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.

98. Chapter 126: Heartless Whisperer

All characters from Disney and other properties are owned by their respectful owners. The OCs made here are written entirely for the story. Enjoy this fic.

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Chapter 126: Heartless Whisperer

At Blight Industries, Amity and Alador were in the middle of their talk.

"A giant spider lady?" Alador asked in surprise.

"Yeah, she tried to eat some innocent people, including my friends from the Falls," Amity explained while recounting her adventures to her father.

"I gotta admit, you've done a lot in such a short time, Amity," Alador admitted while in awe of his daughter. "Traveling to Hell and the Underworld, facing a goddess… you've done things that I could never imagine myself doing."

"What? Come on, dad, you were a Bonesborough Brawler, a champion at that," Amity pointed out. "Don't sell yourself short."

"I know, but you have done incredible things with yourself," Alador replied while ruffling Amity's hair. "It feels like only yesterday that you were just my quiet little girl, and now you're like a completely different witch, Mittens. And I mean that in a good way. I'm… proud of the young witch you've become."

Amity smiled. "Thanks, dad," she said.

"And you're the holder of the Sword of Adam," Alador said while looking at the sword on Amity's helm in awe. "I only heard stories about this sword. My dad said it was a Blight heirloom and I was once obsessed with finding it."

"Well, your dad was right about it being an heirloom, since it was made by Adam Blight," Amity explained. "He once used it to defend the Boiling Isles from threats. Ghost told me all about him, he was her previous owner."

"Really? That's interesting," Alador said, stroking his chin. "I would love to learn what Ghost knows about him and Abra Blight at some point. You think you could arrange that?"

"Sure…" Amity said while looking down. She frowned, thinking about what Ghost had told her about Adam, including how he died. "Dad… do you think it is possible to give a soul to an Abomination?"

"A… soul?" Alador asked in confusion. "Well, I have never heard of such a thing being done before. That would involve soul magic, which is something that we know very little about. To combine Abominations with soul magic would be… well, it would be quite the trick."

"Yeah, it would," Amity said while still looking down.

"Why do you want to know?" Alador asked, curious.

"For a while I have been wondering that if hypothetically an Abomination gained a soul, if that soul could survive death and be given a new…" She paused, shaking her head. "Um, nevermind. It's silly."

"Silly?" Alador asked. "Not at all. Asking these kinds of questions is what leads to innovations. If this is really something you're interested in, I would suggest looking into it. I could… even help you, if you'd like."

Amity looked up and smiled at her dad. "Yeah, I would like that."

"It could be our first real project together," Alador suggested while smiling. "Experimenting with Abominations and souls. If that's what you want, of course. We could do something else together. Whatever you would be interested in."

"I'll think about it," Amity said. She did feel happy to be spending this time with her dad. Like, actual time together. She felt good to be sharing her life with him. But at the same time… she knew that she was just beating around the bush. She frowned and sighed. "Dad… can we… talk about mom?"

Alador was taken aback by this, but he understood and nodded. "Of course."

Amity looked down again. "I've… been thinking about the other day and I'm… still not sure what to think about the fact that she killed her own parents. Mom has done so much to show that she has changed, but… is this really something that I should just sweep under the rug? My mom is a murderer and I don't know what to do with this information." She looked up to her dad, hoping for some answers.

And Alador wasn't sure how to respond to her. "Well, I…" He sighed. "Honestly, I don't know how to feel about it either," he admitted. "I don't even know if I am that different from Odalia. Sure, I didn't kill my parents, but I'm not exactly torn up about their deaths either."

"How… do you feel about the death of your parents?" Amity asked.

Alador hesitated with his answer before he continued. "Honestly, I hated my parents," he admitted while looking down. "And I fantasized about killing them… a lot. I thought that I would at least feel better when they were finally dead. And yet… I don't. Truthfully, I don't feel anything. No grief. No relief. Nothing. And I don't really know what to think about that."

Amity looked up at her father, wondering how she might have reacted if her parents had died, even when she was angry at Odalia. She doubted that her reaction would be the same as Alador's, but then again he had to deal with a lifetime of pain caused by his parents even before the mind control. At the very least, her relationship with her parents had never gotten that bad. But perhaps it could have been.

"Dad… I'm so sorry…" Amity said to him.

"Sorry? For what?" Alador asked her in surprise.

"For abandoning this family," she admitted, tearing leak from her eyes as Alador's eyes widened. "I ran away from my problems instead of talking to you or mom and working things out. But I was selfish. I thought only about myself and not about how my actions affected the rest of the family."

"Amity…" Alador said as his daughter cried.

"If it weren't for me this family wouldn't have fallen apart. You wouldn't have been put under the grasp of your parents again, and the divorce wouldn't have happened…" Amity was teary-eyed as she felt her father embrace her… in a hug.

"Amity, Amity, stop this nonsense right now," Alador said as he held his daughter, letting her cry into his chest. He couldn't let her be this way. He hated seeing her blame herself like this. "Listen to me, it is not your fault."

"But it is…" Amity sobbed.

"No," Alador said and as he listened to his daughter sob, he was hit by a realization. "If anyone's at fault… it's me," Alador told her. "I am the one who should be blamed."

"No dad, you shouldn't," Amity told him, looking up to him. "You were under mind control."

"But even before that, I could have talked to you," Alador pointed out. "I could have come over to the Owl House any time. And I also could have stopped the twins from running away, but… I was so angry at your mother at the time. And as always, I buried myself in my work and made that my priority while ignoring the rest of my problems."

"But you were trying to help your siblings…" Amity said.

"Yes, but that's no excuse," Alador said as he reflected on his actions in horror. "Titan, it took me more than a week to reach out to you, Ed, and Em for a talk. I could have reached out to you long before then, but I didn't." He paused. "I'm… I'm a terrible father." He looked down at his daughter. "Oh Amity, I am so sorry."

"Dad…" Amity said while wiping away her tears. She was at a loss of words. "Maybe… you should give mom a chance and talk to her."

"You… think I should?" Alador asked her.

"Well, she has been trying to change for the better," Amity pointed out. "And maybe… maybe you can change as well. We've all hurt each other in one way or another, but maybe we could all learn from the experience and be a family again."

Alador had his doubts, but when he saw his daughter's hopeful expression, he managed to give her a nod. "I think… I will consider it."

"Thanks, dad," Amity replied before they heard a commotion coming from outside the office. "What's that?"

Alador gave a worried frown. "Wait here," he said as he stepped out of the office and saw many scouts marching out of the factory. Surprised to see them suddenly leaving, he called out to Wolffe. "Captain Wolffe! What's going on?!"

"Belos has just issued an order for the arrest of Terra Snapdragon, sir!" Wolffe declared.

"Arrest?" Alador asked.

"She's the Producer of the Tarot Guild, the true leader of the drug and witch-trafficking ring!" Wolffe revealed as Alador's eyes widened. "We are now heading to the Plant Coven!"

Hearing this, Alador returned to his office. "Amity, all the scouts are leaving for-"

However, Amity had already left.

---

In the Plant Coven, Luz and Eda were flying towards the nearest exit while carrying Perry, Sunny, and Raine. They were attempting to escape Plant Coven even as vines and thorns grew out from the walls to try to trap them in.

"Hang on!" Luz shouted while having Perry on her back. She used her fire glyphs to burn through a bush wall for her and Eda to fly through.

Raine looked back and saw a trail of vines coming after them. "They're gaining on us!"

Sunny drew a spell, sending out fire bees at the vines to slow them down. "This should keep them busy!"

All around them, plants were grabbing the scouts and witches of the Plant Coven, capturing and trapping them.

"These people…" Luz said.

'Try to focus on escaping, Luz!' Maya told her.

Knowing that Maya was right, Lus focused on getting them out of the Plant Coven instead of the insanity that was happening around them as the plants seemed to try to be making sure that nobody left the building. Luz and Eda realized that most of the exits were being blocked and covered by the plants in order to trap them inside.

"Look around for a way out!" Luz shouted.

Sunny spotted a nearby window not covered in plants. "Over there!"

Luz and Eda turned to the window and flew toward it, Luz using and ice spell to slow down the plants around them before they used their wings to spin around and smash themselves through the window. The two were now outside the Plant Coven and just in time too, since their window of escape was covered literally seconds after they got out.

"We made it!" Eda shouted as she turned back and looked at the Plant Coven. Terra seemed to be barricading herself in, with the plants of the greenhouse basically taking over the building. "Oh wow, that looks bad."

"We gotta go," Raine pointed out. "Pretty soon, scouts will be coming."

---

While walking through the forest, Nina and Lambi got a notification on their scrolls. They checked their Penstagram and were shocked by the update.

"As of now, the different covens are convening on the Plant Coven to arrest Terra Snapdragon after her involvement in the infamous Tarot Guild was revealed," spoke an anchor. "Her crimes include kidnapping, witch-trafficking, drug smuggling, murder, conspiracy, and so on. Snapdragon is also responsible for the attempt on Head Witch Calypso Brooke's life at art gala last Friedday."

"Holy shit…" Nina said, shocked by the news. "That bitch… she's made Skara's family go through so much hell!" she hissed in anger. "She's responsible for everything… including what happened to Casey!"

"Nina…" Lambi said as she held her hand, helping to calm the werecat down.

"Wait a second folks, I just received word of a prison break," the anchor said, catching the two girls' attention. "I am being told to advise everyone to stay indoors at all costs. Not just because of the situation with Terra, but also because the criminals locked in the Conformatorium have escaped!"

The two looked at each other with worried expressions. "Nina, we should-"

"Make it back to our families?" Nina asked while summoning her staff. "Yeah, thought the same thing. Hop on."

Lambi got on Nina's staff before they both flew up off the ground, heading back to their homes… and their families.

---

At the Park home, the Parks and Gus were contemplating on what to do.

"So we have no idea where they are now?" Willow asked while worried.

"We should go out and look for them," Sully suggested.

"But we're still not even sure if they made it out or not," Gilbert pointed out.

"But we have to do something!" Gus shouted while looking impatient. "Luz finally found my dad. He's alive and somewhere in the Isles… he could still be trapped in the Plant Coven!"

"We can't just go out without a plan," Gilbert tried to argue.

"Luz and Eda need us right now," Willow said while looking more worried. "If they didn't get out in time, then they are still trapped inside that building with the most unstable witch of the Isles. And if Terra-"

Knock-knock-knock!

They turned to the door before Gilbert walked over to it. The knocking was heard again as he opened the door. Everyone gasped when they saw who it was.

"Where's the G-Man?" Eda asked as she, Luz and Perry made it through the door.

"Luz!" Willow shouted as Gus's eyes widened upon seeing his dad.

"D-Dad?" Gus asked, frozen in place.

"Gus…" Perry said as he looked at his son and managed to smile while Luz helped bring him inside, since he still couldn't stand on his own.

"Dad!" Gus shouted again before he rushed over and embraced his dad. Perry hugged him back, though that caused him to fall on his knees. "I'm… I'm so glad that you're back!"

"I'm glad to see you again too, Gus," Perry replied softly as both teared up at the reunion.

"Perry," Sully said. "It's good to see you again, old friend."

"Yeah," Gilbert said while looking concerned. "Are you okay, though? You look… well, you look absolutely terrible."

"I don't think he has eaten any proper foods for a long time," Eda admitted as she walked over to the kitchen. "Willow, I need your help blending up some food for him. He can't have solids right now."

"On it, Eda," Willow replied as she went to join Eda.

"Let's help Perry to the couch," Luz said as she, Gilbert, and Sully escorted Perry to the couch, where they laid him down. "You're going to be alright, Perry. We'll make sure of that."

"Thank you, Luz," Perry responded. "For reuniting me with my son."

Luz gave him a nod. "I just wish we could have found you sooner," she said while feeling Gus hugging her.

"Thank you, Luz," Gus responded as Luz hugged him back.

"You're welcome, kiddo," Luz said.

After Eda and Willow made some blended up food for Perry, they then began to discuss the current situation.

"So Terra is part of the Tarot Guild," Sully recounted. "Responsible for all of those missing witches…"

"The drug trafficking," Eda counted.

"And the deals," Gus said as his eyes narrowed.

"And Beel was recording everything…" Luz realized. She looked down, thinking about Beel. "He… he got us out before he was taken…"

"I should've grabbed him when we had the chance," Eda said, feeling just as guilty as Luz was about Beel. And not just guilty… angry as well. Angry that a kid had died under her watch.

"So… what do we do now?" Willow asked them, sounding unsure.

Luz sighed. "Probably nothing," she admitted.

"Yeah, her problem is dealing with Belos now," Eda said as she leaned back in the chair. "Belos and the covens should deal with that maniac."

"Yeah, let's leave it as Belos's issue now," Luz said while looking down, still angry about what Belos did behind her back. "That dirty rat bastard… he killed them."

Eda looked down, while the Parks and the Porters understood, having heard that part about the rebels.

"I thought Belos was bad, but… breaking a promise like that… that's low even for him," Gus said with an angry look.

"The Thians… Boris… Katya…" Perry said, the feeling of failure sinking in.

Sully cleared his throat. "I know that everyone is going through a lot right now, but I should mention that there is also a prison break happening right now."

"Prison break?" Willow asked.

"Yeah, the news is all over it. Something happened at the Conformatorium and everyone is being advised to stay inside," Sully pointed out.

"We should check in with our loved ones," Luz suggested to Eda, who nodded in agreement.

"I'm going to call King," Eda said as she went to find a crow.

"And I'll contact Ams," Luz replied as she held up her scroll to let Amity know where she was.

Eda found a crow and called King, who answered. "Mom? Everything alright?"

"Yeah, we're safe, King," Eda replied. "Just checking up on you…"

Luz looked down at the scroll, thinking about what to tell Amity. She knew that if she already heard about the BATTs and the Thians, she would be absolutely destroyed. Luz sighed and sent her text.

L: Ams, hey.

A: Luz? R U okay?

L: I'm fine. Where are you at right now?

A: With Ed and Em.

A: …

A: I heard about the situation with Terra, where are you at right now?

L: With the Parks.

L: We saved Perry, Amity. We saved him.

A: That's great news!

A: …

L: Are you okay, Ams?

A: I'm okay, just… I'm worried about Kay right now.

L: Don't worry, she's safe with King and Hooty right now.

A: I know, just… the news about her family…

L: Look, we're not even sure if what Terra said was true about them. Goonla, Levi, and the BATTs could still be alive. We just… need a confirmation about their status.

A: I know… did you talk to Boscha about it yet?

L: I can try.

Luz tried to talk to Boscha on her scroll.

L: Boscha, you there?

B: …

L: Boscha? Are you okay?

B: …

L: Boscha?

Luz went back to texting Amity.

L: She's not picking up her scroll. I'm worried for her.

A: I can try reaching out to her.

L: Yeah. Try that.

L: …

L: Hey Ams?

A: Yeah?

L: I love you, Hermosa.

A: I love you too, Babata.

Luz finished her text, smiling a little at Amity's response. She then heard Eda finishing her call.

"Okay, King and Hooty have set up some house security, so they should be okay," Eda said while turning to Luz. "How's Amity?"

"She's fine, she says she's with her siblings right now," Luz said before her smile vanished.

Eda noticed how Luz looked. "Hey, Luz… are you okay?" she asked.

"No, mom," Luz admitted while looking up to her. "No I am not…" Tears started to form in her eyes and she began to vent. "We may have found and saved Perry, but not only did Beel die, but I let Kay and Boscha down."

"Luz…" Eda said as she patted Luz's shoulders. "Don't let Terra get to you. I mean, they could still be alive…"

"That's what I told Amity, but that's just wishful thinking," Luz said as she started to cry. "And if they are dead, then it's my fucking fault, mom. The Thians and the BATTs could still be alive if I had broken them out sooner! Why did I make that deal with Belos? Why did I trust him to keep his word?! Now Rick is dead and they could all be dead because I was a gullible idiot! I actually believed Belos's word and he fucking broke it!"

Eda embraced Luz, hugging her while she cried into her chest. "Luz, it's not your fault. Belos should have kept his word, he's the one who went behind your back. And he is not getting away with this one bit."

---

Meanwhile, Raine had returned to the CATT base with a blindfolded Sunny.

"Alright Sunny, we're here," Raine told her.

"I have so many questions, Raine," Sunny said as she removed her blindfold. "Like where have you been all this time and-" She looked around and saw the rest of the CATTs members except for Geist, Lilith, Odalia, and Bindell. Her eyes widened when she saw Eberwolf and Steve among them. "Steve? Eber?"

"Sunny?" Steve asked in surprise.

Sunny rushed over to him. "I can't believe… oh Titan, you're okay!" she shouted as she embraced him, causing Steve to blush. "I was so worried about you, Steve! They said you deserted the scouts. Have you been here this whole time?"

"Um… I can explain later, but first," Steve said as he turned to Raine. "Raine, what is she doing here?"

"She got caught up with the Terra fiasco, so I thought I should bring her over," Raine answered. "But speaking of, did you catch the news?"

"Yeah, right now this Terra lady has barricaded herself in the Plant Coven," Star replied. "We… also heard about what happened to the other rebels."

Darius gave Raine an apologetic look. "I'm so sorry, Raine…"

Raine looked down, thinking about the BATTs members. "He broke an agreement with Luz and killed Rick, Barack, Shroom, Squatchy, Goonla, Levi, Katya, Amber, Derwin, Boris…" They paused, their hands shaking. "I failed them. I got them killed…"

"Hey, don't focus on that," Tres said, noticing the shaking. "Focus on how this just gives us more reasons to take Belos down. I mean, we're not going to make Belos pay for this, right?"

Hearing this, Raine paused and took a deep breath. "Y-you're right," they said while adjusting their glasses. "We need to make sure Belos does not get away with this."

"What about Luz and Eda? Are they safe?" Star asked them.

"They made it out with Perry safe and sound," Raine confirmed.

"Hey, don't forget the Terra fiasco isn't the only thing going on right now," Bunker pointed out. "There is that prison break that's happening right now."

"Yeah, how many are escaping?" Star asked.

"I think… all of them," Bunker said. "And because of Terra, Belos is probably going to have to split his forces between dealing with her and dealing with the Conformatorium break. This could get really bad really fast. Not only are some of the worst witches in the Isles now free… but there are apparently monsters there as well."

"Monsters?" Steve asked in confusion.

"Reports are vague and frantic right now," Bunker explained. "But the scouts on the scene are being attacked not just by prisoners, but by some kind of black monster. And there are lots of them. If they can't be stopped… a lot of innocent witches will get hurt if not killed."

"That… does sound troubling," Hikari responded. "Should we do something?"

Raine shook their head. "No, we can't get involved. We would risk exposing ourselves and we are not ready for that."

"What?!" Steve asked as he stood up. "But Raine, you heard Bunker! And the Conformatorium is in Bonesborough! That's full of witches! We can't just sit here and do nothing!"

"He's right," Star agreed. "I don't want to sit around and watch people get hurt. We're supposed to be the good guys."

"But if any of us were to get caught, it would bring an end to the rebellion," Raine pointed out. They sighed. "I'm sorry, everyone, but right now our priority should be taking down Belos. The escaped criminals… they're just a distraction."

Steve and Star did not like this, even when they knew that Raine did have a point. They shared a look.

"For now… I need some time to myself," Raine admitted. They started to walk away. "Sunny, we'll have to discuss your stay here later. Steve, why don't you help her out?"

"Y-Yeah," Steve said while turning to Sunny as the other members dispersed. She turned to him. "Hey, Sunny, it's um… been a while."

"Yeah, it has," Sunny responded, looking awkward.

"So… how are you doing, Sunny?" Steve asked, noticing the troubled look in Sunny's eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry. Was that a dumb question?"

"It's… It's fine," Sunny responded. "I took over Calypso's duties while she's in the Healing Coven. We also managed to find some missing witches, including Bria Day-Carpenter."

"That's great," Steve said, smiling.

"Yeah… though, we don't know what to do with them now, considering that they've been mutated by that Dr. Mera woman," Sunny said while looking around the base. "What is all of this, Steve? Is this a…?"

"A rebel base?" Steve asked and she nodded. "Well… yes. This is the base of the Covens Against the Throne. All of us, plus some members who aren't here, formed an alliance to rebel against the Emperor's Coven when we realized just how corrupt it was." He saw that Sunny still looked troubled. "You're not okay, are you, Sunny?"

"No… no I'm not," Sunny admitted as she looked down. "I just witnessed Patrick's death along with my birds, Jeff and Safron. Terra killed them without remorse… and I think she killed a kid too." She started to shake. "My birds… they're gone and Terra just… killed them." She started to tear up as Hikari came over.

"Do you need to sit down?" Hikari asked her, getting Sunny to notice her. "I can tell you had a deep connection to your birds. A soul connection."

"Y-Yes, thank you," Sunny replied as she sat down. "Um… aren't you a little young to be part of a rebellion?"

"Yes, but Steve has been protecting me, so I stay with him and the others," Hikari explained. "My name is Hikari. Steve has told me a lot about you, Sunny."

"He has?" Sunny asked while Steve hid his blush. "And wait, he was protecting you?"

"Um… Hikari is a kid I found when me and Leonte were looking for a wild witch," Steve explained. "Turns out she was the wild witch and she's the reason why I had to leave the Emperor's Coven, because they were going to either force her to join a coven or arrest her."

"What?!" Sunny asked, shocked to hear this. "Why would they do that?"

"It's part of the new policy the Emperor's Coven plans to enact," Steve explained to her. "Since the Day of Unity is happening in less than a week, younger witches are going to be forced to join a coven and get a sigil whether they're in school or not."

Sunny was surprised by this. "Oh Titan…" she said while looking up to Steve. "You did a good thing helping her out, Steve."

"Yeah, I think so too," Steve replied as the two looked at each other for the moment.

Hikari just smiled, seeming to know something they didn't.

---

At the old Clawthorne home, Lilith, Vina, Odalia, Gwen, Dell, and Blazer were watching the news.

"The Plant Coven has been barricaded from the inside and currently the scouts are making an effort to find their way in," the anchor said while the crystal ball showing the Plant Coven being surrounded. "Terra's betrayal has come to a shock for all of the Isles and right now many are wondering just what Belos will do to the long-lived Head of the Plant Coven."

"Oh my… they're talking about Terra," Odalia said as Vina's eyes widened.

"Her! She's the one who killed me!" Vina screamed while pointing to her.

"And she's been exposed," Lilith said while turning to Odalia. "What do you think we should do?"

"I think we should let the Emperor's Coven handle this," Odalia suggested. "Once Terra gets arrested, that's it for her. Vina can finally be put to rest."

"In all these years, I never considered that Terra was in charge of the Tarot Guild," Vina said while looking down. "It was so obvious…"

"She deceived us all, Vina," Lilith told her while looking at the news. "But be assured, Terra will not get out of this one. I know Belos will make sure of that."

"Who are you talking to, Lilith?" Blazer asked.

"A ghost of my old mentor," Lilith answered.

"Oh," Blazer said before turning back to the ball "So that plant granny's the one in charge of the Tarot Guild?" Blazer asked, realizing that she would have been in charge of the organization Eustace and Serpentina were associated with.

They then heard a knock on the door, which surprised everyone in the house. They all looked at each other before Gwen walked up and went over to the door. "I got it."

When Gwen opened the door, her eyes widened in shock. She turned to Lilith. "Sweet Flea… it's for you."

Lilith turned to the door… and gasped. "Hunter."

"Lilith," Hunter said as he came inside. Lilith quickly rushed over and the two embraced each other. Hunter didn't realize just how much he missed her until he was hugging her again.

"Hunter, I… I can't believe you're… how are you doing? Are you okay? Did you escape from the castle, are you hurt?" Lilith asked as she rapidly checked up on him.

"I'm fine, Lilith," Hunter said as he looked at the others. "Hey, Gwen, hey Dell."

"Hunter, it's good to see you again," Dell said as Flapjack chirped. "And it's good to see you too, Flapjack."

"Yes, we're happy that you're back," Gwen replied, nodding.

"And Odalia, it's surprising to see you here," Hunter acknowledged before he noticed Blazer. He looked surprised to see him. "Wait… aren't you…?"

"Yeah, um… you must be Hunter," Blazer said awkwardly while rubbing the back of his head. "I'm Blazer, and as you know I was part of Mel's gang… until I was abandoned."

"I found him injured after his escape from the Tarot Guild base he was imprisoned in," Lilith explained to him. "I volunteered to take him in, since he had nowhere else to go. I… hope you don't mind that I gave him your old room."

"Yeah, um… I think we can discuss that later," Hunter replied. "But I should let you guys know that I didn't come here alone…" He turned to the doorway. "You can come in now."

After a moment, two girls came into the house. "Nice place you got here," Kadabe said as she looked around.

Dolly turned to Odalia, who noticed her. "Wait… aren't you that Dolly Tempus girl that disappeared?"

"Um… hello, Mrs. Blight," Dolly responded awkwardly.

"Hunter, who are they and why are they here?" Lilith asked him, confused. Hunter opened his mouth to explain, but he was cut off.

"Let me explain, Madame Lilith," Kadabe said as she stepped up. "My name is Kadabe. Me and Dolly are here because we have a mutual enemy that we will need to work together to defeat…"

---

Meanwhile, at the Plant Coven, scouts and Coven Heads were gathered to try to break into the greenhouse compound. They attempted to use Abomatons to try to break in, but they were quickly destroyed or dismantled by the large vines that attacked anything they deemed as a threat.

"These Abomatons aren't doing great!" Severine cried out.

"Keep trying!" ordered Graye. With him were Vitimir, Hettie, Ulrich, Napoli, and Orsan along with their own aides. "That Terra… I knew she was crazy…"

"To think that she was able to pull something like this behind Belos's back," Vitimir commented while glancing at Orsan. "Sounds like a failure of our intelligence department." He then turned to Ruby, who was performing a scrying spell. "What's the situation, Ruby?"

"She's still inside, sir," Ruby said while looking into her cauldron. "And there are still scouts and civilians trapped inside. Looks like she's taken them as hostages."

"This does look grim," said Scameron, who was present along with Thunder, Barb, and Joana. They were with the aides.

"I don't see why we can't just burn the place down," Joana suggested while crossing her arms.

"You mean besides the fact that it would kill everyone inside?" Barb asked in alarm.

"And look," Tito said while pointing to the scouts attempting to use fire spells on the green fortress. Orsan used his crystal ball to shoot flames at the moss covered wall while Vitimir used his acid breath on another wall. Some scouts even tried using chainsaws as Ulrich used axes to chop down the vines. But no matter how much they cut down, the grass, moss, and vines also regrew. And in some cases, fought back. One chainsaw-wielding scout was grabbed by a vine and ripped straight in half, making the others back away.

"Okay, okay, I get it," Joana said. "Burning it down is not an option."

"The Orange Bear Scout will suggest burning down the Plant Coven!"

Everyone turned to see a short Oracle Coven witch with hot-orange skin and amber-colored hair that covered her eyes. She wore a purple poncho with bandage wrapped gloves and a black dress with black leggings and boots.

"Yeah, we got it, Padlock," Scameron said.

"What's her deal again?" Tito asked Ruby.

"She's Head Witch Orsan's aid," Ruby explained. "Although for some reason, Erica Padlock can only have visions of events that have already happened, so she can be slow on the uptake."

"With an ability like that, how did she end up as Orsan's aid?" Tito questioned.

"She's his cousin's kid," Ruby said. "A little nepotism here and there."

"Anyone want some apple crumbs?" asked a witch woman in a nurse outfit. She was wearing bandages around her face with only her red eyes and curly blond hair showing. She held up a tray of apple crumbs to them. "I made them myself… I promise they're not poison."

"Um…" Tito said while looking nervously at the healer.

"Don't eat those," Ruby advised him. "They contain pinkeye, don't they, Mange?"

"PINKEYE?!" Tito shouted as he looked at the healer as if she was crazy. "What the fuck?!"

"Damn, got me again, Ruby," Mange responded as she got called over.

"Mange! I need you!" Cutburn shouted after she and other healers dragged some injured and dead scouts away from the building.

Mange walked off as Ruby turned to Tito. "She used to be a school nurse before she got fired due to her deserts containing blended organs. Cutburn hired her to assist her at the Healing Coven."

"Wow… guess I've met my fellow aides then," Tito said nervously before Thunder pointed up.

"Look!" Thunder shouted as they all looked up in the sky. "It's Emily with… the Silver Sentry?"

"No," Adrian Graye narrowed his eyes when he saw Emily land with Lindsay and Cross. He walked over to her. "Emily, where have you been?"

"Head Witch Graye," Emily said to him, bowing slightly. "I'm sorry for my absence, but I had to deal with the situation with the Grim Goblin."

"WHAT?!" Adrian shouted while turning to Cross. "How dare you drag her into a confrontation with that maniac! I warned you!"

Cross was taken aback by Adrian's reaction before Emily stepped in front of him. "Don't punish Cross, sir. He needed my help and I knew the risk in facing the Goblin again. It was my choice and thanks to him and the Golden Guard, we were able to take down the Goblin for good." She stood her ground. "But I take full responsibility for this."

Adrian turned to Emily, looking at her with his stern expression… that quickly melted away as he then gave a sigh. "Very well, I did hear a mention about the Goblin's arrest, so I can let this go. We have more important matters at hand right now."

"Terra Snapdragon?" Emily said as she looked over at the overgrown Plant Coven.

"She's got the whole place barricaded," Adrian told her with a look of concern. "Emily… I know that this may seem personal to you-"

"It is, sir," Emily responded, her fists tightening.

"But I don't want you to get yourself hurt, so stay close," Adrian told her while turning to Cross and Lindsay. "As for you and… that masked wrestler friend of yours, stay put," he said before walking away to rejoin his fellow Coven Heads at the front entrance.

"Masked wrestler?" Cross asked as he turned around to see Lindsay… who had changed into her hero outfit. "What the… Linds-!"

"Don't say my real name, please," Lindsay responded while in a green leotard, knee-length boots, green gloves. and a green and white cowl mask. "I um, haven't picked a hero name yet," she said bashfully as Emily also noticed Lindsay's hero outfit.

"When did you change…?" Emily asked, trying to hide her blush. In the background, the Coven Heads were fighting against the plants that were fighting back against them.

"When I saw what was happening down here, I had to use a change spell into my hero outfit," Lindsay answered. She turned to Cross. "Um… what do you think, Cross?"

"Um… I think you look… great," he replied, while trying not to stare.

"Thank you," she replied with a smile.

Meanwhile, Napoli kept sending his punches and kicks at the vines and carnivorous plant heads trying to attack him while Ulrich used sickles to chop them off. Vitimir used his rancid breath until one flytrap bit him, forcing Cutburn and Napoli to try to rescue him.

Cross turned his attention to Emily. "So, Emily, um… Head Witch Graye seems a lot… nicer to you lately."

"I have noticed that since coming back," Emily admitted while Adrian used his illusions to trick the plants while Cutburn managed to get the injured Vitimir out. Unfortunately, Adrian got grabbed by the vines and was shown being waved around as he screamed.

"When I asked him for you and mentioned the Goblin, he acted very protective of you," Cross said with a suspicious tone. "Back when we were both in the Emperor's Coven, he had no trouble pitting us against each other. And now… he's like a completely different witch."

Orsan tried to rescue Adrian, but also got captured and waved around while Emily responded. "I guess after I was dragged into the Underworld, he must have felt guilty about it. He's probably overcompensating for his previous treatment of me out of that guilt."

"I guess…" Cross responded, though he was still suspicious about it.

Emily then heard someone clear his throat. She turned and paused. "Tito…"

"Emily," Tito said, his voice showing no emotion.

Emily tried to smile. "Tito, I… I'm glad that you're out of-"

"Save it, Tricks," Tito said as he turned around, not looking at Emily at all. "You think that I will just forget about how you kept me in the Conformatorium while lying to me about Nina and Stella? About how you seriously hurt two of our best friends…"

"Tito, I-"

"What, you're going to apologize to me? Well you can just forget it!" Tito told her off. "Belos may have given you leniency, but I won't! Did you know how seriously bad you did for stabbing Nina, Emily? She can't have her own children now thanks to you!"

Emily was silent, while both Cross and Lindsay winced at being reminded of this. The BIG members present were also shocked by what they heard, along with the aides.

"Fuck you, Emily Tricks," Tito told her with venom in his tone while Ulrich was being thrown away by a large vine in the background, causing him to crash some coven wagons. "I'm just… going to see if any of the scouts need assistance," he said before he walked away from Emily.

Emily just looked down in silence as Lindsay walked over to her. "Emily… are you alright?" she asked, but Emily didn't say anything or respond to Lindsay at all. She just stood there in silence before she turned and walked away from everyone else.

---

After dropping off Lambi at her home, Nina flew off to the Healing Coven. As she went inside, she saw and heard a lot of running around and shouting.

"What the hell…?" Nina asked as she saw the general chaos happening around her.

"We need to move these patients to another room!" shouted one healer.

"We need healers in room A-12!" a nurse called out.

"We need more scouts to guard Head Witch Calypso and her family!" ordered Dr. Swan Harwitch while looking around.

"Dr. Harwitch!" Nina called out to her, dodging everyone else as she made her way over to the woman. "What's going on around here?"

"Dear Titan, things are on high alert right now due to what's happening now," Swan explained to her. "With the incident at the Plant Coven and Conformatorium, we have to prepare for the worst. And we expect to get more patients very soon."

"Where are the Brookes now?" Nina asked her.

"They're still with Calypso," Swan told her and Nina rushed past her. "Wait a second, Nina!"

"I can't! Not until I make sure my family's safe!" Nina declared as she ducked and weaved between the healers who were rushing back and forth.

She headed through the corridors, spotting some walking chairs bringing patients around which she avoided. She used her paws to crawl on the walls, parkouring her way to Calypso's room. Once she made it to their room, she opened the door and saw the Brookes, who noticed her as they sat by Calypso's bed.

"Nina!" Skara said in surprise.

"Guys, there are you," Nina responded as she came inside. "Did you guys see-?"

"Yeah, we did," Slasher responded as Skara rushed over to Nina, embracing her.

"It… it was her!" Skara cried as she shed tears. "Terra did this to mom!"

Nina hugged her back. "I know. I know, kitkat," she said as she comforted her.

"We… we need to take her down!" Skara cried, which shocked Nina and Slasher.

"What? Skara, you can't," Nina told her.

"Why not?" Skara asked, looking angry while crying. "Terra's the one behind it all. She's been ruining lives, including mom's! I… I want to make her pay!"

"Then you're going to get yourself killed, Skara," Nina said while patting her shoulders. "Listen, you can't go out right now, and you won't stand a chance against that crazy witch."

"She's right, Skara," Slasher said to her. "There's no way-"

"But mom needs to be avenged!" Skara shouted. "Don't you want to get payback for what Terra did to her? What she did to us?" She turned to Nina. "How about what Terra did to you and Casey?"

Nina winced at that and Skara immediately regretted bringing up Casey. "You don't think I want to see that bitch punished?" Nina asked, her fists tightening. "But even I can see that this is not the time and place for revenge, especially with the Emperor's Coven involved. If Terra doesn't kill you, the scouts will."

"But Nina-"

"No, you need to understand that if you go out planning to use your werewolf form, they will kill you. I know how those scouts will react to you," Nina told her. "Look, I get what you're feeling, I want Terra to pay too, but right now we should let the Emperor's Coven handle her."

"She's right, pumpkin," Slasher said as he and Scabrina went to comfort her. "It's not safe for you to go out there. Take it from me, when I took that vampire's life, they immediately saw me as a threat. As if I'm a danger to my own wife."

"Please Skara, I don't want to lose you too," Scabrina said while hugging Skara.

"We just need to stay here," Nina told her while looking at Calypso. "Calypso wouldn't want you to get yourself hurt, Skara."

"I…" An upset Skara looked down, her hands shaking. She hated the fact that she couldn't do anything, but she knew that they were right. Right now, it was more important for her to stay here with her family. "I know…" she said as she teared up while being surrounded by her family who comforted her.

Right now the best thing they could do was stay together.

---

Meanwhile, in Bonesborough, the chaos from the Conformatorium spread into town as it was being filled… with Heartless.

Leonte was leading a batch of scouts and half of BIG, consisting of Venoma, Alburno, and Le'Belle, to deal with the escaped prisoners who were wreaking havoc.

Le'Belle hopped around as she blasted one criminal with her violin magic. Alburno used his fire magic to blast a Heartless down. "Where do these guys come from?!" she asked after seeing the Heartless that Alburno blasted just get back up again.

"I'll admit, this isn't something I've seen before," Alburno responded.

Venoma tried to use her Abominations to take down the Heartless, but the best she could do was slow them down or block them off, not actually hurt them. "Whatever those things are… this is way out of my pay grade," she complained.

Leonte saw something coming down the road and he shouted. "Look out!"

Scouts screamed as they were attacked by a Heartless resembling a short, blue cartoon car with four large wheels. Its yellow eyes were on the windshield and it had large sharp-tooth mouth teeth as the grill of the car, along with two headlights with yellow tips that acted more like its 'eyes' than its actual eyes, with the Heartless emblem as a hood ornament and a zig-zagged antenna on the teal-roof. It attacked with his tires, toppling over scouts along with biting them.

Hovering in the sky was a large, icy dragon-like Heartless. Its body was covered in white and covered in ice spikes. It had a snowflake cluster of spiky ice crystals and two flat, jagged wings which extended outward in an icy pattern looking like stained glass with diamond shaped spikes at the tip of each segment of the wing. Its head had two icy horns, swirling yellow eyes, and the Heartless emblem on its forehead. It blew a blizzard out which freezed some of the scouts.

There was also a short Heartless that had gold markings on its smooth, conical body next to its Heartless emblem, and its curled hat was black with gold trim. The top of its body flared outward and formed a jagged 'collar' below his spherical pitch black head. It shot thunderous whips at the coven scouts that tried to defend themselves.

Appearing in front of another unit of scouts was a dark blue head with yellow eyes, jagged mouth, and red spikes all over its body. It was surrounded by a blue ring with yellow edges and was controlling a puppet with strings. The puppet has gray skin, yellow button eyes with orange stitches, red nose, and four-fingered hands that ended with dark tips. It wore an orange beanie with a spiked cap, a blue stripe and the Heartless emblem emblazoned on the front, a beige shirt with a blue stripe and orange sleeves with buttons on the tip, and orange suspenders tipped with curved feet and buttons on the hems. The puppet slapped around the scouts as they grunted and got toppled over.

"Were they even prisoners to begin with?!" Alburno exclaimed while punching one criminal down.

"Not the ones from the wanted posters!" Le'Belle cried out while she and the other scouts tried to hit them with everything they got. "None of our spells are working!"

"Not even my poison would stop them," Venoma winced after shooting her poison at them, but the Heartless were still standing.

Leonte took the situation in. He realized that no matter what they sent out, these things were resilient. There was no way they could beat them, at least at the moment. "Fall back! We have to prioritize evacuating the area!"

"But what about them, sir?" Clé asked, pointing at the Heartless.

"Right now, we need to focus on keeping the civilians safe from harm," Leonte repeated.

The scouts had their new orders, so they began to fall back and focus on minimizing civilian casualties as the battle moved deeper into Bonesborough. Already smoke was starting to appear…

---

At the Saltstar estate, they heard a knock on the door. Simon decided to answer it and when he opened the door, he was shocked to see who it was…

"Amity," Simon said in surprise. His face was covered in dried tears.

"Hi, Simon," Amity replied. "Can I come in?"

Simon nodded and let Amity in. She followed him to the living room, where she saw Beck and Athena. "Ms. Saltstar, Beck," she said politely.

"Amity… oh Titan, it's good to see you," Athena said while wiping her tears.

"It's good to see you too, Ms. Saltstar," Amity replied. "Where's Boscha right now?"

"She's in her room," Tom said as he came into the living room. "She… needed to be alone. You must be Amity, I'm-"

"Tom Lucitor," Amity replied, nodding. "Boscha told me about you. It's nice to officially meet you," she said while holding out his hand.

"Yeah, nice to meet you too," Tom said while shaking her hand. "Do you wish to see her?"

Inside Boscha's room, the triclops witch was on her bed, burying her face to her pillow as she cried. She was crying until she heard the door open.

"Boscha?" asked Amity's voice. Boscha looked up from her pillow and turned to see Amity, who walked up to her. Amity climbed into her bed while Boscha was still crying. Amity then embraced the poor girl and Boscha hugged her back.

"I… I can't believe… Boris…" Boscha cried onto Amity's shoulder.

"I know, Boscha," Amity responded as she started to cry too. "I… Belos, he… I'm so sorry…"

"No, don't," Boscha told her as she teared up. "Belos is a bastard…"

As Amity silently agreed, the two continued to cry over their losses, crying for both Boris and Kay's family…

---

Standing outside of the court of his estate, Samwitch was silent, listening to the cries of his family from inside. His expression said it all… he was barely keeping his anger in.

"Damn you, Belos," Samwitch declared as tears poured out of his eyes. "Damn you to hell…"

---

Inside the Conformatorium, things were even more chaotic than they were outside. The prisoners were attacking guards, while the Heartless were attacking the guards and the prisoners.

"This is way worse than when Eda and her kid caused a jailbreak months ago!" one guard declared.

"At least they only released three prisoners!" another responded while blasting one prisoner down before getting tackled by a Heartless.

A prisoner punched one guard before he was struck down by another guard. The guard then was jumped by a Heartless. It was a chaotic pattern.

One guard was down after getting burned by Firebees. He was targeting guard and prisoner alike, not caring who fell to his flames as long as they died screaming. "Time to burn…" he said before he was struck in the back of the head, knocking him out. He fell on the floor while his attacker stood above him.

"That'll calm him down," the prisoner said while turning to the others. "Everyone good?"

"I'll live."

"Yeah, same."

"Nice takedown… Boris."

Boris nodded as he led the group consisting of Katya, Derwin, Amber, Levi, and Goonla. "We need to get out of here quick! I don't know how long this riot will last, but we can't pass up on this chance to escape."

"Do you think Kay is safe?" Levi asked while he and Katya helped Goonla walk. He had been injured during the fight.

"She has to be," Goonla responded with a hopeful tone. "I can't wait to see my daughter again."

"I can't wait to see my dad again," Katya added.

"But we have to get out of here first," Amber said while hanging onto Derwin, who was also injured. "And nobody gets left behind."

"You're right, Amber," Boris said as he blasted another guard away. "Though handling guards and rowdy prisoners is one thing. I am a bit more worried about those shadow creatures…"

The group of escaped rebels made their way through the Conformatorium, doing their best to avoid the chaos and especially the Heartless. Because of Goonla's large body, he was considered an easy target for guards trying to stop them. This meant the others had to protect him with their spells, which slowed them down considerably.

"Man, just our luck," Katya said. "How did this happen? Where did these things come from?"

"Who knows, who cares, let's just find an escape route!" Amber cried out as they saw a shadowy figure. "Gah!"

Boris turned and saw the figure, Nicole, grabbing prisoners and guards left and right and turning them into Heartless. "What the hell…?"

Nicole noticed the rebel group, but stopped herself from grabbing one of them when she recognized her son. "Boris…"

"It knows your name…" Amber said in shock.

"Now that's freaky," Derwin said while Boris was taken aback.

"What… what are you?!" Boris asked, not recognizing his mother in this state.

"It's me… your mother!" Nicole cried out, which shocked Boris.

"W-What?!" Boris reacted in disgust. "We… we gotta go!"

"Boris!" Nicole cried out, trying to reach out to him, only to get shot by a light spell.

"Leave me the fuck alone!" Boris shouted at her. "You're not my mother!" he told her off before he turned to lead the group out. "Come on, this way," he told them.

"Boris!" Nicole cried out while wincing in pain.

---

Meanwhile, the Heartless had spread around Bonesborough, causing all kinds of chaos. A mother tried to run with her child, but the two fell. A Heartless hovered over, about to attack them… until a wall of ice suddenly appeared between them and the Heartless.

"Don't worry, civilians," Donna, as Wonder Witch, said as she showed up to help the two up. "LOWTH are here!"

A nearby building was on fire, with witches trapped inside. Fortunately, a hole appeared on the first floor and coming out were Ghostina and Andrew, aka Drillborg.

"Come in! This will lead you out!" Ghostina shouted as she got the witches into the hole.

"Women and children first," Andrew said. As Drillborg he had a brown head mask with a silver helmet that had a headlight on it. He also wore a brown suit for his large body.

In another area, Mr. Healer along with Minos and Florella were helping to treat civilians after evacuating them from the market area. Beocrow flew down with some scouts to drop off.

"They got attacked by those shadow creatures," he explained while dropping them off.

"I'll take it from here." Kyle replied while checking on the injured scouts.

Leonte, Venoma, Alburno, and Le'Belle had fallen back while some Abomatons tried to hold the line. They spotted LOWTH. "Hey, aren't they…?" Alburno asked as he pointed to them.

"The vigilantes," Leonte groaned as the founding members of LOWTH came over to them.

"We refer to ourselves as 'helpers of the community,'" Florella corrected.

"And those costumes are necessary because…?" Venoma hissed at them.

"Listen, we don't mean to interfere with scout business," Wonder Witch told them. "We just saw that the situation was getting out of hand and we felt like it was our duty to come over and help anyone who was in need."

"Yeah, it looked like you guys were having trouble," Beocrow pointed out. "I thought BIG was supposed to be a 'big' deal."

"We are a big deal!" Le'Belle declared. "Should we arrest these guys, sir?"

"For what? We're not doing anything illegal," Ghostina said.

"Hey, everyone, chill for a minute," Alburno said as he turned to Leonte. "Captain, I think it is in everyone's best interests that we try to work together with these vigilantes? They could be useful against these creatures we're fighting."

"Creatures?" Minos asked.

"Yeah, freaky shadowy dudes coming out from the Conformatorium," Clé commented. "According to our intel, they were once normal witches who got turned into these things."

"So we're basically dealing with a zombie-like apocalypse scenario," Beocrow realized.

"Red Scout's right, working together does sound like the best option," Wonder Witch said while turning to the Captain. "Look, I know you guys probably aren't a big fan of us, but can we just set aside our differences and fight the larger threat?"

"Like we need help from the Burlesque Savior," Venoma said while crossing her arms, narrowing her eyes at Donna who glared at her.

"Enough," Leonte said as he sighed. "Despite my better judgment… we don't really have a lot of options right now. I'll let it slide this time if you vigilantes help us hold off these creatures and get civilians to safety."

"Though those creatures don't seem to be affected by our magic," Carter warned. "No matter what we hit them with, they just get back up."

One scout shouted. "They got past the Abomatons!" as they saw a horde of Heartless charging at them.

Florella summoned her vines to target the creatures, trying to slow them down. Crowbar sent out black feather attacks at the Heartless, but it had no effect. Ghostina shot ice spells at the Heartless while the other scouts used their light spells, but they had no effect on the creatures.

"None of our spells work," Ghostina realized in horror.

"These thing… they're definitely foreign anomalies," Carter commented.

Bowen kept shooting his spells at the Heartless, starting to panic. "It's no use! There's no stopping these things! We are all gonna die!"

Wonder Witch summoned her keyblade and channeled her magic through it, swinging it at the Heartless when it got close. It slammed into several of the Heartless, knocking them back. And when they hit the ground… they didn't get back up. This caused Heartless and witch alike to pause as they realized that whatever Donna had done… she had actually hurt the Heartless.

"What was that?!" Clé asked in amazement.

"I… I don't know," Wonder Witch said while looking at her keyblade. She smiled. "But it does give us an advantage."

---

Back at the Park residence, Eda and Luz were in the living room. They, along with the Parks, were watching the CB as they got an update about the Conformatorium.

"Prisoners and strange shadowy creatures are on the loose around Bonesborough as coven scouts and guards try to restore the peace. And it appears the vigilante team known as L.O.W.T.H. have shown up to help out our town of Bonesborough."

"This is really bad," Eda said, thinking about the time she, Luz and King broke into the Conformatorium to get a crown for King. They had only freed three prisoners that day, but this… this was something else. "And Donna is there too… we need to do something."

"Yeah, I agree," Luz responded while getting up.

"Wait, you two plan on going out there?" Willow asked.

Luz nodded. "Donna and her friends are going to need some help, so yeah," Luz said.

"Is there anything we can do?" Sully asked.

"You guys should stay here and keep watch over Gus and Perry," Eda responded. "Me and Luz will handle this."

"What?" Willow asked while standing up in shock. "If you two are going out, then I want to go with you. I can help."

"I know you can," Luz admitted. "But if anyone comes after Perry, then I need you here." She placed her hands on Willow's shoulders. "Can I count on you, Will-o-wisp?"

Willow sighed and nodded. "Just… be careful," she said. "Should I tell Gus you're leaving?"

Luz shook her head. "No. I think I'll tell him myself."

---

Inside Gus's room, he and his dad were laying on the bed together, talking.

"How are you feeling, dad?" Gus asked him as Perry drank another blended smoothie.

"I… don't think words can describe how I'm feeling," Perry admitted as he looked around the room and then back at his son. "So… you've really been staying here with the Parks this whole time?"

"Yeah," Gus confirmed. "When I came home that day of the Gland Prix, I found a letter that said you'd be on a case for a while and that I should stay with the Parks until you came back. Do you… remember writing the letter?"

"I do," Perry said with a sigh. "Terra made me write it. So how long has it been since the Gland Prix?"

"Five weeks. This is the last Scumday of Hagust, right before the last week of summer," Gus said.

"I've been gone for five weeks?" Perry asked in shock while looking down. "Dear Titan…"

"What was it like in there?" Gus asked his father. "Being Terra's prisoner?"

Perry looked down, struggling to explain. "After I was captured, she kept me in her office like a trophy. She kept me in line with her tea and used her plants to keep me alive. I was… mostly conscious the entire time, able to comprehend what was going on around me but unable to say or do anything. I was like a prisoner in my own body, forced to witness whatever activities she was doing, including her talks with those she made businesses with. The Tarot Guild members for example, such as Arthur and Destiny Blight…"

"Yeah, we learned about them being members of the Tarot Guild when me, Amity, her siblings, and her mom along with Viney and Giest went to rescue Alador from them," Gus replied, which surprised Perry.

"Odalia?" Perry asked.

Gus rubbed the back of his head. "Heh, yeah. A lot has happened since you've been gone."

Perry looked down with a guilty expression. "Augustus… I am so sorry for abandoning you…"

Gus was taken aback. "Abandoned me? Dad, you were taken," Gus said. "That wasn't your fault."

"But I got involved in the BATTs in the first place, even though I knew it was dangerous," Perry said. "I… I should have stayed with you or at least told you about what I was really doing. I guess I ended up being no better than your mother…"

Hearing his mother's name, Gus sighed. "Dad… I… I found Jenny…"

Perry's eyes widened. "You did?"

"Yeah, and as it turns out, she was in the Human Realm this entire time," Gus said, which surprised Perry. "About a week after you went missing, I along with Willow, Amity, and another friend named Eve went were sent to the Human Realm," he explained. "Long story short, when I met Jenny, I told her off for what she did to you and this family and I told her that I didn't need her in my life." He looked at his dad and smiled. "It felt cathartic…"

"What happened to her?" Perry asked her.

"She got arrested by the American Dragon, a guardian dragon in the Human Realm," Gus explained to him. "She's right now incarcerated by that realm's own magical community. So she won't be running away from her crimes again."

"Well, that is good news," Perry said, though he was surprised. "A dragon guardian in the Human Realm? I never thought there'd be dragons there."

"Yeah, a lot different than what Belos taught us," Gus responded. "But we did later learn that Jenny confessed to the Dragon Council that she got her love potions from Terra, though we didn't realize at the time that she was connected to the Tarot Guild. I… I do wonder…"

"Wonder about what, Gus?" Perry asked him.

"Would… would I still have been born even if Jenny didn't take up those love potions from Terra?" Gus asked.

"Oh Gus, that is…" Perry patted his son's shoulder. "All that matters to me is that you exist. I don't want to even think about a world where you potentially didn't exist. I just appreciate what I have right now, and that's you."

Gus smiled and embraced his dad, Perry hugging his son back. "Thanks, dad." Gus said.

They heard a knock on the door and they looked up to see Eda and Luz coming in. "Hey, we're just checking in," Eda said.

"We didn't interrupt anything good, right?" Luz asked them.

"No, we're just catching up," Gus responded.

"Well, that's great," Eda said as she looked at the two. "Okay, we're going to leave for a bit, have to settle something happening in Bonesborough."

"Someone caused a prison break at the Conformatorium," Luz responded. "Gus, Perry, you two will stay here with the Parks once we settle our little errand run."

"Hey, we understand," Gus said.

"Yeah, do what you gotta do," Perry agreed. "I'll keep Gus busy."

"We know you will," Eda replied. "Come on, Luz, let's go out to kickass."

Luz gave a nod. "Yeah, let's go."

The two headed out of the Park residence, Eda summoning Owlbert into her staff with Luz riding beside her. The two took off, heading down to the Conformatorium…

---

Meanwhile, back at the Plant Coven, the Heads and EC scouts were continuing with their efforts to get into Plant Coven. But Emily was by herself, away from the crowd of scouts. She was thinking about her encounter with Tito when Lindsay and Cross walked up to her.

"Emily…" Lindsay said to her. "We should talk about this."

"There's nothing to talk about," Emily responded while not looking at them.

"What about Tito and Nina?" Cross asked her.

Emily was silent for a moment before she sighed and turned to the two. "Are you two disgusted about me as well?"

"I… I do admit when I first heard about it from Nina, I wasn't sure what to think," Lindsay admitted, looking unsure. "I was aware that you had done terrible things, but you still saved me and I wasn't going to look past the good you had done as well. So I got to know you and while you still did those bad things, you're more than those things too."

"I'll… admit that when you first told me, I was shocked," Cross admitted. "And after the shock wore off, I was pretty disgusted. But… I didn't bring it up. Because making you feel worse about it wouldn't have done you any good."

"Well, I'm honestly disgusted with myself," Emily said while looking down in guilt. "Nina is probably the witch that I hurt the most. After everything she did for me, I threw our friendship away just because I thought she spoke out of line." She winced. "I-I tried to kill her. I was angry, but I shouldn't have been angry at her. I shouldn't have… she didn't deserve to lose the ability to have children. And even after the war, I still felt petty enough to tell Donna about all the horrible things that she did while serving me." She continued to stare at the ground, unable to look Cross and Lindsay in the eye. "Nina and Tito have every right to be angry with me, to hate me. I… I don't think I deserve friends, not after how I treated my last friends."

Cross and Lindsay were both silent. It was hard to disagree with Emily. As much as they wanted to help her… she had done some truly horrific stuff that even gave them pause.

"Emily, you are capable of getting better," Lindsay tried to claim. "The fact that you feel guilty about it now proves that. You're not like Terra. You're not evil."

"Yes, I am not evil… but I'm not good either," Emily admitted. "You want to know the real reason I went back to the Emperor's Coven. It wasn't to get revenge on Luz for killing my sister, since I know better than that, but it was to get revenge on the Tarot Guild by finding out who their members were and where their bases were. And I did get revenge. Me and Hunter cleaned out every Tarot Guild bunker we could find, killing everyone we found. But that doesn't make me a good witch. They were bad witches, undoubtedly. But let's not pretend I am this selfless hero. I did it for personal and selfish reasons… just like when I killed Tabrella's ex."

Lindsay and Cross gave shocked faces upon learning about this. "You… you did?" Lindsay asked.

"Yes," Emily admitted. "Sure, he hurt Tabrella, but he also reminded me of my own pain and my own unresolved issues, so I ended up hunting him down and making him pay." She sighed. "And now I'm going to finish what I started by going after Terra Snapdragon. And you two don't have to go with me."

Cross and Lindsay were quiet for a moment. They turned to look at each other, exchanging a silent communication before nodding and turning back to Emily.

"We're not going to let you face Terra alone," Lindsay said.

"Yeah," Cross agreed. "We are in this together, Emily. All the way. Terra has to be taken down regardless and if you intend to take her… well, someone has to be there to make sure that you don't get yourself killed."

Emily looked up at the two and saw the determination in their eyes. She nodded. "Let's go in," she said as she grabbed both Cross and Lindsay's hands before she engulfed them all in a swirl of red smoke..

"Hey, do you guys want to…?" Joana asked as she walked over before she saw the three disappear in a cloud of red smoke. "What the heck…?!"

---

Back at the Battle of Bonesborough, LOWTH and BIG were working together to battle against the Heartless. The Gold Beat Heartless sent electric shock attacks at the scouts and Minos tried hitting it with his hammer but to no avail. Fortunately, Wonder Witch stepped in to blast the Gold Beat away with her keyblade, sending it back.

"That keyblade of yours comes with many surprises!" Minos shouted.

"Yeah, I know," Wonder Witch said. "But hopefully reinforcements should be here about-"

"Now?" spoke up Riley, who dropped their invisibility spell. "How do you like my threads?" they asked, showing off their long blue overcoat with a white shirt with a blue eye emblem, blue buckle, blue trousers and dark blue boots. They also donned their usual blue cape and gloves.

"You look mystic, Strange," Wonder Witch said.

"Call me, Dr. Thriller," Riley declared as they used illusions to attempt to confuse the Heartless and keep them at bay.

Also coming out through Andrew's tunnels were Lunar Tune, Potion Ranger, Gavin, and Roxy. Potion Ranger began firing at the Heartless and Prisoners with a crossbow with containers of potions. When the containers exploded, the prisoners became trapped in a jello-like substance or in ice blocks. Lunar Tune attempted to use her cello to blast the Heartless away while Roxy, who was in a gray tracksuit with brown trims, brown boots and brown gloves, and brown mask, stomped on the ground to make large quakes to cause the prisoners and Heartless to stumble.

"Alright team, I need one squad for offense, and another for defense," Wonder Witch explained. "My keyblade's the only thing that can really hurt these guys, but I need help to hold the line."

"I'll go!" Gavin declared as he summoned his Abomination, sending it to push some of the Heartless back.

Lunar Tune saw Le'Belle with a violin trading blows with Gold Beat, who sent out electric shocks while Le'Belle dodged them and sent out her own spells. However, they had no effect on the Heartless. Lunar Tune jumped in to assist. "Need help?"

Le'Belle turned to see Lunar Tune holding her cello. "You're a Bard as well? Help me take this guy out!"

Lunar Tune played her cello, spreading living musical notes to attack the Gold Beat.

The vehicle Heartless, the Hot Rod, was about to target Donna, until it got kicked by the talons of Eda in her harpy form, knocking the Hot Rod off course. She along with Luz had finally arrived to join the battle.

"Hope we didn't miss too much," Luz said while looking at the Heartless attacking scouts and causing destruction. "The fuck are those things?!"

"We don't know, but I'm glad you two are here," Donna said while they saw more Heartless pour into the streets.

"They're Heartless."

Everyone turned to see Kitsuni, who created a wall of flame to block off some of the Heartless, temporarily holding them back.

"Kitsuni! You know what those things are?" Eda asked.

"They're the living physical manifestation of the darkness within a being's heart," Kitsuni explained to them. "They are devoid of emotion and are the result of what happens when someone's Heart gets overwhelmed by the darkness. Once they lose their hearts, they become beings of pure darkness." She turned to Donna. "And you, literally, hold the key to defeat them."

"My keyblade?" Wonder Witch asked.

"Yes, only the keyblade can hurt and then purify them back to their original selves." Kitsuni explained.

"My keyblade can do that…" Donna said while looking at the keyblade. "Then let's purify these guys!"

"RAAAWWRR!"

They all looked up and saw the Frost Serpent Heartless coming around, along with the Marionette and dozens of other Hearlesses.

"Looks like we better put that keyblade to good use," Ghostina said as they prepared themselves to fight off the Heartless.

However, behind them while they were conversing, a small purple, gooey snake was listening. It slithered back to Venona, who was dealing with other Heartless and prisoners trying to escape. The snake ran up to Venoma and whispered into her ear.

"I see," she said as the abomi-snake slithered into her flask. She then saw the Marionette Heartless popping up in front of her. "Gah!" she shrieked before it began to slap her around.

As everyone took on the Heartless, Wonder Witch was on the front line, using her keyblade to slash and dash through them or channel spells. Her team was assisting her, providing her with cover fire. Gavin tried to use his Abominations to fight off the Heartless, but the Hot Rod just ran over his Abominations while biting chunks out of them. Minos had to resort to slamming the Heartless and the Hot Rod away, but was then tackled by the Marionette who slapped him up.

The Frost Serpent shot beams of ice towards the heroes, forcing them to take cover. Luz attempted to use a fire spell against it, which caused the Frost Serpent to stop the attack and focus on Luz. Alburno stepped in to help Luz with his own fire spell, getting Bowen, Carter, and the other scouts to assist.

"Don't give up!" Alburno declared. "Keep firing at this thing!"

"Um, I think we just made it mad!" Bowen realized as the Frost Serpent targeted the scouts, breathing its beam at them.

"Run!" Alburno shouted as they tried to run, but unfortunately they all got frozen in place when the beam hit them. However, jumping up was Kitsuni, who shot fire arrows at the Heartless.

'This is the one we should beware of the most,' spoke Todd in Kitsuni's mind.

"We'll just have to keep it busy for Donna," Kitsuni responded as she summoned more flaming arrows as Luz flew next to her.

"This thing isn't going down easy," Luz said.

"We can at least keep it busy and focused on us," Kitsuni declared as she and Luz cast their fire spells at the Frost Serpent while dodging its ice attacks.

Eda, meanwhile, attempted to use her glyphs to counter strike against the Heartless, trapping them and blocking them off as much as she could. She looked around at some of the knocked down scouts nearby, spotting Larry. She flew over to Larry. "Are you okay?"

"Oh… Eda?" Larry asked as Eda helped him up.

"Come up, Larry," Eda said as she used a light glyph on the Heartless, temporarily blinding them and giving her a chance to get Larry to safety.

Venoma kept using her own attacks to keep the Heartless away from before seeing another Abomination colliding with other Heartless. "Hey! Watch where your Abomination is, punk!" Venoma shouted at Gavin.

Doctor Thriller and Potion Ranger focused on range attacks, Thriller using light and illusion spells to distract and confuse the Heartless while Potion Ranger shot globes of potions at the Heartless to slow them down or briefly contain them. Gavin jumped in to blast some of the Heartless with Abomi-goo.

"Don't worry, let the Abominable Claymore handle this!" Gavin declared as he formed an Abomination bo-staff, attacking the Heartless left to right.

"Did he just call himself the Abominable Claymore?" Potion Ranger asked.

"Hopefully he didn't make name cards," Dr. Thriller said as they continued to battle.

Luz kept flying around and shooting fire spells at the Frost Serpent, who shot an ice beam at her. Luz used her wings to block it, but the beam still ended up sending her down to the ground. She got up and saw Kitsuni having to deal with the Frost Serpent by herself. She was about to fly up to rejoin her until she got hit by the Hot Rod.

"Shit!" Luz shouted as she turned at the car. "Okay, this mini-van is going down!" she shouted as she extended her claws, going after to slash at the Hot Rod. However, the car Heartless hit by with its wheels, sending her rolling across the ground. Luz then found herself surrounded by Heartless that jumped out of nowhere. Luz growled and tried to use fire and ice spells on the Heartless, but they just kept coming.

Florella spotted Luz in trouble and she turned to Crowbar. "Crow, it looks like your cousin's struggling."

"Wish I could help, but-" Crowbar said as he tried to slow down some of the Heartless that were advancing on him. Fortunately, Wonder Witch came in to knock them away.

"You two help Luz, I'll deal with the rest," she told them as they nodded and went to help Luz out while she slashed back against the invading Heartless. She began forcing them to back away, hitting them when they got too close and hitting them at a distance with light and ice spells through her Keyblade

Leonte used his Abomination to attack the Heartless, but then the Abomination turned to Leonte and slammed its fist at him, sending him back.

"What the hell?" Leonte cried out, seeing that the Abomination had been possessed. "Hey! I'm the one under command!" he declared as the Marionette was shown to have taken control of the Abomination, making Leonte have to fight against it.

After getting Larry to Mr. Healer, Eda flew up and saw just how many Heartlesses there were. She saw LOWTH struggling, the scouts frozen by the Frost Serpent which Kitsuni was taking on, Luz along with Florella and Crowbar trying to clear an area of Heartless by pushing them back with plants and spells. Since they couldn't really do any damage to the Heartless, the best they could do was keep them contained to a smaller area, away from more civilians. But even then they could only do that for so long. "This is just chaos," Eda said as she flew down to rejoin the fight attacking the horde of Heartless.

Wonder Witch kept on taking on the Heartless with her keyblade, but even she was getting overwhelmed by this many enemies. She slashed at the Heartless left and right, but some of them managed to attack back. After one got in another hit, she was knocked to the ground. The Hot Rod then began coming at her, speeding through some of the Heartless and knocking them out of the way as it headed toward her. Donna couldn't get up in time, and she turned to see bright headlights coming down on her…

Until a blast hit the Hot Rod to the side, knocking it towards another group of Heartless.

Shocked by the attack, Donna turned to see her savior. Said savior was wearing nothing but a black overly long trench cloak with a hood. He removed that hood, revealing that he was wearing a black and green dragon mask over half his face… but more importantly he was holding a keyblade of his own, which looked far different from Donna's.

His keyblade had a gold handle with a gold, three-pointed pommel resembling a dragon's claw. Its guard had a green, silver and black rigid portion that resembled a reptilian tail. The base feature had some form of a triangular golden shield with an etched dragon emblem with green eyes. The edges were gold with the green middle having certain symbols that looked like a glyph combo. The blade was curved with a large golden claw with silver tips. The keychain had golden orbs with a green dragon claw token holding a Gazing Eye at the center.

"Is that… another keyblade?!" Donna asked in shock.

---

Meanwhile, in the Conformatorium, the Heartless and prisoners were still running loose.

"How do we get out of here?" Levi asked as he, along with the other rebels, found themselves trapped at a dead end. "Most of the exits have been sealed off or are blocked by too many of those dark monsters."

"I can't believe your mom is responsible for them," Katya said.

"She is not my mother," Boris hissed.

"I could help you guys out of here," someone suggested.

Everyone turned around to see someone walking towards them from the shadows: Judd.

"A scout!" Amber shouted, noticing his uniform.

"Woah, woah," Judd said, raising his hands. "Hate the uniform, not the witch. I would ditch it, but I would rather not be caught in my underwear during a riot. But believe me, the outfit does not reflect my allegiance."

"And you are…?" Boris questioned.

"The name's Judd," he replied. "Let's just say I know my way around here pretty well and I had a few escape routes planned while I was in captivity."

"Oh, really?" Goonla asked skeptically. "How do we know you're not leading us into a trap?"

"Trust me, these guards hate me more than they hate you," Judd said as they heard a guard showing up.

"Freeze!" the guard shouted, preparing a spell.

Judd sighed and swirled a spell circle, causing the guard to be launched up in the air by a pillar that grew from the ground. The guard let out a scream as he was slammed into the ceiling.

"Come on, let me show you guys a short cut," Judd said casually as he walked away.

"We're still not sure if we can trust you," Katya told him.

Judd looked back at them and shrugged. "Your choice, either escape with me or turn into these guys," he said while pointing at the Heartless fighting the prisoners and guards.

The rebels looked at each other, contemplating if they should follow him. They may not know the guy, but they didn't really have any other options right now.

"Wait," Katya spoke up, causing Judd to stop. "You said you know a shortcut?"

Judd turned back and smiled. "How comfortable are you guys with sewers?"

---

Meanwhile, in another part of the Conformatorium, Ludo walked out of his cell and looked around.

"I'm free? Haha! I'm free!" Ludo declared before he heard coughing noises.

"Hey… help me," spoke another prisoner, who Ludo spotted and recognized: Webstor Manylegs.

"Oh yes, of course! Let me help you up, Web," Ludo said as he grabbed Manylegs, struggling to carry him out of his cell. "Man, you're kinda heavy for a spider demon," he said as he looked around. "Help! Someone help!"

"We're in a prison, nobody's going to help us," Webstor said in a deadpan tone

"What's going on here?" Judd asked as he led the rebels over to Ludo with Manylegs.

"Oh you gotta help this poor mister, he's not in good shape!" Ludo begged as Judd looked down on him.

"They're not going to help us, they're only interested in helping themselves out," Webstor pointed out, only for Judd to help him up, much to his surprise.

"Come on, man. Let's get you out," Judd said, hoisting Webstor's arm around his shoulder.

"Hey, now I recognize that guy," Katya realized. "You're that dude from the petrification ceremony… Webstor Manylegs!"

"The Otabin author?" Judd asked in surprise. "What are you doing here in prison?"

"Let's just say, I grew sick of the job and paid the price," Webstor said, turning to Judd. "Otabin… it's been a long time since someone mentioned my earlier work."

"Oh, well… you know, it's a famous book, that's all," Judd claimed.

"You know, you never told us why you're in here," Boris pointed out.

"Yeah, why are you in the Conformatorium in the first place?" Katya asked him.

"Lots of reasons, but mainly I am just hiding from my exes," Judd replied as he led the way. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Reminds me of Raine…" Boris said.

"Or Eda," Derwin added as the group of prisoners continued on their way.

---

Back outside, Donna looked at the dragon-masked figure in front of her.

"Nice keyblade, Wonder Witch," the dragon-masked stranger told her. "Though, I am surprised that you don't have your own."

"My own? But… this is my keyblade," Donna said.

"I can tell that it's borrowed," he said while launching himself past her to slash a Heartless away from her. "Let me guess, first time fighting a Heartless?"

Donna nodded. "Just… who are you? And where did you get that keyblade?" she asked while kicking away another Heartless before blasting it with her keyblade.

"You mean my Dragon's Soul?" he asked before he saw the Hot Rod coming back. "Hang on, he's coming back!" he shouted as he did a flip over the Hot Rod coming at him. He swung his keyblade, the Dragon's Soul, across the car Heartless. The Hot Rod took a whole lot of damage and ended up rolling on the street. "I can help you in how to beat these guys if you want."

"Really?" Donna asked him. "How do I beat them? Simply hitting them or blasting them hard enough isn't enough."

"You have to release their hearts," he said as he pointed at the Hot Rod that was knocked down. "Look."

She looked and saw the Hot Rod start to change. The darkness around it was released and it changed back into its true form… Squeak-Toed Jack.

"Ugh…" Jack groaned.

"How… how did you do that?" Donna asked him.

"You may have the ability to harm them, but not purify the darkness out of their hearts," he said. "Use your keyblade, but rather than focus on defeating them, focus on curing them. Help unlock their hearts and free them from the darkness."

Donna looked at her Keyblade, realizing that it was not just a weapon… but a vaccine.

---

Meanwhile, Luz and Eda along with Crowbar and Florella were trying to hold the Heartlesses back. Luz and Eda managed to use light glyphs to temporarily scare them off, but more kept coming.

"You know all the times I said you were the dark and moody one, Crow?" Florella asked while using her large vines to block the Hartless. "I think I can take it back."

"I thought it was a compliment," Crowbar said while drawing spell circles to send dozens of birds at the Heartless.

Another Heartless was about to charge at them, until it got hit by a green energy blast from above. Luz noticed this and she and Eda both recognized that blast. "No way…"

"Hey Luz, over here!" someone shouted. Luz looked up and spotted someone leaping down from a rooftop to make an epic superhero landing. It was, of course, Star.

"Star!" Luz shouted.

"What are you doing out here, kid?" Eda asked before punching another Heartless.

"Thought you guys could use some help, so we decided to join in!" Star declared.

"Did you just… shoot that from your hand?" Florella asked, shocked to see what Star did without drawing a spell circle.

"Wait, what do you mean we?" Eda asked her.

---

Meanwhile, Leonte was having a hard time fighting off against his own Abomination trying to take him down. He dodged the fists and turned invisible to get away. He walked around and turned visible again, but was then tackled down by more Heartless.

"Crap," Leonte cursed as he got beaten and scratched by the Heartless. But suddenly, the Heartless were scared away by a blast of light and Leonte was pulled away from the area. He looked up to his savior and was shocked to see who it was. "You!"

"Hey, Cap," Steve responded as he got Leonte to safety while seeing the Marionette-possessed Abomination chasing after him. "Crazy afternoon we're having, huh?"

Leonte said nothing as the two ran from the Marionette Abomination chasing them.

---

Meanwhile, Gavin along with Potion Ranger and Dr. Thriller fought against more of the Heartless. Well, Gavin was really just doing his own thing while Potion Ranger and Dr. Thriller tried to help him.

"Hyah!" Gavin shouted as he punched another Heartless with his Abomi-Fists.

"Gavin, we really need you to fall back," Potion Ranger told him while blasting another Heartless away with one of her potions.

"Kid's not listening," Dr. Thriller said while shooting light spells at the other Heartless, trying to scare them. But the Heartless didn't seem to be so easily scared anymore.

Potion Ranger then noticed that some Heartless were attacking a nearby building and a part of the roof broke off, falling toward where Gavin was. "GAVIN, LOOK OUT!"

As Gavin kept fighting, he heard Sarah's call to him. He looked up and saw the debris coming at him. "AAH!" he cried out as he tried to use his Abominations to shield him… only for the debris to be sliced to dust in an instant. "Huh?"

Appearing above him was an Abomination with familiar features and sickles for hands. He looked down at Gavin, who was shocked to actually recognize him, even in this misshapen form.

"Gavin…" Darius spoke to him.

"D-Dad?" Gavin asked, shocked to see his father. "You're… alive?"

"Dad?" Potion Ranger and Dr. Thriller asked, turning to each other in confusion.

"Are… alright?" Darius asked as he lowered himself. He seemed to be struggling with his words. "I… here to help. Protect you."

"Protect me?" Gavin said while looking at his father. "You… you were alive this entire time?!" his said with anger in his voice. "Where the hell have you been?!"

"Gavin, I… it's hard for me to explain things…" Darius said but Gavin wasn't having any of it.

"Explain what? That you've constantly neglected me and always put your duties at the Emperor's Coven first? Or that you favored Hunter over me, your actual son?!" Gavin shouted to him. Darius tried to speak up, but Gavin wouldn't have let it. "How dare you show your face to me after all the grief you put through me and mom!"

"Gavin…" Darius was taken aback by his outburst.

Gavin was in tears as he glared at his father. "You never made the time for me, for our family! I wish… you should've stayed dead!" he shouted at him, which shocked his father, as well as Potion Ranger and Dr. Thriller.

After he said what needed to be said, Gavin stormed off from the battlefield. "Gavin, wait!" Dr. Thriller shouted, but Gavin didn't stop.

Darius just stood there, staring at the ground where his son had been. His misshapen face full of guilt…

---

Donna and her new friend started going around to take down the Heartless. Donna concentrated on her keyblade, focusing on curing the Heartless.

'You are a healer, Donna. You can do this. This is what you were meant to do. Release their hearts,' she thought as she began to channel her Healing magic into her keyblade. Her eyes glowed blue and she launched herself forward to strike at a Heartless. The darkness was released from the Heartless and it changed back to the Mascot Marauder, who fell down to the ground, unconscious. "I… I did it!" she realized..

"Good, now keep it up," the dragon-masked stranger responded as he slashed another Heartless, who was changed back to a guard.

Donna nodded and continued to use the newly discovered abilities of her keyblade. She channeled her focus on curing the Heartless, slashing and taking down each of them in her wake while leaving behind a cured prisoner or guard.

Lunar Tune and Le'Belle were still fighting against the Gold Beat, though they were both at the point of exhaustion. Fortunately, Wonder Witch showed up and slashed the Gold Beat. When the Gold Beat looked at her, it sent out electric shocks at her. But Donna blocked the attacks with her keyblade before she jumped over and gave it a few more slashes, across and down. Finally, she completely finished it off with a final slash, defeating it as the darkness was released. Forming out from the darkness was Disco Drew, who fell on the ground.

"Ow!" Disco Drew cried out.

"What did you do to him?" Le'Belle asked in shock.

"I healed him," Donna admitted with a smile before looking around for more Heartless to take on

Rock Hard, Minos, and Ghostina were struggling against another horde of Heartless just as the masked newcomer showed up to use his Dragon's Soul keyblade to slash across the dozens of Heartless, toppling them back. Each of them were then changed back into scouts, guards, and prisoners after their hearts were released.

"Who's that?" Ghostina asked.

"I don't know, but… is that a keyblade?" Minos asked, pointing to the keyblade the stranger had.

"Me and Wonder Witch will take it from here," he told them before he charged at more Heartless.

Star had joined Luz, Eda, Crowbar, and Florella in holding off the forces of Heartless coming at them when Donna showed up, blasting and knocking Heartless away.

"About time," Florella commented.

"Don't worry, I can cure them," Wonder Witch told them as she slashed at the Heartless, causing them to grow bright as their hearts were released from the darkness.

Seeing the Heartless revert back to normal, Eda gave an impressed whistle. "How'd you do that, kid?"

"By releasing the darkness from their hearts," Donna answered while turning to Star. "Star, you're here too?"

"Yeah, thought you guys could use some help," Star replied while blasting another Heartless. "Though maybe you do have it covered after all."

"Less talking, more taking these guys down," Luz said as she shot more spells at the Heartless. Donna nodded and began to help them, slashing at the Heartless they fought back and turning them back into normal witches.

Steve and Leonte were both casting spells against the Marionette controlling the Abomination, which kept moving around and trying to slap them up. They were soon joined by the keyblade-wielding stranger.

"Friend of yours?" Leonte asked Steve.

"Never seen that guy before," Steve replied as the stranger got in front of the possessed Abomination.

"Time to cut the strings," he declared as he made a few slashes across the possessed Abomination. He then looked up at the puppeteer Heartless, who was controlling the Abomination. He jumped and Leonte and Steve were shocked to see that this guy just casually hop and bounce off the air to get to the Marionette!

He took a swing as green flames burst from his Dragon's Soul. He slashed across the Abomination, weakening it as the Marionette tried to fight back. It levitated the Abomination back, but the stranger locked on the Abomination as his Dragon's Soul glowed bright green and shot green beams that formed into that of a dragon, bursting through the Abomination and causing it to crumble. The Marionette fell back and the stranger instantly slashed through the blue-ringed Heartless down, along with dozens of other Heartless around.

Once the stranger completed his slash, he stood up and walked away while a green explosion burst behind him. The Marionette was then turned back to Ratagoulie, while the rest of the Heartless were changed back to normal as well.

"Aw nuts…" Ratagoulie groaned as he laid on the ground.

Leonte looked shocked by what he had seen. "Incredible," he said as he turned around, only to see that Steve was already gone.

---

Back to the Clawthornes, Star and a few members of LOWTH, Luz and Eda looked around. "I think we've dealt with most of them," Eda realized.

"Just where did these guys come from, anyway?" Luz asked while a large shadow emerged from behind her, ready to cut down on Luz.

"Luz, look out!" Eda shouted as Florella pulled Luz away with her vines before she was struck down.

Luz turned to see her attacker. "What the hell?!" she shouted as the shadowy figure formed into Nicole.

"Nicole!" Eda shouted, recognizing the masked woman.

"The Clawthornes… right in front of my doorstep," Nicole snarled. "Haven't you two ruined enough lives?! How dare you ruin Terra's!"

"I heard that you fell so low you joined a child-trafficking ring," Eda snarled at Nicole.

"The Tarot Guild is more than that!" Nicole declared while extending her shadowy claws. "The Tarot Guild is the future! And you all will pay for standing in its way!"

"Lady, you are off your rocker!" Star shouted as she blasted Nicole with her hand.

Nicole dodged the attack while a group of rats crawled up on her robe. She saw they were conjured by Crowbar and she sent her shadowy tendril to attack him. Donna intercepts the attack, slashing her tendril hand with her keyblade. Nicole then shoved Donna out of the way just as Eda flew up to tackle Nicole away from them.

"Let me handle this bitch," Eda declared as she was pushed back from Nicole, who was now floating in the air.

"I've been waiting to take you Clawthornes down for a long time!" Nicole declared as she saw a lightning glyph card slapped onto her robe, which then shocked her. "GAAH!" she shouted as she pulled the card off of her. She glared at Eda before she heard a yell as Luz flew up to take a slash across Nicole's face, sending her back.

Nicole grunted before glaring at the human girl who dared to strike at her. "You… you caused my downfall! You're responsible for everything! You ruined my family!"

Luz just gave Nicole a pitiful look. "The one who ruined your family is you, %^," she said as she drew spell circles, blasting Nicole with fire magic.

The shadowy masked woman dodged the attacks while glaring at Luz. "How dare you, a human, know how to perform magic! You do not deserve it!" she shouted as she spread her tendrils all around the area, conjuring more shadowy monsters that rose from the ground.

"More Heartless?!" Donna shouted as she held up her keyblade.

"Not the ones we've fought," the stranger said as he appeared and brought out his keyblade. "Come on, everyone, let's take them down!"

Soon everyone was fighting against the shadow monsters while the Clawthornes continued their aerial fight with Nicole, who extended her hands and made them grow larger as she attempted to grab both Eda and Luz. The two flew back as Luz flashes light spells at Nicole's hands, burning them away. Nicole launched more tendril attacks, hitting Eda while Luz went to her mom's rescue, only to get swatted down by a tendril.

Luz's eyes turned red as she let Maya take over. Her wings sharpened as she flew up to give a slash down at Nicole's side, making Nicole raise her arm up. A shadowy fist formed from the ground to punch Maya in the side, sending her down. When Maya got up, she saw Nicole about to strike at her, only to get held back by the vines from Eda's plant glyphs.

"You really have fallen on hard times, Hieron," Eda declared as Nicole slashed the vines off from her. She tried to pierce Eda with her claws, but Eda dodged the attack and kicked Nicole's masked face, sending her back. "You had everything, and you threw it all away for petty revenge! Is trying to beat me more important than your own life!"

"I had everything! But then you Clawthones had to keep getting away with the crimes you committed!" Nicole screamed as she grew larger while her mask remained. "I followed the rules, played the game, and what did I have to show for it? Being looked down upon by my peers! You all turned the entire Isles against me!" She sprouted more tendrils from her sides, slamming her larger arms down as the face on her mask started to move. "Terra came to me, showed me how much of a fraud Belos truly is! Showed me what he really was…"

---

It was after Nicole had fled from Hieron labs, after she fought Vitimir. She knew that she couldn't go back now, that her actions won't be forgiven. She was going to be branded as a traitor to the covens. She was currently in the forest, all alone. Finding a stump, she sat down and started to cry. She had no one to turn to now…

"Why hello there, Nicole," said a voice.

The Hieron woman's eyes widened and she turned around and saw who spoke to her… Terra.

"Now, now, don't panic, my dear," Terra spoke to her after seeing Nicole getting defensive. "I'm not here to arrest you or anything."

"You're… not?" Nicole asked, looking at Terra in confusion.

"No… in fact, we have something in common, you and I," Terra said as she smiled at her. "We both have a… Clawthorne problem."

The Hieron woman was still cautious, but she was listening as Terra walked over to her. "I've heard that you've been trying to get back at the Clawthornes. I've seen how mad you are about them, and I can't help but sympathize with your grudge. The Owl Lady and her human child are nothing but trouble, their little kindness is nothing but a disease that spreads throughout the Boiling Isles, trying to make witches like us weak! Especially nowadays with Eda being declared a hero." She offered Nicole a card. "Stop by my coven, and I can show you the reason why Belos favors the Clawthornes so much…"

Terra then left as Nicole looked down at the card and thought about her future…

---

"Terra told me everything about our Emperor!" Nicole shouted, getting the attention of everyone present. "Belos was a Clawthorne! That explains why he's been protecting that cursed family!"

Everyone who heard this was shocked, including the nearby scouts and members of LOWTH. Luz, Eda, and Star couldn't believe that Nicole just exposed Belos out loud like that.

Meanwhile, Wonder Witch was fighting through the shadow monsters. They were not Heartless, so they were a lot easier to take down with a few light spells or keyblade slashes. The dragon stranger showed up to assist her.

"Hey, got most of them?" he asked.

"I think so," Donna replied as she slash through one monster. "I am glad that they're not Heartless, at least"

"Or Nobodies," the stranger added as he blasted a shadow monster with his keyblade. "But we still have one Heartless to deal with." He pointed up and she looked to see the Frost Serpent flying around shooting ice at everywhere and everyone in sight.

"Then let's cure this Heartless," Donna said as she aimed at the Frost Serpent, shooting it with one of her spells. But this got the dragon Heartless to look down and fly toward her in anger. "Crap! I think I made it mad!"

Nicole, meanwhile, had grown larger as she glared at the Clawthornes, unleashing large tendrils at them. Luz and Eda dodged while shooting and throwing light and fire spells at her, but at this point they had no effect on her. Nicole swatted the two and they were forced to avoid it as the hand hit a building, bring it down.

Star was able to assist them after taking out some shadow monsters. She aimed her hand and fired it at Nicole, hitting her with a blast of magic energy. Nicole just looked down and spotted Star before launching a tendril at her. Luckily, Star was grabbed by Darius, who saved her from the attack by getting her out of the way.

Nicole's tendrils grew larger as they slammed to the ground, trying to hit Eda and Luz. Eda saw her tendrils targeting Luz from behind and Eda pushed Luz out of the way, resulting in the tendril smashing into her instead

"Mom!" Luz cried out as Eda fell down. Luz flew down with her. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just a scratch," Eda responded while feeling the huge slash mark on her back. "But I can still fight."

Luz looked concerned for her mom before they had to avoid another tendril attack. They looked up and saw Nicole laughing out loud, sounding more mad with each passing second.

"It's time you all finally pay!" Nicole declared as she launched her tendrils at them. "Soon, the Isles shall be engulfed in darkness! There will be no Day of Unity! Terra Snapdragon will make sure of that!" she screeched as she used her large claws to try to slam at the Clawthornes again.

Luz tried to use an ice spell, forming trails of spiked ice at Nicole's feet, or where they used to be. It hit her, which caused her to screech.

While this was going on, Donna and the stranger were fighting the Frost Serpent, alternating between using spells and slashing the flying serpent when it made a pass, shooting ice beams at the two witches. With the stranger's keyblade, he burst green flames to strike back against the ice beams, weakening the Frost Serpent though not stopping it from going after the two. Its jaws tried to bite Donna, but she blasted a spell through the jaws, making it back away.

"Just keep the keyblade locked on it," the stranger advised her. "Then focus on curing the Heartless!"

Donna aimed her keyblade at the Frost Serpent, channeling her magic through it. She locked her aim as the Frost Serpent managed to get up, roaring at the two. Once they locked in on its emblem, that's when they had their shot.

"Fire!" the stranger declared as he and Donna shot beams of green and blue light towards the Frost Serpent. The light took the form of a green dragon and a white icy alicorn, both aimed at Frost Serpent. In an instant, they crossed over and struck at the dragon Heartless.

The Frost Dragon screeched as it felt its heart released from the darkness. It then started to revert back to its normal form, that being Shivers, who hit the ground.

"Oh…" Shivers groaned.

"Whoa…" Donna said while looking at her keyblade. "Now that was cool."

Back to Luz, she and Maya were working together to fight off against Nicole, blasting her with every spell they knew. But no matter what kind of attacks they unleashed on her, they still couldn't take her down. Nicole was more monster than witch now, letting the mask engulf her with darkness.

"When I rule the Isles, I'll make it so that being related to or having the name of 'Clawthorne' will be a crime!" Nicole declared while sending punches towards Luz/Maya, who started to take hits. "Being a Clawthorne… being a human… it is a sin against the Tita-"

"Aw shut up!" Luz/Maya shouted as they flew up and punched Nicole in the mask, knocking her back. "You think you know better?!" they shouted in unison "You're the one who damaged and nuked every relationship you've ever had! You screwed over your own daughter's life just because she rebelled against you! Do you even know what Boscha is going through now?!" they shouted while sending ice and fire blasts at Nicole. "I doubt that you even care!"

"Don't you dare question me about not caring about my daughter!" Nicole shouted.

"You have a funny way of showing it!" they shouted as Luz kept blasting light spells at her. "You're no mother anymore… you're just a spiteful womanchild who's still held up on her high school years!" They Nicole through the streets to the center of Bonesborough.

Eda flew up to assist Luz in taking on her old school rival. She looked over Luz and saw the anger on her face, along with the tears. Holding up whatever remaining combo cards she had on her, Eda tapped them and threw them at Nicole, causing large vines to burst around the shadow woman.

"You think these will stop me?!" Nicole shouted, slashing the vines until she was hit by more glyph cards, which exploded into fire and ice. "GAAAH!"

"No, but it will keep you busy," Eda declared.

Nicole as her tendrils managed to grab both Luz and Eda, throwing them across Bonesborough, making them land in separate areas from each other.

Eda landed in the streets of the market. She groaned and looked up in the sky to see Nicole slither down to the area where she threw Luz. "Oh no…"

Luz groaned as she found herself in the one place she never wanted to return to… the slayground. "Oh shit…" she said as Maya helped pick her body up.

"Are you okay, Luz?" Maya asked her.

"I'm fine, just…" Luz was then punched by Nicole, who had shrunken herself to her normal form. The Hieron woman laughed maniacally.

"Does this feel nostalgic, little Clawthorne?" Nicole asked as she grabbed Luz by the throat and slammed her into the jungle gym, destroying it. "This is where it all started, wasn't it? The Boiling Pox incident, when the Owl Lady had to protect you from those who hated you!" she shouted while dragging Luz by her leg and slamming her against the swings.

"AAH!" Luz cried out as she was injured by Nicole throwing her around.

"Luz!" Eda shouted as she flew over to save her daughter. But Nicole's shadow tendrils grabbed her, pinning her down to the ground.

"Yes! Watch as I strike down your own daughter in front of you, Edalyn! This time, you can't protect her!" Nicole shouted while she threw Luz over to the sandbox. Her tendrils then formed into blades as Nicole prepared to take down Luz.

"LUZ!" Eda shouted.

Luz looked up and saw the black bladed tendrils coming right at her. Thinking quickly, she decided to use the one thing she hadn't used yet… her scream.

"WEEEEEEEEEEHHH!"

Luz's sonic scream dispersed the tendrils instantly, shocking Nicole as she saw Luz rising up. Luz glared at Nicole and let out another scream at the shadow woman. "WEEEEEEEEEEHH!"

"What is… NOOO!" Nicole cried out as she was pushed back by the scream. Luz kept screaming at Nicole, causing her shadowy body to splat against the nearby wall. Nicole couldn't get out of this, nor could she focus, as if this child's scream of rage was actually giving her pain and preventing her from using her abilities…

Her mask shattered.

Luz kept on screaming as Eda was released from her bonds. "Luz! Stop!"

Luz stopped screaming when she heard her mother and she then saw the result of her attack. Nicole's dark body was pinned to the cracked wall. Her shattered mask fell apart, revealing her face. But her normal, pink-skinned face was nowhere to be seen.

Instead, Nicole was nothing but a living shadow with three white eyes. They saw no signs of Nicole other than her black robe. The shadowy creature sank to the ground and knelt down before looking up at the two Clawthornes. It looked at them as if it didn't recognize them. Looking around in an animal-like panic, it then dove into the ground to form into a shadow and slither from the area.

"What… was that Nicole?" Eda asked in shock while Luz picked up the pieces of the mask.

"I'm… not sure if she's alive or dead," Luz admitted while looking at the piece of the mask.

But despite that… they had won.

---

Meanwhile, inside the Plant Coven, the trio of Emily, Lindsay, and Cross were traveling through the greenhouse after Emily had teleported them in. They looked around and saw many scouts and witches trapped and being held similar to how Perry was held.

"Those poor witches," Lindsay said as she looked at their faces and their glowing eyes.

"Yeah, this is off putting," Cross admitted. "Think we should do something about this?"

"Yes, we should," Lindsay agreed.

"I don't think we can right now," Emily told them while lighting a small ball of flame from her hand. "We can't save anyone while Terra is still a threat, since she could just recapture them or get us while we are distracted. If we take her down, that's how everyone is saved."

"Yeah, but I doubt it'll be that easy…" Cross said, though there was something on his mind. "Emily… there's something I wish to bring up."

"What is it?" she asked him.

"Your new powers," he pointed out. "Like, how are you able to teleport and throw fireballs like that? I thought the sigil on you should prevent you from using other types of magic."

"I have been wondering about that since yesterday," Lindsay commented.

Emily looked to her hand levitating the small flame to shed light. She made it dance in her hand. "I'm… still not sure what to make of this. I don't know what's going on with these powers, but I feel like they're coming from a different part of myself besides my bile sac… and it actually feels good. It makes me… feel whole."

"But if your new powers don't come from your bile sac… then where could they come from?" Lindsay asked in confusion.

"Yeah, it's not like you were born with a different bile sac… right?" Cross asked while Emily gave an unsure look.

"I don't know…" Emily said before noticing something coming. "Duck!"

The trio dodged a large vine launched at them .They fell to the ground before they looked and saw more vines moving around them, along with its source… Terra.

"Well, well, well, I see I got some rabbits in my garden," Terra said as she looked at the trio and spotted Emily. "Ah, Emily, wonderful to see you again… and I see you've brought friends…" Terra's face twisted with a grin. "They'd be good mulch for my garden!"

"The Producer…" Emily hissed as she glared at Terra. "You bitch!" she shouted as a thorn came at her, causing her to dodge them as she pulled out her knife. Cross and Lindsay got up as they joined the fight, Cross casting a flame spell to counter Terra's attacks while Lindsay used her wings to pick herself up to avoid the attacks. Emily tried to make her way toward Terra while glaring at her with a look of pure hatred. "You will pay for what you did to my family, Producer! Especially what you did to my parents!"

"What? The hell are you talking about?" Terra asked in confusion. "And you got a lot of nerve showing up here after killing all of my men! Quite honestly, I'm very disappointed in you," she said while throwing in more vines at Emily, who dodged them. "I thought you were something special when I found you all those years ago. I thought you could be quite the asset, perhaps even someone who could have one day stood at my side. But I guess I was wrong."

"Shut up!" Emily shouted as she threw a fireball at Terra, who didn't move away from it.

"You think that's going to scare me-AAAH!" Terra screamed as she felt the fire ball hit the side of her face. "Ah! My face! Wait, that was real!? How?!" She then saw another fireball coming at her and she blocked it with a large leaf.

"You lied about my parents, Snapdragon!" Emily accused as angry tears welled up in her eyes. "After I took down all of your Tarot Guild bases, I learned from a file that their arrest records were altered!"

"What?!" Terra asked in shock.

"Altered?" Cross and Lindsay asked in shock as well.

"Don't act surprised," Emily told Terra. "You and your Guild made me believe that they abandoned me so that you could manipulate me. But I learned the truth. They weren't caught trying to leave the Isles… they were caught stealing medicine! For me! But the records were altered, the originals sealed away! By you!"

"What… are you kidding me?!" Terra exclaimed. "I thought your parents were cruel, but this… ech, stealing medicine for their child? Gross!"

Emily's eyes widened as she seethed in anger. "Don't try to continue to lie to me about this, Producer! You and Craig both lied to me just to recruit me!"

"Hey, I'm just as surprised as you are, honestly," Terra claimed. "I would love to take credit, that's just not the case. Me and Craig, boy that's a name I haven't heard of in a while, only saw the altered report of your parent's arrest. I legit didn't know they'd do something worse than abandoning you."

"How is stealing medicine for a kid worse than abandonment?!" Cross questioned.

"Witches are supposed to be depraved and evil, not none of that goody-two shoes shit!" Terra shouted as she sent thorns at the three, forcing them to dodge. "It ju8st makes me sick to the stomach that witches want to do good! It's why I purposely had Sonya take Bria away so she wouldn't be reunited with her family!"

"You did what?!" Lindsay exclaimed in shock as she got tangled up by a vine. "AAH!"

"Yeah, I made sure that Sonya chose the Bria girl as her test subject after her parents made a stink about their missing brat," Terra revealed. "That I can pridefully admit."

Cross burned the vines away from Lindsay before he was then caught in the vines as well. Emily got tangled up by the vines as she shouted. "And it was you that sent Nicole Hieron after me?"

"Hmm, yeah, once I learned that Tito Jackwitch was bailed out by the golden child, I was suspicious. But I only learned that you had survived thanks to that Gavin kid, which is also I learned that you were living with some country bumpkin family."

"Wait, Gavin?!" Lindsay shouted. "Gavin told you?"

"So after Hieron failed to kill me, you tipped off the Emperor's Coven about Lindsay's brother being covenless?" Emily shouted with a glare.

"That… I did not know," Terra said, which shocked the three. "Honestly, the Emperor's Coven was given an anonymous tip about the Shystreams having a covenless witch in their home. I don't know who left it. Seriously, Emily, I'm not responsible for every bad thing that has happened to you, that's on the Clawthornes."

Emily glared at her. "Liar!" she shouted as she teleported out of her vine trap, appearing behind Terra and slicing at her back with her knife.

"Gah!" Terra shouted as she backed away, glaring at Emily. "Insolent child! If it wasn't for me, you would have died a snot-nosed brat, waiting for her parents to come home! I saved you! I made you who you are! And this is how you thank me and the Guild after everything we've given you!" she shouted as she dodged another fireball.

Cross used his flames to get out of the vines before he turned to Lindsay. "Let's say we up the playing field," he suggested before he transformed into his dragon form. "Can you turn into Madstream at will?"

"I… I can't if I'm not angry enough," Lindsay responded.

"She killed Beel Zatar," Emily pointed out, which made Lindsay's eye widen in horror.

"She… she killed Beel…" Lindsay shut her eye and when she reopened it, it was red with anger. "YOU MURDEROUS BITCH!"

"Oh now what?" Terra asked as she turned away from Emily. Her eyes widened when she saw a fist being thrown at her, which caused her to crash into a mossy wall. "Ugh, what…?" She saw standing next to Emily was Cross in his dragon form and Lindsay in Madstream mode. "Oh… shit."

"Plant lady will pay for hurting Madstream's friends!" Madstream shouted as Cross breathed his flames at Terra, who attempted to block them. Emily shot her fire at the former Plant Head as Terra launched more of her large, thorny vines at Madtstream, tangling up her arms and legs. But Madstream just pulled the vines out and used them to slam Terra to the floor. Terra then found herself tangled up by her own plants, courtesy of Cross's own plant magic.

"You're not the only one who can control plants around here," Cross declared as Terra countered by sinking herself into the ground.

"Where did you go?!" Emily shouted before she saw Terra popping up near her, trying to stab at Emily. But Emily teleported away. "It's because of you,the lives of many witches were ruined, including Sonya's!"

"Oh please, Sonya had a blackened heart long before she was recruited," Terra claimed as Emily shot fire at her.

"I don't believe you, and even if that was true she could have been helped!" Emily countered. "She wouldn't have been as bad as she was if it weren't for you!"

Terra sent her carnivorous plants at them, but Emily and Cross burned through them while Madstream knocked them away from her. "I wasn't prepared for any of this shit…" Terra muttered while using her large vines to shield herself. "Why is there even a dragon here!? I thought Belos wiped out all the dragons!" She saw Terra burning through her vines, trying to make her way toward her. "You think taking me down will make up for all the evil you've also done, Emily? You think you can be the good guy in this?! You're just like me!"

"No," Emily declared while burning through Terra's defenses. As Terra was distracted, Emily teleported near her. "You may be evil…" Before Terra could react, Emily plunged her blade into Terra's stomach, stabbing her. "But I'm wicked."

Terra gasped as she looked at Emily. Something oozed out from Terra's mouth as the former Plant Head just smiled at her before her eye twitched… and she melted in front of Emily.

"The hell?!" Cross exclaimed as Madstream shrank down back to Lindsay.

"She… she actually melted!" Lindsay exclaimed.

"No," Emily said while looking at the melted body, kneeling down to take a closer look at the matter. "This body… it was made out of some kind of Plant and Abomination matter. This wasn't the real Terra… it was more like some kind of elaborate puppet." She stood up while turning to the other two. "We have to keep looking for her."

"But Emily, if Terra left a body double to keep us busy… she's probably long gone by now," Cross realized. "This must have been a distraction to buy her time to escape unnoticed."

Emily glared down at the ground. "Dammit!" she shouted before kicking the pile of goo.

"Maybe with Terra gone, we can free everybody else," Lindsay suggested, pointing at the trapped witches nearby.

"Yeah, it is the best thing we can do right now," Cross said while turning to Emily.

Emily looked around at the trapped witches. She wanted to keep hunting Terra. She wanted to make the real Terra pay. But… she had no idea how to find the real Terra and these witches needed help right now. She sighed.

"Of course," Emily said as she, Lindsay, and Cross began to help the trapped witches.

---

The damage to the Conformatorium was great, as was the damage to Bonesborough. All healers present were helping to tend to the injured scouts. Eda and Luz made it back over to the members of LOWTH, who they saw hanging around with Star.

"So you're from another realm?" Donna asked Star.

"Yup, a realm called Mewni," Star replied.

"Mewni? Hey, I know a guy who's from Mewni," Kyle replied after checking on Dr. Thriller's wounds.

Minos walked up to check up on Clé, who was hanging out with Alburno and the other thawed out scouts. "Hey, you scouts are alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, thanks for the help," Clé responded. "And cool hammer design. You in Construction? I have a little bro that's in Construction."

"Huh, you don't say…" Minos said nervously before noticing Eda and Luz. "Hey, it's them."

Everyone turned to see the Clawthornes showing up, with Eda helping Luz walk. "Hey, guys," Luz said as she and Eda walked up to them.

"Luz, Eda, you're alright," Donna said as she went to hug the two. "You two are alright, right? What happened to Nicole?"

"She's been dealt with," Luz said while still holding the mask pieces. She winced from the hug. "And I probably need some healing."

"Sit down, let me check," Donna said as she led Luz to somewhere she could sit down. She used her healing spells on Luz, who just remained silent, which concerned Donna.

"So where did Kitsuni go?" Eda asked, looking around for the fox yokai.

"Oh, she went off after all the chaos was over with," Donna answered. "That masked stranger disappeared as well. I feel like they don't want to stick around to answer any questions."

"Yeah, Steve and Darius already left, but I decided to stay behind to make sure you guys are alright," Star said.

"Wait… that was Darius?!" Potion Ranger asked in shock.

"Yeah, he was dead but then came back all gooey and muddy," Star responded. "He has been trying to stabilize himself."

"Where is Gavin, by the way?" Florella asked, looking around.

"He ran off somewhere after seeing his dad," Dr. Thriller said, causing Donna to sigh.

"Gavin… we really need to talk to him," she said.

"So in light of everything that has happened," Drillborg said while helping with the wounded. "I do wonder… was the stuff that Nicole lady said true? About Belos?"

"Him being a Clawthorne?" Bowen asked as he looked at his fellow scouts, who had blankets wrapped around them as they shivered from being frozen.

"Hmm, not sure if she's that much of a reliable source," Alburno pointed out.

Eda and Luz just shared a look without saying a word. However, this did not go unnoticed by Crowbar.

"Hey, I just got word from Head Witch Graye," Le'Belle said as she walked over. "They got all the hostages who were trapped in the Plant Coven out safely… but Terra got away."

This caused everyone to look distraught. "Then Beel's killer is still out there," Florella realized.

"She's still loose?! Great…" Carter muttered.

Luz just sent a glare down at the ground while Donna finished healing her wounds. "Luz, are you okay?" she asked her in concern. Luz didn't answer. "Look, none of us are blaming you for Beel's death. It's not your fault." Luz just stared down in silence before turning to Donna… and giving her a hug. Luz started to silently cry as Donna tried to comfort her and Eda came over to help.

"I'm… I'm sorry…" Luz said while shedding her tears. "He… I could've…"

"You don't have to apologize, Luz," Donna responded while hugging her back, crying as well.

"Don't worry, Luz, she will be caught," Eda tried to reassure her. "Terra is not going to get away with this."

"Yeah, she couldn't have gotten that far from the Plant Coven," Ghostina pointed out.

"Attention all scouts!" Leonte called out. "As of this moment, our focus should be on the arrest of Terra Snapdragon! We shall spread out and hunt that traitor down!"

"But what about them, sir?" Alburno asked, pointing to LOWTH.

"Leave them be," Leonte said. "They helped us, so they are free to go… for now. All active scouts, be ready to conduct a widespread search for Terra Snapdragon!"

After that, one of the scouts looked up at the sky. "Look! The Golden Guard!"

"And he's with… Lilith?" Carter said in surprise.

Everyone looked up to see the Golden Guard levitate down on his staff, along with Lilith on her own staff. They landed in front of Eda and Luz.

"Lily? Hunter?" Eda asked them. "You guys just missed the battle."

"We're here to pick you two up," Lilith replied. "We checked the Owl House and the Parks before coming here."

"Yeah, we are probably going to need your help to defeat the Inner Demon," Hunter told them.

"Oh, I'm already planning on doing that," Luz said. "I planned on meeting Snope-"

"Listen, the situation is far worse than we realized," Lilith told them with a grim expression.

"Worse?" Eda asked, frowning. "What do you mean worse?"

Hunter sighed. "We mean that if we don't stop him… there may no longer be a Boiling Isles as we know it."

Luz and Eda shared concerned looks, wondering what they mean by that…

---

Deep in the woods, far from civilization, was Terra Snapdragon. She was… looking for something.

"That little contraption Arthur and Destiny built for me really bought me some time," Terra said. "Of course, I am used to controlling others, but that was the first time I controlled myself!"

"Yes, but you must work quickly, Terra," the Inner Demon told her. "They will be coming for you now."

"Oh, I know," Terra responded. "And I say let them come! We had to accelerate our plans a bit, but it is already too far along to stop now. For years, you had to rely on people coming into the Forest of Fear. But now… we bring the Forest of Fear to them!" She then came to a stop and smiled. "Ah, here we are."

Up ahead, she could see her destination: the Looking Glass Ruins.

---

Okay, so author note's time to go through… shout out to Jack_Skeletron for the amazing suggestions for the action of the story. Also we got some new OCs in the batch.

First up we got Erica Padlock, introduced as Orsan's coven aide and a cousin of his through nepotism. She has the ability to only see the recent past. She is based off of Padoaradscha from Steven Universe.

Then there's Hettie Cutburn's aide, Mange. Mange is kinda a bit not right in the head, as she is mostly based off of Nurse Clayborne from KND. Yes, the same nurse from the infamous episode where she feeds her students pinkeye apple crusts. She'd also be a reference to the

We figured in deciding on what kind of OCs they'd be, and thought that to break the Total Drama expies pattern, we'd throw in other characters in as well.

As for the dragon-masked stranger that has his own keyblade, and helping out Donna, well, you guys may have already guessed who he could be now…

And yeah, Boris, Katya, Derwin, Amber, Levi and Goonla turning up to be alive is the twist that some of you may have saw coming. We purposely hid them from the last chapter to draw fear that what Terra could have said was true.

There is a parallel around here about Amity, Gus and Gavin talking to their respective fathers whom they haven't talked to for a long while since around the time of the Gland Prix and during the prologue to war. Amity and Gus managed to have a heartwarming moment with their dads, while Gavin, meanwhile, vented at his own dad for his neglect and absences. We feel that out of the three, Gavin would more likely to reject his own father in the harshest way.

The reason why Nicole is able to create Heartless, is because she herself have let the darkness consumed her. In that turn, plus with her shadow powers she manages to create Heartless as a way to test out if she could convert the prisoners and guards into being her minions. So the Darkness attracts Nicole, as she has lost her own heart as the Baron's power continues to consume her. And look how it did to her…

To those wondering what has happened to Nicole when Luz used her sonic scream at her. Well, she's now just a shadow of her former self… literally.

We have the Exsiders turned into different Heartless. With Shivers becoming the Frost Serpent due to his name, Disco Drew as the Gold Beat, Squeak-Toed Jack as the Hot Rod, and Ratagoulie being the Marionette based on his knack in controlling his Gumbominations. Thanks to Jack_Skeletron for the suggestions on which ones to be the Heartless.

Now for the reviews:

Moheart7: Truly, the heroes we need.

Crash X Fusion: Well, the Inner Demon could have met Terra a long time ago, probably attracted to her depravity. As for Teri, he has invaded his mind for a long time by corrupting his Inner Teri into becoming the Grim Goblin.

Guest: Well then that is your problem then. If Moringmark wishes to make both compelling stories and funny strips, it's his choice and he's done real good at it. I like the direction he's taking. So please, don't come here to complain about it.

Guest 2: 1) Wait and see. 2) Wait and see. 3) Wait and see. 4) You meant Nicole I assumed. It's the darkness that consumes her heart that grants her the ability to create Heartless.

Ultimate-drax: Yeah, I did based on the sinking of the S.S. Druid with the infamous S.S. Slocum that has happened years that predates the Titanic. And yeah, I based off of that quote Nicole said from One Piece.

OMAC001: Don't jinx it.

Blue Tagg: As you see, they're not. But still, Belos broke a promise, which makes him lower than shit.

Matteso585: 1) Honestly, it's safe to say that he didn't tell her about sending the witchlings to the human world. If he did than he would have given her the portal key… but he didn't, since he did not want to risk Terra betraying him. Yeah, the Inner Demon doesn't really tell Terra many things. Plus, It was never stated that Puck took Gus and Willow in the Forest of Fear, just from the spot where they were heading home. 2) I've told you before that Sora, Riku and Kairi don't exists in the LCU. Since they live in an alternate Earth. 3) That's the point, whether if Terra's word is true or not. Just imagined if we decided to not show the rebels being alive in this chapter.

Franco Almiron: No, the Inner Demon can't travel around beyond the Forest of Fear and the dreamscape in the Boiling Isles. Nicole didn't learned from him, she just makes Heartless after her heart was consumed to darkness.

Xndelongchamps: Yup.

Spantidem7: 1) Because he couldn't taint her mindscape. 2) No. 3) He… may have overestimated Nicole's own darkness. 4) No comment. 5) Yup.

As for your OC question, well we'd advise that they can't just be gimmicks. Like, expies of different characters and OCs just won't cut it, they have to stand out what makes them interesting. One being a Deadpool parody isn't interesting to us. They can't just be carbon copies of the characters they're based off of. They can resemble a bit like them, but they have to have something that stands out. Like Napoli example is not just a Harold-expy, but a parody of Napoleon Dynamite. But the difference is that Napoli can perform tough fighting skills like if he's Bruce Lee. Just give them an original backstory we could use, or a simple OC we can use to make an interesting background.

Shuffollower: Well, both Terra and the Inner Demon are in a partnership.

Krypton Writes: A lot of things for Book 3 will pretty much be original for an Owl House fic. Like, expect a lot of stuff added in.

Alamout: 1) Well, the same way Box Ghost and the Ghost Lunch Lady had a kid in Ultimate Enemy. 2) She's still working on dying it out. 3) Wait and see. 4) That is something that can be explored later on…

Next chapter, we'll see how our heroes will now face the Inner Demon, but who will stop Terra in time… if those asking if we have time again, we're running on Anime Time.