Ultrawoman Titannia

by Michael Ravencroft

Giant monsters awaken on the Boiling Iles, threatening the lives of many. Luz must learn to harness the power of Titannia in order to protect the denizens of the Demon Realm. But who is Titannia? What is she? And where did the Kaiju come from? Mysteries abound in this exciting saga!

4. Episode 4: The Power of Friendship!

Luz's time in the Demon Realm was…uneventful for the last five days. After arriving on the Boiling Isles, the human teen had stumbled upon an ancient underground temple, where she bonded with and became the Warrior of Light, Ultrawoman Titannia. There were many questions surrounding Titannia and the temple she had found her in. And just as many concerning the Kaiju that had appeared twice over. However, since then, almost a whole week had passed, and not a single Kaiju attack had occurred. Not like it was a bad thing, no Kaiju attacks meant no one was getting hurt.

Still, it left Luz bored out of her skull. To offset the boredom, Eda decided to put the human teen to work at her stall hawking things from the Human Realm. One human's trash is a demon or witch's treasure, she supposed. And thanks to Luz's knowledge about the items, Eda knew exactly what they did and their worth. Which meant she now knew how to lie about their function to customers and hike up the price on an item that would otherwise be worth pennies or at the very least, nothing. This wasn't her only gig; on weekends she would help deliver potions that Eda made to the various customers of the town of Bonesborough.

In between these jobs, Luz would go to the backyard and practice her fighting moves. The "Cosmo Beast Style" martial arts were engrained into her body and mind, when she became Titannia the techniques and movements flowed more easily, but in her human form, she had to concentrate a little more. So, Luz determined that it was better to practice them while in human form, that way, when she fought a Kaiju, she could more easily use the techniques in or out of the transformation.

Never thought I'd be a kung fu fighter, thought Luz.

Luz threw a few jabs, flowing her arms like a snake would as she pretended to weave around her imaginary enemy's attack, to strike them for their aggression. She dipped low, and swept at the legs, and then curled up into ready stance, like a snake coiling up for their next attack. It was hard work, and Luz normally wasn't that good when it came to Phys Ed classes. "Weak nerd arms" and all that. But since the last Kaiju battle, she had been keeping up this regimen, and steadily, she could tell that her body was building up some muscle.

"Kid, that's enough of that, time to head into town!" Eda called out.

"Okay, Eda!" Luz replied.

Luz headed over to the house, but stopped when Hooty appeared before her, with a towel draped over his body.

"Oh, thanks, Hooty."

"No problem, Luz. Hoot! Looking good with all those funny moves," said Hooty.

Luz rolled her eyes as she wiped the sweat from her face and arms.

"They're not 'funny moves', Hooty. They're some kind of martial art. Don't you guys have anything like that here?" Luz asked.

"If we do, I never seen it. If you ever need someone to workout with, just let me know! I'm up for anything."

Oh, that I'm sure of.

"Maybe next time, thanks again."

"Oh, wait, I forgot to give you your water bottle. GA-HACK!" Hooty started coughing, which made Luz back away a little as her eyes widened. "GAH-HA! ACK! One sec, Luz, kinda stuck there. BLARGH-HA-ACK!"

Luz watched as Hooty finally coughed up a water bottle, which was dripping with…stuff. The Latina gingerly bent down and grabbed the bottle with the tips of her right thumb and index finger as she flashed Hooty a forced smile.

"T-Thanks, Hooty…j-just what I needed," said Luz.

"Your pal Hooty's always got your back, hoot-hoot!"

After that, Hooty stretched himself back to the front of the Owl House. Luz looked back at the still dripping bottle, grimaced more, and then walked back into the house before tossing the water bottle into the sink.

He means well, Luz, in his own very weird, Hooty way, he means well, she told herself.

After heading upstairs and changing out of her workout clothes and into her regular ones, Luz met up with Eda and King out front. Once there, all three of them mounted on Eda's staff and took off into the air. As they flew through the air, Luz spotted the Boiling Sea. A couple of days ago, she found out exactly why they called it the "Boiling Sea" and why this giant corpse landmass was called the "Boiling Isles" when they went on a trip to the beach to search for any washed-up human stuff.

---

"Ooh, the water looks so nice, why don't we take a swim?" Luz asked.

Eda and King looked at her, then at each other, and laughed hard.

"Yeah, let's, I lived a good life," Eda joked.

"After you, Luz," King implored.

Luz shrugged and replied, "Okay, I'll head in first!"

Eda and King kept laughing, at least until they noticed Luz stripping down to her sports underwear.

"She's not really going to jump into the water, right?" King asked, worriedly.

"CANNON BALL!" Luz exclaimed.

"YEAH, SHE IS!" Eda yelled as she hurriedly drew a spell circle.

Luz ran to the edge of the water before jumping as high as she could, tucking her legs in as she prepared to do a cannonball. However, before Luz hit the water, a bubble of golden light surrounded her, preventing the teen from splashing down in the water. Luz looked around in confusion before turning her head to see Eda with her hand glowing, showing that she was the one who stopped her. With a flick of the wrist, Eda brought Luz back to where she and King were standing before releasing the bubble and letting Luz plop onto the sand.

"Are you crazy?!" Eda admonished.

"What? I was just going for a swim," said Luz. "Is there something I'm not getting here?"

"Do you know why we call this place the 'Boiling Isles'?" Eda questioned.

"Now that you mention it, no."

"It's 'cause of the water, it's so hot that it'll make your flesh melt off in seconds," King explained.

"EEP!" Luz yelped as she hugged her body. "I almost boiled myself alive?!"

"And that's why we call it the 'Boiling Sea'," Eda confirmed.

---

Guess I can say farewell to any beach side fun, lame, thought Luz.

While in the town of Bonesborough, and manning Eda's stall, she got to see a plethora of witches and demons alike. Seeing them go about their daily lives, watching them use magic out in the open like it was just commonplace. Because it just was, magic was something real and tangible here. And now, Luz had it. Well, at least she thought she did. Titannia had to be magical on some level, considering all she could do. On that note…

"So, uh, Eda, when do you think you're gonna get around to teaching me magic?" Luz asked.

"Oh, right, that was going to be your cover story. Being my apprentice or something?"

"Yeah, yeah! C'mon, Eda, it's been a whole week since I've been here, and there hasn't been a single Kaiju attack. This is the perfect chance to teach me while there aren't any crazy monster shenanigans going on!"

Eda hummed as she thought about it. Luz was right, there had not been any Kaiju attacks for seven days straight. Many of the islanders thought that that was all the Kaiju that were left, but Eda wasn't so sure about that.

"I think you need to focus more on you-know-who's powers before you start learning any kind of magic, kid," Eda suggested.

"I have! I've been practicing her fighting style in the backyard every morning, and I've gotten really good at it. And while I haven't exactly figured out how to go giant form outside of an actual battle, I have at least gotten a feel for that form's abilities," Luz countered.

Eda rolled her eyes as she placed a few items on the stall's table.

"True, but who knows, you might discover something new if you keep up that training."

Luz groaned in annoyance, in a way, Eda was right, and at the same time, she suspected that the foxy witch woman was trying to just kick the can down the road. Either way, all she could do was hope at this point.

A few hours passed, and they had a steady stream of customers since then. By noon, the crowd had died down, and Eda was busy counting her money from their sales.

"Eda, I'm going to take a walk?" Luz asked.

"Yeah, go ahead. Just remember…"

"I know, keep my hat on."

Luz moved from behind the stall table and began wandering around town. Per Eda's suggestion, Luz was told to keep her beanie on while out in the streets. Humans were extremely rare, while there were some records of humans coming here in the past, and of course the copious amount of junk that would wash up on the shores of the Isles, it was still very, very rare for an actual human being to be in the Demon Realm. Because of Luz's rarity, Eda cautioned Luz that there might be witches and demons who would want to kidnap her for less than innocent reasons. With that mind, Luz made sure her beanie cap was properly covering her ears and did her best to not draw attention to herself.

In the week she had spent here, and thanks to King's little lessons, Luz had learned how to identify the different types of demons. Demons had three sub-categories of Bug, Beast, and Biped.

Bug types – which apparently Hooty was one of – did have some capability of using magic, same with Beasts which encompassed creatures like griffons and other such animals. The last of the three, Biped, referred to demons that generally walked on two legs, sometimes more than one two, but what really separated them from the other two categories was their ability to cast magic spells like witches.

Witches, in this case, looked very similar to humans, although their hair and eye color varied and wasn't just limited to the typical dark browns, blues, greens, or even grays. Some seemed to run the full gambit of the color spectrum in some cases. But the defining physical feature of a witch was their pointed ears. Luz wasn't going to lie, at first, if she hadn't been told otherwise, she would've called them all elves. But considering that Eda had explained that all of Earth's myths came from the Demon Realm, perhaps that also meant the concept of an elf was derived from the Demon Realm witches? And the term "witch" became less of a name for a race and rather a name that referred to female practitioner of magic.

Really, if it weren't for the pointy elf ears, Luz would've considered any of the witches here to pass as human. And so, the inverse was possible, thanks to covering her ears, no one gave her a second glance, believing her to be just another teen witch girl among the many others.

Hiding in plain sight, Luz thought.

Luz continued to walk, eventually just wandering further out of town, lost in thought. When they had infiltrated the excavation site of the temple, Eda and Luz had overheard that the entire underground temple was to be buried and forgotten. And true to their word, the hole where they found the temple was completely caved in. Luz, Eda, and King had traveled back to the chasm where Luz accidentally discovered the cave tunnel to the temple, but also found that it too had collapsed. Even if they found a way to dig out the tunnel, it was doubtful that the paintings and ancient writings were intact anymore. Luz placed her right hand over her chest, as if trying to make contact with Titannia's spirit.

"Titannia, please, if there's something I'm not understanding, or some road I should be going down, please tell me. 'Cause I feel like I'm just going around in circles at this point," said Luz.

"You can do it! You. Can. Do it!"

Luz blinked.

"…Mysterious voice of encouragement?"

Luz wandered off the trail in search of the mysterious voice, wandering off the beaten path and heading deeper into the forest. After making her way through the bushes, Luz believed she spotted the owner of that voice. It was a girl, about the same age as herself.

The witch girl had short, dark navy-blue hair. Her eyes were bright green, and in front of them were a pair of round orange glasses. From what she could tell, the witch girl had a stout physique, she wore a golden yellow coat over a dark shirt. Along with a pair of gray pants, and a pair of brown boots. The witch girl was currently sitting on a rock, looking very bewildered for some reason. Luz didn't know the cause of it but felt a need to stay and listen.

"Aw, who am I kidding…I've been in the Abomination classes for years…and I'm still at the bottom of the barrel…" The witch girl sighed heavily as she looked down at the ground. "I should just drop out or something…but then Dad and Papa would be disappointed in me."

Luz watched as the witch girl got up from the rock she was sitting on. After a quick scanning glance, which made Luz duck further down into the bushes, the witch girl drew a green spell circle in the air. She then lightly swiped her hand through it, and as soon as she did, the ground suddenly sprouted vines that slowly wound upwards, weaving together until they formed an archway. With another spell circle, the witch girl made several beautiful flowers bloom on it.

"Whoa," Luz whispered in awe.

"Willow, what are you doing?"

The witch girl, Willow, quickly turned around and saw another witch girl standing a few feet away from her. Luz looked upon the new witch, she looked to be about the same height as herself, had green hair, with the exception being the base of her hairline which was brown. The new witch's eyes were golden in color and had a scrutinizing gaze about them. This girl was wearing a black choker, and necklace with an amethyst gemstone hanging from it. The girl had a crop top on that was white and pink that had the word "HEX" in pink letters, a purple skirt, black leggings, and a pair of brown shoes on…

Wait, why do I feel like I recognize her?

"Oh…Hi, Amity," Willow greeted in a lackluster tone, and with a twinge of annoyance.

Amity sighed as she approached Willow and inspected the archway that was created. The green haired witch plucked one of the flowers off the archway, gave a look, and then tossed it aside without a second thought.

"You really need to focus on your Abomination magic, Willow. It's been two years since you've entered Hexside, and you're still at the bottom of the class," Amity reminded.

"I know…"

Amity sighed as she remarked, "I'm telling you this for your own good, Willow. You know being in the Abomination track means you don't use the other magic types. Unless you're going for the Emperor's Coven tryouts. But you'd need to fill out the right forms before that. But I know you're not, so, please don't do this again. You're lucky it was just me, anyone else might've reported you to Principal Bump."

"Thanks, Amity," Willow replied in a monotone.

The green haired witch girl walked closer to Willow and patted her on the shoulder.

"Hey, you can get there. I am the top student in our class. I know you can get it if you apply the same dedication to…this," Amity waved at the archway, "and apply it to your Abomination magic, then you'll be right up there with the rest of the class."

Luz wasn't sure if Amity was trying to encourage Willow or bring her down. It was like a strange combination of both. Either way, Luz didn't like the condescending tone that Amity had while talking to Willow, who was clearly not liking what she was saying.

"Like I said, I'll pretend that I didn't see you use Plant magic. But next time, please, focus on your Abomination magic, otherwise you're never going to shake off that nickname 'Half-a-Witch Willow'," Amity warned as she headed off in the opposite direction.

"Vale, guau, ¡es una total idiota! (Okay, wow, she's a total jerk!)" Luz whispered.

Once Amity was out of sight, Willow's brow furrowed as she stamped her foot hard against the ground.

"'If you apply the same dedication to your Abomination magic skills, I'm sure you'll be right up there with the rest of the class', 'You really need to focus on Abomination magic, Willow', 'Please focus on Abomination magic or you're never going to shake off that nickname, Half-a-Witch Willow!'" The bespectacled witch exclaimed in a mocking tone. "I can't stand Amity!"

Luz watched as Willow clenched her fists, and as she did, they both started to glow with a faint green aura.

"I HATE Abomination classes and I HATE being called 'Half-a-Witch'! I just…I just…GRRRAAAAAH!"

Suddenly the vine archway started to undulate, and a moment later, the ground erupted with dozens of thorn covered vines that whipped and lashed out in random directions.

Oh, boy, she's ticked!

Some of the vines shot out in Luz's direction, forcing the Latina to jump backwards away from their reach. But it seemed as if the vines had a mind of their own as they chased after her. Luz furrowed her brow and got into the same fighting stance as Titannia. She didn't dare attack the vines, with their thorns and all, she'd do more damage to herself rather than the vines. So, instead, Luz focused on weaving and dodging around the vines, just like a snake, moving fluidly and without wasted effort. The vines themselves seemed to have a hard time keeping up with her moves, unsure of where she was going with each weave and missing every strike.

HA! Practicing the Striking Serpent Fist was definitely the right call! I'm dancing circles around these vines!

"You're gonna to have to do better than that if you want to – ¡¿que?! (what the?!)"

Luz looked down and saw that her right foot had been ensnared by another vine that had slithered across the forest floor and wrapped around her left ankle while she was focused on the others attacking her.

"Ah…well played…WAH!"

The Latina's left leg was jerked out from under her, throwing Luz to the ground where she landed on her back. She groaned painfully, but Luz wasn't given too long to contemplate that impact as the vine swiftly dragged her back to where the rest of them were. Luz raised her arms as she was forcefully pulled through the bushes and now was on the other side where the rest of the earthly tendrils writhed. Another one had shot out from the rest of the wriggling mass and wrapped around her right ankle now, making it so that she couldn't escape, and then raised into the air and had her dangle upside down.

"AAAAH! I'VE SEEN ENOUGH ANIME TO KNOW WHERE THIS IS GOING!" Luz screamed.

Willow turned around and looked up at Luz, her eyes were now pools of intense, glowing green light. Luz thought that this was the end, in more ways than one. She didn't think that this was how she was going to go out, of all the possible ways, this had to rank at the bottom between, "Yeah right" and "Like that would ever happen".

But as luck would have it, fate determined that it wasn't her time yet. Willow's eyes quickly went back to normal, with the teen witch looking very apologetic and remorseful when she saw Luz dangling overhead.

"Oh, no!" Willow exclaimed.

The vines that were wriggling around and undulating like agitated vipers suddenly went calm and lax, with the exception of the two that were keeping Luz held aloft. Willow quickly waved her hands, willing the vines to let Luz down gently onto her back.

"I am so sorry! Are you alright?!" Willow asked.

"Y-Yeah, yeah, I'm good. It's just a few scratches, I'll live," Luz assured.

"I really am sorry…I lost control…Are you sure you're okay?"

"Totalmente bien. (Totally alright.) Don't worry about it…um…Willow right?"

The green-eyed witch blinked and replied, "Well, yes, that is my name. But…do I know you?"

"Uh, not really. I sorta-kinda overheard you and that other girl talking," Luz confessed.

Willow sighed heavily as she drew another spell circle and made the vines and the archway she had conjured earlier return to the earth before sitting back on her rock.

"I guess you're going to report me now, huh?" Willow asked.

Luz got up off the ground and looked at Willow with confusion.

"Why?"

"Because I'm in the Abomination track, and you're not allowed to use magic outside of your chosen track," Willow explained. "…Huh, you're the same age as me, and you don't know that?"

Luz rubbed the back of her head as she explained, "I'm still learning some things about the Boiling Isles, so not really."

That piqued Willow's curiosity as she turned to look in Luz's direction.

"Okay, what do you mean by 'you're still learning'?"

The Latina contemplated whether or not she should tell the witch girl what she really was. Eda did warn Luz about revealing her true identity as a human, that some witches would probably snatch her up as a rare creature. But as Luz looked upon this witch girl, she didn't get any kind of vibe that Willow was one of those types of witches to look out for.

It would be nice to have someone else to talk to, aside from Eda, King, and Hooty, Luz thought.

"To tell you the truth…" Luz pulled up the edges of her beanie, putting her round ears on full display. "…I'm not from around here."

Willow immediately shot to her feet as she gasped in shock. Her eyes were completely fixated on the round ears of the human before her as she slowly approached Luz.

"Oh. My. Titan! A human! A real-life human is here in the Demon Realm! I can't believe this! How did you get here?! How long have you been here?! Why are you here?!" Willow questioned as she walked around and inspected Luz.

"Oh, uh, well, a full nine days now, I think. It's been interesting, to say the least. As far as the how, that's another story. As to the 'why', no particular reason other than a love of magic," Luz answered.

Willow chuckled as she took a step back.

"Well, if you haven't been welcomed already, welcome to the Boiling Isles, um…what is your name?" Willow asked.

"Oh, sorry, forgot the intro." Luz held out her hand and said, "I'm Luz, Luz Noceda."

Willow happily shook Luz's hand.

"Willow Park." After shaking Luz's hand, Willow went back to sit on her rock. "I hope you've enjoyed it here so far, despite the…Kaiju problems we've been having lately."

Luz shook her head in surprise and asked, "Wait, you know what a Kaiju is?!"

"Well, I only know because of my friend, Augustus. He's a huge human enthusiast and is completely enamored with everything having to do with humans and their culture. It was actually Augustus who showed me a book from the Human Realm that had the word 'Kaiju' in it, which apparently means 'giant monster'. My condolences, you guys must have to deal with those things so much more than we do," said Willow.

"Heh, not really. Kaiju are just supposed to be made up creatures, stuff for movies and tv shows. But…for some reason, it looks like you have them here. The witch I'm staying with says you guys have never seen one until recently," said Luz.

Willow nodded.

"Yeah, trust me, if things like that were walking around the Demon Realm, people wouldn't be as freaked out as they are right now. Well, freaked out because of them, and that giant woman who destroyed them."

Luz gulped.

"And…do you not like her?"

"I mean, she fought and defeated two of those Kaiju. And she protected some people during the last Kaiju attack. So, she can't really be bad if she's doing that right?" Willow asked.

Luz released an internal sigh of relief, thankful that at least Willow did not see Titannia as a monster alongside the Kaiju. Not that she had plans to show Willow her secret identity, but it at least eased her mind knowing that the witch teen might not react poorly to finding out, hopefully.

"R-Right, right. I mean, she's only attacked the Kaiju when they've appeared. Can't be all bad," Luz agreed. "A-Anyway, switching gears, what was up with that girl from earlier? Amity?"

Willow rolled her eyes at the mere mention of that witch's name.

"Amity Blight, she's from a prestigious witch family. And she's the top student at my school, Hexside School of Magic and Demonics. I was placed in the Abomination class by my dads, mostly because being in the Abomination track yields greater opportunities in the future," Willow explained.

Huh, sounds like one the houses in that Cynthia Coven book series, Luz pondered.

Willow took Luz's silence as confusion and explained, "Sorry, I'm sure you don't know what I'm talking about. Here in the Demon Realm, we have nine different types of magic, and each one has its own specific abilities some are self-explanatory and others not so much."

Luz watched as Willow got off the rock and drew a spell circle with her right index finger. A moment later, a vine sprouted from the ground between them, and once it reached Willow's eye level, the tip of the vine bloomed into a flower.

"One of the nine is Plant magic, which as you can see, allows witches control over all types of flora…as for Abominations…"

Willow drew another spell circle with her left hand and pointed it at the ground in that same direction. Luz watched as some purple-pinkish slime started to rise from the ground. It bubbled on the surface for a few seconds and then started to take form. As Luz watched this, she noticed that Willow was struggling much more doing this than she did with summoning the vine. After some effort, Willow managed to create a ball of the slime, but afterwards released it and let the slime return to the earth.

"Abomination magic allows witches to control an ooze like substance that's prevalent in almost every area of the Boiling Isles. It's very versatile, very malleable, and the limits on its use are only that of the caster's imagination," said Willow.

"Wow," Luz gasped in awe. "What are the other types?!"

"There's Oracle, which allows you to see the future and summon spirits. Beast Keeping lets you command different demon beasts, and sometimes lets you take on some of their traits. Illusion, well, let's you create illusions. Potions, you make potions with different magical effects. Bard combines magic and music together. Healing allows you to learn different kinds of healing spells. And Construction focuses on shaping and reforming the dirt and rock we stand on."

Luz was honestly very excited; she'd learned more about the Demon Realm's magic with Willow than she had with Eda. Which is kind of sad since Eda was the most powerful witch on the Isles, so she claimed.

"Okay, so…from what I just saw, you clearly have a greater affinity for Plant magic. So, why not just change classes? I saw how you struggled making that slime ball, but you were hardly breaking a sweat with that vine, and those other plants from earlier," Luz suggested.

Willow released a deep sigh.

"I could…but I don't want to disappoint my Dad and Papa. They wanted me in this track so I could have a better future."

Luz walked up to Willow and gently placed her right hand on the witch's shoulder.

"But if you haven't made any progress in two years, then why bother continuing to do the same thing over and over again, hoping that it'll turn out better? That's the definition of insanity," Luz stated.

Willow chuckled as she replied, "I know, but maybe something will click, maybe. Anyway, enough about my problems. Why don't we hang out a little? Are you free?"

"Yep! Let's do it!"

Willow smiled happily as she and Luz headed back towards town. However, as they ran, neither one of the two witch girls were aware of a strange undulation under dirt.

---

Willow and Luz had a lot more fun than they were expecting. The bespectacled witch girl showed Luz to some of the local stores that had different types of witch wear, of which Luz had to try on, getting more and more excited as she adopted some of the local witch fashions. Sadly, it was just window shopping, and Luz didn't want to impose on Willow to buy her anything. Definitely not a good way to start a potential friendship, now that she thought about it, Willow was the only friend she had ever made.

Shaking off that depressing thought, Luz continued to follow her new friend around, being careful not to let out the secret that she was in fact a human being. After about an hour, the two girls stopped at an outdoor café, thankfully, they had some simple human-ish dishes that Luz could eat.

"You really can't eat much here?" Willow asked.

"Not so much that I can't eat them, more like I can't digest them. Found that out the hard way a few days ago…ugh," Luz recalled.

"Ooh, sorry you had to find that out the hard way. Well, have you figured out what you can eat here?"

"Griffon eggs are surprisingly very close to regular chicken eggs from the Human Realm, albeit a little bigger than normal chicken eggs, but still easy for me to digest. And much to my surprise, you guys also have some human world food stuff that I can eat, although getting it is a little tricky," Luz explained.

"Huh, I'll remember that for the next time we hang out," Willow noted.

Luz blinked in surprise.

"You really want to hang out again?" Luz asked.

The witch teen shrugged and replied, "Why not? I like hanging out with you. Today was a lot of fun for me. I love hanging out with Augustus too, but there are just some things you can't discuss or do with a boy around that you can do with another girl."

Luz put on a mischievous grin as she leaned against the table and asked, "Aaah, so, does that mean you and Augustus are, you know…?"

Willow raised an eyebrow for a moment, but then caught on to what Luz was implying and shook her head.

"No, no. We aren't like that. He's been by best friend for two years now, plus he's younger than me. He skipped a few grades because he's very intelligent," Willow then whispered, "Some think he might be an Illusion witch prodigy, but he doesn't like to think of himself like that."

"Oh, wow, I definitely want to meet him now! A human enthusiast and a possible prodigy?! I think we'd hit off really well," Luz remarked.

"Heh-heh, you would make his whole life if he met you. Meeting a human is one of his life goals. I'll make sure to introduce you sometime." After mentioning Augustus, Willow put on the same grin that Luz had a moment ago. "Since we're on the topic, do you like anyone?"

Luz blushed; her earlier confidence diminished upon being asked that. The Latina rubbed the back of her head as she looked away from the witch teen in front of her. Willow noticed the change in Luz's demeanor, and started to worry that she may've hit a sore subject.

"Oh no, I'm sorry! Is-Is it a touchy subject?" Willow inquired.

"No…No, it's not that…it's just…"

"Eww, what the hell Noceda, you actually thought I swung that way? Even if I did, why would I go out with a 'Luzzer' like you?"

"What you 'like' me? Dream on, Noceda. You got shot down by the girls, now you want to try your luck with the guys? Heh, wow that's hilarious! And on that note, why would I ever go out with a dyke like you?"

Luz sighed heavily.

"I've had some bad experiences when people find out…"

"Find out what?"

"…I'm…I'm bisexual," said Luz. "Sorry, I'll understand if you don't feel comfortable being around me."

Luz dared to raise her head and noticed a look of utter confusion on Willow's face.

"Uh, why would I not want to be around you for that?" Willow questioned.

"Oh, uh, sorry, again. Some people get put off when I tell them that. I don't run into a lot of people who are accepting in that way." Luz was now the one confused, now that she thought about it. "Are you queer too?"

"Everyone is here in some way."

"Huh?"

Willow tilted her head to the side and explained, "Well, I guess from a human's point of view, it wouldn't make sense. But the majority of the Demon Realm's inhabitants are straight, pan, bi, gay, nonbinary, aromantic, asexual, sometimes a combination of both. I can go on, but I think you get the point. I'm pan, by the way."

"And…no one looks at you funny for it?"

"Why?"

"I uh…it's just, in my world, people like me are sometimes discriminated against…labeled as 'abnormal', amongst other things," Luz admitted. "It's not as bad as it was a long time ago, but things could be better."

"Wow…that's seriously stupid." Willow stated. "And people have done that to you?"

Luz unfortunately nodded.

Willow furrowed her brow and reached out across the table to take Luz's right hand into her left.

"You don't have to worry about that here. Nothing like that exists in the Demon Realm. I mean, look around, Luz. Look how different everyone is."

Luz took a moment to really look at the people of the Isles as they went about their business. Willow had a point, there were so many diverse people, some were more creature-like in form than humanoid, and yet none of them showed any signs of discrimination towards each other. She never heard a demon disparage a witch or vice versa, and now that she looked closer, Luz could see that there were a few couples amongst the crowd. Many of them were either comprised of a man and woman, Luz saw two girls – one a demon and the other a witch – locked arm in arm as a couple.

"I know you said you had two dads earlier, but…I guess it really didn't sink in until now," said Luz.

Willow smiled and removed her hand from Luz.

"Feel free to woo whoever you like," Willow replied.

Luz's "suave" smile returned as she glanced at Willow.

"Oh, is that an invitation, mi linda amiga (my cute friend)?" Luz playfully flirted.

Willow smirked as she leaned back and said, "Oh, I don't think you could handle me, Luz Noceda. But seriously, thanks, but I'll have to pass. I'd rather be friends, and I don't have many of those aside from Augustus, I'd like to have more though."

Luz groaned.

"Rejected already…" Luz began to laugh, feeling happy that she was able to talk so openly about this, and even though she got rejected, it wasn't on the basis of Willow disliking Luz because of her orientation, she just genuinely wanted to be friends with Luz. "…Strangely, that was the happiest rejection I've ever had. Sure, Willow, I'm just happy to have a friend."

"Then…" Willow took her cup of "Apple Blood Lite" and held it up towards Luz. "To new friends?"

Luz smiled and raised her cup, clinking it against Willow's.

"To new friends. ¡Salud (cheers)!"

"Well, well, well…what do we have here?"

Willow's happy disposition immediately took a nosedive the moment she heard that voice. Luz watched as Willow's brow furrowed, her eyes narrowing as she barely turned her head to look over her shoulder. The Latina looked to see who it was that had approached them. From what she could see, there were four witches, and one who was possibly a demon-witch hybrid."

The first one, who seemed to be the leader of the quartet, was the demon-witch. She had pale blue eyes, an additional eye in the middle of her forehead, and light tanned skin. Her hair was magenta in color, with the sides of her head buzz cut, and had a ponytail. She wore a sleeveless black crop top that covered her chest, collar, and the lower portion of her neck, and exposed most of her stomach and lower back. The demon-witch had a pair of gold bracelets around her wrists and gold-colored earrings, whether they were just for aesthetic purposes or had some kind of magical functionality was up for debate. Going lower, she had baggie khaki colored cargo pants, and pair of black shoes.

The second had dark brown skin, and gray colored eyes. Her hair, which she wore in a ponytail, was two tone mauve and pinkish gray. She wore a red blouse that had a stylish ruffle around the hem of the shirt and around the cuffs, gray pants, and black boots.

The third stood a head taller than the others. She had short cut light green hair, and green eyes. Her top was a sleeveless white shirt with stylish plant designs woven into them, a black skirt, and matching shoes.

The fourth and final member of the quartet had dark brown skin similar to the second witch, but a shade lighter than her. Dark wavy hair flowed halfway down her back, and a side bang. Her eyes were brown in color, and in front of them were a pair of square shaped glasses. Her outfit consisted of a blue shirt with whimsical designs woven in gold thread. Her lower half had black shorts, and a pair of simple white shoes.

"Um…who are you?" Luz asked.

"You don't know me?" the triclops asked as if being insulted.

"She's knew around here Boscha, she's…from Palm Stings," Willow half-lied.

Boscha rolled all three of her eyes as she replied, "Remember my name, new girl. It's Boscha, Boscha Barbtalone. The girl on my right is Skara Grimamore."

"Hi!" Skara replied in a surprisingly bubbly tone.

"My tall friend is Amelia Snow, and her name is Cat Askal," Boscha finished. "So, how do you know 'Half-A-Witch'?"

Luz now understood why Willow had a sour disposition when Boscha and her crew showed up. Where that Amity girl seemed to have a strange combination of condensing and encouraging, Boscha seemed like your typical alpha girl, bully type. It didn't negate that Amity was technically still bullying Willow, even if it came across as passive.

"She just moved here about a week ago, but we just met," Willow answered for Luz. "Now, is there something you need, specifically?"

Boscha chuckled as she replied, "Oh, just curious as to who else would want to hang out with you."

The triclops walked around Willow and leaned on the table, doing her best to block Willow from Luz's view.

"Word to the wise, new girl, better to steer clear of her. She's not exactly the best witch around. You'll just get dragged down by her." Boscha hummed as she looked at Luz for a moment. "Hmm, say, you want to hang out with us? Believe me, your rep will thank you for it."

Luz had run into Boscha's type more times than she could count. Both on the receiving end, and the one defending others from it. Unfortunately, even in another dimension, people like that existed. The Latina smirked as she leaned back in her chair and looked up at the triclops.

"Sorry, but I'll pass on the invite, Boscha. I'm not one to care about reputations and all that. 'Sides, I'd be a pretty cruddy friend to up and leave her alone," Luz retorted.

Boscha was stunned, and so were her friends. Luz figured this was the first time anyone probably stood up to Boscha at all. It was always fun to see that reaction, but Luz did worry a little. Bullies back home were one thing, she was a scrapper, and managed to hold her own a few times. Now that she knew how to use the Striking Serpent Fist from Titannia, Luz believed if she had to fight those bullies again back home, the outcomes would be severely different. But considering that these bullies were witches and had magic powers, her ability to take any of them on was called into question.

"Did you seriously just say no to me?" Boscha inquired.

"I did, so, please leave, we were having a good time until you brought down the vibe," Luz stated.

Boscha growled, showing her teeth and…were those fangs?

Huh, never really noticed, but Willow and Eda have some fangs too.

"I am Boscha Barbtalone, I am the daughter of one of the most prestigious witch families on the Boiling Isles, and you have the nerve to brush me aside like that?!" Boscha growled as she reached out and took a fistful of Luz's shirt and hoisted her off the chair and at eye level with her. "I think I need to teach you some manners, new girl."

"Boscha, that's enough!" Willow exclaimed as she quickly bolted from her seat.

The triclops glanced over her shoulder and shot a look that dared Willow to respond.

"And what are you going to do about it, 'Half-A-Witch'?" Boscha dared.

Willow closed her hands into fists as she proclaimed, "You. Me. A witch's duel, right now."

Skara, Cat, and Amelia gasped when they heard Willow challenge Boscha. In the whole two years since Willow's enrollment into Hexside, not once as the bespectacled witch teen challenged Boscha. The triclops released Luz, letting her plop to the ground on her rear.

"Heh, you know what, let's do it. I've been wanting to put you in your place for years, Park. Maybe this will be the kick in the ass you need to finally understand how much you actually suck," said Boscha.

"We'll see about that, Barbtalone!"

Luz gulped.

Oh no…

---

A few minutes after that encounter, both sides had entered a clearing in the forest, far from the prying eyes of the rest of the townsfolk, and far enough away that they could unleash as much magic as they wanted to and not have to worry too much about collateral damage. Boscha was on one side of the clearing, stretching her arms and legs as her three friends gave her a pep talk. Meanwhile, Luz and Willow were on the other side of the clearing, with the former looking worriedly at the latter.

"Willow, why did you challenge her?!" Luz asked.

"She was going to hurt you, I had to do something," Willow answered. "Last I checked, humans can't use magic. If she attacked you with magic, then she could've seriously hurt you. Remember, she thinks you're a witch, not a human.

Willow briefly glanced in Boscha's direction.

"Although, for some reason, I feel like it wouldn't matter even if she did know that."

"I'm sorry…" Luz hung her head low as she rubbed her left arm in shame. "You're in this mess because I shot my mouth off…I just…I just can't stand it when people like Boscha pick on others. Guess even in the Demon Realm, I'm causing problems…"

Willow smiled at her new friend and patted both of Luz's shoulders.

"No, one way or another, this was going to happen. Sooner than me or her were expecting, but definitely was going to happen eventually," Willow explained.

"So…how are you going to fight her then? How strong is she?"

Willow's smile wavered a little as she explained, "Well…like Amity is the top student of the Abomination class, Boscha is the top student of the Potions class, her other friend, Skara, is also the top student of the Bard class. The three of them are from prestigious families and are strong when it comes to their particular magic types. Plus, Boscha plays for our Grudgby sports team, and is the captain of the team. So, she's physically strong on top of magically strong."

Luz gulped hard, realizing just how bad this was. She didn't just get Willow into a mess; it was a disaster about to happen. Her new friend was about to go up against a strong witch, and it was all her fault.

"Willow, you are going to use your Plant magic…right?" Luz asked.

Willow didn't answer.

"You are right?"

Willow's only response was to take a deep breath, exhale, and then turn around to walk towards the center of the clearing. Seeing this, Boscha stopped her stretches, cracked her neck and knuckles, and proceeded to go and meet Willow in the center. Both teen witches stopped once they were about five feet from each other, staring each other down as they readied to duel.

Skara drew a red spell circle, and as she did, a bell and a construct hammer formed in her right hand.

"Let the duuuuuuuueeellllll…BEGIN!"

Skara struck the construct hammer against the bell, making it ring with a loud "DING" sound.

Boscha wasted no time attacking Willow as she drew a spell circle and conjured a fireball into her hands. The triclops hurled the burning orb at Willow, making the turquoise haired witch dive to the right to avoid getting directly hit. Willow countered by drawing her own spell circle, and…summoned Abomination slime.

Luz watched as her friend struggled to make the slime rise to the surface, but even so, Willow persisted. She didn't form anything complicated, instead, she focused the slime to form whip-like tentacles which she had commanded to attack Boscha. The triclops smirked and backflipped out of the tentacles' range, displaying her impressive physical prowess.

"Oh, shoot…she wasn't kidding about that Boscha girl being athletic," Luz commented.

Willow was still struggling, which was reflected in the Abomination goo tentacles bubbling in an unstable fashion. Nevertheless, Willow attacked again, sending more of the slime tentacles at Boscha. The magenta haired witch dodged them yet again, but then drew a spell circle. From that circle, she materialized two vials held between her fingers. Once she had successfully dodged Willow's attack, Boscha jumped into the air and tossed the two vials like a couple of ninja kunai. The two vials struck the ground in front of Willow, resulting in a strong dual explosion that threw Willow a couple of feet away and onto her back.

"WILLOW!" Luz exclaimed.

The bespectacled witch teen coughed, feeling a little disoriented from the explosion, and struggling to stay standing up as she wobbled back and forth.

Ugh…was…were those…?

"Heh, the first was an explosive potion, the second one was a concussion potion. Creates a shockwave strong enough to scramble your brain, making it hard to think," Boscha explained.

Willow raised her right hand and slapped herself across the face, trying to force her brain to jump start to clear the disorientation. That seemed to help some, at least enough for Willow to draw two spell circles and summon more Abomination slime.

"This is a fight she can't win."

Luz turned around and spotted someone emerging from the bushes. The Latina furrowed her brow she noticed that the person who approached her was Amity Blight.

"Amity!" Boscha exclaimed happily. "Did you come to see me kick Park's butt?!"

Amity stopped walking as she stood next to Luz and replied, "I'm just here to make sure this duel doesn't get out of hand, Boscha. I do have a responsibility as the top student of the Abomination track."

"Heh, classic Ams! Alright, then you'll be my official witness!" Boscha shouted.

Willow glanced in Amity's direction, both annoyed and anxious at her arrival.

"What are you doing here?!" Luz asked.

"Didn't I just say…" Amity turned to the girl who had come with Willow, and when she did, her eyes widened with shock as she pointed at Luz. "YOU!"

"Me?"

"Yes, you! You're the girl who groped me last week!" Amity accused.

"SHE DID WHAT?!" Boscha exclaimed with a blushing face.

Willow blushed as well, but also chuckled at the thought that Luz might've accidentally groped Amity.

Luz blushed, now she recalled why Amity seemed familiar She was the witch she fell on top of when she was running away from Eda, the same witch she accidentally fell on top of and touched her breast.

"I am so, sorry about that! But never mind that for right now, there's a more important issue! Why are you here?!" Luz asked again.

Amity rolled her eyes; she was going to get a proper apology from this girl later. But she did agree, there was a more important issue at hand.

"Like I mentioned earlier, I'm here as the top student of the Abomination track. As such, it's my duty to keep watch over duels between students, and act as referee and witness to ensure both parties don't injure themselves," Amity explained.

Luz kind of understood what Amity was saying, but this was still clearly not good. Her presence seemed to make Willow more uneasy, which was evidenced by the fact that the Abomination slime Willow was using becoming more unstable than it was before Amity's arrival.

Just what about Amity makes Willow so nervous?

Willow let out a war cry as she made the goo restabilize and form around her hands before going back into the fight. Boscha wasn't worried, if anything, she seemed more determined now that Amity was here. With another drawn spell circle, Boscha summoned four vials, two held between the fingers of each hand. Willow attacked with the tentacle from her arm, but Boscha, once again, backflipped out of its range. But she didn't stop there, Boscha jumped high into the air before tossing the first vial from her left hand. The vial shattered upon contact with the ground, causing the liquid to release electrical sparks.

"Oh no…!"

The liquid unleashed bolts of lightning within a ten-foot radius of where the liquid splattered, forcing Willow to back away before she got electrocuted. When Boscha landed, she drew a spell circle and had the lightning condensed into a ball before firing it in a single stream. Willow hurriedly used the Abomination goo around her arms to form a shield just as the bolt arrived. Thankfully, the shield managed to take the brunt of the lightning bolt, but caused the shield to explode, scattering the goo, and throwing Willow to the ground. Boscha didn't let up as she tossed one vial from her right hand, and another from her left hand. The two vials exploded near Willow, tossing her into the air for a few seconds before hitting the ground hard.

"Hmm, seems like this fight's taken a turn for the worse for Willow," Amity commented.

"Ya think?! Willow was doing fine until you showed up! Now Boscha's hyped up, and Willow…she's…"

"No, she wasn't doing fine. Willow was going to lose this fight, and that was before I showed up. That's just how it is, she's the worst at Abomination magic, and she went into the duel intent on using Abomination magic. When she loses, Willow will have no one to blame but herself," Amity stated.

Luz gritted her teeth, and was about to tell off Amity, but another series of explosions tore her attention back to the fight. When she looked, Willow was groaning, rising on her hands and knees as Boscha stood a few feet away, more vials in hand as she crossed her arms and laughed mockingly at Willow.

"Wow, I knew you sucked, 'Half-A-Witch', but didn't think you sucked this hard," Boscha taunted. "Face it, you'll always be just 'Half-A-Witch'. Accept your place and give up now before I embarrass you more."

Amity's brow creased as she waited for Willow to speak, crossing her own arms as she listened. Willow was gripping the earth with both of her hands, digging her fingers into the dirt out of frustration.

Who am I kidding…? I never stood a chance…

"DON'T GIVE UP, WILLOW!" Luz screamed.

All the witches turned their attention to the Latina.

"YEAH, YOU SUCK AT ABOMINATION MAGIC! EVEN I CAN TELL! BUT SO WHAT?! YOU ARE STRONG, WILLOW! AND SO IS YOUR MAGIC! FORGET ABOUT AMITY, FORGET ABOUT WHAT BOSCHA SAYS! I GOT YOUR BACK ALL THE WAY! NOW, SHOW THAT WITCH WHAT A REAL WITCH CAN DO!" Luz yelled as loud as she could, her voice echoing through the woods.

Boscha blinked all three of her eyes as she asked, "Is that girl stupid or something?"

Suddenly, the ground started to rumble around Boscha and Willow. That's when the bespectacled witch teen started to rise, getting into a kneeling position before rising to her full height. Her coat was fluttering as a green aura outlined Willow's body.

"Thank you, Luz…even if I get in trouble, even if you say I'm terrible at Abomination magic, the one thing no one here will ever deny…"

Boscha flinched when Willow's head rose, and her eyes were now glowing bright green.

"I am not 'Half-A-Witch'! I! AM! A! WITCH!" Willow proclaimed.

Suddenly, dozens of plant vines sprouted around Willow, undulating, moving about like an octopus about to attack. Boscha was caught off guard by the sudden vines, and so was punished for it when one of them lashed out at her and struck the triclops in the stomach. The demon-witch was sent flying a few feet away before rolling to a stop on the ground.

"YES, WILLOW, QUEEN!" Luz exclaimed happily.

Amity, well, she said nothing, but for some reason smirked.

Boscha gritted her teeth as she dismissed the vials in her hand and used both of her hands to draw a huge spell circle. With a thrust of both of her hands, Boscha unleashed a roaring blast of intense flames in Willow's direction. The vines that Willow had conjured quickly gathered in front of her, forming a wall just as the flames hit them. The flames burned the vines to cinders, causing the triclops to grin in triumph. However, something else sprouted from the ground, more vines, but this time brown in color, they actually looked more akin to tree roots.

"Keep making more vines, 'Half-A-Witch'! I'll just keep burning them again and again!" Boscha declared as she fired another flame blast.

The column of flames slammed against the brown vines, but much to Boscha and her friends' complete shock, they didn't burn.

"What the heck?!"

Willow had the vines move aside so she could look at Boscha directly.

"These aren't vines, Boscha. These are the roots of the Barncoa tree. The very same kind of trees Fire Hornets make their hives in, which makes it completely fire resistant," Willow explained. "So, keep up the flame attacks, they're not going to touch me!"

"GRRRR!"

"This duel has only just started Boscha!"

No sooner had Willow uttered that declaration did the entire area start to rumble violently, causing the girls to brace for fear of getting thrown to the ground.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW, PARK?!" Boscha accused.

"T-THIS ISN'T ME!" Willow retorted.

That's when all the girls heard the bellowing of a great beast that echoed throughout the entire forest.

"Oh, don't tell me…?"

---

(A few minutes earlier…)

"Okay, so, what the heck are we doing out here?" Severine asked.

"We were told to investigate the strange quakes in this area," said Steve.

The Coven Scout, Steve, and his current partner, Severine, were sent out on a patrolling mission. They had received reports about unusual seismic activity in the forests outside of Bonesborough. Some Construction Coven witches were sent out ahead of them, while Steve and Severine were sent to supervise and verify if this was "Kaiju" related or not.

"Can't be helped, Rine, you read the reports. If these Kaiju things are hiding underneath us, we have to check out anything weird or out of the ordinary. The Isles don't shift often, but now, with these things, we have to check and see if there's a Kaiju lurking there or not," Steve explained.

Severine shivered at the thought.

"These 'Kaiju' things, give me the creeps. The idea that they could be sleeping right underneath our feet, it's crazy," said Severine.

"Which is why we have to investigate these things. Better safe than sorry."

Steve and Severine eventually made it to the survey sight, where they met up with a few dozen Construction Coven witches and demons who were awaiting their arrival. To ensure that the survey was going well, the Head Witch of the Construction Coven was sent as well. He was a tall, burly man with rippling muscles from his years of honing his strength. He had a bald head, a thick gray beard and mustache, tan skin tone, and teal-colored eyes. His outfit consisted of a gray vest, with a brown short sleeved shirt underneath, brown pants, tan colored boots, and a dark gray cape. Around his waist was a black belt with a gold buckle, and holstered in that belt was his hammer with the symbol of the Construction Coven engraved on it.

"Head Witch Mason, we're here," Steve announced.

Mason grunted and replied, "Good, we can get underway. I've had my team begin the survey, but so far they haven't found anything."

"You guys aren't digging or anything, right?" Severine asked.

"No, we don't want to risk stirring whatever beast may be lying dormant under the rock and sediment. So, we're using some new thingmajig from Blight Industries."

"Blight Industries? The weapons manufacturer?"

"Apparently there are a lot of different companies on the Isles that are trying to show their stuff when it comes to detecting these Kaiju. Blight Industries is taking the first crack at it, but we'll see if their contraption is good or not," said Mason.

Steve and Severine looked at the survey team and the devices they were using. It was a splice of Abomination and technology, a large control center with some kind of imaging screen and a control panel. One of the Construction Coven witches was manning the control center, while the others were wearing an apparatus on their backs, and holding box a with a long rod, and at the end of the rod was a rounded disk that they swept over the areas they walked.

"From what we were told, those things use the natural magic in the ground, sending waves of it down into the ground and whatever they bounce off creates an image on that thing," said Mason.

"Oh, so, kind of like how bats use sound to find their way around in the dark?" Steve asked.

"Yes, but sound makes vibrations, and if this thing is sensitive to them, it could wake up. But magic waves should have less of an effect on it, at least that's what some have speculated," Mason grunted.

Steve and Severine grimaced. They really did not know much about Kaiju, and it was frustrating. They had no idea what could set them off, wake them up, or even if they could be reasoned with at all. There were some rumors going around that the Beast Keeping Coven wanted the chance to try and tame a Kaiju if one emerged, but something told them that that was a fool's errand. Kaiju, at least the ones they've seen so far, looked nothing like, nor acted like, any demon beast they've ever seen.

"Head Witch Mason! I think I got something!" the witch at the control center announced.

Mason, Steve, and Severine rushed to the control center and watched the screen. From what they could see, images were starting to form on the screen, but they looked strange. There appeared to be something coiling under the ground, and those coiling somethings were concentrated around a large spherical object of some kind.

"What is that?" Severine asked.

"I can't make it out completely ma'am, it's just round in appearance, but also seems dense, not hollow," said the witch.

"How far down?" Mason asked.

"Judging from where we are relative to it…I'd say…a several hundred feet deep," the witch replied.

Suddenly, the rumbling got stronger, making everyone brace themselves. The screen showed more and more coiling tendrils start to gather around the underground sphere, and that's when the screen showed those same tendrils moving upward.

Mason's eyes widened as he yelled, "EVERYONE, EVACUATE THE AREA, NOW!"

The Construction Coven witches who were scanning immediately began summoning their Palismans and quickly mounted their staffs as they ascended into the air. Mason, Severine, Steve, and the witch at the control center all started to run as the shaking got stronger and stronger. The four managed to get to the airship and hurriedly took off. Their departure was just in time as the entire ground collapsed while green tendrils blasted through the dirt and rock, upturning trees earth with their rising.

"We need to contact HQ – NOW!"

---

(Present…)

All the girls looked up and watched as a few airships and witches were seen flying overhead, and at a rapid pace, as if they were trying to get away from something. And there was only one thing that could cause a massive exodus like that.

"IT'S A KAIJU!" Luz yelled.

"A what?!" Boscha asked.

"ANOTHER GIANT MONSTER!" the Latina clarified.

"This is bad, we can't stay here! This duel is officially cancelled! We need to get out of here!" Amity stated.

Unfortunately, the witches and human realized they were already too close. There were rhythmic foot stomps that were steadily growing stronger and louder with each thundering stomp. The group of girls heard what sounded like trees snapping and breaking apart and turned their heads in that direction. When they did, all seven of them beheld the newest Kaiju to threaten their home.

It stood about fifty-eight meters tall, from the tip of its spine to the bottom of its feet. The creature's body was a twisted amalgamation of dirt, solid rock, and plant vines, all tightly woven and compacted together to form its body. To Luz, it resembled the depictions of a Spinosaurus. Its claws were made of hardened gemstones, most likely taken from deep in the ground. Its spine was a giant leaf that had red markings on it, which almost reminded Luz of veins. Along both sides of the leaf spine were hundreds of flower buds that had yet to bloom. The creature's tail was long, and whipped back and forth, giving the creature a total length of thirty-eight meters. The monster had glowing green eyes that shined brightly from its head, and inside its mouth it had rows of sharp teeth made of black obsidian crystal to match its claws. Some of the vines that the creature was comprised of were sticking out, writhing about it like tentacles. Its snout was long, and filled with razor sharp teeth, and along both sides of its head were six red glowing eyes with yellow slit irises.

MANDRAGAURUS: THE ANCIENT FLORA MONSTER

Mandragaurus roared yet again, forcing the girls to cover their ears from the sheer volume of it. The Kaiju raised its right leg and took a step forward, crushing the trees and earth beneath its gargantuan foot. Everyone started to run, all of them were running in a group, forgetting for the moment that they were adversaries and focusing more on surviving this ordeal. For some reason, Mandragaurus seemed to notice their movement, and had its vine tentacles shoot out from its body and in their direction.

The witches and human were running like the wind, but when one of them managed to look over their shoulder, they screamed.

"IT'S AFTER US!" Skara yelled.

The witches turned their heads and saw that several thorny vines were coming straight at them. Amity, thinking quickly, drew a spell circle and shouted, "GET DOWN!" Everyone stopped and ducked just as Amity fired off a huge purple fireball straight at the incoming vine. The fireball hit its target, causing a strong explosion to erupt. However, the threat wasn't over as more of the vines started to gather. Skara hurriedly drew a spell circle and summoned her harp, with a single pluck of the strings, she unleashed several sonic magic crescents at the vines, slashing them to pieces.

Boscha got up as well and started unleashing her own flame attacks alongside Amity. Some of the vines moved to attacking long distance, shooting sharp thorns at them. A couple managed to slash Amity as she attacked them, but Cat sprang into action, using her Healing magic to patch Amity up.

"Don't waste your magic on scratches, Cat! Save it in case one of us gets really hurt!" Amity stated.

"Dammit! We can't get out of here like this! Amelia, can't you do something about this?!" Boscha incredulously asked.

Amelia drew multiple spell circles, each time trying to exert her magical power to command the vines that were attacking to go away, or at the very least stop so that they could put some distance between them. But each time she tried; her circles shattered like glass.

"I-I can't! They may be plants, but that monster's will is too strong! I can't take control of the plants!" Amelia replied.

"Willow, new girl, what about–?!" Amity paused when she realized that Luz and Willow were not there. "Where are Willow and that other girl?!"

"I don't know! I lost track of them when that monster attacked with that big vine earlier!" Skara mentioned.

"Who needs 'em, we can get out of this ourselves!" Boscha insisted.

Willow…

---

Willow and Luz groaned, having rolled down a hill when they got out of the way of the vine, and landed roughly atop each other.

"Ow, that hurt…Luz, are you okay?" Willow asked.

"I think so…I landed on something soft," she replied.

"Yeah, me."

Luz blinked and realized that her head had landed squarely on Willow's ample chest.

"OH, C'MON! HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN TWICE?!" Luz hurriedly got off Willow. "What is this, some kind of anime?! Sorry, I really didn't mean to do that!"

"I was the one who pulled you out of the way, you don't need to apologize," said Willow as she got up and dusted herself off. "Forgetting that, how are we supposed to get out of here?"

Just then, the girls heard several explosions taking place just over the hill.

"Sounds like they're in trouble," said Luz.

"Dang it, and the Emperor's Coven hightailed out of here…they don't know we're down here…" Willow was panicking a little, but she tried to keep it together. She had to protect Luz, her new friend was human and had no magic to protect herself with. "Don't worry, Luz! I'll make sure you get out of here alive! I won't let my new friend get hurt!"

Luz smiled upon hearing Willow's resolve to keep her safe, but right now, the only one who could save them all was herself. But doing so would reveal – at least to Willow – her identity as Titannia.

"Willow, I know how we can get out of this, but…what I'm going to do might scare you. So, I won't blame you if you never want to associate yourself with me after this," said Luz.

"Luz, I already said I'm not going to abandon you! Especially not after what you did for me back there!" Willow grabbed Luz's right hand and held it tight. "You and I are friends, best friends!"

Luz smiled broadly and nodded her head as she slipped out of Willow's grasp.

"Okay, well…don't freak out too much." Just then Luz thrusted out her left arm, and immediately upon doing so, the Titannia Spark and Mystic Guard appeared.

"Wha…?"

"Hold on, things are about to get crazy."

Luz opened the Mystic Guard and took out the Ultra Titannia Card and inserted it into the Titannia Spark.

{/|\} AWAKEN THE POWER WITHIN! {/|\}

"Arise, Guardian of Light! ULTRAWOMAN TITANNIA!"

{/|\} ARISE, TITANNIA! {/|\}

Willow shut her eyes as an intense column of sparkling purple light burst to life before her. The turquoise haired witch dared to squint her eyes to see what had happened to her friend, but she got her answer when the light finally dimmed and revealed none other than the being that had battled against the Kaiju, Ultrawoman Titannia.

"Luz…?"

Titannia, as if hearing Willow, looked down, nodded, and answered, "Hyah!"

Without another word, Titannia immediately jumped into the air. She looked down at where the other witches were fighting off the vines. Titannia gathered her cosmic light energy into her hands, and after taking careful aim, began shooting energy bolts at that exploded upon hitting the vines around the girls. A large vine rose and were about to slam down on the witches. But Titannia quickly dropped out of the sky and formed her Grand Wall barrier, blocking the vine from hitting them.

Titannia glanced down at the group of witches and shouted, "Hyah! Hyaha!" while jerking her head in the opposite direction.

"It's that the giant woman!" Skara exclaimed.

"She's here to save us," said Boscha.

Amity just stared up in awe, now in the presence of the being that fought against the two monsters that had almost destroyed her town.

"Hyah! Hyah!" Titannia exclaimed.

"What is she saying?!" Amelia asked. "Is trying to talk to us?!"

Amity looked around, noticing that the giant was gesturing for them to get away, in other words.

"She's telling us to run!" Amity shouted. "She can't fight that thing if we're nearby!"

"Hyah!" Titannia replied.

"Still not sure how I feel about Amity, but at least she understood me!"

"OVER HERE!" Amity and the others looked ahead and saw Willow flagging them down. "HURRY UP AND RUN!"

The witches bolted for where Willow was, and once together they began running at full speed away from the battle.

"Hey, where's that new girl?!" Amity asked.

"Uh…I had her run ahead to get help," Willow lied.

---

"Okay, big guy, just you and me now!"

Titannia glared at the monster, and it glared back at her. The moment it did, Luz felt something, the same sensation she felt when she fought Dinozaur and Deemaga.

"Your name's Mandragaurus, looks like he's made of plants and rocks. In that case, let's do some pruning!"

Titannia pushed against the vine her Grand Wall and got into her fighting stance as she channeled the power of the Cosmo Beast Style. The twin snake tattoos on her arms began to take on construct forms as they wound around her arms and formed fang shaped blades over her hands. Mandragaurus roared challengingly at Titannia before spinning around and attacking her with a tail whip. Titannia quickly jumped out of the way of the attack, and then came down with both Fang Blades. Her attack was successful as she managed to slice the tail off the beast at the base. The creature stumbled forwards a bit, the loss of its tail throwing off its balance. Strangely, the monster didn't seem to cry out in pain. Titannia learned why when she saw the severed end of the tail begin go sprout hundreds upon thousands of vines that quickly weaved themselves together, forming a brand-new tail.

"Ooookay, that's going to be annoying…"

Titannia dashed towards Mandragaurus, and slashed again with the Fang Blades, cutting it at the left shoulder. A deep gash was created from her slash, but almost as soon as she made it, the gash stitched itself back together. Frustrated, Titannia slashed again, and again, but each time the wounds on the plant monster would just regenerate. Mandragaurus had indulged Titannia long enough, as it roared and slashed at her with its obsidian claws. The dino plant Kaiju landed its heavy blow against Titannia's chest, sending her skidding backwards as sparks flew from her body.

The titanic beast didn't stop as it pressed the attack, coming in with a wide claw swipe from its right. Titannia managed to block that attack, causing the ground beneath her feet to rumble from the impact. However, Mandragaurus came in with an uppercut, slashing her across the chest again with its left claw. The blow sent Titannia into the air, but Mandragaurus wasn't done yet. The Ancient Flora Monster launched two of its large vines from its body, wrapped them around Titannia's ankles, and then reeled her back while in midair.

Titannia was then smashed into the ground, raised into the air, and then thrown back again. Mandragaurus repeated this three times before Titannia managed to use the Fang Blades to cut herself free, she flipped around in midair before landing to a skidding halt. The Guardian of Light dismissed her blades and ran at the monster, leaping at the halfway point as she led with her right knee, hitting Mandragaurus right in the snout. When she landed, Titannia threw a sweeping kick to knock it down, but when she did, her attack stopped.

"Oh…heh-heh…sturdy legs."

Mandragaurus roared as it reared its head back and snapped its jaws over Titannia's right shoulder, causing the Ultra to let out a cry of pain. The Ancient Flora Monster picked up Titannia with its jaws, and then tossed her aside like a ragdoll. Titannia rolled across the forest for a few seconds before managing to get back to her feet. However, as she did, something started to happen. The many flower buds on Mandragaurus's leaf fin were now starting to bloom. Each of the buds blossomed into, honestly, beautiful yellow flowers that sparkled in the sunlight. Then they started to glow.

"Now what?"

Titannia watched as particles of yellow light started to gather to the flowers, causing the entire leaf fin to glow bright yellow with stored up energy. That's when Mandragaurus's mouth started to glow as well, as that same energy was building up in there. In the next moment, Mandragaurus opened its mouth and roared as a column sized beam of light shot out its mouth. Titannia, thinking quickly, dodged to the right, rolling on the ground as the beam sailed over her. The beam continued to fire until it fizzled out into the distance.

"It has a solar beam attack, because of course it does," Luz complained. "Well, if I can't prune you, I'll just have to burn you!"

Titannia made an "X" formation with her arms before holding them out to her sides, she raised her arms over her head before bringing them down, bending her right arm and resting her left forearm in the crook of her right, creating an "L" formation as her energy gathered to her right forearm. At the same time, Mandragaurus charged up its energy, gathering more light particles to its sail fin, and funneling it straight into the Kaiju's mouth.

"LUMINTIUM BEAM!"

The two beam attacks fired at the same time and clashed against each other. A powerful shockwave erupted from the impact as both beams fought each other for supremacy, with Mandragaurus practically rooting itself to where it stood, while Titannia dug her heels into the earth. Titannia wasn't about to give up as she focused more of her energy into the Lumintium Beam, causing it to increase in size and power as it managed to overpower Mandragaurus's Floral Photon Ray, and managed to push it all the way back until a powerful explosion erupted from Mandragaurus. Titannia ended her beam attack as she panted from the effort.

"Gotcha."

---

In the distance, the group of witches managed to make it to a hill that overlooked the forest, and from their vantage point, they were able to see the entirety of Titannia's battle. Willow was worried about her new human friend, and so she stopped here on the hill to see how the battle progressed. It was a little dangerous, but she couldn't help but feel anxious. The other witches stood with her, not because they were worried, but mostly because they wanted to witness the battle between Titannia and the newest Kaiju to rise from the Titan's body.

"I've only seen footage of that giant's fights on Penstagram, this is totally going up on my account," said Boscha as she recorded the battle.

The others kept on watching as the Kaiju and Titannia fired two powerful beam attacks. The shockwave generated from it managed to knock them off their feet and onto their rears, but Boscha managed to keep recording despite that. When they got up, Titannia and Mandragaurus were still in the middle of their beam struggle, but that's when Titannia's beam increased in size and power and overtook Mandragaurus's beam until it made contact with the Kaiju and exploded.

"She did it!" Amity exclaimed in relief.

Willow sighed with relief, but stopped when she noticed something glowing within the smoke. It may've been a trick of her eyes, perhaps some residual energy from their clashing attacks? But the longer it remained, the less Willow was sure it was a trick.

"Borrowing this!" Willow snatched Boscha's Scroll.

"Hey, what the hell, Park?!" Boscha snapped.

Willow ignored Boscha and used her bully's Scroll to zoom in on the light that was still glowing in the smoke, and that's when she saw it.

"Oh, no! It's not dead!"

The group watched as the smoke cleared, showing the source of the light. It was a rounded sphere made up of a membrane-like material. At the center of the pale green membrane was a nucleus that was glowing a bright shade of green, and along with the glow was the sound of something akin to a heartbeat.

MANDRAGAURUS CORE

As soon as the monster's core was exposed, the forest came alive. The ground shook violently as massive vines broke out of the dirt and quickly wrapped themselves around Titannia, binding her arms, legs, and body, and anchoring her to that spot. The Guardian of Light tried to break her bonds, but the vines were incredibly strong. As soon as Titannia was bound, vines started rise from the ground beneath Mandragaurus Core. The vines began tearing up chunks of dirt and rock as the Mandragaurus Core reformed its original body, although it was only half formed, prioritizing its head, body, and leaf fin. As soon as the leaf fin was reformed, the flowers bloomed once again, and drew in light energy particles.

Titannia fought harder against the vines, but it was proving to be a futile effort on her part. That's when Mandragaurus opened its mouth and fired its Floral Photon Ray. The beam of intense light sailed across the way and struck Titannia, creating a powerful explosion that broke her out of her bonds, but at the same time caused a lot of damage to her body. The Ultra crashed onto the ground, splayed out as her Color Timer started to blink red.

Willow and the others gasped upon seeing Titannia take that beam attack. But the bespectacled witch furrowed her brow, she wasn't about to let her new friend die, even if there wasn't a lot she could do, she wanted to try. Willow tossed Boscha's Scroll back to the triclops, and quickly drew a spell circle with both of her hands.

"What are you doing?!" Amity asked as she gripped Willow's shoulder.

"What I can!" she answered. "I'm going to help, Titannia!"

"Are you crazy?!"

"Maybe!"

Without another word, Willow jumped off the hill, and as soon as she did, a wave of vines erupted from the ground. Once Willow landed on them, she began riding the vines like a tidal wave, moving her at a much faster rate of speed than her own legs could carry her.

"WILLOW!" Amity yelled. "Dammit…!"

Amity drew her own spell circle and then turned to the rest of her friends.

"Stay here, I'm going after her!"

"What?! Amity, don't put yourself in danger because Park has a death wish!" Boscha argued.

Amity ignored Boscha and summoned forth Abomination goo, mimicking Willow in creating a wave and riding it at great speeds towards the battle.

---

"Ow…that freakin' hurt…" Titannia struggled to get back to her feet. Taking the blast head on had done a lot of damage to her, but through sheer will, she managed to get to a kneeling position. "So, this thing has a core, that's why it didn't care when I sliced it apart, I wasn't hurting the core, just the shell."

Titannia took a moment to try and summon more energy, but her Color Timer was already blinking its warning signal that she was nearly out of energy.

"Dang it, if use another Lumintium Beam, I'll just change back before I can even hit it, so…what can I do?" Luz thought aloud.

"TITANNIA!"

The Guardian of Light looked down and that's when she saw Willow now looking up at her from a pillar made of vines.

"WILLOW?!"
"HYAH?!"

"LISTEN! YOU STOOD BY ME AND HELPED ME WHEN I NEEDED YOU! AND NOW I'M GOING TO HELP YOU!" Willow turned to face the direction of Mandragaurus as she widened her stance. "WHEN YOU SEE YOUR OPENING, HIT IT WITH EVERYTHING YOU GOT!"

"Willow…" Titannia clenched her fists as she groaned and stood to her full height. "Okay! We'll beat this thing together!"

"HYAH! HYAH!"

Willow nodded, she didn't understand what Titannia said, but it wasn't something she heard that told her that Titannia understood, but more like a feeling.

Within the nexus universe of Titannia's body, Luz was determined to take this thing down, but she didn't she didn't know what attack she could use to take it down in one shot other than her beam attack. That's when something flashed through Luz's mind, her eyes shined bright purple for a moment as she felt new knowledge being given to her. That's when the Latina smirked.

"That's what I'm talking about Titannia! Let's do this!"

Titannia moved out in front of Willow, making sure her friend was behind her to keep her safe. Mandragaurus began gathering energy once again, building more than it had before in an attempt to destroy Titannia with its next shot.

Willow widened her stance as she flexed both of her index fingers, channeling her magical energy to the tips of both fingers and making them glow bright green. The teen witch's eyes started to glow bright green as well, she slowly started to draw her spell circle, with the trails of green light shimmered brightly in the air before her.

At the same time, Titannia's snake tattoos began to glow. The Guardian of Light widened her stance as she brought both fists to her sides before thrusting them out in front of her, right fist over left fist. Titannia then opened her fists, flexing out her fingers as she began slowly moving her arms in a clockwise motion. As she did this, the two snake constructs appeared from her tattoos, and started to move in a circular pattern behind her.

Mandragaurus didn't care for whatever Titannia was doing, it was going to kill the Ultra here and now. Using all its stored-up power, Mandragaurus fired a full powered Floral Photon Ray at Titannia as the ground was torn apart in the wake of the beam. Despite this, neither Titannia nor Willow made any effort to get out of the way of the attack, instead, deciding to face it. At the same time, Amity just now appeared behind them, watching with wide eyes as the beam of light was fast approaching.

Titannia quickly brought her hands together just as the Floral Photon Ray got close to her. The powerful light beam was caught by her hands, and threatened to push her back, but the Guardian of Light planted her feet and withstood the force of the blast, she would not be moved by this creature's attack. Mandragaurus kept up its attack, believing that at some point Titannia would falter and its beam would destroy her. However, what it didn't notice was that its beam was being slowly condensed at the space between Titannia's hands. The twin snakes kept spinning around behind Titannia, as if to show that her technique was still going.

After about a full minute of continuous fire, Mandragaurus's beam fizzled out again, having used up all the charged energy it had gathered. And much to its shock, all of that energy was now condensed into a brightly glowing sphere that was now suspended between Titannia's hands.

"NOW WILLOW!"
"HYAAAH!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Willow roared as she completed her spell circle.

With all her might and strength, Willow expanded her spell circle and shot it towards Mandragaurus. The circle of green light flew at great speed until it struck the Kaiju. Willow released another primal scream as her hands and eyes glowed a brighter shade of green light. Gritting her teeth, Willow began parting her hands to the sides, and as she did, Mandragaurus's body started to tremble.

The vines that comprised its body started to snap in a cascading event one after the other. The creature tried to stitch itself back together, but Willow was not about to let it do that again. The bespectacled witch, as if trying to tear something apart with her bare hands, threw her arms out violently to the sides. And at the same time, a line of green light bisected the Mandragaurus's body, tearing it open, with both halves lying to the side as Mandragaurus Core was exposed.

"DO IT! TITANNIAAAAAAA!"

"STRIKING SERPENT FIST: REBOUND COUNTER!"

Titannia's eyes shined with bright light as she twirled her hands around, bringing the ball of energy to her right side.

"NOW EAT THIS SUCKA!"

Titannia thrusted both of her hands forward, firing the condensed ball of energy at Mandragaurus Core. At the same time, the twin snake constructs flew after the ball of energy, moving around it in helix formation until they merged with the energy orb, coating it in their own power, and adding to it. Mandragaurus tried to reform its shell, with some of the vines reaching out to reconnect to the other halves, but Willow exerted her magic and will onto the Kaiju, unwilling to allow that to happen.

That's when the sphere of power hit its target, striking Mandragaurus Core, and unleashing a mighty explosion. The two halves of Mandragaurus Core's shell were burned away, and at the same time, so too was Mandragaurus Core itself. The massive explosion thundered throughout the forest, sending up a huge column of black smoke that wafted into the air, signaling the end of Mandragaurus.

Titannia's shoulders rose and fell, showing that the giant woman was panting from her efforts. The Guardian of Light turned around and looked down at Willow. The witch teen was hunched over, hands on her knees as she panted from the herculean effort she had just performed.

"Hyah?"

Willow heard Titannia and slowly raised her body, showing that her entire face, and no doubt body, was dripping with sweat. Still, the bespectacled witch raised fist towards Titannia, and gave the Ultra a thumbs up. All that just before her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she fell backwards.

"Willow!"
"Hyah!"

Just then, a wave of purple slime shot out and scooped up Willow before she could fall off her vine pillar. Titannia watched as Willow was brought before Amity, who was still atop her wave of Abomination slime, having transformed it into a platform.

"Willow! Hey, Willow, say something!" Amity urged.

The green haired witch brought her ear against Willow's chest, listening closely.

*Ba-dump*

Amity's eyes widened as she looked up at the giant woman.

"You're Titannia, right?! That's what Willow called you! Her heart's still beating, but she needs help! Please, if you understand me, help us!" Amity pleaded.

Titannia nodded and replied, "Hyah!"

Amity watched as Titannia got down to a kneeling position and held out her right hand. With her left, Titannia motioned for her to get into her hand. Amity hesitated for a moment, but she remembered how Willow had risked her life to aid Titannia in the battle and worked alongside her. If Willow was willing to do that, and Titannia was willing to return the favor, she was going to take it. Using her Abomination goo to float them into Titannia's hand.

"There're some other witches, over in that direction! Can you pick them up as well?!" Amity asked.

"Hyah," Titannia responded.

The Guardian of Light rose into the air and floated in the direction where Amity pointed. Using her enhanced vision, Titannia was able to spot Boscha, Skara, Amelia, and Cat. The giant of light landed before the hill and stretched out her left hand like a platform for the four witches.

"Uh…Amity…?" Boscha nervously called out.

"Hurry and get into her hand! We need to get back to town!" Amity ordered.

With a little reluctance, the four witches climbed into Titannia's hand. The witches held on as Titannia flew fast through the air, keeping the safety of her passengers in mind as she made sure not to fly too fast for risk any of them falling out of her hands.

In no time at all, Titannia arrived at the edge of Bonesborough, but when she did, she saw that there were many Emperor's Coven airships and Scouts there. From what she could tell, it looked as if they were gearing up to go and battle Mandragaurus and begin evacuation of the town.

Titannia landed just a few feet from the town, and slowly walked towards Bonesborough, but many of the Coven Scouts were already drawing spell circles and had the cannons on the combat airships ready and pointed in her direction. This made Titannia stop, as she did not want them firing on her not with the witches still cupped in her hands.

That's when Amity ran from the center of Titannia's palm and to the edge of her fingers as she cried out, "DON'T ATTACK! TITANNIA'S IS HELPING US!"

The Coven Scouts, thankfully, took notice of the witches that were in Titannia's hands, making them dismiss their spell circles and aim their cannons away from her. Once Titannia was sure they weren't going to attack, she took another step forward and knelt before the small army of Coven Scouts. She flattened her palms against the ground the best she could, allowing for her passengers to disembark. Amity used her Abomination slime to carry Willow off Titannia's hand and to the nearest group of Scouts.

"She needs medical attention! NOW!" Amity demanded.

The Scout nodded and yelled for a healer to come over ASAP.

Amity turned around and looked up at the giant, took a step forward, and said, "Thank you!"

Titannia nodded to Amity before looking up and then jumping straight into the air. Titannia zipped around for a moment before disappearing in the form of a purple star in the sky.

Meanwhile, Eda was at the back of the crowd with King, blinking at the spectacle they had just witnessed. That's when Luz appeared from an alleyway, letting out a tired sigh as she joined her mentor.

The Owl Lady looked at her young apprentice and said, "Dang, kid, I left you alone for an hour and a half and a Kaiju attacks."

---

(2 Days Later…)

Luz was slumped against the couch as she sighed heavily. King was lying across her lap, napping as he usually did. A full two days had passed since her battle with Mandragaurus, but during that whole time, Luz was constantly worried about Willow. She had thought about going to go and see the witch teen but feared that Willow didn't want to associate with her after that terrifying ordeal.

Who wants a friend that's basically a danger magnet? Luz thought.

Eda walked past the archway to the living room, and noticed Luz was still in her melancholy state.

"Jeez, Luz, just go see the girl. She stuck her neck out for you to help you clench the win against that monster, I doubt she hates you or anything," Eda assured.

"I guess…I'm just afraid to find out. If I don't go see her, then it's not over, but if I do, then she might say she doesn't want to be friends anymore…at least this way, I can maintain that illusion."

"Denial, good coping mechanism, works wonders for me somedays," Eda commented.

Just then, the door to the house opened, and Hooty stretched his body inside.

"Heya, Hoot House! We got a visitor! Hoot!" Hooty announced.

"Hooty, I told you, no solicitors."

"Oh, I guess solicitors know who Luz is then. My bad, I'll throw her into the trees!"

Luz bolted from the sofa, sending King flying off her lap with an audible "WEH!" before landing on the other side of the coffee table.

"Wait! Hooty, stop! You said 'she' knows me?! Bring her in!" Luz exclaimed.

Hooty did as Luz asked and brought the rest of his body inside, showing none other than Willow Park, who was wrapped up in Hooty's body. The house demon set Willow on her feet before unwrapping her and retreating into the door, closing it shut behind her.

"He, uh…he nearly ate me," said Willow with a blank stare.

"Yeah, he'll do that, just be glad he didn't invite you to his tea parties." Eda let out a shiver of fear when she mentioned that.

"Willow! Y-You're alright! I mean, are you alright, right?" Luz asked, still concerned for Willow's wellbeing.

Willow snapped out of that stupor from that experience and happily smiled at the human girl.

"Heh, better than alright!" Willow rushed towards Luz, grabbing her hands as she joyfully exclaimed, "I'm out of the Abomination classes!"

"Oh, really?! That's great! Wait…if you're out of the Abomination classes…does that mean you're in trouble for using Plant magic?!"

Willow shook her head in the negative.

"You won't believe what happened. After I got out of the Healing Coven Hospital, my dads told me to never do something that crazy again. And just FYI, I just drained my magic severely when I helped you out, but nothing life threatening. Anyway, when I went back to Hexside, Principal Bump told me to go and see him in his office. Apparently, footage of my duel with Boscha is all over the official Penstagram page for the school, and he asked me to show him my magic."

"Okay…"

"Long story short, I did, and Principal Bump immediately transferred me out of the Abomination track, and now I'm officially part of the Plant track!" Willow squealed in absolute joy.

"Willow that's – ACK – amazing!" Without warning, Willow wrapped her arms around Luz, bringing the human into a big bear hug as the bespectacled witch hoisted Luz up and began dancing around in place with Luz still in her arms. "I-I'm so – GAH – happy for you – oh, my ribs!"

Willow finally released Luz, rubbed the back of her head sheepishly as she said, "Sorry, sorry! I'm just really, really, really happy! And I wouldn't have had that happen if it wasn't for you! You made me realize I needed to embrace who I am, and I'm a Plant witch! I want to learn and use Plant magic! You really are a good friend, Luz."

"You're welcome, Willow, but…uh…are you sure you still want to be friends with me? I mean…even after what you saw me turn into?" Luz questioned.

Willow tapped her chin and replied, "I will admit, I'd like an explanation about the whole turning-into-a-giant-woman thing. But other than that, yeah, I am!"

Luz's eyes widened as her heart swelled, some tears threatened to come flowing down her face, but somehow, she managed to hold them back. Eda walked up next to her apprentice and lightly hip checked Luz.

"So, you gonna introduce me to the new girl?" Eda asked.

"Oh – OH! Sorry. Willow Park, this is Eda the Owl Lady. Eda, this…this is my friend, Willow Park," Luz announced.

Willow looked upon the infamous Owl Lady and nervously chuckled.

"I'll be honest, I thought you were joking about living with the Owl Lady, but…in a strange way, it makes complete sense."

"Ahem!"

Eda, Luz, and Willow looked down at Luz's left, and there they saw King. The small demon looked up at the taller women and shot Luz an annoyed glare.

"Oh, sorry! Willow, this little guy is King."

"King, as in the King of Demons! WEH!"

Suddenly, Luz scooped up King into her arms and began smothering him with kisses and hugs.

"And he's the cutest little Demon King in the Demon Realm," Luz gushed.

"AH! Luz, not in front of a potential minion! Stop!" King whined.

Willow couldn't help but laugh at the scene before her. She didn't know what adventures awaited her now that she was friends with Luz the human. But at the same time, not knowing was exciting. The Boiling Isles was changing with the appearance of Luz, the Kaiju, and Titannia, what kind of change that would lead to, well, she was more than willing to stand at Luz's side and see it firsthand.

Now that I think about it…who uploaded that footage to the school?

---

"UGH! I can't believe it! Who posted this to the school's Penstagram account?!" Boscha demanded.

Boscha, Skara, Cat, Amelia, and Amity, were currently hanging out at the ladder's mansion. They were gathered in Amity's room, still dressed in their school uniforms as they discussed the matters of the day, in this case, the topic of how Boscha's duel with Willow was posted to Penstagram.

"I swear, Boscha, it wasn't us," said Skara.

"Yeah, we didn't even have our Scrolls out," Cat added.

"Well, someone recorded the duel! Ugh, now people are gonna think I lost to 'Half-A-Witch'! The duel was interrupted by a Kaiju, so there's no way it's valid! Right, Amity?!" Boscha asked.

Amity was only half listening as she stared out into the sky as she leaned on her balcony's railing.

"Huh? Oh, you're right. The duel is invalid since the Kaiju interrupted us," Amity confirmed.

"See! I told you!" Boscha clenched her fist as she declared, "Next time, Park is going down!"

Amity gave a roll of her eyes. In all honesty, there were times when hearing Boscha's complaints grated on her nerves, but she endured it, like always. As for how that footage made it onto the school's Penstagram account? Well…

---

Amity got into school earlier than usual that day and headed straight to Principal Bump's office. She knocked on the door and she was told to enter. Once inside, she saw the man engrossed in his writing and sitting behind his desk. He was an older man, wearing black robes with a golden mantle draped over his shoulders and collar. He had boney fingers and long fingernails. The top half of his head was covered by an imp mask, allowing his blue colored eyes to be seen.

"Ah, Amity Blight, to what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked.

"I'm certain you're aware of Willow Park's flagrant use of Plant magic, despite being in the Abomination track, correct?" Amity asked.

Principal Bump stopped his writing and leaned back in his chair.

"I am."

"I was wondering on what you planned to do to her once she returns to school?"

Principal Bump raised a curious eyebrow and said, "Well, as per the school rules, using magic outside your chosen magic track is grounds for detention, or even possible suspension."

"I see."

"…Do you disapprove, Ms. Blight?" he asked.

"Rules are rules, Principal Bump. But I would like to offer an alternative solution," said Amity.

"Oh, well then, go on. I'm all ears."

Amity took a seat in the chair across from his desk, sitting in it neatly as she looked the principal in the eyes.

"I am the top student of the Abomination track, and for the last two years I have been in the same classes as Willow Park. And as the top student, I have to say…her skill in Abomination is abysmal. Extremely abysmal. It is in my opinion as a practicing Abomination witch that Willow Park is not a good fit for the Abomination track. You can even confirm with Professor Hermuculus if you'd like," said Amity.

"No, no, I trust your judgement."

"Very well. But as the footage shows, Willow Park has exceptional skill and talent when it comes to Plant magic. Would it not be more prudent to – instead of punishing her – switch her to a different track altogether?" Amity suggested.

"Hmm…" Principal Bump rubbed his chin as he contemplated this. "Well…"

"I have read the school charter, and you are well within your rights to transfer students out of a magic track if it is determined their magic aptitude for their original chosen track is lacking," she said.

Principal Bump nodded in agreement.

"Well, you do have a point there. But rarely has such a thing been done. Most students stick with their chosen magic track."

"As I said, it's at your discretion."

Principal Bump took notice of Amity's body language, despite having a good poker face, he noticed how her hands were gripping the hem of her tunic quite tightly.

"Before I can render my verdict as to her punishment or lack thereof, I'll need to speak with Miss Park first. I'm sorry if you were expecting an answer right away, Miss Blight," said Principal Bump.

Amity shook her head.

"No, you are the Principal of Hexside, and I am just a student who has come to voice her opinion regarding another student." Amity rose from her seat and was about to walk out of the room.

"Miss Blight, off the record, why do you believe I should transfer Miss Park into the Plant track?" he asked.

Amity stopped but kept her back turned towards Principal Bump.

"…Off the record?"

"Indeed."

"…" Amity let go the hem of her tunic and released a long sigh. "Willow's a powerful witch, Principal Bump, possibly as strong as me or stronger. The problem is, she was just placed in the wrong magic track. She shouldn't have to suffer being looked down on or called 'Half-A-Witch' by others…or me…because of that."

---

Amity hoped this would be the start of a new beginning for Willow. There wasn't a lot she could do for her, but hopefully this would help, even if Willow never knew it was her. But other than that, there was something else that occupied her thoughts.

The scene of Willow and the giant woman Willow called "Titannia". She was up against an impossible creature, and yet, despite how injured she was, the giant didn't give up. And when Willow offered her assistance, instead of looking down on her as if she was lesser than, Titannia gladly accepted Willow's help, and together the two of them took down that Kaiju.

And when Willow was in need of help, Titannia understood her, and brought them back to safety. Many on the Isles weren't sure how they should feel about Titannia, Amity included. But after today, well, she couldn't speak for everyone else, but as far as she was concerned, Titannia was a hero. She was…amazing.

"Titannia, just who are you?"

---

LUZ'S ULTRA NAVI

"Welcome everyone to the Ultra Navi! This is Luz Noceda!"

"And me, her co-host, the King of Demons! I'm still waiting for my offerings!"

"Calm down, King. Here, have a cupcake."

(King grabs cupcakes)

"Finally! An offering fit for a king! You're all off the hook for now! NOM! NOM! NOM!"

"Oookay, so, while King is busy nomming on his offerings, I'll take this time to introduce our guest! Everyone, give a round of applause for Willow Park!"

"Hi, everyone…! Heh, this is a little embarrassing, I've never co-hosted anything before."

"You're doing great! Don't worry! Anyway, wanna tell them the Kaiju we're viewing this week?"

"Oh, okay, sure! Today's monster is…!"

MANDRAGAURUS

"Mandragaurus, the Ancient Flora Monster. He was a really tough Kaiju for you to face off against."

"No, doubt. This guy could regenerate every time I cut him! And when we were up close, he would hit me with those Obsidian Claws and Obsidian Fangs of his, those hurt!"

"I figured. But I'm sure it wasn't as bad as when you got hit with that beam attack."

"You're right about that. Mandragaurus's Floral Photon Ray, it uses special flowers that bloom on that big leaf fin on its back to gather particles of light, and then fires them out of its mouth."

"But of course, this whole plant monster is just the outer shell. The true brain behind the monster was Mandragaurus Core."

"Thankfully, with the power of friendship, we took that sucka down!"

"Heh, well, friendship, magic, and that thing you did to blow it up in the end. What was it called?"

"Oh, right! That was yet another technique courtesy of the Cosmo Beast Style, Striking Serpent Fist! It's called the Rebound Counter! Basically, it lets me use my own energy and power of the Cosmo Beast Style to create a kind of 'focal point' where I can absorb and condense the attack of an enemy. And once I've gathered all of it, I shoot it back at them with double the power and double the damage!"

"Yet another Kaiju that came from underground. Just how many are there?"

"Wish I knew, but no matter what, I'll make sure to protect the people of the Boiling Isles!"

"Well, you won't be doing it alone, from now I'll help you! Even if I can't turn into a giant."

"Hey, always happy to have get a member for Team Titannia!"

*BZZZT!*

"And that's our time! Until next time, this Luz!"

"And this is Willow!"

"We'll see you next time!"

---

A/N: Shout out to Dr. Ex for the name for the OC plant Kaiju!