhon's head burst through.

"Here's… Typhon!" he declared while breaking through the barrier.

SLASH!

"AAAH!" Typhon cries out, feeling the cut of his nose from the slash of a scythe.

"Bro, you're back!" Alex shouted, spotting his brother Ani.

"Yeah, and I brought help," Ani said, pointing to the black robed figure carrying the scythe that was hovering above them. Floating next to him was a woman wearing a white veil with light blue skin, blue eyes, misty white hair, and a white two-slit gown wrapped in ribbons with some ribbons wrapped around her arms and legs and white boots.

She looked down at Persephone. "Mother!" she shouted as she flew down to her aid. "Are you alright?"

Persephone looked up at the woman in the veil. "Yes, I'll be fine, Macaria."

Hercules turned to the woman in the veil when he heard that name, a flash of guilt showing across his face. He then heard Alex shout out. "Hey, Grunkle Poseidon!"

Coming over in a gush of water was a godly fish-like humanoid man with a muscular body, teal skin, blue fins in place of his hair, a white drooping mustache and beard that resembled fins, and green eyes. He wore a dark sea green chiton and held a purple trident.

"Man, I was trying to enjoy watching a good swordfish game when I heard that Tartarus is breaking loose!" Poseidon complained, noticing one of the escaped monsters that came through the barrier. "Cetus, is that you?!"

"Poseidon! My old enemy!" Cetus declared as the monsters were about to take another step before a lightning bolt struck at their feet.

"Not another move!" Zeus declared as he and Hades arrived.

Hades noticed Hercules and his sons were also there. "You brought them as well?"

"Had to lift the restraining order after hearing what Melinoe did!" Zeus responded as he brought out his lightning bolts. "Come on, let's push them back!"

The three brothers stood together. "Where have you been when all of this went to literal hell?" Poseidon asked Hades.

"Ah shut it, little brother," Hades shouted while shooting his flames at the monsters. "I got knocked into the River Styx, couldn't do anything about this!"

"Hey, there's no time for in-fighting!" Zeus told while the three brothers of the elements joined together to fight back against their foes. Zeus went up to fight against Typhon while Hades took on Echidna and Poseidon took on Cetus, meeting them head-on.

Thanatos slashed down one monster while Macaria focused on protecting herself and Persephone, shooting a light beam at one monster while Hecate helped out. Hercules, Alex, and Ani kept fighting off the prisoners. Puck, Kitsuni, and Jack also continued to fight, Kitsuni wiping them out with her blue flames, Jack caging the monsters as well as shrinking them, and Puck uses his Fae twist to twist and contort the monsters.

"Don't hold back!" Zeus declared while jumping up with his lightning bolt, shooting it at Typhon's face. Typhon glared at Zeus while bringing out his serpent arms to entangle him. Zeus pushed the serpent's arms away as Typhon shot flames at Zeus, who dodged his flames. "Old age is getting to you, Typhon!"

"You're one to talk, plebe!" Typhon responded while being punched by Zeus's fist.

"Stay away from my love muffin!" Echidna growled while getting blasted by a fiery fist from Hades. She growled, while swinging her tail down at Hades, who turned to smoke while levitating up in the air. "Hades, you bastard! Stay out of this! We were pardoned by your daughter!"

"And I say your pardon's been revoked!" Hades declared while using his blue flames to form into hands, grabbing Echidna's tail and swinging the goliath monster into the jagged wall. She got up and slammed her large fist down at Hades, who evaporated into a cloud of smoke. "Come on, Idna, I thought you'd like living here in this commune," he said after reforming before Echidna slammed her tail at him, which Hades avoided through his smoke manipulation.

Poseidon stood before Cetus, who glared at him. "Oh how I've been dying to see my greatest enemy fall!"

"Yeah, yeah, blah, blah, can we settle this quickly?" Poseidon asked, holding his trident. "I had the swordfish game recorded and I'm planning to see who won!" he declared while shooting high beams of water from his trident, blasting Cetus back. The kraken Titan roared as he charged at Poseidon, who rose himself up with the water he summoned to blast against the Titan.

Zeus got smashed to the wall by Typhon, who laughed at him. "Looks like you're getting a little too old for this job, Zeus!" he declared as Zeus grabbed his hand to turn over the large monster to the ground. Typhon got up and swatted his tail at Zeus who slid back. As Typhon shot flames at him, Hercules blocked the attack with his shield.

"I got your back, dad!" Hercules declared while he defended Zeus by jumping up and kicking Typhon across his face. "You alright?"

"Alright? This is nothing compared to playing flag football against Odin!" Zeus shouted while the father and son gods teamed up to face off Typhon.

Meanwhile, Poseidon kept blasting Cetus with his trident while Cetus's four arms blocked his blasts. "You think you can take on me, Poseidon? You're nothing but a has-been! Amphitrite should've chosen a better god!"

"Hey! Keep my wife out of this!" Poseidon shouted. While he was distracted, Cetus was about to slam him with one of his hands… until it was punched away by Alex.

"AAH! Foiled!" Cetus shouted.

"Try not to get distracted, Grunkle Poseidon," Ani said as he marched forward while holding his spear.

"Right, I'll keep that in mind, kiddo," Poseidon replied while Alex stepped next to them.

"We'll be your hands while you take the range shots!" Alex declared while getting in a boxing position. "I can take the four-arms"

"And I'll target the eyes," Ani said while holding his spear, which shone brightly.

Hades dodged another attack from Echidna as she slammed her fist at him. But then he got swatted to the wall by her left middle leg. When she was about to pound him, her knuckles were sliced, making her wince in pain. Hades found himself joined by Thanatos and Macaria.

"Are you alright, father?" Macaria asked, helping Hades up.

"Yeah, thanks," Hades said as he rubbed his head. "Must be losing my touch… where's Persy?"

"Don't worry, boss, Hecate is keeping her guard along with Kitsuni!" Thanatos responded.

The gods took on the three monsters as they prepared for a final attack for each of them.

"Time to die!" Typhon shouted while launching his serpent arms at the two. However, Hercules and Zeus managed to grab the serpent arms once they each passed them. The two then ran around tying his arms up at quick speed. "Hey, what's the big idea?!"

"Seeing that you're a little tied up!" Hercules quipped towards the monster. Typhon decided to use his neck to move and snap at the two as they split apart as they pressed their feet against each side of the wall. Then, they jump towards his head, Hercules's fists glowing as Zeus's fists sparked, the two colliding their fists against Typhon's head.

"ACK!" Typhon gasped, feeling the strong fists collided with each side of his skull.

"Haha! Just like how I taught ya, my boy!" Zeus commented.

"Couldn't have done it without you, dad," Hercules replied while Typhon was knocked out.

Meanwhile with the battle against Cetus, the Titan kept using his four fists to try to take out his opponents, but Alex kept on punching back at the sea creature's attacks. "Come on, this is like playing patty-cake!" Alex declared while punching back at Cetus's punches.

"Why won't you go down?!" Cetus shouted while Ani jumped up to step on Cetus's fist, then jumped straight up towards his face while holding his spear. While Cetus was distracted, Ani let the spear glow brightly before he threw it straight into Cetus's eye

"AAAAH!" Cetus cried out, stopping his fist fight while holding his eye. "My eye! You stabbed me in the eye, you son of a horse!"

"Hey! Our mom's not a horse!" Alex shouted.

Cetus was so busy with his eye that he didn't notice Poseidon raising his trident and shooting a high-voltage beam at the kraken. Cetus screamed as he felt the high surge all over his body. It was a powerful attack, so Alex used this chance to jump up and punch Cetus up high up to hit the roof on his head.

"OOF!" Cetus cried out while he was knocked out and fell back.

Ani and Alex fist-bumped each other. "We are awesome!" Alex declared.

"Haha! You two sure are!" Poseidon replied, hugging the two.

"Well Alex always provides a good distraction," Ani said with a smile. "I just threw a stick at him."

"Please, your spear is as powerful as granddad's lightning bolts!" Alex told his brother.

Echidna had seen her husband go down. "Sweetie!" she shouted while trying to go to her husband, only to have her legs sliced by Thanatos's scythe. "AAH! Why you-!"

"You're lucky I didn't set this scythe to soul reaping!" Thanatos said while floating in front of the mother of all monsters. He sent out another slash at her, causing her to back away until she felt her hide getting burned.

"YAOW!" she cried out, while seeing Hades being the one who burned her.

"Hey, that's quite the sun burn you have, Idna!" Hades laughed while Echidna glared down at him.

"You will pay for this!" she shouted as she launched her claw at him, but then she felt a punch to her elbow, dislodging it. "AAH!" she cried in pain, turning and seeing who had punched her. "YOU?! You did this?!"

"I'm stronger than I look," Macaria replied while hitting Echidna again, knocking her to a wall.

The mother of all monsters stood back up, glaring at Macaria before being hit by fire balls. "AH! Stop!"

Hades was using her fingers to shoot flame bullets. "Not on your lifeline, Idna!"

Macaria's eyes glowed black and souls started to sprout out from the walls as Macaria raised her arms up. The souls came to her and formed around her as her eyes glowed teal. It was then, like a spark of teal flame, Macaria's hands burst into white flames with souls in them.

"Let the souls of the damned assist me in your fall!" she declared while a high beam of flames targeted Echidna's chest. Echidna screamed as she was pushed back until she collided with a jagged wall, causing the jagged roof to crumble down on her along with Typhon and Cetus.

Macaria slumped down after her attack, Hades going to help her. "Easy there, you alright, Mac?" he asked her in concern.

"All the damned souls… can really tire me out," she said as Hades helped her up. "Thank you… father."

Hades smiled while the others caught up to them. Macaria noticed Hercules and his sons looking at her while she looked away from them, avoiding their gaze.

"Nice going, everyone," Zeus congratulated. "I think that is the last of them."

"Now all that's left is-"

But before Persephone could finish, they heard a clap..

A slow clap….

"Very impressive, my sons…"

Hades froze when he heard that voice, fear washing over him. Persephone felt a quivering shiver through her body. Poseidon was looking livid while Zeus looked towards the source of the voice with a glare. Kitsuni and Jack both looked terrified, while Puck and Hercules could feel the intensity in the air along with Hecate who shivered in fear. Thanatos looked paler than usual while Alex, Ani, and Macaria looked at their elders as they heard footsteps.

"Is that…?" Puck whispered with a gulp, hearing the marching footsteps. Everyone prepared themselves for what was to come.

"No… not him… not him…!" Hades was panicking as Persephone went up to calm him down.

"Hades… is that you, son?"

Marching out of the shadows was none over then… Cronus.

"Zeus, Hades… and even Poseidon's here!" Cronus spoke up. "And look, offsprings and… a spring goddess! You must be Persephone! Haha, did my boy ever tell you that I love the tastes of flower goddesses?!" He sniffed around. "And… a genie, a fae and a yokai? I never expected such a buffet of deities before!"

"You will not eat any of us, Cronus!" Zeus declared, pointing at Cronus. "You will be imprisoned just like before!"

"That's right!" Hercules added. "We've faced Titans like you before!"

"We'll take him on!" Alex declared while he and the others prepared to fight.

Cronus laughed. "Well if it's a fight you want… bring it," he said with a deadly tone while the gods and deities jumped up to fight against the god-eating Titan.

---

Meanwhile, Mel and Amity continued to clash their swords against each other. Amity slid back as Mel jumped up with the keyblade, forcing Amity to use her Sword of Adam to block the keyblade's attack. Amity kicked Mel away and summoned an abomi-wall to block her, but Mel used her keyblade to slash through the abomi-wall while only to see that Amity had flown away.

'Gotta figure out a way to stop her!' Amity thought before Mel appeared in front of her, delivering a punch towards her.

"Surprise!" Mel declared while bringing her keyblade down at her, sending Amity back to the ground. Amity shot up abomi-goo to fight back, but Mel slashed through it. "Oh Mittens, you are gonna have to try better than that!"

Amity used her abomi-goo to grab some bones to throw at Mel, but the goddess used the keyblade to deflect and turn the bones into smaller pieces. She then used the keyblade to shoot black beams at her, causing Amity to dodge them and deflect them with the Sword of Adam. "Come on, Mittens, you know you are outmatched!" Mel declared. "Just give up and let me have Eddie for myself!"

The purple-armored Goodfellow was sweating as she flew up while holding the sword. "Like that's going to happen!" she shouted while casting a fire spell at Mel, who simply raised her hand and dispersed the flames. "I'm not going to let my brother fall into the hands of a predatory spoiled brat like you!"

"First off, I'm still practically a teenager!" Mel pointed out while she continued blasting her attacks at Amity. "And second, your brother is better off with me! I was doing him a favor!"

"You tried to make him eat the food of the Underworld, bitch!" Amity called her out. "You were trying to force him to stay with you!"

"Well you're the one who hurt your own family!" Mel shouted at her. "If you didn't choose to leave, then your family wouldn't be in this kind of mess!"

"...I know," Amity said as she gripped her fist tightly. "I accept my responsibility for this… but at least I'm trying to make things right, unlike you when you hurt Aurore and Jour!" she pointed out, causing Mel to pause.

"What… what did you say?!" Mel demanded, her eye twitching.

"Aurore and Jour, you know, the siblings you screwed over?" Amity taunted.

Mel was breathing heavily. "How… HOW DO YOU KNOW THOSE NAMES?!" she shouted while bursting into flames.

"I actually met Aurore once," Amity said. "She's a nice girl… until the whole Fae-slayer part where she tried to kill me. And after learning what you did, I don't blame her, even if her hatred is misguided! You hurt that poor girl and her brother!"

"IT WASN'T ME!" Mel shouted while shooting flames at Amity, who shielded herself. "I DIDN'T CURSE HER BROTHER! IT WAS SOMEONE ELSE! IT WASN'T MY FAULT!"

"Where's your proof?" Amity questioned. "Did you curse her brother so that you could take Aurore just as you tried with my brother? Did you try to break her family just like you broke mine? You're just as bad as your mother!"

"SHUT UP!" Mel shrieked as she launched her keyblade at Amity, trying to stab her with it.

Amity dodged the strike and saw Mel's arm stretch out with the keyblade, briefly presenting her with an opportunity. So Amity… swung her sword down to slice Mel's arm off, literally disarming her.

"AAAAHHH! BITCH!" Mel screamed as she fell down, feeling the stub of her arm. "Oh, Gods, you asshole!"

"Oh you're a goddess, it'll grow back!" Amity told her off while seeing the keyblade on the ground. The detached arm disappeared into a cloud of smoke as Amity went to snatch up the keyblade.

But as Amity touched it, she experienced a vision…

A bestial figure dressed in a red cloak and a mask that looked like a bleached skull with antlers coming out of it stared into her with its burning eyes.

"Please… stop him!"

The sky had turned red as it began to crack, causing a rift to open.

The Boiling Isles was on fire as it was laid waste to by winged mechanical-looking creatures.

"Stop him!"

Leading them was one winged creature with a single glowing yellow eye.

"STOP HIM!" shouted a creature with a skull with four horns. One of its eyes was golden and the other was missing, but there was something sticking out of it like a… bird worm.

Amity's eyes widened, gasping after what she saw. The keyblade had turned back into a key, appearing in her hand as she looked down on it. "What… what was that?" she asked, looking at the key.

But this moment of pause gave Mel the opportunity to kick Amity and grab the key. "Give me that! The key is mine!" Mel shouted while Amity fell. Mel lifted up the key as she attempted to activate it… but nothing happened. "What the…?" She looked at the key, trying to activate it "Why don't you turn into what I want?!" she demanded.

"Maybe it ran out of juice?" Amity suggested, causing Mel to glare at her.

"No matter… I'll take you out with or without the keyblade!" Mel shouted while bursting into flames.

---

Meanwhile, Luz and Trini continued to fight, Trini slashing at Luz while Luz slashed at her back.

"Wow, you look even more hideous as Belos!" Luz mocked while Trini whipped at her with her tail.

"Shut up!" Trini shouted while trying to strike at her like a cobra, only for Luz to cast a fire spell against her.

"Why? Couldn't get all the boys in the yard?" Luz asked only for Trini to angrily slam her down to the ground. Luz groaned as she felt Trini's elbow attack on her back. Trini picked Luz up and threw her across the cave. "Shit…"

"You think you're tough shit, are you?" Trini questioned. "Luz Clawthorne, a badass cambion witch… but you're not a witch, you're not a cambion." She rushed over to kick Luz in the stomach. "And you're definitely not human!"

Luz rolled around, struggling to get up as she felt her hair pulled and herself being slammed to the wall. Trini was not going to give her mercy.

"I am a real cambion, your superior!" Trini declared while kicking Luz, followed by a punch. She was beating Luz down. Luz tried to fight back but felt Trini's kick to her arm, causing her to wince. Trini grabbed Luz by the neck as she punched her stomach repeatedly.

"Get off of me…" Luz told her while getting beaten. Trini slammed her face to the wall, pinning her to it.

"Oh? Oh what's that? You want more!" Trini shouted while she kept beating her. She twisted Luz's arm, making her wince. Luz kicked back but Trini flew up to punch Luz in the stomach. Then she grabbed her face and started punching her repeatedly. "You're no cambion! So tell me: What. Are. You?!"

Luz's eyes suddenly darkened. They turned black, while her eyes turned… yellow. She opened her mouth and let out a loud-

"WEH!"

"AAAAAAHHH!" Trini cried out as she was pushed back from Luz by the sonic scream. Trini felt the power of that scream. "No! NOOOOO! STAAAA-!" were Trini's last words as she felt herself being shred to pieces. Her skin peeled off from her body, showing muscle tissue as her eyes were then liquefied. Her muscle tissue splattered to the ground while her organs were liquefied and her exposed heart exploded, her intestines flying out while all that flesh and bone splattered against the cavern. All that remained were her shredded clothes.

As Luz stopped screaming and her eyes returned to normal, she fell on her knees. Looking up, she saw what was left of Trini and gasped in horror, realizing what she had done. "No…" she said while shaking. She looked down at her own scaly hands. "No… nononono…" She got up. "I… I didn't mean-!" She shut her eyes and reopening them were Maya's eyes.

---

The pissed off Mel glared at Amity as fire surrounded herself. "You have made this goddess very angry…" she said as she started to transform.

To the witch-Fae's horror, she saw Mel transform into a dragon. Her dragon form was purple with an indigo underbelly, green reptilian eyes, black horns, and pink scaled wings. She looked down at Amity and breathed flames down at her.

Amity jumped back from the flames as she held onto her sword, forming an abomi-shield to block the flames. It was then that Dragon-Mel swiped at Amity with her claws, knocking her away to the wall. If it weren't for the Abomi-Knight armor, Amity would've gotten more injured. Amity still groaned in pain, but her eyes widened when she saw Mel swinging her tail at her. The tail smashed into the wall, but Amity was no longer there. Instead, Mel felt herself being stabbed in the foot and she turned to see Amity behind her.

Amity held up her sword as Mel's dragon face spun around to snap at her, Amity stepping back and taking a swipe. The sword gave Mel a cut to her snout, causing her to roar. She was about to blow fire at Amity, but suddenly a large bush popped up in between them. Amity turned to see Willow and the others running toward her.

"Sorry we're a little late!" Willow told her.

"We tried to keep up, but the directions were confusing!" Boscha said as the two joined Amity along with Cups and Mugs, who shot spells at Mel.

"Thank you guys, really, you're the best!" Amity said while Gus, Edric and Hunter joined them.

"Wait, where's Luz?" Eda asked.

"She's still fighting Trini! Somewhere around the caves!" Amity told her.

Eda changed into her harpy form with King on her back. "We'll be back with her!" Eda told them as they flew off.

The Baron joined them as they noticed Mel's shadow about to attack, but the Baron zapped the shadow with a spell of his. "I'll handle tall, dark, and spoiled's little shadow over here," the Baron declared.

Mel felt being hit by potions and plants, getting her to fall back. She growled, using her wings to hover up so she could use her flames on all of them, only for Boscha to shoot a potion in her mouth, which exploded into a frosty cloud causing her to fall back.

"Got her!" Boscha cheered.

"Don't celebrate yet!" Gus warned.

Mel roared and swung her tail at them, forcing them to dodge it. It was then she felt bonds wrapped around her reptilian limbs and she turned to see Edric using his beast-keeping magic on her. She looked betrayed.

"Ed, please! You… you're hurting me!" she told him while suddenly Gus gets in front of her.

"Don't fall for her tricks!" he said while his eyes glowed blue, getting her into eye-contact as Mel's eyes glowed blue as well. "How about a taste of your own medicine!"

Mel stopped in her tracks as she saw flashes of various memories. She pressed her claws on her head, reliving all of her past trauma… and catching glimpses of Aurore and Jour…

She roared and tried to slam her claws on Gus, but fortunately Hunter used his speed to save him from the attack. She growled at the others as she shook off Gus's spell. "You're going to pay for that, witch boy!" she shouted as she launched her tail at him and Hunter, but it was stopped by Willow's vines wrapping around her tail.

"I don't think so!" Willow declared, trying to hold onto the tail. She summoned more vines to wrap around Mel, but it was too much for Willow to handle. As Mel broke free, the shockwave caused by her wings knocked Willow back.

"Willow!" Boscha shouted, glaring up at Mel. She cast a fire spell, but the flames just harmlessly bounced off Mel's skin. The dragon chuckled and took a deep breath, Boscha's eyes widening. "Oh shit…" She managed to jump away just in time, but it was still close and she was left dazed.

Mel then felt spells hitting her. She turned to see Hunter with his staff, shooting magic beams at her. "Magicless welp!" Mel shouted while flicking Hunter back to be knocked on the wall. She was then shot at by more spells as she turned to see the Holder brothers.

"This is for selling us out to Mr. Hades!" Cups shouted.

"And for being a fake friend!" Mugs added.

Mel looked unfazed by their attacks as he tail swatted the two to the wall. Cups and Mugs laid down, their souls rising up from their bodies. They both noticed this.

"AAH! Get back in! Get back in!" Cups's soul shrieked as he made it back into his body's mouth.

"It's not our time yet!" Mugs replied while doing the same.

Amity, Edric, and Gus stood their ground… for a few more seconds. Gus and Edric ended up hitting the ground, while Amity tried to get up but was pinned to the ground by Mel's large hand.

"You all think you can stop me?! A God-Fae?!" Mel mocked while looking down on Amity. Edric tried to help, but Mel blew a ring of fire to trap him in. "Face it, Mittens, you lost the moment you decided to face me! None of you can win! None of you are getting out! You will all be part of my cult whether you like it or not! I am your new god!"

Amity struggled in Mel's grip. "I worship… no one…" she declared while Sam tried to pull Mel's palm off of Amity, but it was no use.

"Then you will be my virgin sacrifice!" Mel declared while drawing her claw up, but then she felt her hand frozen in ice. "What?!" she shouted, releasing Amity which gave Sam time to drag Amity to safety.

"Sorry we're late!" Cross said as he, Lindsay, and Emily showed up, along with Pain and Panic.

"Oh no! Mel's turned into her dragon form!" Panic screamed.

"And it looks like you've made her mad…" Pain shivered, hiding behind Lindsay.

Mel looked down at the newcomers, noticing Emily. "Ah, so you've managed to free Emily… how was your hell, you little wicked witch?"

Emily glared at Mel. "I'll never forgive you for putting me through that hell!"

"Well I don't expect you to!" Mel shouted as she shot flames at them.

They all scattered to dodge the flames, though Pain and Panic weren't so lucky. They screamed as they had their tails on fire, making them run off.

Meanwhile, while Sam got Amity out of the way, she saw the Baron fighting against Mel's shadow. The Baron used their shadow magic to fight off against Mel's shadow, drawing a sword to stab at her. Sam looked into horror, seeing and hearing Mel's shadow fading away after the Baron killed it.

"You… killed them…" Sam said in shock, not even realizing it was possible.

"Sometimes you have to do what's necessary, little shadow," the Baron told Sam. "Now Mel's got nobody to fight for her."

Cross distracted Mel with more ice spells while Mel felt magical rope wrapping around her limbs and she turned to see Lindsay was responsible, Emily standing next to her. Mel pulled herself free of the ropes, brushing off both it and Cross's attacks. She swatted at Lindsay, knocking her back and knocking her Palisman out.

"Is that the best you got?!" Mel taunted as she turned to Emily, grabbing her away from Lindsay.

"Emily!" Lindsay shouted.

Emily struggled in Mel's grip as Mel grinned at her. "Maybe a one way trip to the River Styx would do you in…" she said before feeling an ice spell hit her in the back. "AAH! You again!" She turned to Cross who kept blasting her with ice spells.

"Let her go!" Cross demanded. "Or I'll make you…"

"Make me? Ha!" She swatted at Cross, forcing him to flee. "You cannot make me! You're nothing but a mortal! Are you some kind of knight in shining armor? Trying to save a girl who doesn't deserve to be saved?!" She looked around, seeing everyone who was currently down. "Listen up, all of you! How's this? I can let you all go back to the Boiling Isles if you leave Emily here! That sounds like a fair trade, doesn't it? She has hurt you, had you maimed, tried to get you killed! How much worth does she have anyway? She'll just cause you more pain if you let her go back!"

Emily looked around, knowing that no one else would agree to help her. She knew that her fate was sealed…

"As if we'll accept that!" someone shouted.

To Emily's surprise, it was Boscha of all witches who said this. "Not that I care much about Emily, but I'd rather not give you the satisfaction of getting what you want by leaving Tricks here."

"She's right," Willow said as she got up along with Gus. "We're better than this."

"So we're not giving in to your sick game, Mel!" Gus declared.

"What?! You all rather save this piece of shit than accept a goddess's deal?!" Mel questioned. "Why?!"

"Because then we'll be no better than the likes of you!" Hunter declared. "Sure, often we mortals aren't as good as we think we are, but you gods and deities are just as flawed!"

"And we are not just pawns in your games or pets for you to collect!" Edric said as Amity put out the fire surrounding him with abomi-goo.

"That's right," Amity added. "And nobody gets left behind… not even Emily."

"You have no right to judge others for their misdeeds, when you have a lot to answer for!" Lindsay pointed out to Mel.

"Yeah, you have no moral high ground to judge others," Cross pointed out. "And Emily is coming with us!"

Cups and Mugs also got up. "You lost our respect, Mel!" Cups declared.

"Consider us not friends with you!" Mugs added.

Mel looked around, seeing them all standing up to her. The Baron laughed, which caught Mel's attention.

"HAHAHA! Well ain't this magnifique!" the Baron declared. "All of these young mortal children are more mature than you will ever be, Melinoe!"

Mel growled as she looked down at Emily. "Well if you care about this little witch so much… I can just crush her until she pops! So your efforts will be nothing!" she declared while beginning to gripped her hand around Emily, who groaned at the tight grip of the dragon's hand.

Cross panicked as he jumped up. "NO!" he shouted. He realized what he had to do, so he tightened his fists as green flames burst around him…

As Emily was being slowly squeezed to death, she shut her eyes in fear. Mel was too focused on slowly crushing her that she didn't see Cross flying up and punching her across the face. Emily felt the grip loosen and when she opened her eyes, she saw a green humanoid dragon. Her eyes widened as she looked over the black haired dragon with a long neck, blue spikes at the end of his tail, and green wings spread out that had blue pattern stripes. He had a blue underbelly with darkened eyes, muscular arms with five-clawed hands and four-clawed feet. His claws were dark blue. Cross resembled a European dragon in his form. He shot blue flames at Mel, which felt as cold as ice.

"Wait, he can turn into a dragon… is he a Fae?" Boscha asked.

"No, not a Fae," the Baron said. "Part-witch, part-dragon…"

Lindsay looked up in shock. "He's… a lycan…"

Cross Drakescale had revealed himself as a dragon as he used his claws to slash at Mel's face, attacking her while blowing flames at her at quick speed. He then launched himself at Mel's neck, pinning her against the wall. He punched and slashed at her face over and over again, forcing Mel to use her other hand. But since Emily was in her other hand… she had to go.

"AAH!" Emily screamed as she was thrown, Cross hearing her scream.

"Emily!" Cross tried to fly over to her, but was grabbed by Mel.

"Oh no you don't!" Mel shouted while pinning Cross to the ground. "Watch her die!"

As Emily flew through the air, she shut her eyes, preparing for the worst… but fortunately she was caught before she could hit the ground. She reopened her eyes and found herself in the arms of Lindsay, carrying her bridal-style… while flying.

"You're… flying?!" Emily asked in shock.

"Flying as… much as these little wings can grant me!" Lindsay said as her wings barely flapped. "My Palisman is knocked out for a while."

Mel looked sour at this. "Fuck! Such a cop out!" she declared before getting punched by Cross.

Lindsay had to carry Emily away from Mel, but she realized that she was at her limit. "I don't think… I can carry you much longer…" she said before her wings gave out. She and Emily ended up crash landing and rolling across the ground.

Emily fell down, Lindsay landing on top of her. The two looked at each other, Lindsay's eye widening with a blush before she got off of Emily "Sorry, I'm just not used to using my wings…"

"I-It's fine, and… thanks," Emily said, brushing her hair to the side.

'Y-You're not hurt or anything?" Lindsay asked her.

"No, I'm… good," Emily said with a wince. "Well, besides my cracked ribs."

"Hopefully we'll get you treated," Lindsay said while they looked at Cross fighting off Mel.

"Did… you know that Cross can do that?" Emily asked.

"No, I didn't," Lindsay replied while they looked at Cross's dragon form.

Cross breathed his flames, causing Mel to snarl as she swatted at the smaller dragon, but he flew away from her. He flew around while summoning vines from his hands, using it to wrap around her snout before he flew around her to wrap her and her wings together before letting go. However, Mel just burst out the vine rope, but it still gave him enough time to scratch on her arm and underbelly.

"AAH!" she shouted in pain while glaring at Cross. "That hurt!"

"Oh? So gods can get hurt, can they?" Cross mocked before Mel blew flames at him as he flew up. He keeps shooting ice blasts at her, right to the eyes which blinded her. Mel tried to knock him back, but due to his small stature, he kept dodging her attacks. He shot ice on her arm, causing her to roar.

---

Meanwhile, Maya ran away from the remains of Trini. She looked around, trying to find a way back to the others. However, she heard voices coming.

"Luz? Are you here?"

"We're here to help you fight that succubus!"

Maya looked ahead, tears streaming from her eyes… but they were not hers. She didn't know why, but she hesitated to move. "Luz? Luz, it's them, let me walk!" Maya said while struggling to walk, but her body wouldn't respond. "Eda! King! Over here!" she shouted before covering up her mouth.

Eda and King came over, spotting Luz/Maya. "Luz? You're okay!" Eda shouted.

"From her eyes, it's Maya!" King pointed out. "But why are you covering your own mouth?"

"Mmm-hmm!" Maya muffled before biting Luz's hand, making her wince in pain. "AAH! Sorry, it's just… Luz can't come out right now."

"Can't come out? Why?" Eda asked.

King looked around. "Where's Trini?" he asked, but Maya just fell silent, looking away.

"We should just… catch up with the others," Maya told them.

"Did you and Luz defeat her?" Eda asked.

"Yeah, we did," Maya said. "She's not going to bother us, let's go."

Eda took a note of Luz's body language, seeing her hands shaking. "Maya, wait… we want to speak to Luz."

"She's fine, just… recovering," Maya told her.

"What happened to Trini?" Eda asked, causing Maya/Luz to pause. "Luz, we won't judge you, you know that we love you, right? Please, just tell us what happened to that girl?" Silence was all she received, causing Eda to narrow her eyes. "Alright, then we'll go and look."

"Don't!" Maya and Luz's voice told her, stopping Eda. "You… don't want to see what happened!"

Eda turned to Luz in concern. "Luz…?" Her fear was growing as she saw Luz's eyes… filled with guilt. She realized what her daughter was trying to hide. "Luz, it's going to be okay-"

"No, it won't!" Luz shouted, tears leaking from her eyes again. "Nothing's going to be okay after what I did!"

"What you… what do you mean, Luz?" King asked while Luz just looked down.

"Luz, you can talk to us about this," Eda said, lifting her chin up.

Luz sniffed. "Trini… we were fighting and… then she started beating me and mocking me. I couldn't take it anymore so I just… screamed at her. But… I screamed at her so hard that I obliterated her…"

"What?" Eda asked. "How can you… scream like that?"

"I don't know! I… I screamed like how King does," Luz said, which surprised King.

"You did?" King asked.

"I… I don't know how to explain this, but… I'm definitely not a real cambion, so… what am I now?" Luz asked while looking at her shaking hands. Eda helped by grabbing her hands to stop them from shaking.

"We'll figure this out when we can," Eda reassured her, but Luz retracted her hands from Eda. "Luz…?"

"We should… go back to the others and stop Mel," Luz said while turning away.

Eda looked hurt, but she knew what Luz was feeling right now so she and King followed her as they headed back.

Coming out of a tunnel, they witnessed Mel in her dragon form fighting another green dragon.

"What the… dragons?!" Luz exclaimed.

"Luz!" Amity cried out from where she and the others were taking cover. Luz heard her and rushed towards her girlfriend along with Eda and King. "Are you alright?"

"I should ask the same thing!" Luz responded while turning to see the dragon fight "What did we miss?"

"Short story, the big purple dragon is Mel while the smaller green one is Cross," Amity pointed out.

"Wait, the shady guy's a dragon?!" Luz exclaimed in shock.

"Yeah, turns out that St. Epiderm has a lycan dragon," Gus said.

"Lycan dragon," Eda said while seeing the green dragon flying around. "I thought Belos had them wiped out."

"Wiped out?" Luz asked while seeing the green dragon fight Mel.

"Yeah, Belos considers the dragon lycans a threat due to being, allegedly, practitioners to wild magic," Eda explained while Lindsay walked over.

"Are you alright?" Lindsay asked them.

"We're good, thank you," Eda replied, noticing Emily standing back. "I see you guys got Emily."

Lindsay nodded before she noticed King. "You must be Luz's brother, I assume. Are you hurt in any way?"

"A little sore, but I'm fine," King replied. "Honestly, I'm probably better than those other animals."

This gave Lindsay pause. "...other animals?"

King nodded. "Yeah. She had other animals as pets. A lot of them were sapient, all of them were starving, and some of them were nearly insane."

Lindsay's eye widened. "W-What?!"

"And she took such poor care of them that some of them died and the others had to feed off of their remains," King said, causing Lindsay to fall silent. He noticed this. "Hey… are you alright?"

"I'm… fine…" Lindsay said as a snap sound was heard from her head. Her iris shrank as she blinked, her eye having turned red. "Just… didn't realize that… she was… a bad pet owner…"

"Uh… what's happening to her right now?" Luz asked, backing away once she saw Lindsay pop a vein.

Lindsay snapped her neck as she turned to Mel. "YOU!" she pointed at her, causing Mel and Cross to stop fighting as they turned to her. "YOU DIDN'T TAKE CARE OF YOUR PETS?!"

"What the… what's gotten to you, one-eye?" Mel asked.

"YOUR PETS!" Lindsay shouts with a demotic voice sync to her normal voice. "YOU DIDN'T TAKE CARE OF ANY OF THE ANIMALS YOU TOOK?!"

"So what? It's not my fault that my pets refuse to eat what I give them, all because they don't want to be stuck here forever. So if they would rather starve, that is their choice," Mel commented nonchalantly, which only fumed Lindsay's ire.

"YOU SELFISH, PURPLE, LIZARD BRAT!" Lindsay shouted as she marched over to Mel, horns suddenly popping out from her hair, followed by her wings turning into more bat-like ones. "Nothing makes me more angry than seeing others harming animals, especially when they're meant to take care of them! You… your way of life is horrible… the way you treat animals is horrible… YOU'RE HORRIBLE!" she shouted while Mel just rolled her eyes. "YOU'RE THE MOST EVIL, VILE, HORRIBLE EXCUSE FOR A GOD I'VE EVER SEEN!"

"Whoa, when did you figure that out, idiot?!" Mel spat as she flicked Lindsay away, making her crash into a wall.

"LINDSAY!" Cross and Emily shouts, seeing Lindsay slump to the ground.

"You monster…" Lindsay spoke, surprising Mel as she managed to get up. "YOU EVIL PIECE OF SHIT!"

What they were seeing wasn't Lindsay, but something else…

Lindsay's demotic wings spread out as her yellow fur body turned to red-orange. Her hair fell straight down, her eye was red with anger. Her body then started to expand, her muscles growing, her fingers and feet. Her clothes had some tears for a bit while red spikes popped out from her back like quills.

"What…" Willow said in shock.

"...the…" Hunter gasped.

"...FUCK?!" Boscha exclaims.

"Is… is she… Hulking out?!" Luz exclaimed as they all backed away.

Cross flew next to Emily, both of them shocked.

"Did you… know she can do this?" Emily asked, blushing at the sight of Lindsay's form.

Cross shook his head. "No… I didn't."

"ROAR!" Lindsay Shystream roared, having turned into a kaiju-like being. Her large wings spread out while her hair rose, her eye was red while her ears grew long, horns sticking out, and her body was more muscular, her hands having expanded with claws for fingers, while her calves expanded with the fur covering her feet and toe-claws sticking out of her boots. This was her beast form.

"This is a whole new level of Beast-Transformation…" Edric commented in shock.

"MADSTREAM SMASH!" Lindsay, who called herself Madstream, jumped up towards the purple dragon, pinning her down to the wall and beating her down with her fists.

Mel tried to get back up but Madstream grabbed her by the neck and turned her over down to the ground, launching her fist to Mel's snout and punching it like it was dough. Mel hit her head, causing her to be dizzy for a while. She was then grabbed again, this time thrown up in the air.

"Get out of the way!" Boscha shouted as everyone got out of the way while Mel slammed onto the ground. Her body landing could be felt throughout the Underworld. Mel got up, snarling as she felt Madstream slams her feet down at her head, hard.

"Yeah! Go Madstream! Go Madstream, Go!" Pain and Panic cheered.

"YOU TWO STAY OUT OF THIS!" Mel shouted at them after getting up.

Pain and Panic sat down while waving a small flag. "Mel, Mel, she's our gal, if she can't do it- GREAT!" they both shouted.

Mel rose up as she blew flames at Madstream. Madstream dodged the flames as she ran underneath Mel's stomach, punching it. Madstream then grabbed her by the tail and swung her around up high, spinning the dragon around like a purple tornado.

"Stop… this… crazy… BITCH!" Mel cried out before Madstream let go of her, launching her up high and causing her to hit the roof. Mel ended up falling back down, but Madstream jumped up in the air and punched Mel once again. Once Mel hit the ground, she tried to get up. "Okay… okay, maybe we can time out-" But she was punched hard in the nose.

The Baron saw this as an opportunity. "Come on, let's all intercept her!" he suggested while using his shadow magic to bound Mel's feet together.

"You heard them, let's hold her down!" Amity shouted as she used her abomi-goo to wrap around Mel's feet, sticking them down. Willow and Cross used their vines to grab hold of Mel's arms and wings. Edric used magic rope to wrap around Mel's body while Luz flew up and froze Mel's wings with an ice spell.

Madstream continued to beat down Mel's face as the dragon tried to get up but she found herself restrained. Cross flew up and used his plant magic to wrap around Mel's long neck to pin her down. "Let go of me!" she demanded.

"I think not," Cross said while joining Madstream in the beatdown, sending his fists at her face rapidly.

Mel looked around, seeing that she was going to continue to be pummeled in this form. Eventually, she shrank down from her dragon form, having her wings disappear as she changed back to normal. Now covered in abomi-goo and vines, she looked like a mess.

"I gotta get out of here," she muttered. But as she turned… she was met with a punch to the face by Amity's armored abomi-fist. She was launched back, where she felt Luz's talon feet against her back.

"You get what's coming for you, bitch!" Luz declared.

Mel backed away as she looked up and saw Eda kick her in the stomach, followed by getting tackled down by Willow. Willow used her plant magic to wrap around Mel and swing her around causing Mel to scream. Mel then felt a punch to the face by Boscha, followed by a slap from Gus, Hunter slamming a piece of a rock to Mel's face, Edric punching her in the face, Emily showing up with a kick to her face, and finally, Cups and Mugs held pies that they slammed into her face. After everyone had gotten their hits in, Willow covered her with more vines.

"Whoa, yeah! Did we just punch a god?!" Boscha asked with excitement.

"That was the most satisfying thing we've ever done," Gus replied with a sigh, everyone agreeing.

"Agreed!" Cups quipped.

"Where did you two get those pies from?" Eda asked the Holder brothers, who just shrugged.

"You think she's down for the count?" Amity asked, only to hear Mel's shriek.

"AAAAAHH!" Mel shouted while burning herself free and getting up, glaring at the mortals. "You think you've won?! You think that you can get away with beating a god?! You mortals are nothing compared to the power of what I can do-" She was suddenly grabbed by the leg by Madstream, who just swung her around and slammed her to the ground like a ragdoll. Everyone winced as they saw her being slammed around down left and right, until she stomped Mel into the ground and punched her repeatedly.

"RAAAAHH!" Madstream shouted, causing Mel to gasp in pain. Madstream scoffed. "Puny goddess."

Madstream walked over to the others and started to transform back to normal, back to Lindsay. She took a breather, Willow and Cross helping her.

"Easy there, Lindsay," Cross, also back to normal, said while Lindsay just sighed a little.

"Are you alright?" Willow asked her.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Lindsay apologized. "I have some issues, especially when it comes to poor animal treatment, I cannot stand that."

"Hey, it's um, cool," Luz responded. "I can relate to anger issues and such."

'Remind me not to make her mad,' Maya spoke to her in her thoughts.

"Alright, I think we should get going," Eda suggested.

"Indeed, there's a lot to deal with," the Baron said while everyone turned to leave.

Emily looked hesitant until she felt Lindsay's hand grabbing hers. Emily looked down at the hand, then up at Lindsay as she gave her a reassuring smile. Emily managed to smile back, nodding as they went to follow the others.

Before she left, Amity went to grab the key where it had fallen and she glanced over at the motionless Mel. "This is what you get for messing with the Boiling Isles!" she told her before leaving with the others.

Mel just groaned weakly.

---

Back in Tartarus, the battle had gone on for a while, Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, Hercules and his sons were still fighting against Cronus. Persephone was exhausted and being shielded by Macaria and Hecate while Thanatos, Puck, Jack, and Kitsune were out of commission. However as the battle went on, Cronus began to weaken.

Poseidon blasted Cronus with his trident while Zeus used his lightning to strike at his father and Hades unleashed his fury at the mad Titan as they drove him back. Hercules along with Alex and Ani sent their punches and kicks at Cronus's face, stomach, and knees whenever Zeus and his brothers ceased firing. Cronus did fight back, swatting Alex and Ani away from him while trying to block the other attacks, but his face was still getting burnt by Hades's attack.

"Is this any way to treat your father, boys?!" Cronus declared.

"Shut up!" Hades shouted at him. "You lost that title the moment you ate me!"

"Still mad at me about that?!" Cronus asked. "I just want to feel a little more powerful and not worry about you overthrowing me, is that too much to ask for?"

"YES!" Hades shouted while he continued to torch his father.

Hercules kept punching Cronus across the face, making the Titan fall down on the ground. He got a lightning strike from Zues in the chest as well, causing him to groan. Cronus was incredibly weakened at this point and he needed something to eat…

And that was when Mel chose to appear, weakly making her way over to him. "Great-grandfather!" Mel shouted, earning Cronus's attention. "I need your assistance… we need to beat them all!"

"Oh, granddaughter, just who I was looking for!" he said in a dark tone. "Care to help your old grandpa out?"

Mel turned to Hades, Zeus, and Poseidon, Hades noticing her. His eyes widened. "Mel?! Mel, get away from him!"

She glares at him while turning to Cronus. "Let's take them down!"

"Good girl!" Cronus shouted while grabbing Mel with his large hand.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" Mel shouted as she struggled with his grip. She noticed his mouth opening. "No… No, grandpapa, stop!"

"Sorry kid, but I need your power!" he declared while throwing Mel into his mouth, causing her to fall into darkness.

"AAAAAAHHHH!" she screamed as she fell. She called out for her father. "DADDY!" Her voice echoed while Cronus shut his mouth and gulped her down

"MEL!" Hades shouted, shocked to have seen his own daughter eaten in front of him.

Persephone witnessed this as well. "Mel…" she said in a whisper, she and Hades frozen in place.

"Yes… YES!" Cronus could feel his strength regaining. "This is why I love me some gods!" he shouted while running over with renewed strength, slamming his fist against Zeus and kicking Poseidon aside.

Hades and Persephone looked blankly at Cronus while still replaying the image of their daughter getting eaten over and over in their minds. Slowly their expressions changed.

Persephone got up and marched out of Hecate's shield. "Mother?" Macaria asked while seeing Persephone walk toward Cronus.

Hades was steaming mad, his anger rising as his blue flaming hair turned red along with the rest of his body. The couple glared at Cronus, who kept beating around Hercules and his sons. Cronus noticed the two.

"Oh? Are you all prepared to be my snacks? I do like something spicy in my salad!" Cronus declared while Hades's flames exploded from his body.

"CRONUS!" Hades shouted as he started to form. "YOU'VE MADE A MISTAKE! AS KING AND QUEEN OF THE UNDERWORLD, WE'VE PASSED JUDGMENT UPON YOU!"

"For devouring the princess of the Underworld," Persephone hissed in a scarily calm and icy tone "We find you, Cronus, guilty of all charges."

"YOU HAVE BEEN SENTENCED… To dismemberment!" Hades declared while engulfed in his own flames while Persephone was engulfed in plants, the two starting to transform.

Hercules helped up his father. "Dad… what's going on with them?" he asked.

"Oh my boy, something that I can understand very well," Zeus states while seeing them transform. "The wrath of a parent when someone messes with their kids…"

Appearing with a roar was Hades as a red flaming dog with blue flaming eyes and smoke around his body to his tail. Persephone also reappeared, having transformed into a glowing, pink and green deer-like beast with wooden antlers and flowers around her body. They had grown to be as big as Cronus.

Cronus laughed. "Oh now this is terrific! You two think you can take me down in those forms? You think you-" but Cronus was cut off when the Dog-Hades bit him in the arm. "YEOWCH!" Cronus shouted, feeling Hades mauling his arm and incinerating his skin, leaving burn marks, which surprised Cronus. "Burn marks?"

Deer-Persephone made a cry while in her deer form, using her antlers to pierce through Cronus's stomach.

Cronus was shocked to see the two standing up and tearing him like this. "Stop! Both of you!" He slammed Hades to the wall, but his son bit his arm deep enough to rip it off. "AAAH!" Cronus screamed as the flaming dog but his neck. Cronus was choking, trying to get Hades off of him while Persephone climbed up and stomped on his chest with her hooves.

The hooves transformed into wooden stakes and she pierced his body with him. Cronus cried out in pain while Hades kept chewing on and mauling his neck. "STOP! Both of you! This is painful!" he cried out while Hades tore out his neck.

Persephone kept stabbing and piercing the body, eventually using her antlers to tear open his stomach, ripping out his organs and intestines. It was a brutal sight, one that would cause everyone witnessing this to shut their eyes while the two parents continued to maul the Titan. Cronus kept screaming until it died out, Hades kept chewing his father's legs out while Persephone removed his organs. The king and the queen kept going at this long after Cronus's voice had died out. All that was left was his mauled, dismembered body. His head, arms, hands, legs, and feet were torn up and chewed out. His whole body was filled with holes, and his organs were left gutted and splashed around. They have completely ripped apart the god-eater.

"By the Gods…" Hercules said in shock.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Ani said while looking disturbed by the dismemberment.

"So… is Cronus dead?" Alex asked, seeing that there was no way someone would survive that.

"Oh, he'll regenerate… eventually," Zeus explained while he saw Hades and Persephone shrink down and return to their normal forms. "Originally I cut him up into pieces with his own scythe and he managed to regrow from that. So give him enough time and he will be back."

Their rage having passed, Hades and Persephone began to call out for their daughter.

"Mel! Where are you!" Hades shouted.

"Mel! Can you hear us!" Persephone called out until they heard a groan. They turned around and saw an arm sticking out from the hole of Cronus's belly. "Mel!"

Hades and Persephone went to grab Mel's hand, pulling her out. Mel was pulled out while covered in stomach juices, Hades looking worried. "Mel… Mel, can you hear me?" he asked while trying to wake her up. "Come on, schmootzie, wake up!"

Mel stirred, looking up to her parents. "D-Dad?"

"Oh my sweet, Greek baby girl!" Hades said as he hugged Mel, Persephone joining in on the hug. "We're so glad that you're safe!"

"You… you are?" Mel asked while being held in a hug.

"Of course!" Persephone replied while in tears.

Mel was still shaken as she was trying to process what was happening. However, once her parents released her, their expressions changed.

"WHAT IN ALL THAT'S HERE WERE YOU THINKING?!" they shouted at her, making Mel wince. They started yelling at her rapidly, ranting about her releasing the prisoners of Tartarus, along with her troubles in the Boiling Isles.

"Do you know what kind of trouble you've caused?!" Hades shouted at her. "Bringing mortals here, sending one to eternal punishment?!"

"Opening the Underdrome and Tartarus, usurping your father?!" Persephone listed off. "Not to mention all the animals you've abducted, including ones that can talk!"

As they yelled, they even began shouting at her in Greek while the others watched.

"This could go on for a while," Hercules admitted.

"Come on, boys, let's get Cronus's pieces back in Tartarus," Zeus advised while picking up a piece of his father's intestines.

"We may be here for a while," Poseidon commented while he and the gods started picking up the pieces of Cronus with Macaria and Hecate's help.

---

After everything was settled in Tartarus, everyone gathered in the throne room, mortal and immortal alike.

Persephone saw the potted mint plant and figured that it was Minthe. She waved her hand, causing the potted plant to transform back into Minthe.

"Are you alright, Minthe?" she asked the secretary nymph, who gasped and hugged her. "I'm so sorry that you had to experience this again."

"I will be fine, my queen," Minthe responded, adjusting her glasses after stepping back. "I'm glad that I'm myself again, and thank you," she said with a smile.

Persephone nodded and then went to sit on her throne beside Hades. Before them stood Zeus, Hercules, Kitsuni, and the other immortals standing on one side while Eda, Luz, Amity and the other mortals stood on the other side as well. Mel and D-Josh were seen in cuffs, Kitsuni holding D-Josh's lamp.

"I would like to apologize, to all of you, for what Mel has done," Persephone said while nudging Hades.

"Right, right, we apologize for what my daughter did, it was out of line and a breach to the Olympus code and such," Hades said while noticing the intense glare from Luz. "We will make sure that this won't happen again."

"We both take responsibility for our daughter's actions, right Hades?" Persephone asked him.

He begrudgingly replied. "Yes, we accept fault for this as well. Especially me, alright? Like, she did all of this without our knowledge…"

"She will be punished accordingly," Persephone said as Hades nodded. Mel, who was staring at the ground, briefly looked up at her parents.

"So what's going to happen to Mel?" Amity asked, pointing to Mel.

"Well for one thing she will have less freedom after this and I will be sure to contact her mother about it," Hades responded, shocking Mel. "Until we decide on a proper punishment for her, we will focus on her and her issues."

"Meaning we will take some time off from work," Persephone said. "So for now, we will be temporarily stepping down as rulers of the Underworld." She turned to Hecate. "Hecate, since you have helped us dealing with Tartarus, me and Hades have decided to uphold your pardon and place you in charge of the Underworld for a while."

"Really? Oh thank you, my queen-" Hecate said but Hades interjected.

"With supervision of course!" Hades added.

Hecate just gave a nod. "Very well, I understand."

"Well that's good and all, but what about that guy?" Eda asked, pointing at D-Josh.

"He will be brought to the Order in order for judgment to be passed on him," Kitsuni explained. "Both he and Mel will be held accountable for their actions accordingly."

"Most likely, he won't be a free genie anymore," Jack said while D-Josh just looked down at his own cuffs, knowing that he was right.

"I would also like to inform you all that I got a message from Morpheus that he wanted me to pass down to you all," Zeus said. "Your friend, Ms. Donna Masterskull, has been returned to the Boiling Isles safe and sound by her friends, Nina Fangs, and Skara Brooke. All returned from Wonderland."

"Donna's safe? Thank Titan," Eda said with a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, so are Beo, Skara, and Nina." Luz added.

Mel looked mad that she was getting punished, but then she noticed that one person was missing. "Where's Trini?"

Everyone turned to Mel, who had spoken for the first time since everyone had been brought here. "Trini was with me when we went to fight Luz and Amity." She turned to Luz, who was now nervous. "Tell me… what happened to Trini?"

Luz took a moment to answer. "She's dead," she admitted, shocking Mel and the Boiling Isles residents.

"Dead? What are you…" Mel recognized Luz's body language and she fell into silent shock.

"Luz?" Amity asked as she patted Luz's hand in concern, her girlfriend just looking down in guilt.

"Is Trini's soul bound here for eternity if she dies here?" Edric asked, also in shock that Trini was dead.

"She isn't dead, actually," Thanatos pointed out while holding an ice pack over his head. "You see, since she's a Hellborn, despite being half-human, she doesn't really die if she is killed."

"R-Really?" Luz asked. "So… what happens to her? Does she regenerate?"

"Oh no, it's much worse," Thanatos clarified. "When Hellborns die, their bodies become part of the environment. Their death is a punishment, so in Trini's case, she's now part of the fauna of the Underworld… one would say, the Circle of Life is a horror show down here."

"Oh I can agree to that," the Baron said while Luz gave a look of horror.

"So… she's experiencing her own personal Hell then? Being part of the environment?" Luz asked in horror while Amity squeezed her hand.

"Do you need some time alone? We have a break room next door you can use." Persephone suggested.

Luz took a few deep breaths as she calmed down. "I'm… I'm going to be fine," she said as her hands stopped shaking. "I'm… good for now."

"Are you going to be okay, Luz?" Jack asked her.

"I'm fine, thanks for the concern," she responded. "But my biggest concern right now is the Baron." She pointed to the Baron, still possessing Lilith and reading a book.

"Yeah, should you guys do something about him?" Hunter asked.

"Um… well, to be honest, we can't do anything about him." Zeus admitted sheepishly.

"Yeah, you can never say no to the Baron, kid," Hades said. "Trust me, I tried, and had the worst hangover."

"If the Baron claims a soul, it's up to him whether or not to release the soul," Ani explained. "Unfortunately, that means we can't do anything about it."

"So you can't make him do anything at all?" Boscha asked.

"The Baron isn't under either of our jurisdictions," Kitsuni said.

"This is such bull!" Boscha shouted as she slammed her hands on the table while pointing at the Baron "Isn't the Baron like some messed up god? How is it that they're different from most of you guys? They should be expelled from Lilith's body!"

"She's right," Amity said while turning to the Baron. "You have no right to take Lilith's body, release her now!"

The Baron looked up from their book and shrugged. "I was going to give her body back once the whole thing with Mel was settled… but I can't guarantee that I won't come back for her soul again later." Luz narrowed her eyes at the Baron. "Don't give me that look, jeune fille, this is a reminder for both of you and Lilith to not forget our deal."

"And I said I will be working on it," Luz told the Baron.

"Then I'll give you until the Day of Unity to get me what I want," the Baron told her as they stood up. "So until then… see you later." The Baron waved Lilith's hand down as the skull mask tattoo disappeared. In its place was Lilith's clear, pale face as her eyes widened in shock, showing one gray and the other teal.

"What… where am I?!" Lilith cried out, looking around. She saw Mel in cuffs and the gods before her. "What… did I miss something?"

"Lilith!" Hunter went and hugged her, tears falling from his eyes. "I-I-I'm so glad… so glad that you're okay!"

Lilith hugged him back. "Me too, Hunter," she said while holding him in the hug. King crawled up to hug Lilith as well and she included him in the hug while Eda went to join the hug. "I'm so… so glad to see you two again."

"Yeah, same," Eda said, hugging her sister tightly while Luz walked up to Lilith and gave her a hug as well.

"Luz…?" Lilith said, surprised by Luz's hug.

"Welcome back, Aunt Lily," Luz said while hugging her tightly.

Amity smiled, glad that Lilith was alright. She turned to Puck, deciding to walk over to him while everyone else talked and mingled. "Puck."

He turned to her. "Amity… what are-" He was surprised as he felt Amity giving him a hug. He then smiled and hugged Amity back. "It's good to see you again, Pixie Dust."

"You too, Puck," Amity replied, tears leaking from her eyes as she released him. "I am so glad that you're okay… how are you feeling right now?"

"Well, my mind is clearer now," Puck replied. "Tinker Bell found and she told me that she met you. Then I reunited with the Lost Boys in Neverland, which… has seen better days." He looked down sadly. "I… I wanted to apologize to you for everything."

"I know you do, but I'm just… relieved that you're alive," Amity replied to him. "I have been really worried for you."

"Well, you don't have to worry about me anymore," he told her. "I've begun to remember everything, Amity. My birth mother, my adoptive mother, my former life… I think I will be able to start putting my life back together again. Especially now that my stepfather, Oberon, won't be a problem for either of us now."

"Oberon… I remember hearing about him… he's the Lord of the Fae, right?" she asked.

"Yes, he's now the former Lord, but forget about him," Puck said before sighing. "I feel really bad for all the trouble I've caused you, especially since thanks to me you're now part-Fae. That was never my intention, believe me."

"I know," Amity responded as she looked down. "But honestly… it's not too bad. I don't think I would have bonded with my Palisman if I wasn't part-Fae and I wouldn't have Sam… would you like to meet her?" she asked, pointing at her shadow. "This Sam, my shadow. Sam, meet Puck."

"Nice to meet you," Sam spoke, though Puck didn't understand them.

Puck shook Sam's hand. "Wow, I'm surprised that you gave it a name. Or her, or them…"

"Really? Other Fae don't do that?" Amity asked.

"Not that I've heard," Puck commented. He was quiet for a moment. "You do know that I can't go back with you, right? Neverland and my friends there need me, but even if they didn't… I have done too much damage in the Isles already."

"I know and I understand," Amity said, nodding. "But Puck… I do forgive you for stranding me in the Human Realm, especially since I know you were not in your right of mind. You are still my friend and still intend to call myself Goodfellow. That hasn't changed."

"Oh… that's very neat of you," Puck replied. "And I do feel honored that you took my last name… though recently I remembered that Puck isn't my true name. It's actually Kumar, which means… 'son'."

"Kumar… that is a nice name, it suits you," Amity commented.

"Thank you, and Goodfellow suits you well," Puck replied while noticing Boscha, who had been watching them from a distance. Her eyes narrowed at Puck, who looked guilty.

Amity turned to Boscha, noticing her looking at them. "Oh…" she realized before turning back to Puck who just looked away. "Maybe I should properly introduce you to her."

"I… don't think that's a good idea, Amity," Puck said to her.

"Well, I think you could at least try to make a better impression on her," Amity said while grabbing Puck's sleeve, pulling him over. "I'll be the peacemaker and help reintroduce you guys."

Boscha noticed Amity bringing Puck over. "Hey, Boscha. Um, I know that you and Puck have some bad history together," Amity began. "But I think we can start over. Boscha, this is Puck. Puck, this is Boscha."

"Um… hey," Puck said with an awkward wave while Boscha just glared at him. "Look, I want to say that I'm sorry for everything that I've done to you and-" But Boscha just walked away from him before he could finish.

"Boscha-!" Amity tried to reach out to her, but Puck stopped her.

"It's okay, Amity," he told her with a sigh. "I deserve the silent treatment from her."

While this was going on, Emily just kept her distance from everyone, her arms crossed as she watched the proceedings. It was a lot to process, meeting all these gods and deities. However, she noticed a certain someone walking towards her.

"Emily," Eda said to her. "Listen… I'm glad that you're alive and okay-" But Emily just turned around and walked away, not even acknowledging Eda's presence. Eda got the message and left her alone.

Meanwhile, Luz was talking with Jack. "How have you been, Luz? Spark up trouble in the Isles?"

"Eh, my days of trouble have toned down a notch," Luz responded. "How about you? How's the whole genie business going for you?"

"I've been through several masters," Jack replied. "I intend to return to my current one after this business gets taken care of."

"I see," Luz said, nodding. "You know, realizing now in hindsight, that if I had your lamp, I could've wished for a portal door."

Jack chuckled. "Well, things still worked out on your end, didn't it?"

"Pretty much," Luz said while looking down. "So… turns out that I'm not really a cambion…"

"Yeah, I figured that out as well," Jack responded. "Though it was a blanket term."

"So if I'm not a cambion… what am I then?" Luz asked.

"You're still Luz, aren't you?" Jack asked her and Luz nodded. "Look Luz, no matter what you are, whether it is human, witch, cambion, or a hellraiser, you're still the same great kid that I met at Hexside."

Luz smiled and hugged him, the genie hugging her back. "Thanks, Jack."

Meanwhile, Mel and D-Josh both looked at the ground before they noticed Edric walking up to them. "Eddie?" Mel asked, looking up at him. "H-Hey, Eddie, um… about what happened today…"

"I'm just here to say goodbye, Melinoe," Edric told her, his face neutral. "To you and to Joshua." He turned to the teen genie. "I hope you find your mother."

D-Josh nodded, grateful. "Thank you, Ed," he said while Edric nodded back and walked away. Mel fell silent again and looked back down at the ground while Ed went over to Macaria.

Macaria noticed Edric. "Yes?" she asked him.

"Um… I don't think you know me, but I have noticed you and well… I saw you in a family portrait with Mel and her parents," Edric mentioned as Macaria unveiled herself, revealing her beautiful features.

"Yes, I am Mel's adopted sister. My name is Macaria, the goddess of blessed death," she introduced.

"Oh, Macaria?" Edric asked. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Macaria replied. "I'm sorry that my sister took you from your realm. You know, she hasn't always been this bad. But while me, Zagreus, and Plutus all grew up… she didn't. She was actually born before Zagreus and Plutus… but her Fae side stunted her growth, though I do think she is still responsible for her lack of maturity."

"Wait, you mean she wasn't supposed to be a teenager?" Edric asked.

"Well, most gods, Fae, and other magical creatures age differently than mortals," Macaria explained. "We do stop aging at a certain point, but in Mel's case, because of her mother's side, she got stuck looking like a teenager, unlike the rest of us who were able to grow up and develop normally."

"Oh," Edric said while thinking about another question to ask. "So… about her powers… can she really control emotions? How does it work?"

"Ah yes, her ability," Macaria said, knowing too well what he was referring to. "Melinoe was granted the ability to invoke madness and fear into others by amplifying their negative emotions and feelings," she explained. "Mel can bring out the worst in people, driving them to extremes."

"I guess that is how she turned me against my own family," Edric mentioned.

"I am terribly sorry that she did that to you," Macaria told him.

"No, it's fine," Edric said as he sighed. "I guess there is a lesson to learn from this… never speed date."

Meanwhile, Puck met Gus and Willow for the first time through Amity as he apologized to them.

"I am sorry for stranding you both in the Human Realm," Puck told them. "I wish I could've met you two before since you're Luz and Amity's friends and I know I… didn't make a good first impression. I wasn't in my right mind, but I still feel terrible."

Gus and Willow looked at each other before Willow spoke up. "It's okay, we understand."

"Yeah, we forgive you," Gus responded. "Though honestly, it wasn't all bad."

"Yeah, some good came out of you sending us to the Human Realm," Willow explained. "Like I made some new friends and Luz was able to meet her god family."

Puck blinked. "Huh. Well, if you see Eve, tell her that I'm sorry for giving her trouble as well."

"I'll pass on the message," Gus said with a nod.

After her talk with Edric, Macaria saw Hercules coming over. She knew this was coming, but it was still going to be awkward. "Oh… hello, um… Hercules."

"Hey… Mac," Hercules responded awkwardly. The two paused, Hercules scratching the back of his hair while Macaria just looked down on the floor. "It's… nice seeing you again. How's the… job going?"

"Pretty fine, still blessing souls," Macaria responded. "Um, before this me and Thanatos were at a meeting with the other death gods."

"Yeah, that's great! Important stuff," Hercules said, trying to be supportive.

Macaria took a deep breath. "Dad," she said, looking up at him. "Say… hi to mom for me."

Herc smiled and nodded. "Of course, Mac."

Meanwhile, Hades was faced with Cups and Mugs, both brothers looking nervous. "Cups… you and your brother are free to leave… for now."

Cups and Mugs gulped before Cups spoke up. "You're very generous, Mr. Hades."

"Yeah, and we forgive ya for shooting us with bb pellets," Mugs added while Hades tried to shush him.

"BB pellets?" Persephone asked, overhearing this while sending Hades a glare. "Hades…"

Hades looked nervous before sending the two brothers a glare.

"Alright, is everyone ready to go?" Jack asked the witches once everyone was done catching up. They all nodded. "Great! I may be a genie bound in cuffs, but I can still make a portal to send you kids home!" he declared while forming a portal that would take them to the Boiling Isles.

"Is it safe?" Cross asked.

"You've been through Hell, dude, it's totally safe," Luz reassured him while turning to Jack. "Thank you, Jack, for helping us."

"Anytime, Luz, but I promise this won't be the last time we'll see each other again!" Jack declared while Boscha went in first.

"I am so going to have a talk with Ms. Traveler after all of this," Boscha said as she jumped in, followed by Willow and Gus.

"Yeah, a trip to Ms. T would be great," Gus said in agreement, Willow nodding before going in. Cups and Mugs followed them as they ran.

Amity turned to Puck. "I hope this won't be the last time we see each other again, Puck… or Kumar, if that's what you prefer."

"You can still call me Puck," Puck told her. "That's what you know me as. But thank you, Amity. I hope this won't be the last time we see each other as well." He smiled. "Good luck, Ms. Goodfellow."

Amity smiled back and went to join Luz, the two girls looking back at Jack and Puck one more time before facing the portal. The two girls held hands while they entered the portal along with King and Edric.

"Wait, I never got a chance to speak with the gods!" Lilith said while being pulled aside by Eda.

"Come on, Lily, let's get you home," Eda said while Hunter followed.

Emily stepped in front of the portal. Cross and Lindsay stood by her side and she turned to them as they gave her reassuring nods. Emily sighed as she entered the portal with them.

Kitsuni was the last to enter the portal, carrying D-Josh after he had returned to his lamp. "Thank you, old friend," she told Jack as she went in.

"Anytime, Kit," Jack said while closing the portal.

After the mortals left, Poseidon spoke up. "Well, this was exhausting."

"Yeah, but it was sure epic to team up with the famous witch heroes!" Alex pointed out.

"Those mortals have guts in standing up against a goddess, I'll give them that," Ani admitted.

"Alright, I think we should all go as well," Hercules said while looking at Macaria, the two smiling at each other.

"And I should be off to my master," Jack said as he turned to Puck. "Nice seeing you again, Puck. Good thing this team-up was better than our last."

Puck nodded. "Your name change is going to take some getting used to though, since I've recently met a Jack."

Jack snickered as the two walked away together.

Before he left, Zeus turned to his brother. "Will you be alright, Hades?" Zeus asked him.

"Yeah, me and Persy are going to have a long talk with Mel," Hades said, pointing to his daughter. "Probably gonna have to do some damage control…"

Mel looked down, knowing how much trouble she was in. Without D-Josh, without Trini, without Ed… she was screwed, making her mutter under her breath. "Fuck…"

---

And thus concludes the Underworld Arc, which would be followed by an epilogue.

In reference, Typhon and Echidna are the ones from the Hercules: The Animated Series, while Cetus is more based off of his appearance in Clash of the Titans(1981). Hecate is also a character from the Hercules: TAS series who once tried to usurp Hades twice for the Underworld's throne.

This was pretty much an epic story arc we've made. Developing it was a long time goal to further it's completion. With tons of ideas until we've settled with the final cut, in bringing Luz and her friends to an out of their comfort zone in order to save their love ones from a punk goddess.

Heck, the original ideas we had was going to be a lot much darker. We've thought of ways for Luz to end up killing Trini like one where she has a berserk mode. Plus, it was going to be originally bittersweet, with the idea we've had for a while was for Edric to eventually eat the food of the Underworld and remain stuck, but we've decided that it would really be too depressing for an ending. It would lead to Edric does return after six months in the Underworld, he would've been Hade's intern and a cute idea that Hades and Persephone would adopt Edric.

Lilith's fate was going to be a lot more devastating in the original dark draft. Like, her soul would've been claimed by the Baron, making Luz to settle the deal quicker in order to save her. Lilith would've been absent for the rest of the fic until a certain point, but we've decided to go against it. It would've been too sad, like the only ones the heroes saved are King and Emily, but not Ed and Lilith… that's not going to play well, will it?

Also to add, in the original draft, we would've had Mel to be imprisoned in Tartarus, but since multiple of you readers wanted Cronus to eat her, we decided to give her the lighter fate of being saved by and then held responsible for her actions by her parents.

Having Hades come back from the River Styx was always going to happen. Zeus saving him was something added in, as a way to make sense for Hercules to show up. And we got the return of Thanatos from the "Exams" arc in Book 1, along with him is Macaria. If any of you are confused about her relations with Hades, Persephone, Hercules and Meg/Hebe, well Macaria in the Greek myth, is based off of two characters of the same name.

One is the daughter of Hercules who was sacrificed to Persephone, and one is the daughter of Hades and the goddess of blessed death. Here, we've decided to combine them. In this, Macaria is the first born daughter of Hercules and Megara… but she's also the adopted daughter of Hades and Persephone. Which is a whole kind of awkwardness there…

There is a lot more to the backstory of Hades and Persephone and what happened after the events of the Hercules movie, but we didn't have time to go into all of it this chapter.

As for Cross and Lindsay. To Crosshot, we hope you love how we handle and deal with Cross being a lycan dragon. We figured that him being a green European dragon would make sense as well as his ability to use plant, ice and fire magic. Lindsay's "Madstream" form is pretty much what happens if Hinata from Naruto gets slapped with Gamma Radiation-no-jutsu and Hulks out, with all the pent up anger issues. Yeah, Lindsay has some anger issues, particularly what happens if you mistreat animals, especially pet owners who poorly takes care of their pets. And Mel learned that the hard way.

As for Trini's death… it was pretty much always going to be planned. Especially in Luz's hands, by accident of course. Let's face it, out of Mel's gang, Trini is the least sympathetic. Like, compare her to her counterpart Evie in Descendants, Evie is much more nicer than Trini, who shows no remorse for what she's done, especially roofied Lilith and Odalia. She's pretty much the one who deserves a death throughout this arc.

Now for the reviews:

Krypton Joy Writes: All will be explained throughout the story.

Spantidem7: It doesn't work like that. Luz would have to get a soul that's not in the afterlife. Besides, why would the Baron want souls from the already dead?

Moheart7: We just learned about Hebe and well, Meg was always going to be a goddess, so we combine the two together.

Crosshot: Lindsay's more like the Hulk in a way, mixed with Dark KO from OK KO: Let's Be Heroes. Cross being a dragon is intentional, he's a lycan dragon. I did reference Thor: Ragnorok when Luz saw Jack and shout "YES!" like Thor did with Hulk.

OMAC001: We've considered it… but didn't go through Lilith's fate.

Matteso585: 1) The "tender subject" line is from Rocky Horror Picture Show. 2) Not with the restraining order. 3) The chapter answered for you. 4) Not really on her mind right now.

Franco Almiron: You'll see.

61394: He makes time.

Shuffollower: Them's The Breaks, Kid would be played out in the story's following week, while Hollow Mind won't be played out until much later. Yeah, you're right on Lindsay's Hulk mode. That Robots reference was intentional with Willow and Boscha. In fact, Cluckington was going to suffer some karmic justice, but our sick little minds suggests he gets cooked like a Kentucky Fried dinner.

Ultimate-drax: We've been dying to use "I'm the Bad Guy", and sorry for ruining chicken for ya.

Alamout: We'll get around to it eventually.

EEnEScammer: While I've read your analysis, I'd say you might be right on Mel's part. No witch duel between Luz and Cross happened cause Luz more likely Luz wouldn't have that mindset and that it's pretty much too late for a Luz vs Cross fight. Danny? Nah, it was Adrian who caught Cross.

RJWritingInk: Firstly, that's not Mary Poppins, that's Rosie who's an original character in Hazbin Hotel, even showed up in the pilot. Don't worry about us as we plan to release these Helluva Dad chapters the same way the show releases their episodes. We know that Napoleon wasn't short, but it's still funny that's his punishment out of irony sake. The John Smith part is meant to be a joke, and doubles to dis-canon Pocahontas. We'll think on the Dr. Jan and Kronk suggestions.

Also a little promotion, but check out ultimate-drax's fics "Hazbin Titan" and "Children of Thor".

Next chapter, the aftermath…