Luz Clawthorne: Two Worlds, One Family

by JP-Ryder

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

109. Chapter 135: Kneecapped

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

---

Chapter 135: Kneecapped

The group consisting of Cross, Donna, Willow, Skara, Nina, Lambi, and Slasher were investigating the burnt ruins of the Owl House. All of them were in a state of shock… and were feeling a sense of dread.

"Everything is… destroyed," Willow said, looking around the debris. There were tears in her eyes. This was Luz's home. And now it was just… gone.

"You don't think that… Firebees did this too?" Skara asked.

"I don't think so," Cross said while inspecting the burns. "This place was torched down. No signs of firebees leaving their scorch marks."

"So someone else burned this place down… but who?" Donna asked, feeling uneasy as she looked around.

"Hey guys, I think I found the answer," Nina spoke up. They turned and saw her holding up a mask that was left behind. They all gasped when they recognized the mask.

"Coven scouts…" Slasher said as he narrowed his eyes at the mask.

"Why would they do this? To Luz's home?" Lambi asked in shock and confusion.

"Those guys have had it out with Eda and her family for a long time," Willow said while Skara sniffed around. "But how did they get past Hooty…"

"Guys… we're not the only ones here," Skara said as she heard a stick break and she pointed to the nearby trees.

"I think we've been spotted!"

"Run!"

Two suspects tried to flee from the area. However, Willow's eyes glowed green as she used her magic to easily trap the fleeing suspects with roots before pulling them into the ground.

"AAIIEE!" one of them screamed before Willow brought the two scouts up in front of them so they could get a closer look at them. Unfortunately for one of them, Willow recognized her immediately.

"Kikimora," Willow said as she narrowed her eyes at Kiki, who was missing her mask.

"And Pugsley," Cross said as he narrowed his eyes at them both.

"Unhand us this instant!" Kiki demanded, struggling with her entrapment.

"You don't get to make demands. Now tell us where Luz, Eda, and the others are," Donna told them.

"Yeah, and were you two responsible for burning this place down?" Nina asked, pointing at the burned house.

"We're not saying anything to the likes of you!" Kiki declared before she and Pugsley noticed Nina, Skara, and Slasher transforming into their were-forms. This made them grow bigger and look much scarier.

"Better talk, or else they can make ya," Cross said as he pointed to the trio, who were snarling at the two witches.

"Uh…." Kikimora said while looking nervously at the were-family before Pugsley ended up spilling.

"D-Don't eat us! We'll talk!" he cried out fearfully. "Nobody was here when we arrived, not even the house demon! Leonte ordered us to stay here and watch the area in case the Clawthornes came back! He-he even ordered us and some scouts to burn the place down to send a message to Eda!"

"Why would he order to have the place burned down?" Willow questioned.

"Leonte has been on the edge over them all week," Kikimora said. "Like, as soon as the Clawthornes were suspected of kidnapping the Golden Guard, he used it as an excuse to hunt down anyone with the Clawthorne name."

"Leonte's gotten so on edge, I heard that he almost ate an old lady!" Pugsley shouted while everyone just looked at him weirdly.

"I don't think he did, Pugsley," Kikimora responded.

"Then why does he think that Luz and her family kidnapped Hunter?" Cross asked. "Last I saw him, he left the Ranch after spending time there of his own free will. No one took him."

"Do you think they care whether or not they actually kidnapped the golden boy?" Kiki asked him. "I don't know what really happened to the Golden Guard, but even if the Clawthornes were not involved, Leonte and the Emperor's Coven are still going to arrest every Clawthorne they can. I heard that Head Witch Osran already arrested one Clawthorne who was working for us, not to mentioned the other Drakescale…"

Cross's eyes widened as he stepped forward, pulling Kikimora's collar. "Who the hell are you talking about?!" he demanded.

"Ack!" Kikimora cried while looking at Cross, his dragon eyes were shown as his breath smoked up. "A-A some girl from Merlin Meadows!" she cried out of fear.

"Oh, and the Clawthorne is Barb!" Pugsley exclaimed.

"What?!" Cross said in shock upon hearing that both his sister and cousin got arrested. He let Kikimora go. "No…"

Donna looked concerned for Cross before turning to Kiki and Pugsley. "Anything else we should know about?"

"Well, um, not really," Pugsley responded before he and Kiki were both tied up against a tree.

"Hey! You can't leave us like this!" Kikimora cried out.

"I think we can," Willow told them while turning to the others. "Come on, let's head to the next spot where Luz and the others could be."

Everyone agreed as they began to walk away, leaving Kiki and Pugsley tied up to the trees. Cross slowed down while staring at the ground, something that both Donna and Nina noticed.

"Hey, are you coming, man?" Nina asked him.

"I… you guys go ahead," Cross told them while thinking of his sister. "I think I'm going to go be with my family, if that's alright."

"We'll meet you back at St. Epiderm, Cross," Donna said while gently patting his hand. "We understand. You need to see your family. Go."

Cross looked up to Donna, smiling at her warmly. "Thanks, Donna," he said before he summoned Elio to be his staff and flew off.

Donna watched as he left, looking worried.. "You alright, Donna?" Nina asked her.

"I'm… worried for Zee," Donna responded. "I just hope she's not hurt."

"I know the feeling," Nina said with a sigh as they went to catch up to the others. "I hope his sister's doing okay as well…"

---

Later, the group was looking around the Knee, all wearing coats.

"They should be somewhere around here," Willow said while wearing a green large parka with white fur trims, blue mittens, with blue winter trousers and green snow boots. Also wearing dark-green earmuffs.

"S-so cold," Skara said while wearing a red coat with black leggings and gray snow boots. She was also wearing blue earmuffs with a unicorn headband and red gloves. She turned to Donna. "I don't know how you Epiderm kids can put up with the cold."

"Oh, this is much colder than the part of the Knee where St. Epiderm is," Slasher told his daughter while wearing a black and red furred parka, a fur hat, and brown snow boots.

"And I don't have a signal on my scroll up here," Nina said while raising her scroll up. She was wearing an orange and white furred trim coat with black sleeves, black winter trousers, violet snow boots, and orange earmuffs. "I didn't even know that was possible."

"Scrolls don't actually work this far up the Knee," Donna said while wearing a white winter parka with blue fur trims, a white toboggan with a blue scarf, blue gloves, blue leggings and white snow boots. She also had blue earmuffs over her head. "The lingering magic of the Titan is much stronger up here, which affects scrolls and causes other weird disturbances that can only be experienced in this part of the Isles. It is one of the things that makes this place more remote."

"Oh yeah, my mom once mentioned that," Lambi said while wearing a pink parka with a white fur trim hood over her head, white mittens, white leggings and pink boots. "She said that ever since the mines dried up, not a lot of witches come up here due to the bad service and the cold. Most of the time when witches come up here, they're either scouts in training or they're witches who want to practice their magic or attempt to connect with the Titan. My mom used to bring me up here every year."

"This place would make an ideal hiding spot, though you would be cutting yourself off from the rest of the Isles in the process," Willow said as they looked around, finding the ruins.

"Old Smallpelvis," Donna noted, seeing the graffiti around the ruins.

"From the looks of the graffiti, this is Luz's work," Willow said, recognizing the graffiti.

"Luz did this?" Donna asked, looking around the ruins.

"Yeah, she has left her mark everywhere around the Isles," Willow explained. "Scouts did not appreciate it when she did it at their stations…"

They continued further up to the Knee, where the service and the cold got even worse. They eventually stumbled across some caves around.

"With so many caves, who knows where they could be?" Skara said with a worried look.

"Should we call out for them?" Nina asked.

"I don't recommend it, you don't want to cause a possible avalanche," Slasher said. "We could try to smell their scent."

"Look," Lambi said as she pointed to a moving shadow that rose up in front of them.

"That shadow… it's Sam," Willow said, recognizing the shape of the shadow. "Amity's shadow!"

Sam nodded as she pointed to a certain cave.

"Looks like she's trying to lead us to where Amity and the others are," Donna realized.

"Let's go, then," Nina said as they followed Sam and walked toward the cave.

Once the group headed over to where the cave was, Sam halted. She turned and tried to motion for them to stop, which confused them.

"What do you guys think she's saying?" Lambi asked.

"I'm not familiar with shadow language," Willow said as Nina walked past her.

"Come on, we should see if Luz is-" Nina felt she herself trip on something and she looked down to see it was a wire. "Alright…"

Suddenly, a large net sprung up from beneath their boots. "YAAH!" they cried out as they got trapped in a net together.

"Is everyone alright?" Slasher asked.

"We're good, Mr. Brooke," Willow said.

"Whose tail's poking me?" Donna asked.

"Sorry," Nina responded before they noticed something rising from the ground. Something large and long…

"Who dares disturb the Hoot-Cave of Wonders!" declared the rising, demotic looking serpent with glowing eyes, who bent over to reveal himself as… Hooty.

"Hooty!" Willow, Skara, and Donna exclaimed.

"The who?" Nina asked.

Hooty looked at the trapped group and recognized them. "Oh! Willow, Skara, Donna, I didn't notice it was you guys. Of course, I don't know who the other three are."

"They're with us, Hooty…" Donna told him. "Can you let us down?"

"Oh, sure," Hooty said as he and Sam helped them down, releasing them from the net. "Me and Sam are on guard duty. But come in, everyone will be happy to see you guys!"

The group entered the cave, which they saw was stocked with crates filled with weapons and supplies. That's when they saw a light near the back of a cave… a fire.

"Hoot-hoot! Luz, Amity, we got guests here!" Hooty declared.

"Guests?!" Luz shouted as she sprung out, turning into her winged form, her claws prepared as she stood in front of the group, giving a snarl… before realizing who it was. "Willow? Skara, Donna?"

"Luz!" they responded as they ran up to hug her. They saw Amity, King, Hunter, and Boscha popping up into view.

"Amity, King, Boscha, and… Hunter?" Willow asked in surprise when she saw Hunter there as well.

"Guys, you're here," Amity said while holding up a covered up Kay while King was wearing an orange scarf and had Maurice on his skullcap. Acorn was behind the witches with the other Palismen, Brucy, and Rocky.

"It is so nice to see some familiar faces," Boscha said while hugging Willow and Skara.

"We were worried sick about you guys," Donna told them, although she noticed that someone was missing. "Where's Eda? Is she around?"

"Eda and Lilith are out for a while," Hunter explained. "A lot has happened over the past 24 hours apparently." He looked over to Lambi and Slasher, recognizing them.

"You're the Golden Guard… they say you went missing or were kidnapped," Lambi said.

"They did?" Hunter asked before he sighed. "Of course they'd say that…"

"From the looks of things, you came with them on your own accord, didn't you, son?" Slasher asked and Hunter nodded before looking back at Lambi.

"You're Lambi, right?" he asked, surprising her.

"Y-yes," she said. "But how did you-"

"You played flyer derby against him," Nina revealed as she walked over to them. "Remember Jasper?"

Lambi's eyes widened as she got a second look at Hunter. "Oh…"

"Boscha, Simon mentioned that you went to the Owl House to help them out with something," Willow explained. "But when we went to the Owl House, we found it burned to the ground by the Emperor's Coven."

"WHAT?!" Luz, Amity, King, Boscha, and Hunter all cried out.

"They destroyed our home?!" King cried out in shock.

"Those motherfuckers…" Luz said, angry tears in her eyes as she sat down, Amity sitting down to comfort her. "We knew it was a risk, abandoning the Owl House, but we didn't think they would respond that extremely when they saw we weren't there…"

"Oh, Luz, we are so sorry," Donna said, frowning. "But why are you guys up here in the first place?"

When Luz didn't answer, Amity let out a sigh. "Well, we came up this far because we were hoping that the lingering magic of the Titan would be able to protect Luz and her mind."

This confused everyone. "What do you mean by that?" Nina asked.

"Yeah, what's going on?" Willow asked them.

Luz wiped her eyes, looked up at the ground, and sighed. "Let's start at the beginning…"

---

It was morning at Gravity Falls in the new Noceda home. Gus had woken up in the guest room. He looked around with a smile before he got out of bed.

After a shower, he came down in his new clothes that were provided to him by Abigail to help him and his dad out to blend in. He wore a black shirt with gray sleeves and a blue dinosaur print. He had a blue flannel jacket wrapped around his waist, along with blue jeans and red sneakers. He also wore a blue hat with a few buttons on, one of them having the aromantic flag on it.

"Morning Camila, morning dad!" Gus said as he waved to Camila and Perry, who were at the breakfast table.

"Good morning, Gus," Perry replied. He was wearing a red flannel shirt, cargo pants, and black shoes. He was drinking coffee.

"Morning, Gus," Camila greeted him while handing him a plate of pancakes. "How did you sleep?"

"Pretty well, Mrs. Noceda," Gus responded before he turned to his dad. "Hey dad, how are you feeling right now?"

"Well, I'm feeling a lot better. I'm able to eat solid food now," Perry mentioned. "Ford said that I wouldn't need the IV pack anymore."

"That's great! That means I can show you around Gravity Falls," Gus replied with a smile.

"Yeah, that'd be great, Gus," Perry agreed, sharing his smile. "I can't wait to see more about this realm that you've talked so much about."

Gus looked more excited with each passing second. "I know the first place we can stop at!"

---

At Greasy's Diner, Gus brought Perry inside and showed him around the place. Gus covered his ears with headphones while Perry covered his ears with a trucker's hat. Camila was accompanying them.

"This is Greasy's Diner, a popular dining location," Gus said as Perry looked around, seeing the townsfolk here.

"Interesting," Perry said before he noticed the TV monitor in the diner. "Is that their version of a crystal ball or a magic mirror?"

"Gus, my man," Gus Gordon said as he walked up to them. "Heard you be around town."

"Hey, other Gus," Gus Porter responded before turning to Perry. "Dad, this is the other Augustus, Gus Gordon. He and his mom, along with his friends, helped Willow when she got stranded in the Human Realm."

"Nice to meet you, second Gus," Perry greeted him.

"Camila! Gus! Over here!" Clara shouted as she waved to them from a table booth she was sitting at with her mom, Nora, and Masha. Dana, Rudo, and Vee were sitting in another booth while Blubs and Durland were drinking their coffee at the counter and Megan and Ivy, both in human disguises, were checking out a jukebox.

"Hey guys, I'd like for you all to meet my dad," Gus P. said as he came over to their booth. Perry waved to them. "Dad, I already told you about Clara and her mom Abigail Gates. The rest are Gus-Two's mom Nora, Clara's girlfriend Masha, and their friends Dana, Rudo, and Vee. Vee's dads, Blubs and Durland, are the sheriff and deputy of this town… and maybe the only cops in town. I haven't seen any others."

"Um, hi," Perry greeted them, sounding a bit awkward. "Um, I've never met other humans before, besides Luz and her mom."

"How about you sit with us, and we'll order you something," Abigail offered him.

"That… sounds nice," Perry said, nodding as he took a seat in Vee's booth. He was sitting directly across from Vee, who smiled at him.

"How are you adjusting to the Human Realm, Mr. Porter?" she asked him. "I imagine that it must be a lot for you to take in, being in a different world and all. It's alright to feel overwhelmed."

"I'm fine, but… thank you," he said while looking at Vee. Something about her struck him as… odd. "Your name is Vee, right?"

"Yes, sir," Vee confirmed.

"Vee… you wouldn't happen to know someone named Tres, would you?" Perry asked her.

"Uh, yeah," Vee admitted as Megan and Ivy walked over.

"Hey Vee, that large music monster there ate some of our coins, and-" Megan saw Perry and she gasped. "Perry… oh my Titan, it's you!"

"Megan?!" Perry responded, blinking in surprise. "This… this is a shock."

"You know each other, Megan?" Ivy asked her.

"Of course, me and Tres knew him when we joined a rebellion against the Emperor led by Raine Whispers, before I was caught," Megan explained.

"Whoa, you guys were rebels? Awesome," Masha commented.

"I'm so glad that you're alright, Perry," Megan said, smiling. "I had no idea what happened to you and the others after we were ambushed."

"I'm glad to see that you're alright too, Megan," Perry said. When he stood up, Megan hugged him. "I still can't believe you're here… you said you were captured?"

Megan frowned. "Yeah, I was," she said, looking down. "Fortunately, Luz, Lilith, and Tres rescued me. Wait, when did you get here?"

"Only three nights ago," Perry admitted.

"Oh, so the night after me and Ivy arrived," Megan realized. She then paused… and looked conflicted. "Perry, there's something that you should know-"

"I know, Megan," Perry cut her off, surprising her. "About you and Tres's true selves."

Vee, Megan, and Ivy looked surprised by this, as did Gus.

"You… knew?" Megan asked, taken aback. "About me and Tres being Basilisks?"

"Of course, I am a journalist, and a damn good one at that," Perry confirmed with a nod. "But I also know how to keep secrets. I didn't tell anyone, Megan. Not even Raine, although I think they knew as well."

Megan looked relieved by this. "Thank you, Mr. Porter. You weren't… afraid of me?"

"You gave me no reason to be afraid of you," Perry pointed out. "And I understood why you would be reluctant to disclose your true identity." He addressed Ivy and Vee. "You two… you're Basilisks as well?"

Vee nodded. "Yes, sir," she said.

"Uh, my name's Ivy, by the way," Ivy interjected.

Perry nodded at him. "I will admit I was curious about your story though. I would like to hear it later if that's alright. Oh, is Tres here as well with you guys?"

"Actually, he's still back in the Isles," Ivy mentioned. "He planned on sticking around to fight Belos."

"With the help of Raine's new rebellion, of course," Megan said.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that he is alive as well," Perry commented. "I did see Raine before I came here, they along with Eda, Luz, and a kid named Beel helped to rescue me from Terra's imprisonment."

"You were imprisoned?" Blubs asked him in concern, turning around when he overheard this. He was no doubt reminded of when Vee was taken by Department A.

"Yeah, by a terrible witch named Terra," Perry confirmed. "She used to be Head of the Plant Coven. Of course, our government from where I'm from is very corrupt."

"Sounds like the government, alright," Durland muttered under his breath.

Gus turned to Vee. "So Vee, how are Megan and Ivy accumulating?" he asked while Perry was talking to Blubs and Durland.

"Well, when I brought them here, my dads were happy to take them in and help them out," Vee explained. "They got along quite well, even better than I hoped. Megan's really interested in old teen sitcoms and has started quoting them, while Durland got Ivy interested in theater acting."

"Yeah, I've always wanted to try something like acting… or anything, really," Ivy admitted. "Something that doesn't have to do with survival and that I can just do… for fun. Who knew the Human Realm was filled with so many options."

"Yeah, you can be whatever you want to be around here," Megan replied.

Gus P. had noticed that someone was missing. "So where's Dipper and Ford?"

"Oh, they're busy with their own thing right now," Gus G. responded. "They're playing that DDMD game again."

"DDMD?" Gus P. asked.

"Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons," Clara explained. "They started playing more than two weeks ago and one of Ford's things brought a math wizard to life."

"We got to go on an adventure with Luz and everything," Dana said with a shrug. "It was a whole thing."

"But it was a lot of fun," Rudo replied. "Especially when Luz's mom and Clara's mom became badasses."

Camila and Abigail just smiled when they heard this, both of them laughing softly.

---

In Soos's home, Dipper and Ford were playing their game of Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons.

"Alright, so you're up against the Blind Mole-Dragon who can smell you trying to get his Serpent Orbs. What do you use against him?" Ford asked him.

"Hmm, I'm dealing with a mole-dragon that is keen on its nose, so I use the sulfur bag I got from a merchant to throw at its snout!" Dipper suggested.

"Roll the dice!" Ford shouted as Dipper rolled the dice.

"Twenty-three!" Dipper declared

"You made the throw!" Ford declared. "The Blind Mole-Dragon is suffering from the sulfur in its snout, causing it to run on a rampage. But you might be able to get the orbs from him if you roll a thirty!"

"I so got this," Dipper said excitedly.

"Señor Ford, there are two men here to see you!" announced the voice of Abuelita as Agents Powers and Trigger entered.

"Powers? Trigger?" Ford asked as he and Dipper pause their game. "What brings you guys here?"

"Sorry to interrupt your, um, game, Mr. Pines," Powers responded.

"Ooh, is that D.D.M.D.?" Trigger asked excitedly. Powers turned to him and he quickly recomposed himself. "I mean, we came here to remind you about heading up to that crash site today."

"Oh, really?" Ford asked in surprise. "My apologies, I honestly forgot that was today."

"Crash site?" Dipper asked him. "Wait, you mean, like, alien spaceship crash site? And don't try to deny it, I've seen enough weird things to know that aliens exist."

"Well Dipper, you are right about the alien thing." Ford replied. "During my research on this town, I discovered a huge alien spacecraft buried underneath the valley. This ship created the valley and the bizarre cliffs surrounding the town when it crash-landed here millions of years ago. I have been wondering if that craft caused the town's strange properties or if the town's strange properties attracted the craft? The answer is still unknown."

"That… explains a lot, actually," Dipper replied before getting an idea. "Say, do you think I could come along on your small and strange expedition?"

"I wish you could Dipper, but I don't think it's safe for you to come with us," Ford responded.

"He's right, son," Powers replied. "This crash site trip is far too dangerous for a kid your age."

"Oh… I guess that makes sense," Dipper said with a saddened look.

Ford noticed this and tried to reassure Dipper. "Hey, maybe when I get back, we can pick up where we left off in our game. Just gotta run this little errand with the Agents. You can even come by the Mystery Shack later."

"Oh, um, sure Grunkle Ford," Dipper responded, faking a smile. "You go ahead, I'll just… stay here and wait until you come back."

Ford gave him a nod. "Alright, Dipper. I'll see you later," he promised as he went out the door with the Agents.

"Yeah, later," Dipper waved, seeing the door close. He was now left alone…

---

Later, a group consisting of the Guses, Perry, Nora, Camila, Abigail, Clara, Masha, Dana, Rudo, and Vee went to the Gravity Falls bowling alley, where Gus and Perry were looking around in awe.

"So this must be what a bowling alley is like," Gus P. commented. "I heard rumors, but I wasn't sure if they were real…"

"I thought it would be at an actual alley," Perry admitted.

"So how do you play this game?" Gus P. inquired.

"It's simple, really," Vee said while holding up a bowling ball. "See those pins at the end of the lanes? The goal is to knock those pins down with the balls. You put your fingers in the hole and then you roll the ball down the lane toward the pins. You get two tries to knock down all the pins each round. If you hit all the pins in one try, it is called a strike. If you hit all the pins in two tries, it is called a spare. The person with the most points at the end of the game wins. Blubs loves to bowl here. We come here every week."

"Huh, that does sound simple," Gus replied as he went to pick up a ball, only for the weight of the ball to immediately pull him to the ground. "Gah! Why is it so heavy?!"

"Maybe you should ask for bowling shoes first," Clara suggested.

"O-okay," Gus said while wincing. "You wanna try out bowling, dad?"

"Hmm, I'm willing to try this out," Perry responded. "Where do we get bowling shoes?"

"Over there, where old Lefty is," Vee said as she pointed to a balding man with brown hair, mustache, and a mole on the left side of his face. In fact, only his left side was in view. He stood behind a counter spraying a pair of bowling shoes.

"Thanks, Vee," Gus said as he and Perry went to get some bowling shoes.

"Huh, do they call him Lefty because you can only ever see the left side of his face?" Rudo asked.

"I think so," Dana said.

"Come to think of it, I did see this guy jogging with only his left side visible the other day," Camila said, remembering her last outing when she saw this guy jogging backwards with only his left side showing..

"Eh, like Soos said, everyone in this town's a tad strange," Masha commented. "Except, ironically, Tad Strange." She pointed to Tad Strange, who was there to bowl as well.

"Hi, guys," Tad Strange said, waving to them. "Nice day for a bowl, isn't it?"

After Gus and Perry got their bowling shoes, they went to try out bowling at the bowling alley. Gus picked out a ball and looked down the lane. Clara realized something.

"Um, should we be concerned? Considering they're not familiar with the game…" Clara asked.

"…Why don't you take a step back," Abigail suggested as she, Nora, and Camila pulled the children away.

"Oh, come on, I had to learn how to bowl as well," Vee said. "How bad can they be?"

Gus threw the first ball… and it immediately went into the gutter. "Did I win?" he asked, looking back at Vee, who shook her head no. "Darn."

Perry awkwardly held up the ball, turning to the other lanes to watch how the other bowlers were doing it. He looked down his lane and pulled his arm back… so hard that the ball flew off of his fingers. He heard a crash, followed by a scream. Perry turned around and looked embarrassed when he saw that the bowling bowl had hit an arcade game.

"You guys definitely need to practice," Gus G. suggested. "Especially you, Mr. Porter."

"I… think I'll sit this one out," Perry suggested, looking embarrassed as he went to take a seat.

"Well, I'm going to try to get a spare with the next one!" Gus shouted as he held up another ball and threw it down the lane… only to get another gutter ball. "Darn."

"Relax Gus, you'll get the hang of it," Vee said as she rolled a ball down the lane. She managed to knock all but two pins down, but she frowned when she saw where those pins were. "Dammit, I got a split. This will be tricky…"

After some careful consideration, she rolled her second ball down the lane. The ball hit the first pin hard enough to knock it into the second pin, knocking them both down. "Yes!" she shouted, raising her hands up. "I never did that before!" She looked up at the score screen above the lane, hoping to get an animation.

Two bowling pins resembling a mother and child were running down the road. A group of bowling balls rolled down the road after them until they ran over the two pins. One fatherly-looking bowling pin rode on his bike, only to find that he was too late and that his wife and kid were dead. The bowling pin cried in anguish.

"SPARE!"

Vee looked at the screen with a gaping look, while Masha just chuckled. "Heh, that's dark…"

---

Back in the Demon Realm, Cross had made it to St. Epiderm. Upon entering, he looked around… and saw tons of more students and their families. Not just students from both St. Epiderm and Hexside, but also those from Merlin Meadows and other schools were seeking refuge here. He looked around, wondering if his parents were here yet. He spotted Danny with Cat together.

"Alright, calm down and let us assign you your tasks," Cat told a group of students. She turned to three of her friends. "Alright, Viney, Emira, and Bo, you three can help the Shystreams pass out supplies to our newest refugees."

"Simon Saltstar and Matt Tholomule, you two can help fortify the school with Samwitch and the Pinkjoy sisters," Danny told the two constructionists.

"I think you might want to use my brother, Oskar, he's good at tunneling," Matt said as he pointed to his brother, Oskar, who waved.

"I work in the Underground," Oskar explained.

"That's good, you can assist Andrew and his team with their emergency escape routes," Danny said before he noticed Cross. "Ah, Cross, you're back."

"Danny, have you seen my family anywhere?" he asked him. "Are they here yet?"

"Yes, I saw them earlier," Cross said while pointing down a hallway. "I sent them to the gym."

Cross nodded. "Thanks, Dan," he said as he rushed off. When he entered the gym, he found it very crowded. He spotted Jackie handing out supplies to Tabrella, Andrea, and Tracy, who held her wrist, showing that she got branded.

"Are you sure that you're alright, Tracy?" Tabrella asked her friend while holding Katie.

"Those guys really did a number on us at Merlin," Tracy muttered while looking at her bard sigil. "Just great…"

"Those guys didn't have the right to do that to ya, sug," Jackie told her.

Lindsay, who was helping to hand out some supplies, spotted Cross and rushed over to her.

"Cross, how did it go? Was it really as bad as they said it was?" she asked him.

Cross sighed and looked down. "It was worse," he admitted. "What happened at the Villa…" He paused before looking up at Lindsay. "Donna went looking for Luz and her family, while her friends stayed at the Villa to provide aid. I don't know when they will be coming back. I came here to look for my folks," he said while Beans ran past him.

"Come on, let me go fight for the revolution!" Beans shouted.

"Beans, come back here!" Ban shouted as he ran to chase after her while Jak just watched and the other orphans tended to their dograptor, which Cross noticed.

"Is that a…" Cross said as he pointed at the prehistoric creature. But he shook his head. "Nevermind. Lindsay, do you know where my parents are?"

"Cross, over here," said a voice before Lindsay could answer.

He turned and saw his parents and grandfather there. "Mom, dad, gramps!" he shouted in relief as he rushed over to them, hugging his parents. "Thank goodness you're safe."

"We came here as quickly as we could," Clair told him while patting his back.

"We were just having a talk with Eda," Damien added.

"Eda?" Cross asked in confusion.

"Right here, cousin." Cross turned and saw Eda sitting on a crate while in her winter wear. "Surprised to see me?"

"Eda…" Cross said while noticing that Eda wasn't alone. He saw more of the Clawthorne family members in the gym, including Dell and Gwendolyn with Blazer, who was helping out with the orphans. He also saw Lulu and Jook helping alongside Denise, Dennis, and Eartha while Brolin talks with the other parents. "All of our family… they're here?"

"You can thank Eda for that," Drayden explained. "Eda got everyone from the Ranch here."

"When I learned about Belos's true plan, I knew that eventually he would send his forces to come after me, and potentially my family, and the orphanage," Eda explained. "So I had Odalia to tip off Ban to send the kids on a field trip to St. Epiderm for their own protection, while Geist contacted mom and dad to give them the heads up, prompting Uncle Lin to get the entire Clawthorne family to evacuate to St. Epiderm as well. Because right now, the Clawthornes are at war with Belos."

Cross was surprised by this. "What about Zee?" he asked while looking around. "Is… is she around? What happened to her?"

Clair and Damien look at each other before turning to Cross, grave looks on their faces.

"I'm sorry, Cross, but they arrested her," Damien said.

"What?!" Cross asked in shock. "So… it is true then…"

"I was there," Kevin said as he came over to Cross. "Sorry man, we fought as best we could…"

"What happened, Kevin?" Cross asked him.

"Zee suggested that we make a stand against the Emperor's Coven while Dog and the Ghoul Girls led the rest of the students out. Me, Tracy, Gnashey, and Fan fought together and Zee ended up fighting Osran. Once all of us got branded with sigils, the Emperor's Coven let us go… but not Zee. They took her, along with Ember and Rashwood."

Cross took a step back. "No…" he said as Lindsay came over to comfort him, taking his hand and squeezing it gently. He looked back to Eda. "Wait, where's Luz? And King and Amity?"

"Don't worry, they're safe further up at the Knee," Eda assured him. "Lily got the idea to send the Slitherbeast down to St. Epiderm to let you and LOWTH know where we were."

"But… why above us?" he asked her.

"We chose the Knee because the Titan's magic is stronger there, and we hoped that it would be able to protect Luz's mind from Belos," Eda replied, which confused Cross.

"What do you mean, protect her mind from Belos?" Cross asked her. And although Eda did not respond right away, Cross could see that she looked… scared. Which made him nervous in turn. "What's… going on, Eda? Why is Belos after Luz…?"

---

Back at the cave up the Knee, Luz and her group were explaining to Willow's group what they learned about Belos's plans. To say the least, everyone was in shock. Acorn was in her purple leaf-made winter outfit with a hat, white snow boots, gloves, and pink leggings. She was flying around to warm up by the fire while Atticus perched himself on Luz's shoulder, Ghost watched Acorn hungrily while laying next to Kay and Amity, Flapjack sat on Hunter's shoulder, Hogarth sat on Boscha's lap, and Brucy and Rocky silently watched from the background.

"And so, once we blocked the doorway to keep Belos and the Horned King out for now Hunter and Boscha were brought out of my head and I woke up thanks to Amity's kiss that broke my sleeping curse," Luz said as she finished catching them all up to that point.

After a moment of silence, Willow was the first to speak. "This is… a lot, Luz."

"You've told us before that Belos was human," Donna said while looking down in shock. "But to think he plans to wipe out humanity out of revenge…"

"But… Gus and his dad are there," Skara pointed out, worried for her friend.

"I don't know what I'm more shocked about, that Belos is a self-hating human who plans to wipe out humanity, or that apparently, your brother is a Titan and you're becoming one," Nina said as she looked down. "But Willow is right, this is a lot to take in."

"Yeah, who knew that you had a god living among you, Luz," Lambi mentioned. She looked over at King. "If my mother was here, she would probably start worshiping you."

"Yeah, that's… that's great," King said while looking down.

"He killed… Delara," Slasher said while covering his mouth in shock. "Dear Titan… and Osran sold her out. Boscha, we're so sorry for what happened to your aunt."

"Yeah, we are," Skara said, nodding in agreement with her dad.

"Thank you," Boscha said, nodding at that. "Although Simon and Uncle Sam definitely deserve to know about this…"

"Wait, so what happened after you guys learned what Belos's true plans were?" Donna asked them.

"Well, once we figured things out, we agreed that it was too dangerous to stay here," Luz said. "Mom and Lilith decided that once we got the portal door and key back, they would send us and our families to the Human Realm… but then they got destroyed…"

---

Last night.

"Guys," Amity said as she pointed to Bloody Mary. "Ghost told me she knows this woman. Bloody Mary… is Mary Gates… Gabriel Gates's sister," she revealed, shocking everyone.

"WHAT?!" Boscha, Lilith, and Hunter exclaimed in shock.

"Gabriel's sister?!" Eda, Luz and King exclaimed.

Bloody Mary then turned around to notice the witches. "So… you know my brother?" she asked with a smile. "Well, then you should know what happens next… AAAAIIIEEEEEEE!" she screamed as blood poured out from the shards in her body as she became more monstrous, more hideous, her hair raised up in the air. Her eyes burst into chalk-glowing red light as her glass-claws extended. And in her monstrous form, she lunged at the witches.

"Scatter!" Lilith shouted as the witches dodged Bloody Mary, avoiding her assault. "I can't believe… that's Mary Gates."

"What the heck happened to her?!" King asked as Bloody Mary rose up, glaring at the witches.

"I don't think we want to know!" Luz shouted as she prepared to send a 'weh' at Mary. "WEH!"

However, Bloody Mary seemed to anticipate Luz's attack. Her body twisted and bent unnaturally, allowing her to avoid the sonic blast that hit some trees behind her. Her contorted body went over to a tree, which she actually pulled out of the ground before throwing it at them.

Eda and Lilith turned into their harpy forms to punch the tree, splitting it in two. However, they were then immediately assaulted by glass shards. "Get down!" Eda warned as she and Lilith went down to protect the kids, all the while feeling the cuts from the glass shards. "AAH!" Eda screamed while holding onto Luz, Amity and King.

"GAH!" Lilith shouted while protecting Hunter and Boscha.

Bloody Mary just chuckled before her hands transformed into blades, something Luz noticed.

"Oh shit, she has T1000 powers!" she realized as Bloody Mary twisted her body up and began twirling around while her torso stretched and spun like a fan with her blades up. She targeted Lilith, Hunter, and Boscha.

Lilith flew while carrying the two away, avoiding Mary as she sliced through the air and several trees. Eda also flew off with her kids away from the woman. Bloody Mary stopped spinning while Grimhilde and Hook ran up to her.

"Do you need any assistance, Mary?" Grimhilde asked her.

"Do as you wish," Mary responded while spitting herself into two. Then into four, and then to eight. She was duplicating clones of herself.

"Duplicates?!" Hunter exclaimed.

"And now she's pulling a Mirror Master on us," Luz realized as she extended her claws. But then she paused, realizing something. Why were they doing this?

"How do you like my new abilities?" Mary Gates declared pridefully as she made about sixteen clones. They prepared to charge at the witches, aided by Grimhilde and Hook, the latter getting in the Abomatron.

"If it's a fight you want!" Boscha shouted while holding her staff, along with Hunter, Lilith, Eda, and Amity, King preparing to attack as well. The witches held their ground, facing off against Bloody Mary, Hook, Grimhilde, and the Mary clones.

Amity gave Hook a glare, while Eda sent a glare towards Grimhilde, who unlike Hook didn't share the witch's animosity. As they faced off, they prepared to attack one another and begin a big fight… until Luz got in between.

"WAIT!" Luz screamed with her hands up to stop them. Even Mary, Hook and Grimhilde stopped, surprised by Luz's action. "Just… time out, everyone! Time out for a second!"

"Uh… what are you doing, Luz?" Hunter asked.

"Yeah, why wait to kick these guy's asses?" Boscha questioned.

"I will admit, this is unexpected," Hook commented, just as confused as everyone else.

Luz turned to Bloody Mary and began walking up to her, which worried Eda. "Luz, wait!"

"Don't worry, mom, I got this," Luz said before she turned to the Gates woman. "Look, Mary, right? I was ready to fight you, but then I realized something… this is wasting our time. I'm sure that you have a grudge that you want to settle, but literally right now Belos, or Philip as you knew him, is planning to wipe out the human race on the Day of Unity. With an extra portal door that he has," she explained. "And I don't know if you're still human or not, but I'm assuming that you still care about humanity and saving it, just as your brother did."

Bloody Mary looked down at Luz. She actually seemed… impressed. "You are… brave to walk up to me like this," she admitted. "But what are you proposing? An alliance?"

"Yes," Luz admitted, surprising everyone. "Because right now, I think it is more important that we help each other than fight each other. Because whoever wins this fight, it doesn't matter if Belos still wins, because then everyone here loses. And neither of us may be able to defeat Belos by ourselves."

"You know, Mary, she does have a good point," Grimhilde said while walking up to her. "Perhaps an alliance would be beneficial."

"An alliance? With these witches and demons?" Mary asked her, scoffing.

"Look, Mary, I know that you want revenge, but if you waited this long for your revenge, then you can wait more," Grimhilde argued. "Think about it. If this girl is so worried about the Day of Unity and about what Belos will do that she is willing to offer a truce to you, then you should hear her out. Because stopping Belos and saving humanity is absolutely more urgent."

"I agree with Grimhilde on this," Hook spoke up. "I may be a pirate, but I am still human. I do not think I could stomach the idea of humanity being wiped out."

"And you were human too once, Mary," Grimhilde pointed out.

"I… am," Mary admitted as her clones disappeared one by one and her appearance started to change. Everyone looked surprised to see Bloody Mary changing her appearance so that she didn't resemble a woman made of blood and glass. Instead, she looked… normal . She had black, tanned skin, green eyes, and was wearing an old pilgrim dress. She now resembled what she had looked like in her previous life. She looked at Luz. "Despite being a witch, you do have a point," she admitted. "And I'll tell you one thing, I do admire your audacity."

"I just figured you'd need to hear it from someone who was also once human," Luz responded. "And I don't believe you'd want humanity to suffer under Philip's hands. Especially your descendants."

Mary looked at Luz, then at Grimhilde. After some consideration, she replied. "Very well. I do agree with you, and Grimhilde's logic. Besides, I've got some unfinished business with Philip anyway. But what about them?" She gestured to the other witches. "Do they agree with you?"

Luz turned to her family and friends, seeing that they still had their guard up. Luz sighed and walked over to them. "Guys, I'm gonna need you all to stand down."

"Luz, she's a legit, living witch hunter!" Boscha pointed out.

"We can't lower our guard down around her, who knows what she'll do," Hunter argued.

"I know, I know it's not ideal, but honestly we can't afford to be distracted by Bloody Mary," Luz pointed out, keeping her voice low. "Whenever we had to fight another villain, whether it be Mel or the Tarot Guild, it worked in Belos's favor because we were focused on the other villain, not him. There's just… too much at stake right now, and this is not a fight we were ready for."

Everyone looked at each other, still doubtful about the plan. Eda spoke up. "Luz, this may be your riskiest plan yet."

"Yeah, we would have to constantly watch our backs," Boscha pointed out.

"It's a risky move… but Luz is right, we're not really prepared to face her now," Hunter responded.

"Yeah, although the fact that she is open to a truce does mean that she can at least be reasoned with, unlike some of our other villains," King pointed out.

"Even if she hates Belos more than any one of us, we can't fully trust her, not in the long run," Lilith commented, sounding cautious.

"I know, but we don't have many options right now and we can figure out something else later," Luz said while turning to Amity.

Amity looked over to Ghost and frowned before she turned to Luz. "I'm always behind you for everything, Luz. But Ghost really doesn't like Mary, she's gonna need a lot more convincing," she said while Ghost made hissing noises while glaring at Mary with pure hate.

"I know, I know everyone isn't a fan about this," Luz acknowledged. "But maybe she can help us stop Belos and we need every advantage we can get. At the very least, this will be a way to keep tabs on Mary so we don't lose her. Maybe we can even figure out her other goals this way. Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer, right?"

Everyone looked at each other. None of them were exactly thrilled by this, but the way they saw it, they did not have the time nor the energy to spend fighting Bloody Mary and trying to stop whatever plan she had. And they all knew that dealing with Belos was a much higher priority right now.

"Very well," Lilith said, nodding. "Belos comes first."

"And stopping the Day of Unity is at the top of the list," Hunter said while turning to Boscha, who let out a sigh.

"Very well, if it means avenging those that Belos and his goons hurt, then count me in," Boscha said, nodding.

"And we're with you, Luz," Amity said, though Ghost still didn't look happy in the slightest.

"Even if we have to team up with our enemies," Eda said while looking at King.

"Yeah, one arc villain at the time," King pointed out.

Luz nodded and went back over to Bloody Mary and her villains to tell her that the others had agreed. And so, a truce was formed between the Owl Family and Bloody Mary.

---

Luz looked down after explaining the situation. "After that, we returned to the Owl House, got everyone out, and came here. I still don't know if I made the right choice or not. But at the moment, I didn't think we could afford to not focus on Belos. Especially since over the last few months, we've been dealing with threats like the Coachman, the Tarot Guild, Department A, Mel, the Inner Demon, the Grim Goblin, and then those Titan Trappers, all the while Belos has been getting into my head."

"I can understand the strategy, but I do agree that it's a high gamble," Skara replied.

"She's right," Nina said. "After you complete your goals, you-know-who will probably just stab you in the back."

"We're aware of that, but we are trying to come up with a better plan to deal with her. This is just a temporary solution and maybe if we play our cards right, Belos and you-know-who will destroy each other," Amity said.

"So what happened with you-know-who?" Donna asked. She and the other witches were trying to avoid saying her name.

"She's with Lilith right now," Luz explained. "She and mom are at least trying to keep her away from us and any other kids."

"Well, at least you're all safe," Willow told them. "However, a lot happened while you guys were gone…"

"We have been cut off from the rest of the Isles, but it hasn't been a full day, what could have happened while we were gone?" Boscha asked, concerned.

"Well, the Emperor's Coven has been visiting schools to brand sigils on students for the Day of Unity," Willow explained. "Adrian Graye led some scouts, including Emily and some BIG members, to Hexisde, while Donna and her friends had to deal with Breathton, Cutburn, and other BIG members. Both Hexside and St. Epiderm managed to drive the Emperor's Coven out of our schools, but afterward we had to start moving Hexside students to St. Epiderm, which would be easier to defend against retaliation by the Emperor's Coven."

Luz whistled. "Man, I wish I could have been around for that. Although it sounds like you guys did well enough without us."

Nina looked down. "Unfortunately, they killed Dr. Traveler while they were at Hexside," she revealed, which shocked Luz, Amity, Boscha and Hunter.

"What?!" they exclaimed.

"Nina," Luz said, turning to her. "Are you sure that Julia's dead?"

"I saw the body with my own eyes and so did Felicia," Nina told them. "We came to her office, and found her dead." She paused. "But after we got Hexside back, something else happened… at the Villa."

The four teen witches fell silent, almost afraid to ask what happened. Boscha was, surprisingly, the first to speak. "What… happened at the Villa?" she asked in concern.

Nina looked over at Boscha, surprised by her question. She struggled to continue her explanation, but she felt Lambi reach down and give her hand a squeeze while Donna took her other hand. Nina took a deep breath before continuing. "A massive fire broke out, consuming the entire Villa. Many werecats were killed. There were survivors, but… a lot more died. My mom and the twins survived, but the rest of my siblings…" She paused, shutting her eyes. "They were killed, along with Mao Purrsian, Clockwork Cab, and Banjo." Nobody in Luz's group spoke during Nina's explanation, they just listened in shock and horror. "And the cause of the fire… was an arsonist named Firebees."

Silence fell over the cave. Nina looked up at Luz's group and saw their faces. Saw the mixture of shock, horror, and sympathy. And in the case of Luz… guilt.

"Titan…" Boscha said while covering her mouth.

"Nina… we're so sorry," Amity said.

"I… I should've been there," Luz said, while looking down. Her face became stained with tears. "If I had known…"

"Luz, don't blame yourself," Donna said as she went over to Luz. She knew that Luz blamed herself for Beel's death, so the last thing she wanted was for Luz to add more deaths to her conscience. "None of us knew this was going to happen."

"Wait… you said Firebees?" Amity asked and Donna nodded. "Em told me about him. She said that he was supposed to be petrified-"

"He was supposed to," Hunter said while looking down. "I heard about his crimes and his arrest. He was said to be slated to be petrified, but…" Deep down, he suspected that this might have been caused by Belos, especially given what he learned from Belos's memories...

Amity looked over to Nina, who had started to cry. "Nina… are you…?"

"I… I just couldn't-" Nina was in tears, even as Lambi and Skara comforted her. This caused Luz to look up to Nina and get up. She walked over to Nina… and embraced her.

"I'm so sorry," Luz said while tearing up. Nina hugged back, crying into Luz while Amity walked over to hug Nina as well. Soon it became a group hug with Lambi, Donna, Slasher, Skara, Willow, and King all joining, with a crying Nina at the center of the group hug. But despite being surrounded by people who cared about her, that didn't stop the tears…

As they watched this group hug, Boscha and Hunter looked awkwardly at each other, unsure if they should join or not. But as they met eyes, they could tell that they shared the same suspicion.

That Belos was behind this.

---

Meanwhile, in the Bat Queen's domain, the Bat Queen brought the cloaked Raine to meet up with Lilith. With them were Darius and Star.

"I got your call," Raine told her. "You mentioned that you met someone who wants to take out Belos like we do."

"Correct," Lilith responded, though she hesitated briefly. "But please, keep an open mind." She gestured behind her and from behind some trees appeared Hook, Grimhilde, and the less monstrous-looking Bloody Mary. "Raine, this is… the Bloody Mary."

"Bloody Mary?!" Raine shouted, looking alarmed while Darius looked just as shocked. Almost immediately, Raine assumed a defensive position. "It's… really you?"

"Yes, that is what I'm known as both in the Human and the Demon Realms now," she responded. "Although… I don't think that I am the only Bloody Mary. Am I only called 'Bloody Mary' because of her reputation or is she only called 'Bloody Mary' because of my reputation?" She shrugged. "Either way, Bloody Mary is who I am now. However, in a previous life, I was once known as… Mary Gates."

"Mary Gates…?!" Star asked in shock, recognizing that name.

Raine also recognized it. "Mary Gates… sister of G.B. Gates, the witch hunter Belos brought here, I assume?"

"Hmm, yes, though you must be wondering how I became of this," Bloody Mary said as she adopted her more twisted appearance, disturbing both Raine and Star. "Lilith has said that she and you know much about Philip's history with my brother, Gabriel, up to his end. But none of you wondered what happened to me."

Raine hesitated. "What… happened to you?"

Bloody Mary paused, frowning briefly as she changed back to her human form. "When my brother and his followers returned to the Boiling Isles, I was told to stay behind. I waited for them to return, but… they never came back. And without the portal door, I couldn't enter the Demon Realm to look for him. So I decided to make my own portal door, using my brother's book and his other notes that he made during the time when we had it. But once it was completed… something went horribly wrong as I entered the portal and I became trapped in the In-Between. I should have died, especially with the glass embedded in me because of the accident. But as I became submerged in the waters of the In-Between, my blood spilling out… those waters entered my body and I became infused with the magic of the In-Between, turning me into… this." She tapped her own chest to give them the idea of what had happened to her "For centuries, I was trapped there. Only able to watch the other worlds through reflections. I learned that I did have some power, especially when summoned by those who say my name. I will admit, I killed quite a few witches that way, which is how I got my reputation. But I was unable to leave the In-Between… until now. And now that I'm out, I know what I want to do. Right now, my goal is to kill Belos and avenge my brother. We share a common enemy, so me and my cohorts will assist you."

"I don't know about this gal, Raine," Star said while looking wary. "If she's even a little as bad as her brother…"

"I'm aware, Star," Raine responded, frowning. "And without even taking that into consideration, she is a known serial killer in the Isles. But despite my reservations about this… we could probably use any advantage we can get in stopping Belos."

"An enemy of our enemy… a friend," Darius noted. "Not sure, but… best we can do."

"For now at least," Star whispered.

"Think it like this," Hook spoke up. "We all want to stop the Day of Unity from happening and we all want to take down an Emperor… right now, isn't that what matters?"

Raine looked over to Bloody Mary, very warily. They hated themselves for even considering this… but the Day of Unity was only two days away and they were desperate. "Alright, Bloody Mary, I think we can work with you to help stop the Day of Unity," they said, walking over to Bloody and raising their hand to shake.

"Then you have our support," Bloody Mary said as she shook Raine's hand, smiling.

It was a smile that made Raine hate themselves even more.

---

Meanwhile, Gus and his dad were continuing their exploration through Gravity Falls with Camila accompanying them and they came across one of the schools there. Specifically, the Gravity Falls High School.

"Huh, so this is what a human school looks like," Perry commented, looking at the building while Nate and Lee were shown messing with the sign lettering.

"Yes, Abigail and Nora have expressed interest in getting the kids registered here," Camila said while looking up at the school. "I heard that it is registration day, so we could go inside if you like."

"Yeah, let's go see what these humans schools are about," Gus decided as they walked inside the gym of the school and saw that it was filled with students. "Whoa."

They saw the students all in a line in front of a table and there were boards showing lists of classes. Gus looked at the classes. "They got English, history, math, science, oh and look at the electives. I don't think we have social studies at Hexside, or a film studies class."

"I will admit, these classes look a lot different from the ones I took back when I attended Hexside," Perry admitted as he looked at the board with his son. "And none of them are separate tracks."

"This is new for me as well, since school has changed a lot since I graduated," Camila replied while seeing electives like religious studies and video editing. "So many options."

"Hey, G-Man," Wendy said as she walked up to Gus. "Hey Mrs. Noceda, and you must be G-Man's dad."

"Hey Wendy, and yes, this is my dad, Perry," Gus introduced. "Dad, this is one of Luz's friends, Wendy."

"Nice to meet you, Wendy," Perry responded. "What is going on around here, may I ask?"

"Oh, it's high school registration," Wendy said with a groan. "Basically, every teen here is registering for classes they'll be taking once summer vacation is over. Everyone will be back in school next month."

"Really?" Gus asked, sounding interested. "Say, maybe I could get myself registered into one of the schools here. I could spend my Fall Vacation here."

"Wait, you get fall vacations?" Wendy asked him in shock.

"Of course, students in the Boiling Isles take a season off starting at the beginning of the Winter Solstice," Perry explained. "But I will admit, studying abroad in this realm could be good for your interests, Gus. And just an excellent opportunity in general."

"Yeah!" Gus replied. "Say Wendy, what can you tell us about what the human school experience is like?"

"To be honest, in my experience, it's like a teen horror movie," she admitted. "High school is the worst to go through. Like, the classes get super hard, your body just flat out turns against you, and worst of all, everybody hates you. It's survival of the fittest around here."

"Oh, I'm sure it's not that bad…" Camila said before she saw two girls growling at each other as they went to their phones. They shot glares at each other while texting about one another.

Thompson was in a fetal position. "I can't do it! Can't do another year, man!"

"My hormones are like a sweaty cage!" Robbie declared while punching the bulletin board.

"Oh… maybe it is," Camila said, looking worried for these teens.

"Wow, this reminds me a lot of Hexside," Gus said, his voice filled with enthusiasm. "Only without someone bursting into flames out of anger, or the beasts that try to eat you. So what track system do you guys follow?"

"No coven tracks, man. Believe me, I wish we could be learning magic," Wendy commented with a sigh. "But if you really want the experience, perhaps you could be registered at Dipper's middle school."

"Hmm, I could… but maybe I should talk with Luz first before I make any decision about me going to school here in the Human Realm," Gus said while considering his options. "But I'd definitely like to keep my doors open about this."

"Well, whatever you decide, good luck," Wendy told him.

"Wendy Borduroy?" a teacher asked, misreading her last name. "I-I mean, Corduroy?" he corrected himself, but all the students still laughed at Wendy.

"See what I mean?" Wendy asked, feeling embarrassed as she began walking over to the teacher. "Later."

After Wendy left, Camila turned to Perry. "You know, maybe the agents could help get Gus into the school system, Mr. Porter."

"You think they can do that?" Perry asked her.

"Of course," Camila replied. "I mean, I'm technically supposed to be dead, but they managed to set me up with a new life and get me a house here for me and Luz to live in. If Gus really is interested in studying here, we could ask them."

"That is a good idea, Mrs. Noceda," Gus said while looking up at her.

"We can talk more about this later," Perry suggested. "Right now, I would like to see more of the town… and try out more human food."

And with all three of them in agreement, they left the school.

---

Elsewhere, Dipper was hanging out with Pacifica, Candy, and Grenda in Candy and Grenda's neighborhood, sitting by the sidewalk with them.

"Ford's busy with the agents again?" Pacifica asked Dipper in concern.

"Yeah," Dipper responded as Candy sat next to him with her hand over his. "But you know, his work is important and I'm sure that we'll have more time soon when he isn't out there helping to save the world or stuff."

"Are you sure that you're okay with this, Mason?" Candy asked.

"Of course," Dipper responded with fake optimism. "I mean, I'm sure we'll have more time this weekend, right?"

"Oh yeah, Mabel mentioned that your thirteenth birthdays soon," Paz pointed out.

"Of course, and I have some big plans for it," Dipper responded, his spirits looking more uplifted while talking about it. "Luz said she will be in Gravity Falls for it, so we'll be celebrating my birthday somewhere special. Maybe the laser tag place. I'm sure we'll figure something out once she gets here. Last I heard, she was off to have one more adventure before coming back here. She was looking for King's family."

"King's family? Now that sounds like a good story," Grenda commented.

"You guys will be free for it, right?" Dipper asked, sounding hopeful.

"I… I wish that I could, but right now's not a good time for me," Pacifica said, sounding regretful as she looked away. "Me and my mom are trying to work out the issues between us and we have something scheduled for the weekends. We're expecting to meet a social worker who will help us out in the aftermath of Preston's actions and abuse."

"Oh, well… I understand and wish you the best of luck with that, Paz," Dipper replied before noticing Candy and Grenda having awkward looks. "What about you two?"

"Sorry, Dipper, but I'm not going to be here for the end of summer," Grenda admitted. "Marius is flying me out to Austria to hang out at his castle or whatever that week. Gosh, sometimes he can be so clingy."

"Flying out to Austria?" Dipper asked in confusion. He then turned to his girlfriend. "Well, at least it'll be you and me, Candy?"

Candy looked down sadly. "I'm sorry, Mason. I really want to be there for your birthday. But my parents are sending me to music camp this year."

"Wait, what? At the end of summer?" he asked her.

"It's for the weekend, but there is no escape from music camp," Candy said in a serious tone before looking at Dipper apologetically. "I'm so sorry about this, Mason. I don't want you to feel alone on your birthday…"

"You know what? It's alright, Candy," Dipper reassured her while looking away. "Besides, it's already going to be underwhelming without Stan and Mabel around…"

Pacifica, Candy, and Grenda all exchanged worried looks when they heard how utterly defeated Dipper sounded.

---

Meanwhile, back at the Knee with Luz's group, they were now outside where they kept watch as King made a snow bunny with Hooty and Kay's help. Acorn kept flying away from Ghost, who was chasing after her.

As Luz watched over King with the rest of her friends, they remained silent.

At least until Nina spoke up. "You know, Skara's aunt actually did mention meeting these Titan Trappers, though we didn't think much of it at the time."

"Oh yeah," Skara replied while watching King. "But who knew that we had a god among us, and a goddess."

"I mean, I may be part Titan but I wouldn't call myself a goddess," Luz admitted.

"She means me, Luz," Willow clarified, which surprised Luz and her group.

"Wait, what?!" Amity exclaimed. Boscha, Hunter, Donna, Slasher, and Lambi were all just as shocked.

"Yeah, it turns out that my godmother's actually a goddess from Korean mythology, she was once human too," Willow explained. "She gave some of her powers to me, so I guess I'm technically a demigoddess."

"That… does explain your upgrade during the fight with Terra," Amity realized.

Willow nodded before she looked over at Luz. "You remember when I told you about Sara's prophecy? About how Belos's plans for the Day of Unity will involve both you and me? I think I know why now…"

Luz's eyes widened as she realized what Willow meant. "Oh shit…"

"Wait, I'm sorry, what?" Slasher asked, looking confused and worried. "Willow, how do you know that Belos will be coming after you?"

Willow sighed. "Okay, so when me, Amity, Gus, and Eve went missing… we were actually stranded in the Human Realm. During that time, I met a pair of oracles who gave me a prophecy. They said that the Emperor will have dark plans for both me and Luz… and to beware the beast with one yellow eye, which we thought had something to do with something Hunter saw… but we aren't so sure anymore."

Slasher frowned. "This is very concerning, Willow."

"Yeah, it sounds like you're involved in this as well, Willow," Boscha said, just as worried. "But Belos probably doesn't know about your godmother… right?"

"He almost did," Willow explained. "Felicia told me that her mom wanted her to follow me, which she did. Fortunately, she didn't give her mom anything about me. But it turns out Felicity is working directly for Belos and that is how Felicia learned about the draining spell…"

"And her mom tried to kill her," Nina said, shocking Luz's group.

"Oh no… Felicia," Amity said in shock. "She didn't deserved that…"

"Fuck…" Boscha said with a shocked look, feeling bad for Felicia.

"I thought Felicity was a bitch, but now she's a complete $%^#," Luz said, tightening her fists.

"So Felicity's in on it too," Hunter said, nodding. "That makes her part of the inner circle that knows what Belos's true plans are. And I think we can safely assume that Abel knows about the draining spell as well."

"He does, Felicia said she overheard her mom talking to him," Nina confirmed.

"So… what do you guys plan to do next?" Donna asked them. "I mean, it's not like you're planning to stay up here until the Day of Unity's over, right?"

"Actually… that is the plan," Luz told them, shocking Willow's group. She looked down sadly. "Staying up here may be the only safe bet, since Belos could take over my mind at any moment. I mean, he still could while we are up here, but it is still better than anywhere else on the Isles."

"But you can't just stay up here," Skara pointed out while Lambi nodded in agreement.

"We know that it's not ideal, but we don't have the best options right now," Luz said while looking at the others.

"She's right," Maya said, temporarily taking over. "If we leave the Knee, Luz and her Inner Self will become more vulnerable."

"But Luz, you could come with us to St. Epiderm, where it's safe and warm," Donna suggested. "You guys should reconsider-"

"If we do go, I'll just put everyone else in danger," Luz told her. She turned to Amity and Boscha. "Although you two can go. I appreciate you staying with me, but your families are probably at St. Epiderm. You can go to them."

"I'm not leaving you, Luz," Amity said before turning to the others. "Luz needs to be here."

"Honestly… I think it's for the best to have you kids stay up here," Slasher said. "Even you, Willow. If Belos has dark plans for you… well, better safe than sorry."

"No," Willow said, shaking her head. "I am not going to stay up here, cut off from everyone else. If something does go wrong, I want to be down there." She turned to Luz. "But we also need you, Luz."

"Need me for what? Why should it have to be up to me to help defeat Belos?!" Luz asked them. "Look, we've all been forced to deal with some big-ass shit over the past few weeks! Just last week we had to fight supervillains at the IFWOT, and last weekend I saw Terra kill a guy, and Beel ended up dead on my watch!" she argued. "For once, I mean for once, let's just leave this to the adults for a change. Mom, Lilith, Raine, Dalia, they can handle defeating Belos without me,"

"But Luz-"

"I was going to leave the Isles anyway before the portal door and key were destroyed! The plan was for me to go to the Human Realm while the adults find out a way to stop Belos. I should be in the Human Realm right now, if it wasn't for Grimhilde and Bloody fucking Mary! But because that option was taken away from me, I have to hide up here! But can't I just be a normal teenager again?!" Luz ranted before she sighed. "Willow, I think you should reconsider sticking around as well, to keep you safe from Belos if he is really after you," she recommended to Willow, who just looked to her in concern.

Nobody spoke at first after Luz finished ranting. But then… Nina began to speak.

"You know, Luz. When I went to the Villa while it was on fire, I saw the dead bodies of my siblings. And just last weekend, I learned that one of my best friends had been killed."

Luz said nothing while Nina, after a pause, continued. "I get it. I get how overwhelming this all is. We shouldn't have to deal with this kind of crap on a daily or weekly basis. But that's just how it has to be," Nina said as she looked down solemnly. "People are getting hurt right now, and they're getting killed. But despite everything that happened… I'm going to keep going." She lifted her head up as she faced Luz. "And I'm not going to hide either. That's what the werecats at the Torsa Villa did, after all. They hid, too scared to leave the safety of the Torsa Villa, and look how that played out."

After Nina finished her speech, nobody spoke once again. They just let Nina's words sink in. During the silence, Donna glanced around before realizing something was wrong…

"Hey," she spoke up. "Where is King?"

Everyone else looked around and realized that Donna was right.

King was nowhere in sight.

---

Meanwhile, King had decided to walk away from the others for a while, with Maurice to accompany him by riding on top of his skull. He needed a moment to just… think. In the distance, he could make out the skull of the Titan. His actual dad, in view…

"Dad…" King said with a solemn expression while Maurice comforted him. But his moment was interrupted by the sound of footsteps. Turning around, he and Maurice saw someone else up on the Knee with them.

"What the…?" Le'Belle asked as she stood in front of King, recognizing him. "It's you."

"Yeh!" King shouted as he stepped back. "Look, I don't want any trouble or anything…"

"Wait!" Le'Belle shouted. "I'm not here to arrest you or anything."

"But you're one of BIG, aren't you? The Green Cricket Scout?" King asked her. "What are you even doing up here?"

"Well… Leonte has everyone searching for the Clawthornes and I volunteered to go up to the Knee to search for them," Le'Belle admitted while looking down. "Although I didn't actually expect to find anyone up here. To be perfectly honest… my heart just isn't in it to arrest anybody right now. I only offered to come up here to get some time to be by myself and think. I thought the cold air would help me."

"Oh… well, that's the same thing I was doing just now," King replied. "I needed some alone as well. Some quiet and fresh air."

"Looks like the both of us had the same thing in mind," Le'Belle commented as King noticed her saddened tone.

"Say, um, do you need someone to talk to right now?" King asked her. "Like, someone who isn't a member of the Emperor's Coven. Just some regular Joe of a demon."

"You know… that actually does sound pretty good right now," Le'Belle admitted after thinking it over for a moment.

And so, Le'Belle and King decided to spend their time building a snowman. Maurice helped roll up some snow while King rolled up a large snowball.

"So what has been eating you up?" he asked her as Le'Belle picked up her part of the snowman.

"Well, it's just… I haven't been myself since last Friedday," she admitted while looking down "Ever since I blasted Slasher Brooke with a spell that day, the guilt has been eating away at me. It was why I decided to help Skara when Graye led his scouts, including me and Alburno, to brand sigils on the students. I thought it would help to ease my guilty conscience." She paused briefly. "But… the guilt didn't go away after I helped Skara. Especially since I know for a fact that what we were doing at Hexside earlier was wrong. There is no denying that. And then there's Emily, and everything she went through, everything she is currently going through." She stopped herself from saying anything further in front of King. "I just… I just feel sorry for the poor girl, and I want to help her, but I don't know how to. I feel… helpless."

"Yeah, I know how that feeling," King admitted. "To feel helpless at times, I mean. Especially when your friends and family have to save you from a crazy goddess or when you are forced to sit by the sidelines whenever they go out fighting some bad guy."

Le'Belle looked down at the ground as she continued. "And then there's what happened to the Villa. Me, Emily and Scameron went against orders to help out the werecats there. We saved as many as we could from the fire, but… not all of them survived. And I once again felt helpless."

"Oh… I'm… sorry that happened," King said, his tone sympathetic.

"It was just too much," she said, her voice breaking. "All that destruction… all that death… and the worst part is that Captain Leonte did not want us to go to the Villa. Me, Emily, and Scameron had to disobey orders to help the Torsa Villa. If BIG had gotten there sooner and if it had been all of us, we could've saved a lot more lives." She sat down and hugged her knees close while looking up at the sky. "You know, growing up, I always wanted to be part of the Emperor's Coven. I was one of St. Epiderm's biggest overachievers back then, I was even part of the student council. I wanted to succeed more than anything else."

"Heh, you kinda remind me of Amity," King commented, Maurice nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, though… my achievement streak did come at a cost," she admitted while looking down. "Like, back when I was a teen, I signed up for this competition. That competition is where I knew a lot of my fellow scouts from. Alburno and Venoma from BIG, plus a few like Meg, Grip, Napoli, Gidget… Judd," she listed them off. "I go way back with them. But… I did a lot of things during that competition, things that I'm not very proud of right now." She hugged her knees tighter. "I've always strived to be considered one of the Emperor's Coven's elite. The best of the best. And I mean, sure I got what I wanted… but it wasn't everything it was cracked up to be."

"Yeah, I hear that," King said while petting Maurice.

She looked over at King, curious. "So what's eating you up? You look like you also have a lot on your mind."

King looked at Maurice before he responded to her question. "Well, I think we actually have a lot more in common than you think. Growing up, I always wanted to be special. Like, I always wanted to command fear and respect, just like you did. Heck, my name is King for a reason, since I used to think of myself as the king of demons. But now…" He sighed. "I just want to be normal," he said while Le'Belle looked at him. "I don't want people to see me as this big scary monster anymore."

Le'Belle stared at him, then looked up at the unfinished snowman. After a moment, she made a decision. She stood up, took off her mask, and placed it on the snowman. Her hair flew a bit from the wind.

"Yeah, me neither," she replied, giving a heartfelt smile to the snowman they built before giving that smile to King while King looked up at her and smiled back.

"KING!"

The two turned and saw Luz fly down, landing in snow near them. Everyone else appeared behind Luz. When she saw Le'Belle, Luz snarled. "Get away from my brother, you coven shrill!" she shouted, extending her claws while Amity held up her Abomi-sword, Donna pulled out her keyblade, and Hunter and Boscha held up their staffs.

When Skara, Nina, and Willow caught up to them, they saw who was with King. "Wait… Le'Belle?" Skara asked, recognizing her.

"Guys, guys wait!" King shouted as he waved his paws to them. "Relax, it's okay. She's not a scout anymore." He turned to her. "I'm reading that right, right?" he asked her.

"Yeah," Le'Belle confirmed before noticing Hunter. She looked pleasantly surprised to see him. "Hunter, glad to see that you're alright."

"Yeah, well, I wasn't kidnapped by the Clawthornes. I've decided to come with them of my own accord," Hunter replied. "In a way, I'm a turncoat against the throne."

"Huh, guess we're on the same boat then," Le'Belle realized.

"She's tricking you!" Hooty claimed as he rose up from the snow, scaring the others. "Attack plan, activated!" he shouted as he launched himself towards Le'Belle, knocking her far back.

"GAAH!" Le'Belle screamed, being unfortunate enough to fall victim to Hooty's wrath.

---

Back in Gravity Falls, Dipper was in Soos's house. Waddles sat in his lap and he was petting him with one hand while holding a phone with the other.

"It's so nice to hear your voice again… Mabel," Dipper said.

"Yeah, it's nice talking to you again too, Dipper," Mabel replied over the phone. "So how have you been? Been on any more adventures?"

"Well, not lately," Dipper admitted. "Things have been a little quiet around here since the road trip. I have been spending some more time with Ford and I have been taking care of Waddles for you. He is doing fine." He held the phone down to Waddles. "Say hi to Mabel, Waddles."

Waddles just gave a depressed-sounding oink.

"Tell him I miss him so much…" Mabel said, her voice making it sound like she was crying on the other end. "And I miss you too, of course."

Dipper sighed before remembering something. "Oh, Gus and his dad are staying in Gravity Falls for the time being. Luz wanted to keep them safe, so she dropped them off here. Apparently Luz and her family had a crazy weekend."

"Well, I am glad that Gus and his dad are safe," Mabel responded. "Tell Gus I said hi when you see him."

"I will," Dipper responded. "How about you? How are you hanging?"

"Well, I'm doing okay… still grounded," Mabel responded. "This is some of the only phone time that I am allowed to have. But they did promise me they would still get me a cake for my birthday, so that's something, I guess… do you have any birthday plans?"

"Yeah, I am just waiting for Luz to finish up her business in the Isles, then she can celebrate my birthday here with me in the Falls," Dipper commented. "But… it would be great if we could celebrate our birthdays together."

Dipper heard Mabel groaning. "I knowwww, I even asked mom and dad if they could let me visit you, if just for a day… but they said no."

"Are they really still mad about you lying to them about where you were spending the summer?" he asked her.

"Ugh, I know, they're being the worst right now," Mabel complained. "But, um, when you see Luz again… can you tell her I said hi?"

"Yeah, I will," he replied while looking down with a frown…

---

Back at the Knee, they were back in the cave, where Le'Belle was being healed up by Lambi while also being caught up to speed about the true purpose of the Day of Unity.

"Releasing the Horned King… into the Human Realm?!" Le'Belle asked, horrified after they finished explaining to her. "Is that why Belos wants us to brand sigils on the students?"

"Yeah," Hunter confirmed. "He wants to drain anyone he doesn't consider 'worthy' of their magic, kids included."

"This is bad, really bad," Le'Belle replied while looking down. "We need to tell the rest of the Isles about this, and get the word out."

"But wouldn't Belos just deny everything?" King pointed out.

"He will, but there have been a lot of doubts about the covens lately," Hunter admitted. "And if we tell everyone, we create more doubt and shake the belief in Belos. One of Belos's greatest tools is the faith other witches have in him. He rules by faith, not by fear. If we find a way to strip him of that faith… then everything he built falls down."

Le'Belle nodded in agreement as she saw Slasher walk up to her. "Hey, Le'Belle, right?" he asked her.

"Um… y-yes, sir." she replied, awkwardly and formally.

"I just want to say… thank you for helping my daughters," he responded. "They told me about how you removed that collar off Skara and led the scouts away from her, Nina, and Willow. I am grateful for what you've done for them."

Le'Belle was surprised at this, taken aback for a moment before she looked down. "I… I don't know if I deserve your thanks, sir," she said, her tone and face ridden with guilt. "I… I'm sorry for blasting you with that spell during the art gala. I… I didn't know what I was thinking and… I made the worst possible call, especially since your wife was hurt because of that vampire, not you." She shook her head. "I don't deserve your thanks or forgiveness."

"Hey, it's fine," Slasher reassured her. He reached over and touched her shoulder, surprising the former scout. "I mean, it was a very tense situation. Everything was happening very quickly. I don't hold any ill will towards you, Le'Belle. Maybe you can't forgive yourself… but I can."

Le'Belle looked up to him. "Why… are you so forgiving of me, sir?"

"Well, you look like you need it," he told her, his tone sincere. "And you're not a bad witch, Le'Belle. Your earlier actions proved that. You just made a mistake."

Le'Belle still teared up, but Slasher's forgiveness did bring her relief. "I've made a lot of mistakes, sir. But now, I want to do the right thing."

"And that counts for something," Slasher told her, smiling.

---

Meanwhile, Nina stood outside the cave, staring in the distance while being lost in her own thoughts before she heard someone speaking to her.

"Nina."

The werecat turned around and, much to her surprise, saw that it was Boscha.

"Boscha…" Nina said. She froze, not sure what to do or what to say.

"I just wanted to say… I'm sorry about what happened to your home and your siblings," Boscha said sincerely. "I… I can't imagine what that loss is doing to you. You have my condolences."

"Oh," the werecat girl replied, surprised to hear this from Boscha. "Um… thanks, I appreciate it, Boscha. And…" She looked down with a guilty expression before taking a deep breath. She knew what she had to say. "Boscha… I'm so, so sorry for what I did to you back at Glandus," she apologized. "And I'm sorry it took so long to say this, but whenever I saw you, I kept remembering what I did to you. What I almost did to you." She looked down to her own hands. "I hurt you, and I lost control and almost killed you… I was a monster for what I did."

"Hey, no, don't think of yourself like that," Boscha said as she walked over and patted Nina's hands. Nina tensed up out of fear, but Boscha gave a reassuring look. "Nina, I forgive you," she told her. "I know how things have been awkward between us, about how we have been avoiding each other since Glandus, but right now… I don't think I can hold a grudge against you. Especially after today."

"Really?" Nina asked her.

"I don't know if you knew this or not… but Skara did ask me to keep you mauling me a secret," Boscha admitted. "Because by then I had learned that she was a werewolf. And because I cared for her and it could have easily been her in your position, I agreed to tell the scouts that Miss Heinous hurt me, not you. And… it is pretty fucked up that the Emperor's Coven would have held you to the same standards as an adult lycan and would have put you down."

"Yeah, it is messed up," Nina agreed. "But… thank you, for keeping it a secret. Still… I can't wash away all the bad I did in my past. But it doesn't mean I have to run from it either. All I can do is move forward."

"I know exactly what you mean," Boscha said as she gave Nina a pat on the back. "And for all it's worth, I do appreciate how much that you've done for Skara. You've been there for her during her worst times, and she's lucky to have someone like you as a big sister to count on."

Nina smiled at this. "Thank you, Boscha."

---

Meanwhile, Hunter was looking over the supplies until he saw Luz walking up to him.

"Luz," Hunter said. "Um, is there something you need?"

"Well, we do have to talk about something," Luz said as she looked around before her voice became a whisper. "About the whole 'Lilith being your mo-'"

"Shh, not around here," Hunter shushed Luz.

"So, do you plan on telling Lilith about it?" Luz asked him.

"I… I don't know," Hunter responded, sounding reluctant as he looked down. "I don't know how to tell her, especially since what Belos did was definitely a violation. She didn't give him consent to use her blood to create me. That's… that's really messed up when you think about it. Especially since that means he knew the whole time, including when I nearly killed Lilith. He knew that I almost killed my mother, but he said… nothing."

"I know, Hunter," Luz responded while looking concerned for him. "There is a certain word I can use to describe what Belos did. I know it's a strong word and I know sex wasn't involved at all, but still… like you said, it was a violation. Just like he violated my mind." She sighed, feeling very creeped out about this. "He is so beyond the moral event horizon at this point."

"Yeah, I know…" Hunter said as he looked down. Luz noticed this and she gave him a reassuring look.

"Hey, listen," Luz said as she patted his shoulder. "Lilith will understand and I think she deserves to know. But you don't have to tell her until you're ready."

Hunter thought about it before he gave her a nod. "Yeah, thanks Luz," he said, sighing in relief. "So, what's the plan for us now?"

Luz fell silent, looking conflicted.

---

A little bit later, while everyone in the cave was talking amongst each other, Luz climbed up onto a rock to get their attention.

"Everyone, listen up!" she called out to them, getting them to turn to her. "I've… been thinking. Even before we lost the portal door and key, I was planning on leaving the Isles and let Belos be someone else's problem to solve. And after we lost the portal door and key, I thought that we would hide up here at the Knee until the Day of Unity passes, just hoping for the best." She looked down and gave a sigh.

"But what Nina said earlier… she was right. Torsa Villa burned and a lot of werecats died and I couldn't do a thing about it, because I was up here hiding and cutting myself off from the rest of the Isles, which had already been my plan, just replace the Knee with the Human Realm. In just one day, the Emperor's Coven attacked my friends and an entire community was burned down while I wasn't there to help or make a difference. And if I stay up here… how many more people will get hurt or die? The Isles is my home, why should I not have a say in its fate?"

She paused again before continuing. "So… I've decided that I will get out of this cave and help the fight against Belos. Because hiding isn't my style. It isn't our style. When Mel kidnapped our family and friends, we went after her. When a certain ex-mother created an army of Heartless that threatened to destroy Bonesborough, we went to help. When Terra and the Inner Demon plotted to kill everyone in the Isles, we went to stop them. So why should Belos be any different? Especially since he's done so much to hurting everyone in the Isles, especially to our friends and family. He may claim that he's doing things for his family, but he's doing it out of hate. As far as I'm concerned, he treats those asshole Coven Heads like Osran, Cutburn, Vitimir, and even Terra Snapdragon more like family and they ended up making a mess of the Boiling Isles. So for everything that he's done, are we going to kick back and wait or are we going to kick his ass down all the way to Hell?"

Luz looked around at everyone and saw her friends nodding in agreement. She and Nina locked eyes for a moment before she continued, adopting a determined look.

"I know that it's scary and it is definitely unfair for us, but… we have a responsibility," Luz admitted. "A responsibility to keep on fighting. And we can't just abandon our friends and family, not now, nor ever. So… it's time we stop hiding."

Once she finished her speech, everyone began to cheer and clap. Even those with reservations like Slasher. Because they knew that as far as Luz was concerned, there was no other option.

They didn't want this to be their fight, but it was their fight nonetheless.

---

At the gym in St. Epiderm, many students, teachers, and families were still set up. The doors to the gym swung open and many looked up to see the newcomers consisting of Donna, Nina, Lambi, Skara, Willow, Slasher, Boscha, Amity, Kay, King, Maurice, Acorn, Hooty, Hunter and Le'Belle. But much to everyone's surprise, the last one coming in… was Luz.

"Luz," Cross said, standing up when he saw her appear.

"Amity!" Emira and Edric shouted as they rushed towards their sister, hugging her. She eagerly hugged them back.

"Boscha, you're alright!" Athena shouted as she, Beck, and Simon rushed over. With them were Samwitch and Cain. Boscha embraced her mother, then her cousins.

Willow was also seen reuniting with her dads, embracing them both.

As Luz and King looked around at everyone who was set up in the gym, they heard Eda's voice. "Luz Noceda Clawthorne!" Eda shouted while marching towards them. She didn't look happy. "I thought you kids were supposed to be staying up at the Knee?"

"Yeah, well… sorry, mom. But I am not going to hide," Luz told her. "If something goes wrong, I want to be here to help. So I'm going to fight against Belos too, and there's nothing you can stop us."

"Yeah, and when we see him, we'll just scream at him," King said. "Before he even gets a chance to make some dumb villain speech."

Eda looked angry about this and she gave them a stern look… before giving a sigh. "You know, I should've seen this coming," she admitted before looking over at Le'Belle, who was looking around awkwardly. "And who's she?"

---

As Donna walked around, she spotted Jesse running up to her. "Donna!" Jesse shouted as she jumped up to embrace her. "You came back!" she said happily.

"Hey, Jesse. I'm glad that you're safe," Donna responded, smiling while hugging the young witchling back.

"Donna! Over here!" Diana shouted as she waved to her daughter from another part of the gym. Donna looked over to her and saw Gladys and Auggie over there as well.

"Moms! Auggie!" Donna shouted, relieved that her parents and bodyguard were alright. She put Jesse down and was about to walk over to her parents… but she stopped. "Hey, Jesse, would you like to meet my parents?" she asked while holding Jesse's hand.

"I…" Jesse paused when she saw Diana and Gladys waving at Donna. "They seem nice," she said, a bit shyly.

"They are," Donna confirmed. "They're the best parents I could ever ask for."

Jesse thought about it before nodding. "I would like to meet them," she decided before Donna led her over to her moms. After embracing Diana and Gladys, she began introducing them to Jesse…

---

Meanwhile, Boscha was with her family in another classroom. She met up with Tom, Gavin, Angmar, and Ukla, who were there with their families as well.

"Boscha, I am so glad that you're safe!" Tom said while hugging Boscha.

"I know, and I'm sorry for having you guys worried about me." Boscha responded.

"Hey, at least we know that you were with Eda and her family," Athena said while patting her daughter on the shoulder. "We owe it to her for keeping you safe."

Boscha nodded before she turned to Gavin, Angmar, and Ukla. "I'm glad to see you guys are safe, all of you. Sorry that I wasn't there this morning…"

"Oh, don't worry, we kicked plenty of ass without you," Gavin reassured her.

"Yeah," Angmar nodded. "Simon and Matt even controlled the Bump statue to fight an Abomaton!"

"When me and Tom heard what was going on at Hexside, we went with your mom and uncle to help," Ukla explained.

Boscha then noticed Cain and was surprised to see him. "Cain's… also here," she said awkwardly.

"Hello, Boscha," Cain said, also sounding very awkward. He quickly turned and walked away.

"Yeah," Ukla responded. "He, along with Stella, or Glinda as she calls herself now, showed up here with Nina's mom and younger siblings."

"Oh, that's… that's really great that he did that," Boscha said as Tom turned to her. "I'm glad that Nina's family are safe."

"Did you talk to her?" Tom asked her.

"Yeah," Boscha confirmed. "We talked and… I forgave her while giving her my condolences about what happened to her family. She lost a lot of family in that fire…"

"Yeah, I heard about that," Gavin responded while looking down. "What happened to her Villa and her family was just… tragic."

"Yeah, Nina didn't deserved that," Angmar said as Ukla nodded.

"Yeah, I agree," Ukla responded, sharing the sentiment.

"Oh, there's also one thing I should mention to you guys, especially since it involves the family," Boscha said. She turned to Simon, Beck, Cain, and Samwitch, gesturing for them to come over. "Cain, you should hear about this too."

"What's it about, Boscha?" Beck asked her.

"It's about Osran," Boscha said. "And what he did to Aunt Delara." Everyone fell dead silent, especially Samwitch, letting Boscha continue. "Osran sold Delara out and told Belos that she was betraying him… so Belos killed her."

The Saltstars were all shocked by the news.

"No…" Simon said, taking a step back.

"Osran… did this to mom?!" Beck exclaimed.

"Mom…" Cain said as he looked down with a sorrowful look, shaken by the news.

"Osran… that snake," Athena growled said while sensing her brother's anger. "Samwitch…"

"Osran and Belos…" A vein popped on Samwitch's face, his eyes shining in the light. "They're both dead witches…"

Of course, Samwitch wasn't the only one angry. The rest of the Saltstars, Tom, and Boscha's friends all shared that same anger…

---

Meanwhile, Amity was led to the rest of her family, who were in another classroom. "Mom, Uncle Geist, I'm glad that you're both okay!" Amity shouted while hugging her mom and Geist.

"We're glad that you're safe as well, Amity," Odalia responded while hugging her daughter.

"Wait, where's dad? Shouldn't he be here?" Amity asked them while looking around.

"Afraid not, kiddo," Geist said with a worried look. "Al's kinda occupied at the Abomination Coven right now."

"He's fine, but they're keeping a close watch on him at the moment," Odalia explained, which worried Amity.

"I hope that they don't hurt him," Amity said while Emira gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"Me too, Amity. But right now, we just gotta hope for the best," Emira responded, but Amity noticed her tone. Emira sounded… broken.

"Are you alright, Em?" Amity asked her in concern.

"I'm… honestly no, I'm not, not right now," Emira responded and a worried Amity pulled her older sister into the hallway to be alone with her.

"Okay, what's wrong?" Amity asked her. "Is it about mom, or…?"

"No, not mom," Emira admitted while looking upset. "It's about what happened at the Torsa Villa… and it's my fault."

Amity looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Before the incident at the Brawl, me, Ghostina, and Viney fought against Firebees," Emira explained to her. "Viney had beef with him for killing her dad, and when we fought him we had him at our mercy. Viney was really going to kill him… but I stopped her. And if I hadn't, then Firebees wouldn't have escaped and attacked the Villa. All of those deaths… they're on me." She looked down, her face ridden with guilt.

Shocked to hear Emira think that, Amity tried to reassure her. "No, it's not, Em. It is not your fault. What does Viney think?"

Emira nearly broke into tears. "Viney blames herself for it. I tried talking with her, but she doesn't want to talk to me right now. She just wants to be alone." She sat down, back pressed against the wall. "I don't blame her for not wanting to talk to me. I'm the one who put her in this position where she feels responsible for that massacre. Ams, I… I don't know how to fix this."

"Look, none of you could have predicted this," Amity said as she sat beside her. "So you shouldn't blame yourself and neither should Viney."

"You can say that all you want, but it can't erase the guilt," Emira told her as tears ran down her face. "I am partially responsible for what happened… and I feel horrible for it," she said as she broke down over all the guilt she was feeling.

Amity looked unsure what to do. She hated seeing her sister like this, but she didn't know how she could help. All she could do in the moment… was give her a hug, embracing her older sister and letting Emira cry onto her shoulder.

---

In the infirmary, Felicia sat on a bed with a cast on her arm and a bandage wrapped around her ear. She was covered in more bandages as well. She was staring blankly ahead when she heard a familiar voice.

"Felicia," Donna spoke up when she saw Felicia in this state. "My Titan… are you alright?"

"Oh, hey Donna," Felicia replied while looking down in shame. Donna went to give her a hug, surprising the fox girl. "Donna…?"

"I'm so, so sorry that this happened to you," Donna responded.

"I thought you'd still be mad at me for, you know…" Felicia said, referring to how she was responsible for making Donna and Nina's relationship worse.

"That's not important right now, what is important is your safety," Donna told her. "And for what it's worth, I didn't believe that you sold Tabrella out."

Felicia looked at Donna and gave a small smile. "Thank you, Donna. I'm… surprised that you still had faith in me after everything."

Donna gave her a nod before noticing Dr. Pox walking over to her.

"Hey, D.A.," Dr. Pox said as he waved to her.

"Dr. Pox, I… I'm so glad to see you," Donna responded. She tried to walk up to hug him but he stopped her with a wooden stick

"Whoa, you know I don't do hugs, kid," Pox said, getting Donna to back up.. "Heard that you took on Hettie and you messed with her prized headdress."

"We sure did," Donna responded before looking serious. "Although, she mentioned that you may have hidden something from her about me. About the time when I was, well…"

"Overdosed from dildaleeches and lucky you didn't die from them?" Dr. Pox asked her while Donna awkwardly nodded.

"Lately, I've been learning some stuff about myself, and I think you may know something about it, sir," Donna said as Pox fell silent. "Is my physiology… different?"

Dr. Pox looked at Donna, his expression changing from his usual smart-alack look to that of concern. "We're gonna talk about this with your parents, since I've explained it to them before."

"So you do know something," Donna replied. "Why did you hide it?"

"Healer-Patient confidentiality," Dr. Pox admitted. "I'm no stooge to Hettie. Unlike her, and I may not show it that much, but… I do care about my patients and my fellow healers. I didn't want Hettie to be given the chance to try to hurt you. It's why you're my Direct Assistant."

Donna was surprised by this. "Is that… why you call me D.A.?"

"Of course, what else did you think it stood for?" Dr. Pox asked while Donna just looked down awkwardly.

"It's nothing," she replied. All this time she thought that Dr. Pox was picking on her and calling her 'drug addict' as a nickname, but in reality, it was actually not that bad.

---

Also in the infirmary were Nina, Skara, and Slasher, who found Pam and the twins, who were being watched over by Scabrina and Amelia. Pam was laying in a bed while being checked up on by Betty Potts and Aries Hornstron.

"Nina!" West and Winter shouted as they ran up, hugging their older sister by her legs. "You're back!"

Scabrina also rushed over, hugging her dad and her sister before going to hug Nina.

"I'm sorry about your family…" Scabrina said, her voice soft.

"Thank you," Nina said as she knelt down to pat Scabrina on the head. "Thank you for watching over West and Winter for me."

Scabrina nodded, noticeable tears in her eyes. After hugging her siblings, Nina walked over to check on her mom. "How is she?" she asked Aries and Betty.

"Well, she's stable, and her unborn triplets are going to be okay," Betty confirmed.

"She'll still be giving birth to them without any complications, just need to lower her stress level," Aries added while turning to Nina. "We heard about the Villa, Nina. You have my condolences."

"Thank you, Aries," Nina said before she saw Amelia walking up to her with Dusty.

"We want to give our condolences as well, Nina," Amelia said, looking saddened by the tragedy.

"Yeah," Dusty agreed as Tamme, Andrea, Tyler, Eve, and the rest of the cheer squad came in. "We're sorry for what happened at the Villa."

"We are all sorry for your losses, cadet," Tamme told her while Andrea went to offer a hug.

"Do you wish for a hug?" Andrea asked her.

Nina said nothing. She just gave a silent nod, allowing Andrea to hug her. Nina hugged her back, letting the tears out.

In the corner of the room, Viney was looking over at Nina. The Beast-Healer girl was crying to herself while thinking about what happened at the Torsa Villa… and how she can't face Nina. Not like this. And she couldn't go to Emira for comfort… she just wanted to be alone.

---

Back in the gym with the Clawthornes, Hunter reunited with Gwen and Dell, both sharing a hug with him.

"It's so good to see that you're alright, Hunter," Gwen said.

"Thanks," Hunter responded, smiling before turning to Blazer. "And, um, Blazer, it's nice seeing you again."

"Uh, yeah," Blazer responded, looking a bit awkward. "Ed and Odalia brought me here, where I was reunited with Gwen and Dell."

"Have you seen Lilith around?" Hunter asked him.

"Briefly, yeah," Blazer responded. "Of course, she went out to deal with rebel stuff."

"Right, of course," Hunter responded while looking around at the rest of the Clawthorne clan. He saw Luz and Eda explaining Le'Belle to some of her family members.

"According to Luz, she defected from the covens to help us," Eda said while Le'Belle looked incredibly nervous.

"And Skara and Nina vouched for her, so I think she can be trusted," Luz said.

"Well, that's good and reassuring," Eartha said. "Of course, we do want to know if Barbara is still at the Emperor's Coven."

"Yeah, we haven't heard anything from her," Dennis said as he and his wife were worried.

"All I know is that she's recovering in the Healing Coven after being injured earlier today," Le'Belle said before pausing. "Wait, are you saying Barb's a… Clawthorne?"

"Yeah, Marlo-Clawthorne," Dennis confirmed, Le'Belle's eyes widening at that.

"Oh…" Le'Belle said, now looking concerned for Barb. Especially now that Leonte was going after the Clawthorne family…

"Oh wow! It's nice to finally meet the entire Clawthorne family!" Hooty shouted while stretching his neck from the birdhouse. "I'm Hooty, hoot-hoot! Eda's house demon!"

"Well, um, it's nice to meet you, Hooty," Brolin said while patting him. "I'm Brolin, and this is my wife, Eartha."

"Hi, I'm Lulu," Lulu said, making Hooty turn to her in shock.

"Your name's… LULU?!" Hooty asked.

"Um yeah," Lulu replied in confusion as she saw Hooty giving her a gaping look.

"No! No, it can't be!" Hooty exclaimed. "There can only be one Lulu!"

"AAAHA!" Lulu screamed, running as Hooty chased after her.

While Hooty terrorized the panicking Lulu, with Jook and Dennis trying to stop him, Luz was confronted by Cross.

"Luz, I'm glad to see you and King are alright," he said as the two cousins hugged.

"Hey, sorry to make you worry, Cross," Luz said before she noticed his worried expression. "Wait, what's wrong?"

"Well, Eda caught me up about what Belos has planned for you, but other than that…" He looked down. "Zee got arrested."

"What?" Luz asked in shock, now looking worried for Zee. "How did she get arrested?!"

"When the Emperor's Coven invaded the schools, they invaded Merlin Meadows," Cross explained. "Her friends told me that she was the last one still putting up a fight, but Osran defeated her. They left the school after they finished branding the students they caught… but Zee was taken away by the scouts, although I don't know to where."

"Oh no…" Luz said, feeling guilty for not being there to help Zee. "Cross, I am so sorry…"

"This isn't your fault, Luz," Cross said.

"Well… don't worry, Cross. We will save your sister," Luz reassured him. "She's family, after all."

Cross managed to smile, feeling a bit better. "Thanks Luz," he said as the two hugged again.

"Anytime, cuz," Luz told him before she turned to Eda. "Hey mom," she said to her. "Do you know what's our next step?"

Eda looked at Luz and smiled. "Well, I think I have a few ideas…"

---

Back in the Falls, Dipper stood in front of the Mystery Shack. There were a few guards standing outside, but fortunately for Dipper they were under orders to let him past.

"Good old Mystery Shack," Dipper said while walking up to the porch. He was about to step inside to see if Ford was back…

"Well Ford, I would say the recovery mission at Crash Site Omega was a success," Powers' voice spoke, causing Dipper to pause.

As Dipper overheard their conversation, Trigger spoke to Ford. "Besides the space adhesive, we know some rocket scientists who'd be very interested in what we found."

"I'm glad to hear that, gentlemen," Ford responded. "But you know, being back here and doing all of this, I think I'm starting to get a little old for this kind of thing. Field work, I mean."

"Well, maybe you won't have to worry about that," Powers said. "We have been discussing it with our higher-ups, but once the summer is over, we thought you could leave Gravity Falls and come work with us on some other projects that could really use your expertise on the strange."

"Yes, you could apply what you learned here and in those other dimensions, make a real difference. Besides, someone with your 12 PhDs deserves better than working from a cabin in the woods," Trigger added. "You can be equipped with a state-of-the-art lab, a full staff, and a health and 401k retirement plan."

"And you'll be working with us full-time," Powers added.

"Wow, that… that sounds great!" Ford replied happily. "But… what about my nephew, Dipper?"

"You won't be able to watch over him, so Child Services can help him find a new guardian for him to stay with," Powers said.

"What? But… he'll be alone. I'm… practically his only family he has right now," Ford responded, sounding hesitant.

"We know that it isn't easy, Ford. But this is the best for the both of you," Trigger said. "With our backup, he can go to the best schools and have the best education."

"Considering his GPA, he does have potential. But he is still a kid that needs to be watched over," Powers replied. "We know that it's not ideal, but think about what's best for him. The type of work we do, the type of work you do, is too dangerous for a kid his age. It is better to keep him out of harm's way so that he will be safer and you can focus on your work."

Ford contemplated this. Although Dipper didn't see it, his face was torn with regret. "Well, he does still have his friends, and his step-sister, Luz. So he won't be completely alone," he said while looking at the agents. "Alright, it's a deal."

Outside the Shack, Dipper looked shocked upon hearing this. He backed away, almost tripping over the porch, but he kept himself up. He looked devastated, distraught, and… sorrowful.

"No… nononono, not-" He covered his mouth, letting tears leak from his eyes. Ford was going to leave him too! His only family here in Gravity Falls… he was now leaving him behind…

---

Back at St. Epiderm, Boscha was spending some time with her friends and family.

"So you were in the Emperor's mind?" Gavin asked her. "What's it like there?"

"A horror show is what it is," Boscha responded, looking uneasy as she recalled her time there. "Especially when we learned what he planned to do to the Human Realm and with Luz. But… seeing the memory of how Aunt Delara died still hurts…"

Tom gave her a hug. "I'm sorry you had to go through that, Boscha. Your aunt did not deserve what Belos did to her."

"I couldn't agree more," said a familiar voice that made Boscha's eyes widen.

She, Tom, Athena, Simon, Beck, Cain, and Samwitch turned to see someone standing in the doorway. They all looked shocked to see who it was…

"Hey, Chaka," Boris said with a smile as he walked over to them.

Boscha was in tears. "B-Boris…" She stood up and walked towards him. "You… you're alive…"

"Boris…" Athena said while in tears as she saw her son alive.

After a moment, both Boscha and Athena rushed to hug him.

"You're here… you're really here!" Boscha shouted while crying into her brother's chest. "I… I was afraid you were…"

"Dead? Well, I'm afraid that Terra's claims were… an exaggeration," Boris admitted as he hugged his sister and mom back. "I'm so glad to see you two again. I would have reached out to you sooner, but we were laying low after our escape…"

Athena looked at her son, frowning. "Boris… I'm so sorry for not speaking to you all those years," she told him, her expression overflowing with guilt. "I saw you at the Conformatorium, but I never got to talk to you…"

"Later, mom," Boris responded with a smile. "After everything, I'm just glad that you're here." He then felt himself getting a punch on the shoulder from Beck. "Ow! Beck!"

"That's for making us think you're dead, Boris," Beck told him before she smiled and hugged him. "But I'm glad that you're not."

"It really is great seeing you again, man!" Simon shouted as he patted Boris's back.

"So Terra's words weren't true after all," Cain said, shedding tears of joy upon seeing Boris alive.

"Boris," Samwitch said to his nephew, who looked up to him. "I'm so happy to see that you're alive," he said, patting Boris's shoulder.

"Thanks, Uncle Sam," Boris nodded before he noticed Tom. "Hey, haven't I seen you before…?"

"At the Conformatorium? Yeah," Tom responded as Boscha went over to him.

"Boris, meet my boyfriend, Tom. Tom, meet Boris, my brother," Boscha introduced them to each other.

"Nice to finally get to speak with you, Boris," Tom responded, shaking Boris's hand.

"Likewise," Boris replied. "Boscha told me about you, the last time she came to me. So you two are dating?"

"Yeah," Tom admitted. "Although admittedly, we spent a lot of time apart after me and Athena got arrested…"

"Well, I'm happy for you two. I'm glad that my sis has found someone great," Boris said in approval, patting Tom on the shoulder.

"Oh, and I'd like for you to meet my friends," Boscha said as she led Boris over to her friends. "This is Gavin, Angmar, and Ukla."

"Nice to meet you, Boshca's brother," Angmar said, waving to him.

"Yeah, she told us a lot about you," Gavin said, nodding.

"Yeah, like how you work as a tattoo artist," Ukla mentioned. "Like, how cool is that?"

"Heh, well, I like to indulge in my passions," Boris replied humbly. "But it's great to meet all of my sister's friends. You all seem like good kids. Thank you for keeping an eye out for my sister for me,"

Boscha then looked up to her brother… and her expression fell. "There's something else that I should tell you, about Aunt Delara's death… and Osran and Belos's role in them."

"I know," Boris responded while looking down. "Eda already told me what really happened to her."

"Osran will pay for what he did," Boscha said while everyone looked down sadly.

"I know, sis," Boris agreed… before his tone shifted. "And I promise you, that when I see Osran… I'll be the one to kill him myself," he vowed, which surprised Boscha and her family.

---

Back in the gym, Cross met up with Lindsay, the two sharing a hug.

"Hey, Cross," Lindsay said while hugging him.

"Hey, Lindsay," Cross responded while hugging her back.

"I'm sorry that we didn't get to talk much earlier," Lindsay apologized. "There are a lot of witches here and I'm doing my best to help out but… do you want to talk about anything? About Zee? Or about the Villa?"

Cross sighed and he motioned for Lindsay to follow him. They went into the hallway and he sat down against the wall, Lindsay sitting beside him. "I… don't know where to start," he admitted while looking at the ground. But then he remembered something. "Oh, I did see Emily there."

"You did?" Lindsay asked in surprise and Cross gave a nod.

"Yeah, she went there to save Nina's family, although I didn't really get a chance to talk to her," Cross admitted. "There was just… so much going on. And I was in my dragon form most of the time. I guess it isn't really a secret anymore, not after today…"

"Well, how does it feel? Being out in your dragon form, for everyone to see?" she asked him.

Cross took a moment to think about it. "Honestly, no longer having to be able to hide my dragon form… it feels liberating," he commented with a small smile. "For years, I've been hiding this part of myself and now that it's out there for everyone to see… it is actually a relief." He seemed surprised by his own works as he looked down. "I-I should be scared… but I'm not. Because I feel like I can truly be myself now. And the validation from all my friends did help me." He looked at his own hands. "My dragon form is just as much a part of me as my witch form. Just like how my Clawthorne heritage is just as much a part of me as my Drakescale heritage. But for most of my life, I tried to keep those parts of me hidden, like I was ashamed of it."

"Is that part of why you were more introverted?" Lindsay asked him.

He nodded. "I think so. I will admit, I was afraid of other witches finding out what I really was and how that would affect me and my family. But outing myself as a Clawthorne to Luz, and as a dragon to the Isles… I actually feel more comfortable in who I am now. I feel like I can accept those parts of myself because I do know that others accept me, not just my family. And I got to thank you, Donna, and Emily for playing a huge role in it."

Lindsay smiled, patting his hand and leaning against him. "I'm glad that you feel that way, Cross," she said. "Especially since I really like those parts of you as well."

Cross blushed a little at that. "Thanks, Lindsay," he said before looking down. "Although, now I am worried for my sister…"

Lindsay nodded and went to hug him. "Me too. I hope that she's okay…"

"Me too… although I know we can save her," Cross said while hugging her back.

The two were now close together. Their bodies touching. Their eyes meeting. For a moment, neither of them said anything. He just stared into her eye and she stared into his. It was the right moment for them to lean into closer…

…and kiss. The two teens shared a kiss for the first time.

As this happening, Nina was also in the hallway and she spotted Cross and Lindsay kissing, "What the fuck?" she asked. She went back to the infirmary and used her tail to pull Donna out into the hallway.

"Oh! Uh, Nina, what's up?" Donna asked her.

"Your boyfriend is making out with flower girl over there," Nina said, pointing to Cross and Lindsay.

"Oh, really? That's great," Donna said with a smile, making Nina confused.

"Great? Donna, are you really okay with this?" Nina asked her.

"Oh yeah, I should get you up to speed about it," Donna replied. "Basically when me, Cross, and Lindsay joined Luz, Amity, King, and Lilith on an adventure the other day, me and Cross and Lindsay talked about our relationship and we all agreed to an open relationship."

Nina was surprised by this. "You, Cross, and Lindsay… are dating each other now?"

"Well, me and Linds are both dating Cross," Donna admitted. "Lindsay was actually the one who suggested it. She thought that this way we could all get the opportunity to explore things between us and see how things would go. That way, Cross and Lindsay can explore the feelings they obviously have for each other, but he doesn't have to break up with me before seeing where things could go between us."

"…Huh," Nina said. "Well, I'm happy for you, Donna. I mean, it sounds pretty adventurous."

"Yeah," Donna replied before giving a sigh. "There is one thing about the trip we went on. Those Titan Trappers that Luz talked about… I found out my brother is alive and is living with them."

Nina's eyes widened. "Your… brother? You mean, your long lost twin?!"

Donna nodded. "I didn't know it at first and we were immediately separated after we both realized who the other was," she admitted. "I'm glad that you were right about my uncle lying to me, Nina. His name is Conner, by the way. He's on the other side of the world, but now that I know that he's alive, I plan to find him," she said, looking determined. "And thanks to Lilith and a map she got from the Trappers, I can search for him in the future."

Nina, wanting to be happy for Donna, smiled. "Good for you, Donna. I'm glad to know that your twin brother's alive."

Hearing the slightly pained tone of her voice, Donna realized that she could be acting insensitive. "Oh, I'm sorry about talking about my brother, Nina. I know that you're still mourning about the loss of your siblings."

"Honestly… it's okay," Nina reassured her. "I'm genuinely glad that you found your brother, Donna. And I hope you find him okay."

Donna nodded, though she was still worried. "Do you want to talk about anything?" she asked her in concern.

"Nah, I… I don't want to talk about it. Not right now at least," Nina said, trying to brush it off. "I'm just glad that you're here, Donna."

Donna nodded again while looking at Nina. While she did still have confusing feelings for Nina, she understood that it was more important for her to be what Nina needed her to be. And right now… that was a friend.

She tried to find her words. "Nina… about what I said earlier. I am sorry. Sorry that I haven't always been there for you when you needed me in the past. Sorry that I hurt you because of my selfishness, my insensitivity, and my jealousy. I was… out of line. Especially last Friedday. But not anymore. I see how much you're hurting Nina, so I'm here for you. Now and forever."

Nina looked over at Donna with a heartfelt expression, like she had been waiting to hear those words. "That… that really means a lot to me," she said, choking up slightly. Donna was immediately there for her, hugging Nina and holding her as Nina started to tear up some more…

---

"Just… promise me something, okay? Promise me that even if you end up making new friends, we'll still be friends. That you won't forget me," a younger Nina said.

"Duh," a younger Donna answered. "You're my best friend, Nina. That's not going to change."

"Do you promise?" Nina asked seriously, surprising Donna.

"O-of course," Donna told her. "It doesn't matter what they do to us. I'll look out for you and you'll look out for me. Nothing really bad can happen as long as we have each other. I promise."

Nina seemed satisfied by this and she wrapped her arms around Donna, hugging her.

---

Remembering the past, Nina hugged Donna back. She cried while Donna comforted her.

And in that moment, two reconciling childhood friends clung to each other.

---

Back in Gravity Falls, Dipper was sitting alone in the woods. Tears streamed from his eyes as he slumped his back against a tree, feeling absolutely defeated.

"First Stan… then Mabel… and now Ford!" Dipper cried as he checked his phone. He looked through the texts he had sent to Luz all day… no responses. "Why isn't she-?!" he asked before he threw the phone away in anger. "Gah!" he shouted as he rustled his hair. "Everything was perfect before Ford showed up! I just… I just wish Stan and Mabel were still here…" he said with a sniff.

"That might be possible!" said a familiar voice.

Dipper looked up and saw coming from between two trees was someone he recognized. "Blendin?"

"H-Hi, Dipper," Blendin said, waving to him. "I-I-I came here to help."

"Help me?" Dipper asked while wiping his tears.

"You said that you wish for Stan and Mabel back, right? D-D-Did I hear that right?" Blendin asked.

Dipper nodded. "Yeah, why are you asking?"

"Well, it may seem like it's against the rules, but you once did a favor for me," Blendin explained. "So I thought I could help you out. It's called a time bubble, and I can use it to take you back to before everything went wrong and prevent time from going forward. Summer in Gravity Falls can last as long as you want, and you can also have Stan and Mabel back in your life. Paradox free!"

"Really?" Dipper asked in surprise. "How… how does it work?"

"I just need you to get a little gizmo for me from your uncle," he said as he used his wristwatch to show a holographic image of the rift. "It's something small. He won't even know it's missing."

Dipper looked at the image of the rift in its glass container. Thanks to Ford not telling him about the rift, he didn't know what it was. However, he still hesitated. "I… I don't know if I should," he said, looking down. "Can I… think about this?"

Blendin gave a brief frown of displeasure, but he quickly played it off. "Oh, of course, Dipper. You have all the time to think on the offer," he said with a smile. "I-I-I mean, I'd take it if I was you. But, what do I know?"

---

Back in the Isles, Eda led a group consisting of Luz, King, Amity, Kay, Hunter, Le'Belle, and Donna down a certain route to the outskirts of Latissa. They were wearing cloaks while holding candles, helping them blend in with the Latissa residents preparing for the Day of Unity.

"Alright, just stay close to me and watch your step," Eda told them.

"Um, I'm glad you asked me to come along, Eda, but why did you want me specifically to meet Raine and their rebellion?" Donna asked her.

"Let's just say I know two witches who would be glad to see you," Eda told her, smiling underneath her cloak.

"Too bad Hooty had to be left behind," King said. "And I do feel bad about cousin Lulu being left to deal with him…"

"Unfortunately, we can't trust him to not draw too much attention and potentially expose us to the Emperor's Coven," Luz admitted.

Eda raised her hand to stop the group as they saw some scouts passing by in a street up ahead. Le'Belle helped to cloak the group with a spell as Eda took them to an inconspicuous-looking building. She knocked on the door.

"Password?" Bunker asked from the other side of the door.

"Swordfish," Eda said. A moment later, the door was unlocked and Bunker invites them in. Eda nodded to the others and led the group inside.

Once they entered inside the CATT base, the group removed their hoods and saw who was there.

"No way…" Luz said with a gasp.

"They're…" Amity's eyes widened in shock while she was holding Kay.

"He's…." Hunter said, looking like he was going to be in tears.

Donna covered her mouth. "You guys…"

"Welcome to the CATTs, everyone!" Raine declared. With them were Lilith, Steve, Sunny, Hikari, Derwin, Amber, Goonla and Levi Thians, Tres, Bela, Bindell, Star, Darius, and Eberwolf.

"Amber… Derwin… you guys are okay!" Donna shouted as she ran up to hug the two, tears in her eyes as she reunited with her old friends.

"Hey, Donna. Long time no see," Amber said while hugging the crying Donna.

"We heard from Eda that you've done a lot of great things since we last saw you, including your work as a hero," Derwin responded as he and Amber smiled at her.

Donna was still in tears. "I… I'm just glad you two are okay…"

"Yeah, same," Luz said as she walked up to them. "When me and Ams saw Boris with Boscha, we realized that you guys were probably alive as well, which is a huge relief."

"Yeah," Amity replied while walking up to Levi and Goonla. "I'm really glad that you two are alright." She held Kay up to them. "Kay… meet your brother and your dad."

"Kay… oh thank Titan, she's alright," Levi said, nearly in tears as he patted his sister, who smiled at him.

"We can't thank you enough for watching over her for us, Amity," Goonla said, kneeling over as Amity raises Kay up to her. "Aye… she's definitely got my eyes. She's so beautiful."

"Me and my family made sure to keep her happy and safe, sir," Amity told him while handing Kay to Levi. She sniffed as she started to tear up. "I'm just glad she gets to meet you both."

Darius saw Hunter walk up to him. "Darius… I… I knew you were alive. I know that I saw you… and that Gavin saw you as well."

"Hunter," Darius said while looking down at him. "Sorry for… not… reaching out… to you… and Gavin."

"I'm just… glad to see you again after all this time," Hunter said as he looked up at Darius. "Although Gavin should see you as well."

"Well, that can be easily arranged," Lilith said as Darius nodded to her.

Hunter looked over at Lilith, immediately feeling awkward around her. "Lilith, so… um, how's things with… you-know-who?"

"Well, I got Raine to agree to work with her against Belos, although they're not happy about it. We will definitely need to deal with her once Belos is defeated," Lilith told him while noticing his look. "Is everything alright, Hunter?"

"Oh um… it's… it's fine," Hunter responded shyly.

Le'Belle saw Steve and Sunny and went up to them. "Steve, Sunny, I'm glad to see that you two are alright," she said, nodding.

"Le'Belle? Hey!" Steve responded, shaking her hand. "Honestly, I'm surprised to see you of all witches here. What got you to defect from the Emperor's Coven?"

"Well, you know the feeling you have when you get what you wanted, but it's not all cracked up to be?" Le'Belle asked him.

"Oh yeah, I've been there, sister," Steve replied. "Although for me, the breaking point was when Leonte wanted to brand kids…"

"Yeah, he still wants to do that," Le'Belle responded while looking down. "And after what happened at Hexside and at the Villa, I just couldn't take it anymore. I want to actually make a difference, not feel like I am on the wrong side of history. Hopefully, I can do more now."

"Yeah, I know that feeling," Steve said as he sighed. "But it's great to see a fellow scout here and that I'm not the only one dissatisfied with the current state of things."

"Oh, we are definitely not alone," Le'Belle said as she turned to Sunny. "What about you, Sunny? They say you went missing."

"I decided to join after Steve told me about why he left," Sunny explained. "I couldn't return to the covens, especially not after meeting Hikari, who Steve saved from Leonte."

"Hikari?" Le'Belle asked in confusion.

"Greetings, Le'Belle," said a voice behind the former scout, getting her to jump.

"Geez!" Le'Belle shouted while turning around to look at Hikari. "Uh, hi. Nice to meet you. Hikari, I assume." She then saw Lilith coming over to her. "Lilith…"

"Le'Belle," Lilith said in surprise. "I'm… surprised to see you here."

"Yeah," Le'Belle replied while looking down awkwardly. "I, um… used to admire you back in the day. Like a lot of witches, I will admit that when you left the Emperor's Coven, I was disappointed. Hurt, even. You were one of my heroes."

"I understand," Lilith said while looking down. "I am… used to that reaction."

"But… I do know how you feel now," Le'Belle said. "Just like you, I was willing to do anything to get to the top, even if it meant… hurting the ones that I cared about. I've made my share of mistakes and I feel like I have a lot to make up for. So… I understand why you did what you did and I actually have a newfound respect for you, Lilith."

This surprised Lilith and she smiled, not used to receiving this kind of admiration. "Oh. Well, thank you, Le'Belle."

Luz was looking around. "Say, is Katya here with you guys?" she asked.

"Yeah, but she went out to pick up someone," Amber replied.

"And we're right here."

Everyone turned around to see Katya, and to the surprise of Luz and King, she was with a coven guard.

"Guard!" Luz and King reacted, getting into a battle pose before the guard waved his arms.

"Stop! Stop, it's me!" the guard shouted and they recognized his voice.

"Wait… Larry?" Luz asked.

"Hey, it is Larry!" King pointed out.

"Sorry about spooking you guys," Larry said before he removed his mask…

Under his mask was the face of a witch man with purple skin, blue eyes with black sclera and pupils, short black hair, freckles, and a small beard.

"Huh, so that's what you look like underneath the mask," King commented.

"Hey, I thought I recognized your voice," Steve said while walking up to Larry, who turned to him.

"Oh, you're Steve, right?" Larry asked him.

"Yeah, and I gotta say, thank you, Larry," Steve replied with a smile. "Your pep talk really helped. Because of you, I was able to push myself into quitting the scouts and do the right thing."

"Hey, you and I both share that in common," Larry replied as the two clasped hands. "The work gets too much for ya, so rather than keep my lousy job, I decided to fight the system instead. It needs a change… plus, if I have to choose sides, I would rather fight with my friend." As he said this, he nodded at Eda, who nodded at him back.

"I couldn't agree on that, Larry," Lilith agreed as she came up with Le'Belle, who nodded.

As everyone else mingled with one another, Luz met up with Eda and King, the three of them looking at all the allies they had.

"Well, this turned out well, didn't it?" King asked.

"Yeah, though even though we have lost some allies," Eda said while looking down. "Kitsuni's still at the Yokai Realm…"

"And Julia Traveler's dead," Luz added with a sad sigh.

"And the Owl House is destroyed…" King said while looking down, sniffing sadly. The other two nodded and the three gave a moment of silence for their former home.

"Yeah, I know," Eda said while frowning. "But we knew that could happen when we abandoned it. We don't have to like it, but we do have to accept it."

"And we can rebuild, right?" Luz asked, trying to lift their spirits. "After we defeat Belos, we can rebuild the Owl House, bigger and better than it was before."

King nodded. "Yeah!" he shouted, lifting his paws up. "The Owl House will live again!"

"Sounds good… but before that, we still have to defeat Belos," Eda pointed out. "And we have just two days until the Day of Unity."

"Honestly, I think our chances are pretty good," Luz admitted. "I mean, we know what Belos is planning and we have lots of allies."

Eda smiled. "I couldn't agree more. Raine even told me that they have Ulrich, a Coven Head, on their side. And who knows, we could have even more allies than we realize…"

---

Back in the castle, Emily was walking down the hall. She wasn't walking anywhere in particular. She was just… walking, trying to work her way through everything that happened earlier that day. As she walked, she noticed a hand-off going on between a guard and a scout.

"Send these to the Emperor's reserves," the guard told the scout, who was holding a crate of Palismen.

As Emily passed the scout, she managed to get a look at one of the staffs in the crate. Her eyes widened when she realized that she recognized that staff…

It was Zee's staff. Aqua.

---

In the throne room, Belos sat on his throne, his face hidden behind his mask. Abel stood next to him as they were met by a certain guest that wished an audience with him.

"S.C.O.R.N. would like to introduce the Emperor's Coven to its newest offering in weapons development," Gibson Oscorne declared as Mr. Blood held up what appeared to be a purple wand… with a handle and trigger and guard. It appeared to have a gold-metal barrel, with a cylinder, a black grip frame with flesh-stocks, a hammer spur, and a recoil shield. To say the least, it looked like a wand version of a gun. "We call it the Abomi-Shooter. It has two settings. The fist fires Abomination slime that can capture wild witches like a net. But, it also has a… lethal setting."

"A lethal setting?" Belos asked, his head perking up as he looked at the weapon before him. It did look familiar to him, reminding him of the weapons that humans used.

"Let me demonstrate," Gibson said as he aimed the wand and fired it. Purple flames fired from the wand, scorching some of the nearby stones.

"Hmm… Mr. Oscorne, it is obvious to me that you're showing me this to get back into my good graces after your son's actions against the Isles were exposed," Belos pointed out while intertwining his fingers. "However… these Abomi-Shooters could perhaps be useful. Especially after today, when the Emperor's Coven lost to children. Have you made more of those…?"

Gibson nodded. "With your approval, we could mass produce them, equip every scout in your coven with them. They even come in different models, with different settings… they could even be long-range."

"Interesting…" Belos said, looking intrigued until a scout interrupted their meeting.

"My Emperor!" the scout shouted with a salute. "You're not going to believe what we've found!"

Belos sighed. "Is it information about the Clawthornes?"

"Actually, someone has found a human in the Isles, sir!" the scout declared, causing Belos's eyes to widen behind his mask. "And it's not Luz Clawthorne."

"WHAT?!" Belos shouted as he rose up from his throne, his voice sounding intense. "Bring the human here, this instant!"

The scout nodded as two more scouts dragged in a human with a bag over his head. Belos and Gibson watched with interest as the bag was pulled off the human's head, revealing… that it was Jacob Hopkins.

"H-Hey, unhand me!" Jacob shouted while tied up. He looked so much worse now. His skin looked pale, his beard and hair looked unkempt and his hair had some bald spots. His glasses also appeared to be cracked, while his teeth looked rotten. In fact, he had also started to smell due to wearing that same hazmat suit he came to the Isles in. "I can't believe… I've been captured by these witches!"

"This guy smells funky," a scout said.

Behind his mask, Belos narrowed his eyes at the human before him. "Who are you, and how did you come here?" he demanded to know.

Jacob looked up to Belos, gulping nervously. "I… I am Jacob Hopkins, the hero who is going to save humanity from you demons," he claimed. "I'm here to make sure that you don't use our teeth to build time machines…"

"What…?" Belos was confused by his mumbling, but he pressed with his questions. "Where did you come from? How did you manage to get to the Demon Realm?"

"T-Through a portal door, of course," Jacob declared. "Department A managed to get it after taking it from these witches they captured."

"Witches… portal door?" Belos's eyes widened. "Did they also have a key?!"

"Y-Yeah," Jacob said. "Got it from some witch family, I think Director Gates called them… Clawthornes?"

Belos was quiet for a moment, going over the information in his head. "When… did this happen?" he wanted to know.

"I… I don't know how much time has passed," Hopkins admitted, looking hungry, exhausted, and confused. "B-but I think it was a few weeks ago at least…"

And that cemented it. Belos's eyes widened upon realizing that the Clawthornes… had the portal key this entire time!

"All this time…" Belos said as he lowered his head, giving a vicious snarl as he sat back down. "Take this human filth away from the throne!"

"But sir, the witch that found this human wishes to have an audience with you!" the scout explained.

"Fine… bring him in," Belos said dismissively as he sat back in his throne.

Then he heard it. The sound of the bottom of a scepter hitting the floor.

Looking up, he saw a hooded figure approaching the throne. The figure looked almost hunched, his face hidden by his hood. The source of the noise was his scepter, which the hooded figure was using as a walking stick. The scepter… was snake-headed.

Gibson looked at the newcomer with interest. As the figure passed by him, he was able to get a look at what was under this newcomer's hood… and he stepped back, revolted. "Titan… what happened to your face?" he asked in shock.

"Oh, let's just say… I have my beloved niece to thank for my new look," the figure said, his face still hidden by the shadow of his hood. He glanced at the throne, noticing Abel standing besides Belos. "Abel… I heard you were working for Belos. It's good to see you again."

"Likewise," Abel responded, nodding to him.

"You know this witch?" Belos asked his assistant.

"He is an old student of mine, someone that I used to tutor," Abel explained. "You should hear him out."

"Fine," Belos said while looking at the hooded figure. "Now tell me, who are you?"

"My name… is Draco," he introduced himself.

"Draco… ah, a certain traitorous scout mentioned you," Belos responded. "A… basilisk witch hybrid who knows things few others do..."

"Ah, I believe that traitorous scout you're talking about Venoma," Draco responded while bowing his head. "Yes, I am that same witch she told you about. And she is why I am here, because I was hoping to arrange for Venoma's release into my custody. Bringing this human to you was a sign of good faith."

"Hmm, bold of you to demand an audience with me," Belos said. "However, the fact that you are a basilisk witch is… concerning."

"I don't mean any harm, if that's what you're thinking," Draco said "In fact, I can offer you some more information… about the Clawthornes."

"Is it about their whereabouts?" Belos asked him.

"Not quite, but it's something that you deserve to know, something that could impact everything that you've been building," Draco revealed. "Do you know of King Clawthorne?"

"The dog?" Belos asked him. "What about him?"

"I know where he was born. I spent time there. The Clawthornes… they had no idea what it meant. But I did and was able to connect the dots. It turns out that the Owl Lady has been keeping some special kids. The human girl, the witch-turn-fae, and of course… the true son of the Titan."

Belos and Gibson both reacted in shock. "Are you saying… that Edalyn has a Titan?!" Belos demanded to know, his fingers digging into the arms of his throne.

"The last living Titan, to be specific," Draco confirmed. And underneath his hood, he grinned.

---

Meanwhile, Katya was walking through the night market while avoiding some scouts. She was wearing a cloak as she hid herself from the scouts patrolling the area. After they were gone, she continued walking around until she stopped in front of a specific building…

Her father's shop.

She entered the shop and began looking around. She saw that the place was empty, like it had been stripped and raided. This worried her. "Hello? Dad?" she asked while looking around the dark shop. "Did this place get robbed?"

Suddenly the lights came on. Katya turned her head and her eyes widened when she saw who turned them on…

"Katya," Vanz Ator said while looking surprised to see her.

"Dad?" Katya asked, her eyes watery. Tears streamed from her eyes as she rushed over to her foster father. "Daddy!" she shouted as she embraced her father while crying. "I'm… I'm so sorry that it took me so long for me to pay you a visit!" she cried. "I… I was-"

"Shh, it's alright, pumpkin," Vanz said as he hugged Katya back, reassuring her. "I'm just glad that you're okay, safe and sound," he said while looking over her shoulder.

Yet while he was hugging his tearful daughter, Vanz had a dark look in his eyes…

---

Back at the Falls, underneath the Mystery Shack, the Agents were in the lab looking over an alien probe.

"If we can reverse engineer this technology, think of what it can do for NASA," Trigger said. "Or think about how it can help us revolutionize our technology. We could actually get hoverboards in 2015, just like in Back to the Future Part II!"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Jeff," Powers said. While the two agents were distracted by the alien probe, someone behind them was lowering himself from the ceiling down to Ford's cabinet with a grappling hook.

He noticed that the rift had been taken out of its cabinet. He could reach it if he swung himself over to it, but he had to be quiet so as not to disturb the agents as they messed around with the alien tech. He overheard the agents speaking to each other.

"Perhaps we should get in contact with the CIA. I know an agent who's got experience with this kind of tech," Powers said.

"You mean that agent from Kaua'i?" Trigger asked. "I heard about its strange inhabitants…"

Eventually, Dipper swung himself enough that he managed to grab the rift. He placed it in his jacket pocket before pulling himself up with the grappling hook gun.

He went upstairs, exiting out of the basement without getting spotted. He looked to the door and was about to walk out of the Shack… but he hesitated. He looked down, unsure if what he was doing was right…

"Dipper?" Ford asked as he came into the room and noticed his nephew. "I didn't hear you come in."

"Oh, um, hey Grunkle Ford," Dipper said as he turned around and nervously waved to him. "I, um, see that you're busy."

"Well, I'm actually done with that errand with the agents," Ford replied. "So um, now that I'm free, we can finish up our game."

"Oh, um… I almost forgot about that," Dipper muttered, Ford noticing how nervous he looked.

"Is something the matter, son?" Ford asked, kneeling down in front of Dipper. "You look nervous."

Dipper looked down, hiding his face from Ford. "I… I overheard your earlier conversation with the agents," he said, causing Ford's eyes to widen.

"Oh… you overheard that?" he asked him.

"Grunkle Ford, are you… really going to leave me?" Dipper asked him.

Looking down in guilt, Ford sighed. "Dipper, look, I wish things could be better, but you have to know how necessary this is. How important my work is and how much the agents need me."

"But I need you," Dipper pointed out. "I thought that after the time we spent together, I would mean something to you…"

"Dipper, of course you do," Ford responded. "I enjoy your company and all the time we've spent together. You're a smart kid with a bright future… but this is for the best for both of us. I mean, you can't possibly expect me to sacrifice my life's work for you."

This only made Dipper angry. "Can't sacrifice for me? Is that how it is?" He took a deep breath… and let out everything he had been bottling up since Stan was arrested. "Let me tell you something, your 'work' is why Stan was arrested, and why Mabel was taken from me! My life was doing just fine until you came out of that portal!" he shouted while looking at his Grunkle in anger. "And now you don't even have the decency to stick around after you ruined my life?!"

"Dipper, calm down," Ford told him. "For Pete's sake, stop acting like a child!"

"Well news flash, poindexter! I am a child!" Dipper shouted at him in anger, tears leaking from his eyes before he dashed out of the door. "Sorry that I'm such an inconvenience to you!"

"Dipper! Wait!" Ford shouted as he tried to chase after him until he heard one of the agents call to him.

"Pines! We have a situation!" Powers shouted.

Ford stopped himself when he heard Powers. He looked off in the direction where Dipper had run off in, then he looked down with a sigh. "Hopefully, you'll understand, Dipper," he said while heading into the basement, hoping that his nephew's anger would be out of his system when he got back.

---

"What's the problem, agents?" Ford asked when he got into the basement.

"It's missing!" Powers told him in a panic.

"Missing? What… what are you-"

"The rift, Ford," Trigger said with a worried look. "Where did you put the rift?!"

"I put it over where I left it, right there," Ford said as he pointed to the cabinet at his desk, only to find that the rift was missing. "What the… where's the rift?!"

"Someone must've snuck in and stole it," Powers suggested.

"But who? Who'd be able to sneak into the Shack and steal the rift unnoticed?" Trigger asked as Ford's eyes widened in realization.

"Dipper… you didn't," he whispered.

---

In the woods, Dipper returned to where he had been before. Blendin was waiting for him.

"D-D-Did you get it, Dipper?" Blendin asked him.

"Yeah," Dipper responded as he pulled out the rift and held it up to show him.

Blendin smiled. "Yes, that's it! Just hand it over and I'll do my thing," he said, extending his hand. "Then you can see Stan and Mabel again…"

Dipper looked down at the rift. He saw his reflection in the cracked glass… and he gave a determined look. "For Stan and Mabel," he said as he handed it to Blendin.

Blendin held up the rift… before dropping it. "Oops!" he said as he stomped on it, shattering the glass.

"WHAT?!" Dipper exclaimed in shock before he heard Blendin start to laugh. "Oh no…"

"Hehehehehe…" Blendin laughed as he took off his goggles, revealing his eyes.

Those familiar, yellow eyes.

"BILL!" Dipper exclaimed in shock while stepping back and falling down. "You… you tricked me!"

"Yes, and how easily you were fooled, Dipper!" 'Blendin' shouted as he snapped his fingers, putting Dipper to sleep. Then, Blendin passed out as Bill came out of his body. "At last! At long, long last! The gateway between worlds has opened! The event one billion years prophesied has come to pass! The day has come! The world is finally mine!"

As he laughed maniacally, the rift shot up into the sky, opening up a tear in reality… a tear into the Nightmare Realm.

---

In town, the citizens of Gravity Falls quickly noticed the change of the atmosphere. They all looked up and saw a large X-mark against the red sky.

Gus, Perry, and Camila noticed the sky and looking shocked.

"What is that?!" Perry cried out.

"I… I don't know," Gus responded, looking up in the sky with worry.

The Gates also looked up in the sky along with the Gordons, the Gatesfield teens, the Basilisks, Blubs, and Durland.

"What's happening?!" Clara asked, while hugging her mom.

"Get close to me, kids!" Abigail ordered as they huddled up while a large shadow loomed over them…

---

Running out of the Shack, Ford along with the agents looked up and saw the tear in the sky as the wind blew around them.

"What's happening?!" Trigger asked in shock. "What is that?!"

"We're too late!" Ford responded while seeing that the sky was red. "It's the end of the world!"

Above them, Bill Cipher laughed victoriously.

Gravity Falls was now his.

Weirdmageddon had begun.

---

So… a lot has happened in this chapter.

To start with, Larry. Larry throughout this fic series, has ties to the Owl Family to the point of being a family friend. He's responsible for helping Eda officially adopt both Luz and King, and has been Eda's own corrupt cop, in a sense. At least he's a pretty swell guy. And we've built up his face reveal, as we've finally identify him as the coven guard that we first see in "A Lying Witch and Warden" where he first try to arrest Eda in that episode, and "Young Blood, Old Souls" where he arrests Luz and King over them stepping on grass. This is pretty much our headcanon on who Larry is.

In regards to Bloody Mary. Originally we were going to have her fight the heroes, and then run off. Never to be seen again for the rest of Book Two until the end. But, admittedly, we realized that it could be underwhelming and that it would be more interesting if she entered a tense alliance with the heroes to stop Belos. An 'Enemy Mine' kind of scenario.

Admittedly, Draco's scene is actually two separate scenes that we ended up combining: one where Hopkins is brought to Belos and one where Draco reveals to Belos that King is a Titan. Originally, we would have had some scouts found Hopkins, but then we realized that having two separate scenes of Belos being told new information would be awkward. So, we have decided to combine them and have Draco be the one to find Hopkins.

Hell, we weren't going to bring back Draco for this arc, but we have realized that he would actually be a great way for Belos to learn about King's heritage. Especially since Draco did spend time at King's tower and could have figured out what King really was, especially after Lilith told Draco that her nephew was born on the island. This gives Draco's storyline more pay-off in Book Two and like Bloody Mary, involving him in the Day of Unity arc is more fulfilling than him only appearing for a stinger at the end of Book Two, which was our original plan.

Also, Abel and Draco knowing each other is a reference to the book, "I, Skeletor", which went into greater detail about Skeletor's backstory in the CGI He-Man cartoon. In that cartoon, it's revealed that Keldor and Randor had a tutor who helped put Keldor on his path to villainy. Abel tutoring Draco also shows that Belos isn't Abel's only 'student'. He's helped other characters reach their full potential…

Another is to talk about Ford. With all of his faults, there's just one truth that we have acknowledged that he is just not a father or a good parental figure. Sure, while he has bonded with Dipper like through the Dungeons game, but this version of Ford sees Dipper as more of a peer or a friend than a child that he has to take responsibility for. He likes spending time with Dipper, but he doesn't know the first thing about being Dipper's guardian, and sadly, Dipper has always had some suppressed resentment towards Ford. Especially since Ford's arrival was followed by Stan being arrested, and Mabel being taken away. Now, it isn't Ford's fault that those things happened, but Dipper still associates those things with Ford's arrival. From his perspective, his life was going pretty good until Ford arrived. And Ford's failure as a guardian does not help.

In regarding to Blendin's appearance, many of you are curious about his appearance here. Simply put, his appearance to Amity earlier in the story and his death reported by Jessica are both set after his possession by Bill and the events of Weirdmageddon. It's like how his first appearances in the show came after his meeting with Mabel and Dipper in the later episode. The clue to this was the mustache we saw in "Back to the Falls".

At the bowling alley, we not only give Lefty a cameo, but also made reference to those dark bowling animations. Those who get the reference to that, gets a thumbs up.

Stay tuned, where we take a pause from the Boiling Isles as we're not going to center our focus to Gravity Falls in the Weirdmageddon mini-arc before we get to the last few chapters that will serve as the conclusion to Book Two.

Review Section:

Matteso585: 2) Duh. 3) It's going to affect her a lot, along with Emira. 4) We didn't play that episode out at all for a reason.

Crash X Fusion: We hope you're satisfied with the Licross moment, especially their kiss scene.

OMAC001: What do you mean by that?

Franco Almiron: No spoilers.

Ultimate-drax: That's the purpose of the last chapter, to make it so much gut-wrenching. And yeah, this chapter cements how evil Belos will be, adding to what he did with Lilith's blood without her consent was very disgusting.

Shuffollower: Yes… let your anger consume against the villains… And as for Leo, well, since he was kicked out of the family and when the fire started… he fled from the Villa. But he's no threat to everyone.

Spantidem7: 1) Mr. Numbus does exists, the rest are undetermined. 2) No. 3) No spoilers. 4) No spoilers. 5) How would a scale determine that? 6) She literally had centuries to build up her rep as a demon that haunts mirrors. 7) It was covered up.