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 80: Understanding Hunter

It was the morning at the Row residence. Bo had just come out from her home.

"I'll be out here waiting for Matt to pick me up!" Bo told her parents. While she waited for Mattolomule on the porch, she heard groaning noises.

"Ugh… my sides."

She saw someone in the nearby streets, holding his sides. "Are you okay, sir?" she asked, walking up to the stranger.

"I… I need a healer," he responded while hunching over.

"Don't worry, I'll go get my parents-" Bo was about to head inside, but was then grabbed by the stranger.

"Please… stay with me," he said as he showed his face to Bo, revealing himself to be Lupe.

A few minutes later, Matt was knocking on the door. Opening it was Suzy. "Hey, I'm here to pick Bo up," Matt told her.

"Bo? You mean you didn't see her?" Suzy asked in confusion. "She said that she would be waiting out here for you."

"What?" Mattholomule asked while he looked out, calling out for his friend. "Bo? Bo!"

No response.

At the Healing Coven, Luz and Eda stopped by a therapeutic room where they saw Bump practicing walking while holding bars.

"How are you doing, Principal B?" Luz asked him.

"I'm at least starting to walk again, so I'm doing better," Bump responded. "Though Dr. Zebra Harwitch has stated that after I finish making my recovery, I may still have to walk with a cane from now on. So how are things going for Hexside? Hopefully Faust hasn't expelled half of the student body already…"

"Nothing like that… yet," Eda told him.

"He has reinstalled detention," Luz told him. "Also we have some former Glandus students transferred to Hexside so there's been some tension."

"I did hear about that," Bump said while looking down. "I also heard about some of the students' disappearances. Amity, Willow, Gus, and Eve…" He sighed. "I am sorry about them."

"Thanks, Principal B," Luz told him. "But we haven't given up on them yet." She handed him a card. "Here, some of the students and staff have signed this. Most of them wrote 'Please come back' and 'I promise not to ask for a higher raise next time'."

"Thank you, both of you," an appreciative Bump said, nodding at the two Clawthornes.

Meanwhile, in another room, a nurse was checking up on a paralyzed Boscha.

"Alright, your readings are still stable," she said while making some notes. "Don't worry, Boscha, we'll get you better in no time."

After she left the room, she went to another. "Okay, next is…" She opened the door and went inside. "Eberwolf…"

On the bed was Eberwolf, who was still catatonic. Their hair had grown out rustled and messy. They've been in the Healing Coven for quite some time. They stared blankly at the wall ahead.

"How are you feeling, Eber?" the nurse asked, but received no response. She sighed before she felt herself step in something. "What the…?" She looked down and saw a purple puddle on the floor. "Ugh, not again," she mutters while turning to the hallway. "Hey, Mops! I need you to clean this mess!"

Walking in was a living mop with an eyeball, who looked down at where the nurse was pointing. "What am I looking at?"

"What?" the nurse asked as she looked down, only to see that the purple puddle had disappeared. "I could've sworn something was there…"

At Dr. Bride's clinic, Lilith had come by to check up on Hunter.

"What do you mean he hasn't woken up yet?!" Lilith asked, looking worried and concerned.

"What else could I mean besides the obvious?" Dr. Bride asked. "The patient has not woken up once during his time here."

"But it has been almost a week, he should have woken up by now," Lilith told her.

"Well, there could be a reason," Bride proposed. "Perhaps it's not that he's incapable of waking up, rather it may be that he doesn't want to wake up."

"Doesn't want to wake up…?" Lilith repeated in concern.

"It is troubling, but if he does continue to stay in this catatonic state, he could wind up becoming a vegetable," Bride told Lilith which made her even more worried.

Thinking it over, Lilith had a question for the good doctor. "Is there a way to help him? Like… travel into his mind?"

"Well, that could work," Dr. Bride responded. "Travel into his mind, find the problem, and deal with it there. Eda has actually done this kind of thing before. It is illegal, but this isn't exactly a legal clinic either."

"If it is the best chance to bring him back," Lilith said with a determined look. "Then I'm willing to go inside Hunter's head."

"Luckily for you, Iggy knows the spell," Bride said as she led Lilith to Hunter's room, where Iggy and Glinda were checking in on the blonde patient.

Lilith looked over at Hunter, who while still resting in bed with his new, artificial right arm. He was still comatose, but he also looked even paler than before.

At Hexside, the first class of the new self-defense course was being taught by Kitsuni. Luz was one of the students there.

"There are certain situations when you might be unable to use your magic to defend yourself," Kitsuni was explaining. "So it is important for you to know skills that can help you if you find yourself in these kinds of situations. This is especially important in light of recent events like the muggings, the kidnappings, and the school wars." She saw Eileen raising her hand up. "Yes, Eileen?"

Eileen wrote down 'Even if you have a special power, it might not always be enough when you are being attacked, right?'

"It depends on the situation, since every fight is different. Sometimes your powers may be enough. Other times it might not be, which is why this class is being offered," Kitsuni answered. "The point of this class is self-improvement. While you should strive to be the best witch you can be, you should also know about other ways that you can defend yourself. Who knows, maybe one day the skills you learn here will save your life."

After the class, Luz was walking alongside Eileen. "You up to taking the class, Eileen?"

'Yup,' Eileen wrote on her board. 'I still remember when I was attacked. I got lucky then. Next time I might not be, so I want to be prepared to either protect myself or my friends.'

Luz nodded. "Good, though hopefully you won't have to use these skills in real life anytime soon."

"Hey, did you hear about what happened to Boscha's home?" one student behind Luz asked.

"Yeah, I heard it got burned down," another responded.

"Wait, what's this about Boscha's home being burned down?" Luz asked the students that were talking.

"You didn't hear? It happened during the night of the Coven Day," the student said. "The full details aren't available yet, but according to rumors an arsonist burned down their home and Athena Hieron got arrested."

"Wait, seriously?" Luz asked in concern. "But… why would they arrest Athena if an arsonist was responsible?"

"Maybe Athena hired the arsonist to burn down the house so she could collect the insurance?" another student suggested.

"Well that's… wait, do we even have insurance in the Boiling Isles?" Luz asked the student, who just shrugged.

"Luz!"

Hearing her name, she turned to see Mattholomule rushing towards her. "Matt? What's wrong?" she asked him.

"Bo's missing!" Mattolomule responded. "I planned to walk to school with her, but she was gone! Her parents said she was supposed to be waiting right outside of her home for me… I think she may be kidnapped!"

"What!?" Luz exclaimed in worry.

Back at Dr. Bride's clinic, Lilith was sitting by Hunter's side while Iggy and Glinda were preparing to cast the spell. Lilith looked over at Glinda who read from a spellbook.

"Where have we met before?" Lilith asked while Glinda focused on the book.

"Y-you were visiting my school," Glinda replied nervously. "I was just one of many students you saw that day."

Lilith nodded and went over to whisper to Iggy. "So… is she an intern here? Where did she come from exactly?"

"Glinda? Oh, her family put her to work for Dr. Bride so that someone can keep an eye on her and keep her out of trouble," Iggy said while holding up a bell.

"I see," Lilith replied as she was handed the bell.

"Use this in case of emergencies," Iggy told her.

"The mind is a dangerous place," Dr. Bride reminded Lilith as she came in. "If you need to be extracted, ring the bell and we will pull you out. Try not to stay in too long. Just try to find the problem, maybe look for the Inner Hunter since he might be able to help him. But are you sure you want to go through with this, Lilith?"

Lilith nodded. "This kid needs help, my help. I'm sure."

Dr. Bride nodded while turning to her assistants. "Iggy, Glinda, she's ready."

The two drew spell circles, sending a beam at Lilith and engulfing her with light. She was then warped and sent into Hunter's mind.

Lilith was in a dark void until she saw a bright flash in front of her. She shielded her eyes and once the flashing had stopped, she looked around to find herself in the Emperor's Castle.

"Of course this is what his mindscape looks like," Lilith said while walking down the hall. "The place he is more familiar with than anywhere else."

She noticed doors with picture frames on them and she walked up to them. The first one showed a young Hunter riding some kind of cart with Luz, Willow, and Gus. Curious, she took a peek inside the room.

The memory took place about four years ago. Hunter was standing on the cart, which was part of a homemade roller coaster found in the forest close to the Owl House. "Are you sure this is safe, Luz?" Hunter asked her.

"You worry too much Hunter," Luz told him. "Willow, pull the lever!"

"Time to look death in the face!" Willow shouted as she pulled the lever.

"Yeah!" Gus cheered as the cart rolled down a homemade railway made of planks, wood, logs, and boards.

"WAAAAAAHHH!" Hunter cried as they went down.

Lilith watched the four kids and winced once they crashed, causing her to leave the memory and go back into the hallway.

"Okay, not there," Lilith said awkwardly as she continued on her way.

At the Owl House, Eda had received a call from Luz.

"Wait, wait, slow down, Luz," Eda said while walking back and forth. "Are you saying Bo is missing?"

"Yeah." Luz nodded. "According to Matt, he was supposed to meet her outside of her home, but she wasn't there! Her family's still looking for her but she was just gone and she isn't responding to any texts! Matt is worried that those criminals associated with Glandus are responsible!"

Eda nodded. "Okay. Stay put, I'll go find her," she said as she ended the crow call and texted a message on her scroll. "Hooty, I need you to keep the house protected at all costs and have the Slitherbeast help you."

"You got it, Eda!" Hooty responded while Eda went to look through her weapons.

At St. Epiderm, Beocrow was feeding the kelpies in the beast-keeping pins when he got a text from his Aunt Eda.

Eda: Bo Row, a friend of my daughter, went missing in front of her home. She was likely abducted, which means we have to act fast. I need help.

Beocrow gave a serious look while turning to Lindsay. "Hey Lindsay, I'm not feeling well today. Tell the teach I'm taking a rain check!" he said as he rushed out of the pen.

"Alright! Feel better!" Lindsay responded while feeding the snorses.

At the Park residence, Sully received a text from Eda and as he turned to Gilbert. "Bo's been kidnapped."

"The Row daughter?" Gilbert stood up. "Let's go save her."

Sully nodded to his husband while going to a large portrait of Willow and drawing a spell circle. It pulled away, revealing a secret entrance that Sully and Gilbert went down by sliding on some poles.

Eda opened up a closet, where she picked out the weapons she needed for her mission. She picked out some of a dark-red overcoat, with a crimson hat that hid small knives. She hid the weapons inside her overcoat's inside pockets.

She fitted herself with red leather gloves and knee length combat boots. She looked at herself in the mirror while putting on the final touch: a black domino mask.

Sully and Gilbert made it to their secret hideout they made. Clover and Emmile were present as they saw the Park couple summon black suits with yellow sleeves and pants, black boots, and striped hats. They also came with a set of seeing goggles for Sully, while Gil wore a domino mask.

"I'm glad the suits we ordered came in on time," Sully said.

"The suit makes the hero from what I've heard, right?" Gilbert asked the Palismens present, as they nodded.

Donna had to rush out of class to meet up with Beocrow along with Veronica, Tyrone and Tina. They looked around, making sure nobody was around as they snuck out of St. Epiderm while changing their school uniforms into their superhero outfits.

"Alright, LOWTH, we're heading to Bonesborough!" Donna as Wonder Witch declared. "We're gonna help this Bo girl out, make sure she gets back to her family!"

"Maybe this will be our chance to take down the Tarot Guild!" Tyrone as Minos declared.

"Hopefully we'll be able to locate them," Tina as Ghostina added..

"Oh, I know we'll find them," Crowbar stated. "Especially with the Owl Lady on our side!"

"Then to Bonesborough we go!" Veronica as Florella said as the five flew from the Knee with their staffs, heading to Bonesborough.

Back at Hexside Nina had just opened her locker when she sensed someone behind her. "What do you want?" she asked, turning to Luz and Matt.

"What do you know about the Boss?" Luz asked her, which made Nina raised her eyebrows

"What's to know?" Nina asked. "I already told what I know to the Emperor's Coven. About how Glandus was linked to the muggings thanks to Emily. She answered to the Boss, not me. I have no idea who he is, only that he wasn't to be crossed. Principal Acne and McWhatever learned that the hard way."

"Look, maybe-" Luz was then interrupted by Matt who stepped in.

"Listen here, Fangs! You were close to Emily, since you were one of her top lieutenants! So you have to know something, especially since right now my friend Bo is missing!" Mattholomule hollered at her. "Tell us what you know about Emily's connection to the Tarot Guild, or so help me I will make you tell us!" he shouted while glaring at Nina and getting up in her face.

Nina just leaned back from Matt's outburst while she just looked down on him. "You know, if it weren't for this collar, I would slam you into the ground for yelling at me like that," she told him while shifting her eyes. She sighed. "But… there is something that I didn't tell those scouts."

"Why's that?" Luz asked her.

"Because you can never be too careful," Nina admitted. "I once overheard Emily talking to Stella about how she was going to make the Boss proud, yadda, yadda, but then she mentioned someone named the Producer."

Luz and Matt looked confused. "The Producer?" Luz asked.

"Who's that?" Matt asked her.

"I don't know, but this Producer is someone Emily holds in high regards, apparently they were the one who found her when she was young," Nina explained. "I do know that Emily was found by some scouts after her parents abandoned her, she told me that much. So if the Producer was the one who recruited her and they are in the Emperor's Coven, it probably wasn't safe to bring it up while I was being interrogated. Whoever this Producer is, they're probably connected to the Boss."

"Does that mean anything to you?" Mattholomule asked, turning to Luz.

"No," Luz replied, though she did know this probably meant there was someone high-ranking likely working behind the back of the Emperor. "Is there anything else that might be of help?"

Nina thought for a moment, then shook her head. "That's all I know, sorry."

Luz sighed. "Thanks anyway," Luz responded while walking with Mattholomule, leaving Nina alone. "Gotta admit, you had some gumption going up to Nina like that."

"Yeah…" Matt responded while he started to shake. "I'm not afraid at all."

Nina watched the two walking away and she looked like she was having second thoughts. "Hey wa-" she started to say but then hesitated again before looking down and muttering to herself. "It's not like it'll help anyway…"

In Hunter's mind, Lilith walked through the corridors looking at the picture frames of Hunter's memories.

"If I were the Inner Hunter, where would I be?" Lilith asked while looking at one picture frame door, one with a young Hunter… with Belos. She noticed the two were watching something and as she went through the memory door, it took her into the memory.

Lilith recognized where she was. "This is…"

"Please, have mercy!"

Lilith spotted the guards bringing in a wild witch, having him stand in the spot. "Please, have mercy, my Emperor… it was just a loaf of bread!"

"Stealing from the Titan is a heinous crime," Belos responded, while next to him is a young Hunter that he had brought with him. "But, you will be spared and forgiven… if you join a coven."

"But… I don't want to join a coven…" he responded.

"Well… that's too bad," Belos said while holding his staff, zapping the wild witch as he screamed. Little Hunter only watched in horror along with Lilith who shut her eyes out of guilt. She wasn't proud of the petrification ceremonies, another reminder of her past sins. When she reopened her eyes, the wild witch had been turned to stone.

Belos looked down at the boy, who looked… confused and uncomfortable. "Uncle… why do we have to… kill the wild witches?" he asked while holding his stuffed animal.

Belos sighed while patting Hunter's head. "It is not and easy thing to do, but… the wild witches are misguided and that makes them dangerous, my boy. The Titan felt utmost that they disrespected the gifts that he gave them and for that there is a price to pay. They sealed their own fates by practicing wild magic, remember that, Hunter."

"I… I think I understand, uncle." Little Hunter replied, while Lilith watched from behind. Unable to watch anymore, she decided to leave this memory.

She continued her search, entering another picture frame.

She found herself in the training grounds of the coven scouts, where she saw a masked Hunter being blasted back from an attack by another scout.

"YAH! That's how it is!" spoke up a muscularly built scout while the other scouts cheered for him. "How can you be a scout without magic, Blunter?" he mocked the youngest scout in the group.

"Is it just sad, don't you think?" asked a young Venoma to a young Alburno.

"Indeed, I do feel sorry for the boy," Alburno admitted. "He should just give up if he knows what is good for him. Being a scout is not for children."

The young Hunter looked up, gritting his teeth. "I demand a rematch!"

"Oh, you wanna go down, son?" Riff marched over to Hunter, but was stopped by the drill instructor.

"Alright, knock it off! Both of you!" he told them. "Save it for survival training, Riff. Hunter, take ten."

Hunter got up, walking away while Riff shouted at him. "Yeah, better think twice before challenging me, Blunter!" he shouted while he bellowed in laughter, Hunter just flinching angrily while sitting beside another scout.

"Are you alright, eh?" asked a less feral and more mentally stable Zebiel.

"I'm fine, Zebiel," Hunter responded while just glaring down at the ground.

Lilith looked at Hunter and felt sorry for him, understanding how harsh the training was back then. Especially for someone like him. Then she heard the instructor again, scolding Hunter.

"I don't care if you're the Emperor's little nephew, just know this!" the instructor shouted at Hunter, who flinched. "The Emperor's Coven only looks for the best, so unless you can prove that you have what it takes even without magic, I will personally make sure that the only job you have here in the Emperor's Coven is cleaning the latrines near Scarby's! You got it?!"

"Y-Yes, sir!" Hunter saluted.

Lilith then saw another Hunter passing by. "Abomination! Oracle! Healing! Illusions… um, Beast-Keeping?" He was tripped and fell on the track after one zap from another instructor.

"Wrong color order, scout!" the instructor declared. "Now go back and start over!"

The drill instructors were very harsh during Hunter's training, which Lilith saw. One instructor watched as Hunter tried to do a push up, only to fall down. "Pathetic, boy. You couldn't even do a push up!"

Another memory showed Hunter scrubbing the floor with a toothbrush as some meat slop landed in front of him thanks to Riff and his group of hecklers. "Enjoy the lunch, magicless butthead!" Riff laughed mockingly as he and his fellow scouts walked away, leaving Hunter with the mess.

"Clean the mess up," spoke a passing sergeant, which caused Hunter to look down in anger, tightly gripping his toothbrush.

Lilith looked worried for him before she saw a memory of Hunter facing off against Riff. Both were up at the Knee. She realized what this was. "Oh no…"

"Well, well, if it isn't Blunter!" Riff said while holding his club. "Only one can make it out of here alive! And we both know how this will turn out!"

Hunter glared at Riff, all the times he picked on him had driven him over the edge. His only weapon to carry was a sword and a shield. The two circled around, Riff raising his club first and slamming it into the ground, creating a shock wave. Hunter sprinted away but fell from the impact. He saw Riff jumping up, raising his club to slam it down, but Hunter dodged the club and used his sword to cut Riff's arm, causing him to wince.

"Ugh! Why you little-!" Riff shouted as he swung his club again while Hunter held his shield up, blocking the hit but it pushed him away. Riff drew a spell circle to shoot out a fire spell at him, but Hunter jumped away while Riff taunted. "You think you're so much more clever than us, do you, Blunter? Face it, you'll never be a scout! You're gonna die like the dog you are!" he shouted as he charged again, only for Hunter to have one trick up his sleeve.

He sprinted back as Riff slammed the club again, but then he ran up the club and kicked Riff's mask's off. The scout was taken aback while he saw Hunter jump back to the ground. Riff used construction magic to make pillar blocks to hit him, but Hunter ducked as he grabbed the snow and threw it in front of Riff's face.

"YAAH!" Riff shouted as he felt his eyesight go blind. As he wiped his face, he didn't see Hunter was behind him with his sword.

STAB!

Riff's eyes widened, when he looked down he saw the sword had pierced through his chest. Blood fell from his mouth and he looked behind to see Hunter being the one who had performed the kill. "You… little…" Riff said before Hunter drew back the sword, Riff rolling his eyes up as he fell down to the ground.

Hunter stood over at the body, glaring down at him. He had promised himself that he would do whatever it took to get ahead. "Whatever it takes," he said while his hands shook. His eyes shut while he turned away and started to head down the Knee.

That was when Lilith decided to leave.

She was shivering. No child should be put through scout training at such a young age. How old had Hunter been? Thirteen? Fourteen? Why didn't she know about this? Why was this acceptable?

"Does this seem familiar to you at all?"

Lilith gasped, recognizing that familiar voice. She turned around. "You!"

The Inner Demon smiled. "Hello, Lilith… it's been a while."

Somewhere in Bonesborough, a shady looking man was coming out of the alleyway when he heard a thump. He turned around and was immediately pinned to the wall by Harpy Eda.

"I have some questions that I think you should answer now," she said while filing her claws.

A crow flew over as a runaway criminal tried to flee only to be grabbed by a vine. He was lifted up, as Crowbar, Minos, and Florella stood in front of him.

"Tell us where the Tarot Guild is!" Florella demanded.

"Or we'll beat it out on you." Minos punched his own fist.

"I-I don't know anything!" the crook claimed.

A crook launched his fist at Wonder Witch who dodged it as she tripped him over. Another tried to grab her, only for Ghostina to phase through him, causing him to shiver. The girls saw one crook getting away. Wonder Witch threw out some bolos to trap the runaway crook.

"Please! I-I don't know anything!" the crook claimed.

"You're gonna tell us everything you know about this Boss of yours," Wonder Witch told him.

Inside a tavern, Eda kicked the door open and marched in, getting everyone's attention.

"Alright, you grizzled creeps, tramps, and thieves, I'm looking for anyone who knows some information about this… Tarot Guild!" Eda said while looking around. "Either you just give in and fess up, or I can make it hard for each of you. I can smell the fear from one of you." She then glanced at someone rushing out the exit, only to be backed away and pinned to the table by the Parks.

"Gah! Who… who are you?!" the witch asked.

"Call us the Stinger and the Buzz," Sully as the Stinger said.

"Now you're going to give us information unless you want your skull to be smashed!" Gilbert as the Buzz told the witch.

"Wait, I thought I was doing bad cop?" Stinger asked his husband.

"No, I said I would be doing bad cop," Buzz replied.

"I was pretty sure we agreed that I would be bad cop-"

"O-Okay, okay, let's start over."

The two glared at the witch as Stinger spoke up. "Alright, you better tell us what you know or else you get stung," Stinger said while Buzz looked at him.

"Okay, maybe I should be the bad cop," Buzz said.

"But I thought I was doing good!" Stinger replied.

"No offense, but I think you're not as good at being a bad cop as you think you are." Buzz told his husband.

"Well how are we going to interrogate this guy if we can't agree who is the bad cop?" Stinger asked while Eda cleared her throat to get their attention.

"I have… a solution."

"AAAAAAHHH!"

Eda in her harpy form flew above Bonesborough while holding the witch in her talons.

"Put me down! I don't want to die!" he begged.

"Oh I will spare you, if you tell me where I can find the Tarot Guild!" Eda demanded. "Tell me or I'll consider letting you sleep with the fishes..."

The witch gulped as he looked down, not wanting to end up in the Boiling Seas. "Alright! I'll tell you! I don't know where the base is! I haven't even met the Boss in person! But I did hear his name once! He goes by Grimhammer!"

"Grimhammer?" Harpy Eda raised her eyebrow. "I've heard of that name before…"

"What are you doing here?!" Lilith demanded to know, glaring at the Inner Demon.

The Inner Demon laughed. "Isn't it obvious, Lilith? I've found another perfect prey, and it happens to be this little soldier boy. So much guilt, so much pain, especially in someone so young… it's delicious…"

"Leave his mind now!" Lilith demanded, which amused him?

"Or what? You'll make me?" he asked her with a sickening grin. "You've already lost your magic, and this isn't your mind! You are as much of an intruder as I am, so don't think this will go down like last time!" He had an idea. "Say… have you heard about the visions the boy sees?"

"REEEEEEEE!"

Lilith's eyes widened when she saw something coming from the dark corners of the hall.

"What is that!?" Lilith exclaimed, backing away from the winged mechanical creature.

"Hunter's worst nightmare!" the Inner Demon said as he turned to the mechanical creature. "Kill her!" He pointed to Lilith and the mechanical creature screeched as it chased after her.

Lilith ran as quickly as she could through the corridors of the castle while the winged-creature chased after her. It tried to grab her, but she dodged as it slashed the wall. She brought out a glyph card, trying to create a wall of ice between her and the creature. The winged creature uses its wings to slice through the ice wall, but it did buy her a few moments as she turned a corner and ducked through a doorway.

Lilith shut the door behind her, breathing heavily. She looked around, finding herself in another memory of Hunter's.

"Head Witch Lilith!"

Lilith paused, turning around to see the young Hunter again. This time in his Golden Guard uniform and mask. "Uh… hello, are you the Inner-" Lilith spoke but then Past Hunter walked right through her, causing Lilith to turn around to see her past self.

"Head Witch Lilith!" Hunter said to get past Lilith's attention, who just shut her eyes with a sigh.

"What is it?" past Lilith asked coldly, looking down at the boy.

Lilith winced upon seeing her past self like this as Hunter responded. "Um, it's uh, a huge honor to finally m-meet you. I-I've heard so much about your exploits… and I just recently became the new Golden Guard and… well, I can't wait to work alongside you!"

"Oh yes, you must be the new Golden Guard, isn't it? Belo's little prodigy boy," past Lilith said in a cold tone. "You think you're something special since you were recruited at a young age and promoted to Golden Guard for whatever reason?"

The then Golden Guard looked down sheepishly. "Um…. Belos said-"

"He may have picked you to be the next Golden Guard, but as far as I am concerned, you are not worthy to hold that mantle," past Lilith told him. "Besides, you're too young for this, I don't know how you convinced the Emperor but know this… I do not take orders from you. There is only one Head Witch of the Emperor's Coven, and that's me. So don't get any ideas and watch your back." She flicked his mask before walking past him, giving her usual cold look. "You're only useful as being some witchling's poster on the wall."

"But… I'm the Emperor's right-hand…" he said while the past Lilith just turned to him.

"Yes… but you can be replaced," she told him, which made the present Lilith wince.

"I never realized that I was this… cold," Lilith said while taking her glasses off, looking at her own past self. Cold, demeaning, cynical… it was just like seeing Vina again.

"Is this it?" Stinger asked Eda, who had found the address of Tibbles's home.

"Yeah," Eda responded while turning to LOWTH. "I'll handle this, you guys stay put until I need you."

She flew up to the house and knocked on the door. Opening it was a beautiful woman with long red hair, tanned skin with her pointy ears sticking out, and blue eyes with red lips. She wore a very fitting white top with black fitting jersey pants and heels. She looked like a supermodel. "Can I help you?" she asked her.

"Uh, yeah, I'm looking for someone named Tibbles," Eda responded.

"Who is it, Jeanie?" spoke up Tibbles as he walked in from the living room. "Don't tell me it's one of those witch scouts again-" He saw Eda and his eyes widened as she barged into the house. "What… OWL LADY!?" he cried as he tried to run, but Eda quickly pinned him down.

"What the hell!?" Jeanie cried out as she saw Eda raising Tibbles up.

"WHERE'S BO!?" Eda told him darkly, having changed into Harpy Eda.

"I-I-I don't know who you are talking about!" Tibbles cried out, begging for Eda to release him.

"YOU BETTER TELL ME OR ELSE YOU'RE CUT CHOICES!" Eda threatened while Jeanie tries to stop her.

"Stop it! Let go of him!" Jeanie cried out, hitting Eda.

"WHERE IS SHE, GRIMHAMMER!?" Eda demanded. "TELL ME WHERE THE TAROT GUILD IS KEEPING HER!?"

"I don't know! I don't go by that name anymore!" Tibbles cried out.

"It's true, he isn't Grimhammer!" Jeanie shouted as she used her magic to push Eda aside, separating her from Tibbles. She turned to him, kneeling down. "My poor, Tibby, are you alright?"

"J-Just fine, my Jeanie," Tibbles said as Jeanie helped him up.

Harpy Eda recovered. "What do you mean you're not Grimhammer?"

"Just tell her, Tibby," Jeanie told him while Tibbles adjusted his glasses.

"As I was saying, I don't go by that alias anymore, nor am I the only Grimhammer around the Isles," Tibbles revealed.

"Wait, you're not the only Grimhammer?" Eda asked him.

"Uh, hello? Trembly Grimmhammer III should be a dead giveaway," Tibbles said. "I was named after my dad, though we're both not on good terms, even more so lately."

Eda raised her eyebrow. "What exactly does your father do?" she asked while noticing a pile of books. "And what's with the books?"

Tibbles glanced at the Azura books. "Those aren't important, just part of some business scheme I have on the side," he told her. "But as for the first question, my dad is a capitalist like me. Everyone in the family is, including two of my late brothers."

"You had brothers?" Eda questioned.

"Real estate tragedy," Jeanie mentioned. "Turns out, straws and wood don't really make good housing."

"Anywho," Tibbles continued. "My father started out with a stand, the same stand that has been in my family for generations. Though apparently a certain Clawthorne once almost burned it down." He turned to Eda, who looked sheepish. "However, he went on to invest in bigger businesses, while I was put in charge of the family stand until it got destroyed! After that, I had to take odd job after odd job, scam after scam… not like my father cared. He was always too busy with his golden child, Emily Tricks!"

"Emily…" Eda realized.

"Yes, my dad had big plans for her… but we all know how that turned out. Lately my dad has been getting into the trafficking business. He trafficks weapons, illegal potions, pixie dust… witches…" He paused for a moment, looking up at Eda with sincerity. "For the record, I am not involved in this. I may be a capitalist con man, but even I know that this is bad business! I tried to convince my father this won't end well, but he threatened my life if I spill the beans to the Coven Scout Precinct. He has made some powerful friends as he moved up in the world."

"The Tarot Guild," Eda realized and Tibbles nodded. "So if I find your daddy, he can lead me to Bo and other missing people. Where do I find him?"

"At his main place of business," Tibbles said with a shadow over him under a light. "A place where the biggest scum of the Isles go to if they ever need anything. A store that has been driving out the smaller businesses… the Scal-Mart."

At Hexside, a trio of students was in an empty classroom, checking the hallway.

"This isn't going to be easy," Luz said while turning to Matt and Skara. "Faust has installed motion sensors to make sure no one skips school, and all the hall monitors are on alert. But this is an emergency."

Skara looked down. "I'll provide a distraction," she volunteered. "Keep them busy so when you set off the sensors, they'll be too focused on me to pursue you."

Luz looked at Skara in concern. "Are you sure, Ska? I mean, are you okay or…?"

"Just go help find Bo." Skara told her as her fists tightened and a tear fell down her face.

"I've already sent out illusions of us to our classrooms," Matt explained. "Of course, I don't know how to make an invisibility spell."

"Already got you covered," Luz said as she held up her invisibility glyph cards. "Just hold your breath when we sneak out. Everyone ready?"

They all nodded before Skara entered the hall. "Hey! Over here!" she shouted as she started to run. "Don't stop me now! Having such a good time! Just give me a call!" she sang lousy, drawing attention to her.

"Trouble!" the hall monitors cried out, spotting Skara running around singing while using her magic to zap the lockers to sing along.

"Don't stop me! Don't stop me! Don't stop me! Hey-hey-hey!" Skara and the lockers sang while the hall monitors chased after her.

The invisible Luz and Matt successfully snuck out of the school through the window, Luz picking up Matt and flying away. They hear the music playing throughout the school as they left.

"Fitting choice, Skara, fitting choice!" Luz commented.

"Come on, I know who might be able to talk!" Matt told her.

In the Abominations Track, the students were talking amongst themselves while Snope was asleep on his desk. He was not even awoken by what was happening outside of the classroom.

Lilith had left the memory she was in, but the sound of the mechanical-creature reached her ears. She ran away through the corridors.

She found herself at a fork in the hallway as she heard the screech again. She made a left turn, but then she bumped into someone.

"Sorry, I-" Lilith said before she realized she was talking to someone. Another person in Hunter's mind. "Wait a minute… who are you?" she asked, while standing back up. She had never seen this witch before.

Snope turned around. "I should be asking that… are you also a dream walker?"

"Not exactly," Lilith told him. "Who are you and why are you here? Do you work for the Inner Demon!?"

Snope scoffed angrily. "I have no desire to work with that monster!" he snapped before calming herself down. "But I guess I do owe an explanation. My name is Professor Sheldon Snope and I am here to stop the Inner Demon."

"How on Titan did you get here?" Lilith asked as Snope brought out a medallion from underneath his shirt. It resembled a dream-catcher.

"The Dream Compass," Snope explained. "It allows me to travel through dreams anytime I sleep. I'm not here physically, since my body is still where I left it. I got this thing from a guy named Vanz Ator. With it I tracked the Inner Demon to here."

"I saw the Inner Demon just now," Lilith told him. "He sent out a winged creature after me and it's currently in pursuit."

"Sounds like a nightmare, when the mind weakens, nightmares and dreams can seep into the mindscape as reality and the imaginary become blurred, something the Inner Demon has used to his advantage," Snope indicated. "Stuff like this is why I always have my Abomination ready to wake me up when I am in danger. Why are you here?"

"I came here to save Hunter," Lilith said while looking down. "He's been comatose for almost a week now, and… I don't know how much time he has left."

"A week without waking him up makes him much more vulnerable," Snope told her..

"That's why we need to find the Inner Hunter before it's too late." Lilith replied. "Do you know where I can find the Inner Hunter?"

Snope stroked his chin. "When someone is in a comatose state, the Inner-Self may retreat to a memory that they find comfortable. A warm memory, or a 'happy place' of some kind. Somewhere in the mind is a safe space for the Inner-Hunter to go to."

"Then that's where we'll find him," Lilith said as she and Snope walked through the hallways. "Maybe it is one of his memories of his uncle."

Snope looked around, spotting a picture frame of Hunter with Belos. "Could this be it?"

"Perhaps," Lilith considered as they went inside, seeing a younger Hunter with Belos, who was aching in agony.

"Uncle, is it happening again?" Hunter asked him.

"Please… go…" Belos said in agony.

Hunter grabbed a dead Palisman "Here, is this what you need?" he asked, holding up the dead Palisman.

"I… said… GO!" Belos grew into his monstrous form, swinging his hand that turned into a sickle as he struck Hunter.

The sound of Hunter's cries caused Lilith to gasp while Snope shut his eyes, pulling her out of the memory. Lilith had to take a breather.

"I… I can't believe… oh dear Titan…" Lilith was shivering. "If I had known, I… he's not safe with Belos…"

Snope just sighed. "It's never easy traveling through these kinds of memories…"

Eda, the Parks and LOWTH stood in the parking lot of the mega-stand store, the Scal-Mart.

"This is it," Eda said while bringing out her daggers.

"Who knew that the Scal-Mart was a criminal front the entire time?" Buzz commented.

"I knew their fair prices were too good to be true," Minos said as they marched forward.

An employee at the entrance meant to welcome the customers saw the costumed heroes approaching. "Oh shit!" he said while rushing back in and grabbing the intercom. "Attention all associates! We are now under Code: Climax-Delta One! I repeat, we're under a Code: Climax-Delta One! This store is now closed!"

Walking through the store were associate workers passing by the confused shoppers. They each brought out weapons from the weapons aisles, toy weapons from the toy aisles, some from the garden aisle summoned plant monsters.

As Eda and the vigilante gang entered the store, they saw the store employees coming toward them. "Are any of you Tarot Guild members?" Wonder Witch asked as she summoned her keyblade.

"Show us where your boss is, and we'll make it easy on you," Eda said while holding her daggers. "Or don't and see how well that goes for you."

"YAAH!" one employee yelled as he charged, but Eda just threw her dagger between his eyes, making him fall. Eda, the Parks. and LOWTH then charged forward.

Minos delivered a kick towards one employee, sending them crashing into a stack of soda brew. Florella summoned large vines to topple two employees while one employee tried to hit her, only to be possessed by Ghostina, who had him attack his own co-workers.

One Tarot Guild employee saw this and drew his weapon to strike at them. But Ghostina left the body just as the employee killed his co-worker and she used her magic to freeze the murderous employee.

A murder of crows managed to grab one employee and throw him down an aisle. The Parks fought together, Buzz grabbed hold of one employee and opened a fridge to hit their head with the door. Stinger knocked one employee into the clothing aisles, There, but then the clothes came to life due to one employee's magic, trapping Stinger. However, that employee was intercepted by Florella.

"No wonder the cashmere is cheap here," Florella said while throwing the employee with her vines. "This place has no class."

Wonder Witch jumped up and slammed her keyblade down, creating a shockwave of light that toppled several employees. She then felt an abominable substance grab her as she was thrown across the floor. She got up and turned to see Abominations coming torwards her, controlled by one employee.

"How do you like the Abomi-Beat'Em Ups!" the employee declared while controlling them. "Brought to you by Blight Industries!"

Wonder Witch dodged the fists of the Abomi-Beat-Em Ups and used her keyblade to slice through their arms. Harpy Eda flew above her to snatch the employee controlling the Abominations and she dropped them off at the pet aisle, in a fish tank.

The employee looked around and saw that he was surrounded by carnivorous fish. They all went to maul him as he screamed, the fish tank being labeled: 'Flesh-Terranas! Don't poke your fingers in their tank!'

"Thanks!" Wonder Witch told Harpy Eda.

"Anytime, kiddo!" Eda gave a thumbs up to her, while several toy staffs flying toward her.

She flew back as the toy staffs chased after her, but they were intercepted by some crows. She looked down to see Crowbar. "Nice save, nephew!"

"Anytime, auntie!" Crowbar said while swinging his arm up to knock another employee down.

Harpy Eda kicked the door of the break room in, spotting two employees beginning to stand up before she grabbed them by their necks. "Where's Grimhammer?"

"I… I don't know-ACK!" one of them tried to deny.

"He's downstairs, there is an elevator in the back of the store that you can use to get to him," the other revealed.

"Good boys." she said while throwing the employees into a wall. She got onto an intercom. "Attention LOWTH, we're heading to the back of the store!"

Crowbar turned to the rest of his gang. "Looks like we found them!" he said while kicking another employee down.

"Wait up!" Ghostina shouted as she and Florella followed them while tangling up the other employees with the plants.

Wonder Witch kicked another employee while hitting one with her keyblade. Minos punched out another while creating a pillar to smash some employees into the ceiling. "These guys are first level too easy."

"Yeah," Wonder Witch agreed while the Parks ran up to meet up. "But something tells me the next part won't be so easy."

Seeing several employees coming toward her, Harpy Eda brought out a staff she had brought with her and pressed a button, bringing out two blades on either end. She twirled the staff around and stabbed one end of the staff into the ground, using the staff as a pull to swing herself around while using her talon feet to slice their necks open. After she ended, she pulled the staff out of the ground and began to use its sharp ends to stab through several employees while using her wings to knock others out. She basically cleared a path for the others, leaving many dead employees in her wake.

The others were shocked by the body count Eda had managed. "Good Titan, Eda… where'd you learn to do that!?" Stinger asked her.

"Whatever brings food on the table," Eda replied nonchalantly before throwing a dagger at another attacker.

Florella looked at all the piles of dead bodies. "Are all Clawthornes this morbid?" she asked.

"Only the fun ones," Crowbar told her.

"I think I'm going to be sick…" Minos said while looking nauseous.

"Come on, we don't have all day," Eda said as she led them to the back of the Scal-Mart, where an elevator was. "Our next stop is the Boss."

Flying down to Latissa, Luz and Mattholomule looked over the glowing boil ridden town.

"You said you know someone around here that could give us some answers," Luz said while looking around.

"Yeah," Matt responded. "This place was a popular hangout for Glandus High students after school, due to the school being close to this town. Even though Glandus is shut down, we should still be able-"

He stopped and Luz saw why. Two familiar Glandus students were walking nearby. They also noticed Luz and Matt.

"Luz? Mattholomule?" Gavin asked.

"Gavin? Angmar?" Luz said as well.

"What are you two doing here?" Angmar asked.

"Getting answers!" Mattholomule declared as he drew a spell circle, stone pillars springing up to attack the two.

"What the hell!?" Gavin summoned his Abomination to block the attack. He and Angmar tried to run away but Mattholomule stomped on the ground, constructing a wall to block their path. They turned in time for Matt to shove them against the wall, giving them a glare.

"WHERE'S BO!?" Matt demanded to know.

"W-We don't know!" Angmar pleaded.

Luz was shocked by this. "Hey, Matt, maybe you should-"

A block from the wall came out to Mattholomule away from the two teens. Flying down on her staff, Ukla jumped down and got in between them. "Leave my friends alone!" she shouted while holding her staff.

"Back off!" Matt said after getting up, stomping on the ground to summon more stones from the ground, launching them at her.

Ukla created a wall to block the attack and then used her staff to launch herself toward Matt, aiming to punch him. He ducked under her and summoned spikes that popped out of the ground. Ukla dodged the spikes while glaring at Matt.

"You wanna fight, jerk!" Ukla declared as she swung her glowing staff, launching a brick at Matt. He created a wall to block the attack but Ukla charged in to kick the wall over. But she didn't see Matt, who summoned bricks and sent them flying towards her. Ukla summoned hammers to hit each brick before they hit her,

"Hey, watch it!" Luz shouted as she dodged some spare bricks.

Matt used some large stones to levitate himself up while Ukla created a stone serpent that she rode on top of as it launched itself towards him. It shot out rocks out from its jaw, which Matt dodged. When he saw one coming at him, his hand reached out… and he turned that rock into dust.

This shocked everyone as Matt jumped on the rock serpent's head and tackled Ukla while turning the rock serpent into sand.

Luz had seen enough, using a plant glyph card to restrain Matt, pulling him off of Ukla.

"Let me go!" he shouted in anger, kicking around.

"Matt, what the hell!?" Luz demanded. "What were you thinking!?"

"Those guys threatened Bo, Luz!" Matt pointed out as Angmar and Gavin ran up. "They along with Bria threatened her if I didn't go along with their plan to use Gus to get to you, so they know what happened to her!"

Luz turned to them and Gavin held up his hands defensively. "We don't know what happened to Bo, honest!"

"Y-Yeah! It's true that we along with Bria did threaten to hurt her, but it was never our intention to kidnap or kill her!" Angmar insisted. "We're sorry for the threat, but you have to believe us, Matt!"

"So you don't know where Bo is?" Matt asked while the former Glandus students shook their heads. After Luz released him, an upset Matt ran off.

"Matt!" Luz shouted as she chased after him. She found him crouching down against a wall. "Hey… are you alright, man?" she asked him.

"No," Matt responded, tears falling from his eyes. "It's… it's all my fault that Bo got kidnapped."

"Hey, no one's blaming you for this," Luz reassured him.

"But it is my fault," Matt responded. "I'm the reason that she was kidnapped, because I let her be friends with me. I knew that betraying Glandus would not go without consequences, that they would come for me and the people I cared about… and I was right. Maybe I'm the reason Gus disappeared as well…" He looked up at her. "How are you even remotely okay? Your girlfriend and two of your best friends have been missing for almost a week! How can you function, not knowing whether they are even alive?"

"Well, the thing is…" Luz sighed. "Sorry, Matt. I really should have told you this earlier since you are friends with Gus. But the truth is… I know where Amity, Gus, and Willow are."

Matt looked at her in confusion. "What? B-but how?"

"Long story," Luz told him. "But I know they are alive and in the Human Realm. That gives me hope and keeps me going until I find a way to reach them."

"And how long have you known this?!" Matt asked in shock. "Who else knows? Everyone else has been worried sick and you've been-"

"I know," Luz said while looking down. "And I know this looks bad. Once again, I'm sorry for not telling you, Matt. Only my family, Willow's dads, Amity's mom, and some of my closest friends, which includes Bo, knows. We thought that the less people know the better, because if Belos learns that Amity, Gus, and Willow were sent to the Human Realm, he would want to know how and that would be dangerous." She sat down beside him and patted his arm. "But I do think it's going to be okay."

"How?" Matt asked her. "How could it be okay?"

"Whoever this Boss is, he made a mistake in kidnapping Bo," Luz told him. "Bo is my friend and to an extent an ally of the Owl Lady's family. And anyone who messes with the Owls' friends… signs their own death warrant. I know that my mom is out there right now, doing everything in her power to track down Bo and bring her home. She'll find her."

Matt was silent for a long time, trying to decide whether he should be mad or not. "That's… good," he finally responded, wiping his own face. "And… thanks, Luz."

"You're welcome, Matt," Luz told him as the two sat together in silence.

Lilith and Snope continued their search for the Inner-Hunter and his 'happy place', checking each memory door but having no luck.

"He's not in there," Lilith said while Snope came out.

"This boy has a lot of baggage," Snope commented. "Like even for a teenager…"

Lilith looked down. "This was wrong, very wrong of Belos. Could Hunter even have a happy place after everything that we've seen? I wish I had paid more attention back then, I would have been able to see the danger signs. But back then I was too focused on myself and my own ambitions. I saw Hunter as someone to be overcome, not someone to be helped…"

"Aw, how sweet."

The two were startled as they heard the Inner Demon's voice. "Show yourself, you monster!" Lilith demands while holding a glyph card.

"As you wish," the Inner Demon said as he revealed himself and nodded to the two. "Lilith… Shelley…"

"It's Sheldon," Sheldon said while narrowing his eyes at the demon.

"Aw yes, cause Shelley's too much of a touchy subject, isn't it?" he asked while walking around them, summoning an image of Sheldon's past life. "I still remember you were just a shy little girl, before your little transition and before your cowardice cost your friends their lives…"

The sound of Sheldon's friends screaming could be heard, making Sheldon tense up. "I will not fail them now!" he snapped.

"Sure you won't," The Inner Demon told him mockingly while turning to Lilith. "And you… so much has happened since we've last spoken. Tell me, how is Camila? Or how about Odalia? Having feelings for a married woman, shame on you…"

"Your games won't work on me, demon," Lilith told him. "We've done this before and you lost then. This time will be no different."

"That is true," the Inner Demon admitted. "Alas, I can't break you. I can only buy time…"

"EEAAAAHHH!"

Both Lilith and Snope heard the screech of the winged creature. They turned to see that it had found them. When they looked back at the Inner Demon, he had disappeared.

Lilith brought out a lightning glyph to strike at the creature, while Snope summoned abomi-weapons. "Go find Hunter!"

"What about you?!" Lilith asked him.

"I'll be fine, just go!" Snope told her as Lilith reluctantly did so, Snope slashing at the creature. It roared again as it raised its claws at Snope, who blocked it with a summoned shield.

He jumped around the creature and as it turned to chase after him, Snope shot abomi-goo at it, causing it to be blind. This gave Snope the opportunity to summon more Abomination goo from his hand, which he used to swat the creature, hitting it down. But the creature got back up, roaring while pulling the abomi-goo off of it. It then began to fire lasers at Snope, who dodged them by sliding through the hall. But the creature was in hot pursuit of him, managing to fly over him and block his path.

Snope rose up, using his goo to send out another attack but the creature easily blocked it before grabbing Snope and pinning him to the wall. Snope grunted as the creature pulled its other arm back, a blade popping out of it. But as it attempted to penetrate Snope with the blade, the witch disappeared before he was killed, leaving the creature to give a confused and pissed shriek.

Snope gasped as his Abomination woke him up. "Lilith," he said while finding himself in an empty classroom.

Underneath the Scal-Mart was where the Tarot Guild's headquarters resides. Grimhammer saw the fight going on above with his crystal ball monitors and he slammed his fist on his arm chair.

"Those blasted fools, they'll ruin everything!" he complained. "How the hell did they figure out where we were?! Who squealed!?" He calmed down while noticing Eda in the monitors. "No matter," he said as he held up his mic. "Intruders are breaching the headquarters! Kill them all!"

"As you wish, sir," Sonya responded when she heard the order, tapping a button on a panel.

Eda and her group had managed to find themselves in the underlevels of the Tarot Guild base. Eda used a light glyph so they could see around the dark halls. She then heard a growling noise. "Oh crap…"

"What?" Wonder Witch asked before something jumped over them. It was a large beast that resembled a badger with a large trunk, baring claws and teeth.

"Badgersnouts!" Crowbar shouted. "Careful, they're blind but they can still smell you!"

"It is not just that we have to worry about!" Minos pointed out as other beasts came out, surrounding the heroes.

"Welcome to the beast pens," said Lupe, who jumped down and landed in front of the heroes. "My, my, what do we have here? A bunch of meddling kids and some grown ups that think they could play hero…"

"We're not afraid of you or your beasts!" Wonder Witch declared, holding her keyblade up. "Where are you holding the witches you've abducted?"

Lupe smirked. "Maybe you will find out soon enough, little lady," he said while the beasts charged at the heroes.

Buzz formed a wall while Stinger shot out seed bullets at some of the beasts. Minos ended up wrestling against a winged puma creature while Ghostina phased herself through two beasts, causing them to collide with each other before they touched her. Florella brought out her large vines to restrain some of the beasts while Crowbar and Eda fought together, Crow using his beast-keeping magic to summon fire bees against some of the beasts while Harpy Eda grabbed a unicorn by the horn and swung it against a manticore. Wonder Witch used her keyblade to slash back against a bull beast and a loose dograptor as she dodged its bite. She then kicked back an incoming tiger-spider, using her keyblade to force it back.

She saw Lupe starting to head away. Donna decided to follow him, which Eda saw. "Hey, wait!" she shouted, but was tackled by a large turtle-lion.

But she didn't wait, Wonder Witch rushing after the criminal witch. "Come back here!" she shouted while running towards him. Lupe threw a kick towards her, but Wonder Witch stepped aside before he could hit her.

"Hmm, not bad," Lupe said with a grin. "But coming after me alone was a big mistake!"

"Well I couldn't just let you get away before you can answer my questions!" Wonder Witch said while drawing a spell circle, shooting out a flashing light spell to blind him. She jumped up and raised her keyblade to hit him, but Lupe blocked it with his arms.

"You got spunk," he commented while kicking her aside. She charged at him again while he moved and tripped her over. "But you're beneath me, kid."

Wonder Witch just glared at him. "Where are they!? Where are you keeping the missing witches!?"

"Hmm, not sure what to mean," he said, playing around. "But maybe I could remember if you offer something in return…"

"You are gross, you know that?" Donna declared, making Lupe laugh.

"Oh, you're such a cute little snack…"

This made Donna freeze up, stopping in her tracks. She didn't know why, but the way he said that word… it sent a shiver up her spine. And when she looked into his piercing red eyes, she found herself unable to move. She was helpless.

Lupe noticed this and he gave her a grin. "What's wrong? I thought you had some fight in ya?" he asked while walking towards Donna, who managed to back away in fear. "Don't you want to swing your key sword at me?" he asked while showing his sickening grin.

"I- I'm not a-fraid of you!" Donna told him.

"Then why are you shivering?" he asked as he got ready to pounce on her…

PUNCH!

But he was suddenly punched away by Harpy Eda, who had made her way to Donna. She turned around. "You okay?" she asked her.

"I d-don't know!" Donna replied while shivering.

Eda glared at Lupe. "Ugh, what kind of sick predator are you?"

Lupe laughed. "It's just business," he said while cracking his own neck. "Though killing you will be a pleasure."

"Like I haven't heard that before!" Eda shouted while throwing her fist at him, only for him to catch it. "Weh?"

Lupe chuckled and threw Harpy Eda into a wall. She crashed through. "I'm no ordinary witch if that's what you're thinking."

"Crap…" Harpy Eda cursed while getting up, bringing out a crossbow to shoot at him, but he dodged the bolt swiftly. She spread her wings to push back Lupe while going over to Donna. "Listen, you need to run!" she told her while Donna was still frozen. "Wonder Witch? Hello? Are you listening?"

"I… I can't…." Donna was hyperventilating, still frozen in fear. Her keyblade transformed back into a small key.

"I need to get you away from him." Eda whispered.

"And where's the fun in that?" Lupe demanded while grabbing Harpy Eda away from Donna, tackling her. She kicked him off of her and Lupe slid back while bringing out some chains. He lassoed the chains and they wrapped around her. He started pulling her closer to him, but she used an ice glyph to freeze the chains, breaking them as she kicked Lupe away.

She turned to Donna and tried going to her, but Lupe grabbed her again and put her in a chokehold while she was in her harpy form. She used her wings to twirl around in an attempt to get him off of him, but he wouldn't budge. So Eda bit his arm, while flying to a wall to get him off of her. She then dug out some throwing stars to throw at Lupe. He avoided most of them, but one of them did sink into his arm. However, he just pulled it out without even wincing.

"Is that all you got, Owl Lady?" Lupe asked with a confident smirk.

"Just watch for the explosions," Eda said with a smirk. Lupe took a closer look at the throwing star and noticed a fire glyph on it. Having accidentally touched him, he quickly threw it away as it exploded in his face.

Lupe was launched back but still stood as Harpy Eda went in to deliver a kick at him, but he grabbed her ankle and threw her to the floor. He grabbed her by the hair and bashed her to the floor a couple of times. Her wings knocked him off of her and Eda turned over to look back at Donna.

She was still shivering and unmoving. Lupe who noticed Donna as well and he smirked before rushing towards her.

"Oh no you don't!" Harpy Eda said as she used a plant glyph to entangle Lupe, throwing him back while she rushed towards Donna.

She picked her up in a hurry as Lupe freed himself from the vines.

She flew back to the others and saw that there were even more beasts in the area, the heroes struggling to hold them back.

"We need to take her out of here!" Eda told while the others saw Donna in her state.

"What happened to her?" Florella asked in worry.

"She froze up, think you can watch over her?" Eda asked while handing her to Florella.

"We're losing here, Eda!" Stinger told her while Buzz punched a few of the creatures with his brick fists.

"Don't know how much longer we can hold here!" Buzz said.

Ghostina used her oracle magic to summon spirits to fight off the beasts. But then she sensed something. "We need to fall back!"

"The exit's blocked!" Minos said while punching a six-armed demon bear.

"We still need to fall back! I'm sensing something worse coming…" Ghostina grimaced while Crowbar kicked a demonic kangaroo away from her.

"What could be worse than these guys?" Crowbar asked while looking tired. They then heard a hissing noise.

Everyone turned to see a large, slithering figure coming out of the shadows. It was a gray snake-like creature with elongated arms, scars all over its body, and black hair with red and olive spots. It had a collar that shocked them as it shrieked. The heroes recognized the creature as a large Basilisk that the Tarot Guild had somehow gotten their hands on.

"...Oh shit," Buzz cursed.

Lilith was running as she searched for Hunter's happy place. "Where is it?!" she asked before spotting one door that got her attention. The picture on the door showed Hunter meeting up with Darius.

She opened the door and slammed it shut behind her. She was in another memory, this one showing Hunter in his Golden Guard outfit running up to the previous Head Witch of the Abomination Coven, Darius Nightshade.

"Head Witch Darius!" Hunter called for him. Lilith noticed how Hunter seemed to brighten as he ran over to the older witch. "It's happened! My uncle has made me the new Golden Guard!"

"Really?" Darius asked, looking almost… sad. To Lilith, it was clear that he wasn't exactly thrilled by the news. But Hunter didn't even notice, he was too happy. And seeing how happy Hunter was, Darius faked a smile. "That's great, Little Prince! Though it's not going to be easy, are you sure you're up for such a position?"

Hunter looked at his staff and his newly given golden mask. "I'm sure. This is what I always wanted. To make my uncle proud, and maybe…" He stared at his mask again. "To make my father proud as well by being his worthy successor."

Darius knelt down and placed his hands on Hunter's shoulders, giving him a reassuring smile. "I am sure that your father would already be proud, if he was here to see the young man you've grown up to become. And… I'm proud of you as well, Hunter."

Lilith realized this was it. This was Hunter's happy place. She looked around and, sure enough, there was another Hunter watching the scene. A little Hunter, who had no scars yet and was hugging a stuffed animal. Lilith didn't rush over to him, instead she approached slowly.

"Are you… the Inner Hunter?" Lilith inquired. The little Hunter nodded in confirmation. "Is this… your happy place?"

"This… is the moment where I felt my happiest," the Inner Hunter confirmed. "Pride was radiating off of me, and everything just felt right…" He shut his eyes. "Before it all went wrong, before my dreams were dashed."

Lilith knelt down to his level, patting his hand. "I'm here for you, Hunter. I'm here to bring you back," she told him, but Inner Hunter pulled away from her.

"There's no reason for me to come back," he told her.

"But Hunter-"

"Luz hates me," the Inner Hunter told her. "Edric dumped me, Darius is gone… and I've let down my uncle, the person I looked up to the most." He stared at the ground. "I failed the people that were counting on me, and I hurt the people that I cared about and the people that they cared about!" Images of Luz, Edric, Darius, Belos, Amity, Gus, Willow, Boscha, and Gavin loomed over him, looking disappointed. "And I nearly killed you!" He turned to Lilith as a memory of her lying dead appeared over him. "I left you for dead like a coward! Because I can't help but betray everyone to help Belos… only to fail him anyway, leaving me with nothing to show for myself." As he finished, tears streamed from his eyes and memories replayed around them.

Lilith saw the memory of Hunter shooting her, the memory of Hunter betraying Luz, the memory of Edric punching him, and the memory of him betraying Amity.

"Amity was right," Hunter mentioned. "I can't stop doing these horrible things to my friends, even though I don't enjoy them! I can't help myself! I always have to choose the Emperor. But even then I find a way to make everyone unhappy!" He sniffed. "I don't deserve to be the Golden Guard… I don't deserve anything…"

"Right you are, my boy."

Lilith's eyes widened when she saw the Inner Demon appear before them. Instinctively she stepped in between the Inner Demon and his prey.

"You don't deserve anything, and you know why? Because you've done so many despicable things to everyone that gave you a chance, because you can't help but prioritize your selfishness, your own desire to feel special in the eyes of your uncle! You're just an opportunist, a little weasel that doesn't deserve a Palisman, doesn't deserve friends, and especially doesn't deserve your uncle's approval! You're better off not waking up, stay here rather than risk disappointing or hurting anyone else! Because that's all you deserve…"

"Leave him alone!" Lilith shouted as she ran in to punch the Inner Demon, only for her fist to fly through him.

"Nice try, though perhaps you will fare better against my friend over here!" he asked as the winged creature flew down, giving it a roar.

The Inner Hunter's eyes widened in fear. "N-No… not that thing!" He backs away, shivering.

Lilith attempted to protect the Inner Hunter by using a lightning glyph against the creature, but it was unfazed. She grabbed the Inner Hunter and ran out of the memory, back into the hallway. Yet the mechanical creature followed them and continued to chase her despite her efforts to slow it down with various glyph cards.

"Hunter, you have to wake up!" Lilith told him.

"I… I can't!" the Inner Hunter responded while Lilith used an ice glyph to fire ice shards at the creature. It had no effect and the creature continued to charge, managing to slice Lilith in the back with one of its blades.

"AAH!" Lilith cried out as she fell down, feeling blood run down her back.

"Lilith!" Inner Hunter cried out as the creature back-handed Lilith, sending her into a wall. "NO!"

In the Tarot Guild's base, Tarot Guild foot soldiers were heading to join the fight against Eda, the Parks and LOWTH. Leading them was Sonya, who wore a masquerade mask. Lupe caught up with her.

"Where have you been?" Lupe asked.

"Just gathering the troops," Sonya responded. "Tarot Troops, eliminate the intruders!"

Harpy Eda flew up to take on the Basilisk and keep it focused on her instead of the other witches, who had managed to deal with the last of the beasts. Harpy Eda was flying circles around the Basilisk and looking for openings when she noticed troops spilling into the room. "We got company!" she shouted.

"We know! We see them!" Buzz stomped on the floor, constructing a fist to knock the soldiers away from him and Stinger. Minos threw a hammer to topple several of the troopers, while Ghostina flew up and shot an ice blast to freeze some of them.

"How's she doing?" Crowbar asked, turning to Florella who was with Wonder Witch.

"Still out!" Florella said as she used her vines to knock some troopers away from her and Wonder Witch.

Crowbar decked one trooper from behind as another Tarot trooper who held a sword tried to hit him, but Crowbar dodged and it tore his sleeve instead as he grabbed a bar and hit the trooper with it. He saw more coming. "So many of them!"

"You're telling me," Stinger replied while bringing out a large cactus to hit some of the Tarot Guild members. "They're not making it easier for us!"

One Tarot trooper looked up to see Eda fighting off the Basilisk. They raised a crossbow and had the perfect opening… when a pair of gloved hands grabbed their head and snapped their neck, killing them. The Tarot trooper collapsed at the feet of the one that had killed them… private investigator Hardy Boils, who didn't look happy.

"I'm getting bloody too old for this shit," Boils said as he saw one trooper coming at him, but he blocked his attack and grabbed a weapon from them, kicking them down as another came at him. He swung the blunt weapon, a metal hammer, striking the trooper in the scalp hard enough to kill him. He then stomped on the head of the first trooper as more came toward him. "You wanna fight, you bleeding $%^#?!" he asked while holding up a metal hammer, swinging it to break one's jaw. Another came at him with a sword raised up, but Boils just stabbed him in the neck with the hammer. He grabbed the sword from the dead trooper and used it to slash through several more of them.

Ghostina noticed Boils attacking the troopers. "Who are you?"

"Name's Boils, kid," he introduced while stomping the head of another trooper to mince-meat "Most brutal, #%$ of a detective of the Oracle Coven." He threw his hammer and it soared over the head of Ghostina, killing another trooper who was about to attack her. "Watch your back."

Harpy Eda held the Basilisk by the neck as it tried to get her off of them. "Let me go!" the Basilisk cried out.

"Not if you are gonna go after my friends!" Eda declared while being slammed against the wall multiple times.

"Cut off the collar!" Boils told her.

"What?!" Eda asked him.

"The collar, that's what's controlling him!" Boils told her. "He isn't fighting you by choice! He's as much of a victim as anyone else here!"

Harpy Eda looked at Boils, then at the collar. She thought of Vee, the Basilisk that she and Luz helped send to Gravity Falls. Despite her better judgment, she let go of the Basilisk and used her talon to slice the collar off of him.

The Basilisk felt his neck while turning to Eda. "T-Thank you…" he said before glaring at the troopers, swinging his tail at them as they screamed.

Inside a large tulip, Donna was in a fetal position. Florella was in there trying to calm her down. "Donna, Donna! You have to get up!"

"I… I don't know if I can…" Donna responded, her mask removed.

"Snap out of it!" Florella removed her mask so she can talk to her as Veronica Rex. "Donna, you can't freeze up like this! You're our leader, you started this team to help people and find the missing witches! Just think about what you're fighting for!"

"But… I just froze up… what if I freeze again?" Donna asked while in tears.

"Then we'll be here by your side, just like before," Veronica said while offering her hand. "That's what LOWTH is about, helping each other…"

Donna thought back to when Tina was first mugged and how they consoled her. It was Donna who suggested that they should form a team of their own to deal with the muggings and kidnappings. She wouldn't have made it possible without her friends and their support. They were good for her, as she was for them.

She grabbed Veronica's hand and stood back up while putting her own mask back on. "Come on, they're counting on us."

Florella nodded as she put her mask back on, both of them leaving the large flower to rejoin the battle. Wonder Witch's key turned back into a keyblade as she charged in to take down the troopers, while Florella used large vines and plants against them. Donna spun her keyblade around, knocking aside many of the troopers.

The Basilisk grabbed a couple of troopers to drain their magic before throwing them at a few others. Crowbar turned into dozens of crows to claw the trooper's faces before forming back to his basic form and using his beast-keeping magic to command the beasts that had been attacking them minutes earlier to rise up against the Tarot Guild troopers and maul them.

The troopers with weapons tried to get the heroes, but they were intercepted by large walls summoned by both Buzz and Minos using their construction magic. Ghostina and Harpy Eda worked together with ice spells and ice glyphs, freezing them in place. Stinger saw more troopers coming at him and he summoned red flowers that gave off red pollen, causing the troopers to puff out due to allergic reactions. Boils went behind two troopers and smashed their skulls together with his fists.

Harpy Eda flew around with fire glyphs, literally raining fire down on the Tarot Guild while Wonder Witch covered her.

"Fuck, we're losing!" Lupe told Sonya, who ran off. "Where are you going?!"

"I'm done here," Sonya responded as she marched away. "Go take care of Grimhammer…"

Lupe smirked before marching away.

"Come on, let's move!" Wonder Witch said while finishing off some of remaining troopers. The heroes rushed in the directions of the underlevels where Sonya had run off to.

"I'll stay behind!" the Basilisk declared while taking on the remaining troopers.

Lilith laid on the ground, her back bleeding from the scratch while her head was bleeding from the hit on the wall. As the winged creature slowly approached her, she was seemingly muttering to herself.

The Inner Demon grinned. "Well, well, well, look at how the mighty Lilith has fallen!" he boasted. "Did you think saving that boy would give you some kind of redemption? That you would be able to make up for your own sins to save him? You're all alone, Lily! Nobody will come to save you!"

Lilith groaned. "I'm… not alone…" she said as she started to get up. "I just have to ask for help."

"Ask for whose help?" he asked, but she didn't give an answer. "Doesn't matter, I got places to be, so just… die!"

He gestured for the creature to draw its blade towards Lilith while the Clawthorne woman shut her eyes. The blade was thrusted down towards her… only for a talon to catch it.

"WHAT!?" the Inner Demon shouted in shock..

The blade was pushed back by Lilith, though she looked differently. Her hair had grown longer. Her clothes were mostly feathered with a brown feathered shoulder-guard, her arms now green with pale talon hands. She had a feathered split skirt with her gray hind legs and brown talon feet. She had large, black raven wings spread out behind her, while her pure dark eyes with teal pupils glared at the creature.

This was Harpy Lilith.

"I may not have magic," Harpy Lilith declared. "But I do have a curse!"

She launched herself forward and punched the creature in the jaw, launching it back. The creature recovered quickly and swiped its claws at her, which she dodged by flying up. The creature flew after her, but Lilith quickly flew behind the creature and kicked in the back, causing it to crash into the wall. The creature roared at her as it spread out its wings to send out blades at her, which she flew around to avoid.

When she reached the ground, the mechanical monstrosity landed on top of her, using its owned talon feet to shove her down to the ground. She placed an ice glyph under the creature's foot, piercing it through with an ice shard. The creature screeched in pain while Harpy Lilith shoved its leg aside in order to free herself.

Using more of her glyph cards, she shot out thorny vines at the creature, piercing its body and wings. The wounded creature flew at her, trying to slice her with its wing. But Harpy Lilith dodged swiftly, causing the creature to hit a part of the castle's pillar.

Harpy Lilith proceeded to jump on its back and place some fire glyphs there, touching them before she jumped off. And explosion went off on the creature's back, but it quickly got back up and tried to go for her again.

"Hunter, I need your help!" Harpy Lilith told him.

"But… I can't fight back…" Inner Hunter responded fearfully while backing away from the battle. "And I don't deserve anything…"

Lilith looked at Hunter, distracting her long enough to be hit by projectiles launched from the creature. She fell back to the ground, but managed to pick herself up.

"Yeah… maybe you don't deserve anything," Harpy Lilith pointed out. "But this isn't about what you deserve." She used a plant glyph against the creature, thorns wrapping around one of its arms but it quickly tore its way free. "I have a family that loves me… and maybe I don't deserve to have that, especially after what I've done to hurt them! Especially… to Luz and her birth mother…"

Inner Hunter looked up to Lilith. "What…?"

"I was the one who killed Camila." Lilith admitted while trying to fly away from the creature. "I was so desperate to find my sister that it resulted in tracking her down to the Human Realm, only to accidentally kill Luz's birth mother…"

"Does Luz know?!" he questioned her.

"Yes," Lilith confirmed. "But despite this, she still wants me in her life. She knows what I did, but yet she still loves me, something that I don't honestly feel like I deserve." She dodged the bladed wings of the creature while tapping on some lightning glyphs. "But since I'm able to, I'm going to do everything I can to try to help them and everyone else that I've wrongfully hurt!" she declared while managing to use her talons to slice one wing from the creature's back, causing it to fall to the ground. "Because it wasn't too late for me to do the right thing, and it's not too late for you either! Especially since you're still a kid while I'm an adult with a lifetime of mistakes!"

The Inner Hunter looked at Harpy Lilith, who was fighting this creature to protect him. Then he saw a vision of Flapjack flying towards him. He raised his hand for the vision of Flapjack to land on. "There's… still people that care about me, even if I don't think that I deserve it," he said while looking at Flapjack ."People like Flapjack… or Gavin…" He looked up to Lilith. "Or even you, someone who I literally almost killed. But… here you are, risking your life to save a sad brat like me." He looked back to Flapjack, who changed into a staff for him to hold. The Inner Hunter grew to his older self.

A golden light shone around him as he took the form of his favorite hero: Captain Coven. "By the Will of the Titan, I, Captain Hunter, shall vanquish this intruder from my mind!" he declared while raising his staff.

"What the fuck is up with you children with these kinds of stupid getup!?" the Inner Demon questioned before he was suddenly punched in the face. "AAH!"

"Shut your trap!" Captain Hunter declared while using his staff to fly over to help Harpy Lilith as the creature was about to slash at her. He summoned his large shield and threw it at a wall, causing it to bounce off and slice through the other wing and part of the creature's left leg, causing it to screech. "Lilith, are you alright?" he asked her.

Lilith turned to Hunter. "I am… fine," she said with a confused look. "I should question this, but I am glad to see you join me."

"Come, let's take this monstrosity down!" Captain Coven declared.

Harpy Lilith smashed her fist into her palm. "Let's go."

The two charged at the creature, working together to fight it off. The creature transformed its remaining arm into a gun which is used to fire at them. Captain Hunter grabbed his mighty shield and used it to protect him and Lilith. He then summoned his sword and stabbed it through the left leg when he was close enough, while Lilith used glyphs to aim ice spikes at the creature's torso, and then parts of its head. Captain Hunter placed a glyph symbol on his shield, causing it to fire a blast of light that destroyed the arm gun of the creature.

Lilith targeted its remaining leg, using a plant glyph to hold it down. Captain Hunter used the edge of his shield to cut through its joints, allowing Lilith to pull the leg off of the creature, leaving it limbless. The mechanical creature screeched as its mouth shot lasers at them and blades were shot out of its mouth. Captain Hunter quickly grabbed Lilith and used his staff to teleport them away from the attacks. They reappeared directly above it, Captain Coven twirling around his staff to shoot out lightning bolts, which bounced around to hit the creature from every angle. It couldn't stand nor could it fight back as Harpy Lilith used an ice glyph to drop an icicle on the creature, which impaled the creature through the head and its body, the light slowly leaving its eyes.

"Finally, we beat that thing," Lilith said..

"And now there's one more thing to deal with," Captain Hunter said as he turned to the Inner Demon, who looked displeased.

"You think you've won?" the Inner Demon asked you. "I still have power over you! I know your fears, your insecurities, and how your own stupid choices will bring about your own downfall! The mindscape is still my domain, and there's nothing you can-"

WHACK!

Captain Hunter punched the Inner Demon to shut him up, causing him to crash into a wall. Before he could get up, he was kicked to the stomach and proceeded to get stomped on. His powers grew weaker and he began to physically age.

"You're in my world, old man!" Captain Hunter declared as he aimed his staff at the Inner Demon. "My world, my rules!"

"AAAAAHHH!" the Inner Demon screamed as he was blasted by Hunter and he began to disintegrate as he was expelled from Hunter's mind.

Once the Inner Demon was gone, Captain Hunter turned to Harpy Lilith. "Thank you for helping me, Lilith," he said sincerely.

"It's no problem, Hunter," Lilith responded as she changed back to normal. "Hopefully I'll see you soon."

"I… I think you will," he said as he changed back to Little Hunter and smiled up at her. "Promise that you'll be waiting for me when I wake up?"

Lilith smiled. "Of course," she said while bringing out a bell and ringing it, causing her to be engulfed in light.

Lilith exited Hunter's head, landing on the spot next to him. Moments later Hunter opened his eyes and sat up in his bed, groaning.

"He's awake!" Dr. Bride declared.

"Hunter, are you alright?" Lilith asked, causing Hunter to turn to her. Immediately his first instinct was to embrace her in a tight hug. This surprised her, but she proceeded to hug him back.

"Hey, hey," Lilith said as she heard him crying. "It's going to be okay."

Hunter cried into Lilith's shoulder before he realized something. He looked down where his right arm would have been and saw the mechanical arm in its place. "WAAAH!" he cried while letting go of Lilith, freaked out by his new arm. "W-What… what is this!?"

"Do you like it?" Dr. Bride asked him. "I hear mechanical arms are all the rage these days."

Meanwhile, at the Tarot Guild base, Grimhammer had been trying to pack everything up. All of his valuables, his treasure, his meat, and anything else he could fit in his bag.

"Gotta get out of here!" Grimhammer cried out before he heard footsteps. "Bah!" he shouted in a panic. "Alright, you think you caught me? Think again!" He spun around, ready to fire a spell.

"Whoa, whoa, easy there, boss," Lupe said as he appeared.

"Lupe? Oh thank Titan it's just you!" Grimhammer replied as he relaxed. "Listen, this whole thing's a bust! We need to abandon our operations here, lay low for a while, maybe vacation at Palm Stings until we're able to rebuild my criminal empire!"

"Oh I agree," Lupe said with a nod. "But first, we need a fall guy."

"Of course!" Grimhammer said, snapping his fingers. "I like the way you think, Lupe. Which is why this is where you come in to be the fall guy, hence why I hired you." He then heard Lupe laugh, which confused and offended Grimhammer. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, it's just… you're actually the fall guy," Lupe revealed.

"What!?" Grimhammer exclaimed.

Lupe slowly walked around him, arms crossed behind his back. "You see, Grimmy, the Producer chose you to run her organization since she couldn't openly run it herself. But she also chose you to be a convenient scapegoat if there ever needed to be one. Which is why I abducted that little Row girl," he pointed out. "After the Glandus fiasco, there's been a lot of heat on the Tarot Guild. So we need to go underground for a while, but for that to happen everyone needs to think that the Tarot Guild is finished or at least no longer a threat. So I went after that little healer, knowing it would eventually lead people to you since the Clawthornes would stop at nothing to find one of the classmates and friends of Luz Clawthorne."

This shocked Grimhammer. "You… traitor! Do you know who I am!?" he demanded.

"Do you know who I am?" Lupe asked while baring his fangs. He smiled at Grimhammer as he marched up to him. Pitch black fur started to grow from his arms, his neck, and his face. "You could say that I'm sort of infamous… nowadays, I'm just an urban legend… but you should know how dangerous I am compared to the rest of my kind…" he said as his nose became a snout.

Grimhammer was horrified by the transformation and he backed away. "Y-You… you're…"

"The Big Bad Wolf," Lupe revealed as he hungrily licked his lips. "And I have been looking forward to this for a long time. Come here, little pig…"

As he opened his jaws, Grimhammer started to scream.

By the time Harpy Eda flew into Grimhammer's room, Lupe was gone… and he had left her something to find.

"Aw fuck…" Eda cursed while seeing the bloody remains of Grimhammer.

Hardy Boils led the team of heroes to a door, which Ghostina broke with her ice magic. Eda flew back to join them.

"Did you find Girmhammer?" Donna asked.

"I did… well, what's left of him," Eda replied. "And before you ask, I didn't get the chance to make bacon out of him."

"Right, you didn't," Stinger said with a wink.

"I didn't!" Eda claimed while turning to Hardy Boils. "So what's your story?"

"The name's Hardy Boils, a private-eye detective from the Oracle Coven," Hardy explained as they opened the door. "I deal with many kinds of cases, including missing people cases. I was hired to find a missing girl which led me to something much bigger. I had to fake my death after me and some unlucky Tarot Guild $^ were dumped into the Basilisk's prison." He pointed to the Basilisk, which hung out behind the witches. "I managed to avoid getting killed while the unlucky % $% got fed on. After that, I hid until the Basilisk was released, which gave me the chance to slip out. Until then I had to survive off the Basilisk's leftovers…"

"For the record, I don't really like eating the flesh of witches much," the Basilisk defended himself. "They always taste too gamey."

"That's reassuring…" Milos said.

"I actually have met some Basilisks, Number Five and Number Three," Eda mentioned.

"Really? I wonder how they're doing? By the way, I'm number Six, but you can call me Ivy," he said.

"Well, Number Five is in another realm safe from Belos thanks to me and my daughter, last I heard she was doing very well there. She also goes by Vee now. As for Number Three, or Tres as he calls himself, I don't know where he is now, but last time my sister saw him he had managed to escape being recaptured, so presumably he is still out there," Eda confirmed which made Ivy sigh in relief. Eda then looked down awkwardly. "Though I will have to admit, you're not the first Basilisk I had to tango. I had to fight a Greater Basilisk that attacked Hexside once..."

"You mean Number Two?" Ivy asked. "Well… I won't hold a grudge over that. You helped me and you helped Number Five, so that makes us good. And I should probably get going. Thanks again for freeing me."

"No problem, and good luck," Eda said as she watched Ivy start to change shape as he ran off and disappeared. Once he was gone, everyone entered the next room. Boils turned the lights on, revealing that the room was filled with cages that had witches in them…

"Is someone here?"

"Please, don't hurt us!"

"Don't sell us!"

"Don't worry, we're not here to hurt you!" Wonder Witch said as she started to use her keyblade to unlock the cage doors. "You're all safe!"

"Bo! Bo, are you there?!" Eda shouted as she ran around to look while everyone else freed the captive witches.

"Eda?"

Eda turned around and saw Bo in the cage. "Hang on!" she said as she rushed over while turning her hand into a talon, slashing the lock in order to free Bo. "Are you alright?" she asked as Bo ran up to embrace Eda in a hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Bo cried as she was in tears. "I… I was so scared, I… didn't know if I could-"

"Shh, shh, there, there," Eda said, patting her back while holding up the girl. "Come on, let's get out of here." She looked around to see that all the other prisoners had been freed.

"Is that everyone?" Crowbar asked.

"No," Bo replied, wiping away her tears. "The others told me there were more, but occasionally they were taken away and we would never see her again. There was also this one girl who was in a cage next to me, but then this masked lady came and took her away."

"They must have been taken somewhere else," Buzz realized.

"Then we'll just have to find them too," Ghostina replied.

"Well, for now let's get these people out of here," Eda said as they started to lead the rescued trafficking victims out of the underlevels of Scal-Mart.

Hunter was sitting on his cot, eating away. Glinda handed him another plate, which he quickly grabbed and started to eat from.

"You're gonna choke…" Glinda warned but Hunter ignored him.

Outside of the room, Lilith was speaking to Dr. Bride.

"You've awakened your harpy form, Lilith?" Dr. Bride asked in amazement. "How astounding…"

"Ever since Eda unlocked her harpy form, I've been wondering if I had a harpy form as well," Lilith explained. "I wasn't sure how it worked, especially since the Owl Beast was an actual creature living inside Eda. If the curse could be shared, does that mean there are now two cursed beasts instead of one?" she wondered out loud. "But when I was desperate to save Hunter, I asked the Raven Beast for help, and it listened to me. Though I'm not sure what this means moving forward. Do you think you could help me with this?"

"Of course," Bride promised. "I would love to help you out, especially if it means being able to study your curse…"

Iggy heard a tapping sound on the door and she cracked it open. She looked around, but saw no one outside. She didn't notice Flapjack hopping between her feet before he flew around the clinic, looking for Hunter. He proceeded to find him in a room, on his cot eating food and drinking water. He noticed Flapjack flying up to him.

"Flapjack!" Hunter exclaimed while overjoyed. The cardinal landed on his arm. "You… you came back for me?" Flapjack chirped, making Hunter smile. "That's great, bud!" He looked down. "Though I don't know what we're gonna do now…"

Lilith, who had been looking in at Hunter, sighed when she heard this. She knew this wouldn't be easy, but this was when she had to break the news to him.

"Hunter," she spoke up and he turned to her. She shifted her eyes away before forcing herself to look him in the eyes. "While you were in a coma… Belos found a new Golden Guard."

Hunter's eyes widened. "W-What?" he asked, sounding upset. "Already? I wasn't out that long, was I? A-and he said that I'm not expendable…" Tears began to stream from his eyes again. "I must have not been good enough… I did fail him…"

Lilith went to sit beside him at his cot, patting his shoulder. "No, no Hunter… don't say that."

"I disobeyed his orders… I should've stayed in the castle… this is my fault," he said to himself while shutting his eyes.

"No, not it isn't," Lilith insisted while standing up. "Hunter, you are not at fault. And quite honestly, I think you should stay away from Belos. You're not safe around him."

"What?" Hunter asked her. "Of… of course I am, he's not dangerous-"

"I saw how you got your scars!" Lilith revealed, causing Hunter to fall silent. "I went through your memories and saw how he scarred you. How can you defend him after what he did to you?"

Hunter nervously looked away. "H-He, didn't mean to hurt me…"

"But he still hurt you. I also saw the training he put you through and I know about the things Belos had you do for him, things that you must have not enjoyed doing. I do not want you going back to that castle!" Lilith declared in a tone that shocked Hunter. Lilith took a deep breath, calming down. "Hunter… you're just a kid… a highly impressionable kid who has been burdened from a young age with high expectations and large responsibilities. Your uncle groomed you into his own personal soldier… and he should have known better. I'm not saying that he doesn't care about you, but I do think he is a bad influence on you and you need to at least spend some time away from him. I don't want to see you get hurt again…"

Seeing how upset Lilith was by this, Hunter looked down in silence as he reluctantly thought about his situation. Flapjack chirped in his ear and he nodded. "A-Alright… I won't go back… though I do think Belos must be worried about me… but I also don't think I could show my face around the castle again after everything that happened anyway."

Lilith didn't like that he was still defending Belos, but she knew that she shouldn't push the issue too much. Belos had too much of a hold over the teen, it would take some time to break Belos's programming completely. For now, the more time Hunter spent away from Belos the better.

Glinda was in the other room, overhearing their conversation about Hunter's relationship with Belos. Looking down, she was reminded of her own relationship with Emily. Hearing how Hunter blamed himself instead of Belos, she wondered if this is what she sounded like when she defended Emily or blamed herself for Emily's actions. She walked away, a lot on her mind.

After a moment of silence, Hunter looked up to Lilith. "I… I should tell you about what really happened to Amity."

"I know," she whispered. "I know where she is. She's in the Human Realm."

"What?" Hunter asked, also whispering. "So… she's safe?"

"Yes, and we're working on a way to bring her back," Lilith told her.

Hunter looked relieved, then concerned. "What about… Luz? I don't think… I could face her after…" He looked at his own mechanical arm and his body shuddered.

"You don't have to face her right away, especially after what happened last time," Lilith assured him. "We'll probably have to cross that bridge eventually, but not right now."

Hunter nodded and was silent for a while before he spoke again. "So… why did you do all of this for me?"

Lilith sighed, thinking about her words before she said them. "I'll admit, I once saw you as a threat. A rival for the Emperor's favor. I even hoped to replace you with my own student." She had a guilty look. "But that was very wrong and very messed up of me, not to mention immature since I was a grown ass witch and yet I still felt threatened by you. So I'm sorry for that. Especially since at the end of the day, you're just a dumb kid I should have been helping this whole time. So what I'm doing now is what I should have been doing from the beginning. Especially since you need my help more than ever, especially after the death of Darius."

Hunter looked down, thinking of Darius. He felt Lilith patting his back.

"I… was actually there at the funeral," she told him, much to his surprise. "I even spoke to you."

He looked up to her. "That… that was you?" he asked and she nodded. He sighed and looked down. "I… I miss Darius."

"I miss him too," Lilith admitted while the two sat in silence.

At the Scal-Mart, Larry and a number of coven guards were shown arresting Tarot Guild members, escorting them into wagons or carrying out body bags. Some also created barriers to prevent the gathering crowd from getting too close.

"Alright, nothing to see here!" one guard spoke while Larry brought out another Tarot Guild member.

"Alright, we want to get everyone into the wagons! Squeeze them in if you have to!" Larry ordered as the guards pushed some of the Tarot Guild members into the wagon, showing how full it got along with the body bags.

The prisoners of the Tarot Guild weren't fully recovered and Donna was trying to heal any of the injuries given to them by their captors. Bo joined her.

"Need some help?" Bo asked her.

"Are you sure you're up for it?" Donna asked while Bo knelt down to heal a traumatized John De Plume. "I mean, after what you've gone through…"

"Well, as a healer, I should put the needs of others before myself," Bo insisted.

Donna smiled. "As a fellow healer, I can get behind that," she said as they worked together.

"Let's call this whole operation what it is: trafficking," Boils was telling Eda. "The Tarot Guild was trafficking witches, likely selling them to the highest bidder. Bria Carpenter wasn't found with the other witches, so I intend to try to find out where she was trafficked to."

"Hopefully she'll be found soon," Eda replied. "And there are probably others as well…"

"I may be able to find something in their base that could help me find the Guild's customers," Boils told Eda. "But you know, Owl Lady, we should stay in touch. We might be able to help each other out."

"Yeah, we should," Eda agreed as Hardy handed her his card. "And more allies are welcome."

"See you around, Scarlet Wings," he told her while heading over to talk to the guards..

Eda nodded before she walked over to Donna, who had just finished up healing one of the prisoners. "How are you feeling, kiddo?" she asked her.

"I'm feeling… better," Donna replied while turning to Eda. "I'm sorry for freezing up earlier. I thought I had this, but… guess I was in over my head…"

"Hey, don't beat yourself up over it," Eda told her. "In the end, you pulled through."

"Well, thanks for helping us," Donna said with a smile. "You know, despite what everyone says, you're a good witch."

"Don't tell anyone, it will ruin my cred," Eda joked before getting serious. "If you don't mind me asking, do you know what that guy did to make you freeze up."

Donna looked down. "He called me a 'snack'. I don't know why, but that got to me. I felt like I was… relieving a nightmare..."

"A snack?" Eda asked as she looked at Donna nice and hard, focusing on her platinum hair…

"What's an Owl Beast doing with my snack?"

Eda gasped and Donna looked up at her in confusion. "What… what is it?" she asked the Owl Lady.

"It's… nothing, nevermind. I'm glad that you're okay," Eda said, patting her shoulder gently.

"Yo, Wonder Witch!" Crowbar called to Donna, who turned to her. "Press is coming, gotta jet!" he said while getting on his staff.

"Well, gotta go. See you around!" Donna said as she summoned her staff and began to fly away with the rest of LOWTH.

"Yeah… see ya," Eda said as the press came over towards her.

"Eda the Owl Lady, this is Nathan B. Colorfeather, is it true that you killed the Boss of the Tarot Guild?" he asked while raising his mic at Eda.

"W-Wait, what?" Eda asked in confusion. "Look, I just found the body…"

"What led you to figure out where the Tarot Guild was?"

"Is it true that you took down and slain all the members?"

"What made you decide to become the hero Bonesborough needs?"

"Wait, a hero? I'm no hero! What the hell are you guys talking about!?" Eda exclaimed. "And I'm not alone in this, LOWTH was there to help, I had help!" She pointed to the Parks who tried to bail. "Hey! You can't leave me alone with the press!?"

"Sorry Eda, but heroes don't have time for the press!" Stinger said as he and his husband ran away.

"Just like in the comics!" Buzz added as they bailed.

"From humble beginnings to a life of crime to being the savior we have been waiting for," Nathan spoke to the camera. "Eda the Owl Lady has been on the road of redemption ever since being paroled by the Emperor. This road has led her to finding many missing witches who had been trafficked by the nefarious Tarot Guild! Leading a team of costumed mystery witches, the have succeeded in reuniting the lost with the loved ones!"

"Bo!" spoke the Row parents as they pushed their way through the crows, which caught Bo's attention.

"Mom! Dads!" Bo ran up and jumped up to hug her family as they hugged her back.

"Bo!" shouted another voice that Bo recognized. She looked up to see Luz flying over with Matt on her back. As she landed, Matt ran up to her. "Thank Titan, you're okay!" he said while embracing her. She hugged him back. "I-I was so worried that you might have gotten hurt or worse…"

"It's okay, Matt, I'm safe," Bo replied as she looked over to Eda. "Thanks to Ms. Clawthorne and her friends."

"I… well, I didn't want anything bad to happen to you, kid," Eda admitted. "Those nutjobs should have thought twice before messing with friends with the Clawthornes."

"Man, to think that this whole thing with Bo got resolved with little involvement with me," Luz commented.

Eda turned to her daughter. "Wait, did you skip school to look for Bo?"

Luz's eyes widened as she looked at the camera facing her. "Oh shit…"

The news spread quickly around the Isles as word of the Tarot Guild's bust went public, Eda being given credit for taking down the boss of their operations…

In the home of Tibbles, he was watching the news with his girlfriend.

"Gosh, I can't believe she's managed to kill yer father," Jeanie said. "How do you feel about it, Tibby?"

Tibbles sighed. "Honestly, my Jeanie, I don't think I could care less about my father's death. He considered me a failure… and now I'm free from that gutless bastard." He considered something. "Maybe this can be a new beginning for me. Though I highly doubt that Eda did the deed…"

In the Illusions Coven, Emily saw the news on her scroll.

"WHAT!?" Emily shouted in shock. "No… damn you, Eda…!"

Odalia saw the news, which included an image of Grimhammer. She recognized the Boss of the Tarot Guild and sighed in relief. Not only was he dead and his organization crippled, but she had also dodged a deal with him.

"At least I don't have to worry about that," she said.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?" Nicole cried out after seeing the news of Eda's deeds. "THAT CRIMINAL IS BEING TREATED AS A HERO!?"

Nina was watching the news on her own scroll, shocked and surprised that the organization Emily had ties to was taken down. She wondered if what she told Luz and Matt was enough or if she should have told them about Sonya and her close relationship with her. Nina looked down and sighed. "Guess things still worked out in the end."

Suddenly the Detention Hall spit out Skara, who slid down the hall. Nina turned to the fellow lycan girl. "How's detention?" she asked.

"I promise to be good…" Skara was dizzy, while Nina just rolled her eyes.

"Get up, your friend's fine now," Nina said as she showed Skara the scroll, which was playing footage of Bo being interviewed.

"Bo's okay!?" Skara lit up as she held up the scroll. "Yes! She's okay!" She jumped in joy while Nina couldn't help but feel glad that Skara's friend was alright, even if she didn't want to show it.

"It was scary, but thank the Titan that Eda, the Bumble Guys, and LOWTH came to rescue us," Bo said while being interviewed. "Who knows what could have happened if they didn't."

Gavin was watching the news coverage. He too was shocked about the Tarot Guild's downfall. He was sighing in relief when he heard someone knocking on the door.

Alarmed, Gavin slowly approached the door and reached for the knob, a bit jumpy after being attacked by Mattholomule earlier. But when he opened it up, he was surprised to see who it was. "You…"

"Hey, Gavin…" Hunter said awkwardly and nervously. "I'm… sorry that I ran a little late. I hope that you're not-" It was then that Gavin went to embrace Hunter, hugging him. Hunter hugged back, both boys having tears in their eyes.

"I-I thought something bad happened to you…!" Gavin mumbled through his tears.

"I-I didn't mean to worry you, man!" Hunter replied, also crying and mumbling.

"I was so worried," Gavin said while both let go of each other, Gavin wiping away his tears. "You never showed up or texted back. I was confused when I thought I saw you during the parade and using magic, which didn't make a lot of sense to me. But here you are! Where have you been?"

Hunter sighed. "The Golden Guard you saw wasn't really me," he said. "But I'm very sorry for worrying you, Gavin. I really am."

Gavin then noticed the mechanical arm. "Uh… where'd you get that…?"

"It's… a long story," Hunter replied while looking down and Gavin understood that he didn't want to talk about it. "Maybe I'll tell you later."

"So… do you still want to stay over?" Gavin asked him.

Hunter looked back up. "Actually, I already have a place that I will be staying at." He turned to Lilith, who Gavin only just noticed. He was shocked to see her there.

"Hello, Gavin Nightshade, is it?" Lilith spoke to him and Gavin nodded. "You… probably remember me…"

"Y-Yeah, I remember you," Gavin replied awkwardly. "I'm sorry about back at the Ruins…"

"It's fine," Lilith reassured her. "You know, I actually knew your father. I used to work with him back at the Emperor's Coven."

"You… knew my dad?" Gavin asked her.

"Yes, and I'm sorry about his death," Lilith told him. "He was a great witch. If you ever want to talk about him…"

"I'd like that." Gavin said while looking between her and Hunter. "Um… what are you to Hunter, if you don't mind me asking?"

Lilith and Hunter looked at each other awkwardly. Neither was sure how to answer.

After a moment, Lilith looked back at Hunter. "You could say that… I'm his guardian."

Eda and Luz returned to the Owl House, King and Camila rushing towards them as they entered.

"We heard what happened," Camila told them..

"Yeah, everyone's calling you a hero for slaying the boss of the Tarot Guild!" King said.

"Look, I wasn't the one that killed him," Eda told them. "I did slaughter some henchmen, but not the boss. Was honestly a bit anticlimactic."

"But you did help save those people, Eda," Camila said in awe. "I mean, ignoring the slaughter, you rescued those missing people and put an end to that nasty criminal organization."

"Yeah, mom's a real folk hero now," Luz said proudly.

"Yeah, well… even so, I doubt that this is completely over," Eda said. "Luz told me that there's someone called the Producer that may be related to the Guild and there are other members of the Guild still loose in the Isles, so I don't think we're out of the woods yet."

"Then we'll deal with them as well," Luz said while Eda excused herself.

"I'm going to go check up on Raine," Eda told them while heading to the basement.

"I wonder how things will be after all of this Tarot Guild fiasco?" King asked.

"Who knows, but I can't wait to tell Amity, Gus and Willow about this," Luz responded.

Eda had brought Raine up to speed about what went down with the Tarot Guild.

"So Grimhammer was the boss of the Guild, but you think he could have been a scapegoat?" Raine asked her.

"Yeah, something about this… just doesn't feel right," Eda replied as her thoughts turned to Donna. "And… there's something else I want to talk about… about a girl."

"A girl?" Raine asked her.

"I've recently met this girl, Donna Masterskull… but it turns out that I met her before, though I was the Owl Beast at the time," Eda said, which shocked Raine. "The Owl Beast saved her from a werewolf when she was just a baby, though I only just recognized her."

"Have you… told her?" Raine asked her.

Eda shook her head. "I've decided not to. The girl has enough on her plate as it is, and… I don't wish to intrude on her life. Besides, she's well off, and all that matters is that she's doing fine."

"Well, what if she comes to you after she somehow learns you were the one who saved her?" Raine asked.

"I'd prefer it that way, better than confronting her about it myself," Eda replied. "Like, I don't know if she'll think I'm lying or something."

"What's she like, by the way?" Raine asked.

Eda smiled. "She's a good kid, Raine. Someone that I don't regret saving."

"Hunter, these are my parents, Dell and Gwen," Lilith said as she introduced Hunter to her parents, having brought him to the old Clawthorne home. "Mom, dad, this is Hunter. He's… a lost kid that needs my help so he'll be staying with us for the foreseeable future if that's okay."

"Well then, we're happy to have you here, Hunter," Gwen said warmly.

"You are welcome to stay here as long as you need to," Dell said kindly.

Hunter nodded. "I-It's nice to meet you two," he responded nervously while Flapjack chirped. "T-This is Flapjack, my Palisman. Lilith told me that you were a Palisman carver…."

Dell smiled. "It's nice to meet you too, Flapjack. Do you mind if I hold him?"

"Of course not," Hunter said as he let Flapjack hop into Dell's hands. Dell looked down at Flapjack, studying him carefully. "Interesting…" He was lost in his thoughts for a moment until he snapped back to the present. "Flapjack, have you met Waffles?" he asked while introducing Waffles to Flapjack, both Palismen chirping at each other. He chuckled. "Come, let us show you the guest room."

Hunter soon found himself in the guest room and he looked around. It had a dresser with a mirror, a closet, a desk, a bed, a bookshelf, and a window that was not high off the floor. "You have… such a nice home," he told Dell and Gwen. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome, if you need anything else, just call," Dell told him.

"Yes, we're only a room away," Gwen added. "We'll leave you to get settled."

Once they left Hunter alone, he went to sit on the bed. He laid down there, sighing. Flapjack landed on his chest and he looked up at his Palisman. "Do you think I'm doing the right thing?" he asked and the red cardinal Palisman just chirped in reassurance. Hunter looked up at the ceiling, giving another sigh. "Yeah, this feels… right."

Lilith was in the hallway, watching Hunter. She smiled slight, having hope that he would be alright here.

"So you managed to wake Hunter up and save him from the Inner Demon?"

"Yes. I also managed to bring out my own harpy form."

"Really? How'd that go?"

"Well, when I asked for help, the Raven Beast answered. I'm not sure how it works though, considering that we share the curse…"

"Ugh, that's going to be another headache."

"I did hear that you've slain the ringleader of the Tarot Guild, Eda the Owl Hero."

"Is that what they're calling me now?"

"On Penstagram, yeah."

"Well for one, I didn't kill Grimhammer, someone beat me to it. Maybe a disgruntled employee or an ambitious subordinate…"

"Regardless, I'm glad that all those missing people were found. It sounds like you were quite the leader today."

"Not really, we all just did our part… so what does mom and dad think of Hunter?"

"They like him. I gave them the short version of the story while Hunter was settling in and they're willing to help him out. We're going to be keeping a close eye on him, trying to keep him out of trouble and away from Belos."

"You made the right call, Lily. After what you've told me, that boy shouldn't be near Belos."

"Though I would suggest not pressing Hunter for information about his visions or anything else right away. We should also make sure to keep Luz away from him for now. I believe we need to act very carefully if we're going to free Hunter from Belos's influence… which is not going to happen overnight."

"You do realize that it's a very huge risk to harbor the Emperor's nephew in your home? Are you sure you want to take that risk?"

"…I do. He needs help and a safe environment to recuperate. I will be taking precautions."

"Well… I may not trust Hunter, but I do trust your judgment… oh! One thing though… do you think Hunter is really related to Belos? I mean, if Belos is a Clawthorne, could that mean Hunter's technically a Clawthorne as well?"

"Even if he is, I'm still not sure how he fits into all of this. I don't want to tell Hunter about Belos being a Clawthorne, not yet at least. It'll be too much for him."

"We'll have to cross that bridge sooner or later. In the meantime, I should get some beauty rest. Night, Lily."

"Goodnight, Edalyn," Lilith replied as she ended her crow call. She then turned to look at herself in the mirror, focusing on the color of her hair. She reached up to stroke it gently, thinking about the memory she had seen earlier that day. How she had treated Hunter coldly just like Vina had treated her coldly. She had emulated her predecessor far too well and even now she still emulated her. "Maybe it's time for a change…"

At the Healing Coven, things were a little… chaotic.

"What do you mean they're gone!?" shouted one doctor to the nurse.

"I-I went to check their room and they weren't there anymore!" the nurse replied nervously. "Oh Titan, Eberwolf's missing!"

"This is bad! Head Witch Cutburn will have our spleens when she finds out we lost a former Head Witch!" the doctor shouted. "Search everywhere! They couldn't have gone far!"

During all this chaos, Boscha was still paralyzed in her room, unable to move but able to hear. She was listening to the ruckus outside when she heard another familiar voice…

"So where were we?" the Inner Demon asked Boscha. "Things may not have worked out with that Hunter kid, but I still have you and you're not going anywhere, Pink-Eyes." He chuckled. "How about we resume where we left off?"

In a secluded room, Sonya and Lupe were meeting with a seated figure.

"People now believe that the Tarot Guild has fallen or is at least critically damaged," Sonya confirmed. "And the tip off I gave of the Owl Lady being responsible for Grimhammer's death hit the news waves."

"We know how you feel about her, considering now she's a hero," Lupe mentioned.

"Oh let the old harpy get the spotlight," said a familiar voice. "Nothing distracts the public like a hero. The more attention there is on her, the less attention there is on us."

"So what do we do now?" Lupe asked.

"For now, we lay low," the figure said as she raised a cup of tea and drank from it. "In time, we will rebuild. Perhaps find someone to replace Grimhammer. His purpose has been served, but we still have our purposes, don't we?"

Sonya bowed. "Yes, Producer," she said.

The Producer smiled. "Please, Sonya. No need for formalities here. It's just us, after all. Call me Terra, I insist."

The true leader of the Tarot Guild leaned back into her chair, thinking about the future and her vision for it. The Clawthornes obviously had no place in the future she was envisioning.

And in the end, Terra Snapdragon imagined herself coming out on top…

Man, 80 chapters…now that's a milestone.

You know, it's been forty chapters since the end of Book One, even though this isn't the finale of Book Two, we still want to make this chapter a special one. But like Book One's finale, this chapter does end with a character deciding to stay with the Clawthornes. Specifically, Hunter in this case.

Originally, the idea was going to be more individually. One chapter would've been just Lilith rescuing inside Hunter's mind, while Eda and LOWTH finds the missing witches and bust the Tarot Guild. But we've decided that it would be grand to have both chapters together.

At the time, originally Terra wasn't in our original plan as being the true leader of the Tarot Guild. We've decided to not make Grimhammer the true leader of the Tarot Guild because we were worried that would be underwhelming for you guys, especially since he had only previously appeared in one flashback. So we decided to make Grimhammer a figurehead and Terra the true leader, especially since Terra has much more conflict with the heroes.

So for character references, Jeanie, Tibble's girlfriend, is pretty much a parody of Gsptlsnz, Mr. Mxyzptlk's girlfriend from Superman: TAS and DC Comics canon. We both thought it'd be funny if Tibbles has a hot girlfriend that lives with him around.

And yeah, Lupe turns out to be the Big Bad Wolf, the same guy who killed Donna's parents and that Eda had encountered before. This is pretty much one big reunion.

UPDATE: Okay, so a lot of you have spoken, yes we now just got aware of Ivy's confusion. We changed what he said from Number One to Number Two so Megan remains as Basilisk number One. Ivy's name probably confuses you all so he calls himself that in remembering number Four, a sibling he never knew when created at the same time Four died.

Answering Reviews:

BlueKnight-X2: Randy hasn't aged up, though he would be old enough to be in his juniors about now. Randy's still the Ninja until graduation so Jenny is just one of the run-of-the-mill enemiesl

Ultimate-drax: There's gonna be a lot of surprises around that…

Crosshot: The show does imply that Jake is born in the early 1991-1992, as Haley is born around the late 90s.

RevewierDWJ: No comment.

Matteso585: 1) Well, even when they came to the NYC, there's no guarantee that they would meet up with Jake immediately. 2) Think like there are types of mermaids and merfolk. Depends on the conditions of the water or populations. There are many kinds of merfolk around. 3) Yeah. 4) You focus on some strange details to worry about. 5) No comment.

RJWritingInk: Oh I wouldn't say that…

Deadpoollover77: Yeah, it'll be interesting.

Franco Almiron: We'll consider them at the moment.

Arsenal: Sorry, Danny Phantom does not exists in the LCU.

Shuffollower: Hope you like this chapter.

JTK: No comment.

The OC Contest is still underway.