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

Chapter 90: The Steve Chapter

Every hero has an origin story. This is one of them…

It was the annual Covention. Walking between all of the stands and displays was a mother and her son, who were checking out the different covens being shown off.

"Come join the Cooking Coven! Where you can learn to be the best Boiling Isles Chef!"

"The Accountant Coven is always in need to find someone that can crunch numbers and do taxes!"

"Join the Funeral Coven, where we help put the dead to rest…"

"Do you see any covens that interest you, Steve?" asked the mother with gray skin, horns, and a blue cloak.

"Nah, I don't think any of them interest me that much, ma," the boy, Steve, replied. He wore a simple gray tunic with black trousers and brown boots. "Hmm, maybe I can make my own coven! The Steve Coven!"

His mother chuckled. "And what does the Steve Coven do?"

"Um… anything you wanna do!" Steve answered before he noticed a bunch of coven guards standing outside of the entrance to another room. "What's going on over there?"

"Oh that?" his mom asked as she looked toward the entrance. "This leads to the Emperor's Coven panel."

"The Emperor's Coven?" Steve asked, curious.

"Would you like to check it out?" she asked him.

"Hmm… eh, we got some time to kill," Steve said as he and his mom went inside.

Once they took their seats, they saw a presentation begin on the podium below as a cloud of smoke spread out. Coughing through the smoke was a coven scout.

"Greetings witches and demons alike!" the scout declared. "It is an honor to present to you the Head of the Emperor's Coven! Give it up for Head Witch Vina!"

Fireworks illusions exploded overhead and the young Steve was wowed by this spectacle. Coming onto the podium was Vina accompanied by some coven stouts, including a young Lilith.

"Greetings, Bonesborough!" Vina declared as she grabbed her microphone. "On behalf of the Emperor's Coven, I, Vina Charmspell, have come to inspire future generations of witches to join the Emperor's Coven!"

Steve looked intrigued as he leaned closer to hear what she had to say.

"Now as any of you know, in accordance with the coven system you need to join one coven when you come of age and you will be restricted to one type of magic," she explained. "But if you join the Emperor's Coven, you will be able to use every kind of magic and be amongst the best of the best! And if you work hard, one day you too can be one of us!" She pointed to one of the audience members, which happened to be Steve.

"Me…?" Steve asked, awestruck.

"Yes, because you all have potential to be a part of something great! To help make the Boiling Isles a better place!" Vina declared while putting up her faux smile. "It is the will of the Titan!"

"Wow…" Steve said while his mom looked at him, glad to see her son enjoying himself.

After the panel, Steve looked up at the recruitment posters. He saw one poster of a scout pointing at him while asking if he wished to join.

"Oh man… hey mom, you think I can make it into the Emperor's Coven?" Steve asked her.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll be the best scout in all the Boiling Isles," his mom encouraged.

"Carol?" asked a voice.

His mom, Carol, heard her name as she turned to see a brown haired man with beige skin, blue eyes, a beard, and a Construction Coven uniform. "Carol is that… you?"

"Murray?" Carol's eyes widened. "Murray Tholomule?"

"Mom, who's that?" Steve asked her while Carol looked at her son and then at Murray…

The sound of the trumpet had awoken Steve. He rubbed his eyes before he got up from his cot. He was in the coven scout sleeping area, where all the scouts slept.

"Attention all scouts!" a captain declared. "Shower, eat, and get to your duties!"

"One less day before the Day of Unity, eh Steve?" his cot-mate asked as Steve stretched.

"Yeah…" Steve replied, though less enthusiastic about it.

After a shower, he was now in uniform. Steve headed to the mess hall and received his slop before he sat to eat alone while looking over his scroll.

"Yo Steve, saved us a seat?" someone asked

Steve turned and saw a trio of unmasked scouts. The first was a strongly built young man with dark skin, green eyes, and a shaved head. The second was a blonde haired brown-bear with a hefty stature and the third was a short scarlet-skinned demon with brown hair, black eyes, and a square chin.

"Seats free, fellas," Steve replied as the three sat at the table. "Got any plans? Clé, I hear you'll be on guarding duty at the zoo."

"Yeah," Clé, the dark-skinned witch, said. "You know how much I love working with animals. And the Beast-Keeping Coven said they could use some scouts to help out today."

"Weren't you almost mauled by the tiger-wolves last time?" asked the shorter scout.

"That was a nightmare…" Clé grimaced.

"Well, me and Carter were assigned to park duty!" the bear scout said while hugging Carter, the red demon, tightly. "Which is perfect for me and my buddy! Right, Carter?"

"Y-Yeah, Bowen…" Carter responded, trying to breathe.

"What about you, Steve?" Clé asked him. "You got any plans for today?"

"Well, when I'm off-duty, I was thinking of going over to my half-brother Matt's birthday later today," Steve explained.

"Wow, that sounds great!" Clé responded.

"Are you going to give him something for his birthday?" Bowen asked.

"I got him a little surprise," Steve explained. "You know that motorbike I had built a while back? Well, I installed a special seat for him so he can ride with me. I just hope he'll like it."

"I'm sure he will," Clé responded. "My brothers just send me medical kits."

Steve then noticed some scouts passing out flyers around the table and one of them went over to Steve.

"Hey Steve," Severine said. "You thinking of joining B.I.G.?"

"B.I.G.?" Steve asked as he took a flier and held it up to look at it.

"It's short for 'Boiling Isles Guardians', with the rise of vigilantism and the Scarfish incident at Talilias Bay, the Emperor has decided to opened up auditions to find six coven scouts with attitude to be in team of color-coded scouts to stand by the Golden Guard's side. A way to appeal to the younger demographic of the Isles," Severine explained. "Personally, I don't get the color schemes and animal themed masks, but they say it can help boost morale around here."

Steve looked at the flier and saw an image of the Golden Guard wielding his staff with five other color-coded scouts standing alongside them. He didn't know what to make of it…

"How was your break, Steve?"

Steve leaned back in his bean bag while having a session with Abel, who continued when Steve didn't answer. "Are you glad to be back in the Emperor's Coven?"

"Yeah, I guess," Steve responded while clasping his hands. "I'm really glad that Amity and the other kids were found, since that really takes a weight off of my shoulders."

"Yes, that was a positive development," Abel said, nodding in agreement.

"Ever since they disappeared, I couldn't work while thinking that I could've done something to prevent their disappearances," Steve admitted while looking down. "And yet despite their disappearances being the reason for my break… I still have a lot of doubts."

"What kind of doubts?" Abel asked.

"It's just…" Steve sighed. "I joined the Emperor's Coven to be considered one of the best, but also to help people and I've been wondering if I'm really doing that or not. If I am actually doing some good for the community and setting the right example, you know?"

"Hmm, and what was it that made you want to join the Emperor's Coven in the first place?" Abel asked him. "Was there a specific incident that drew you in?"

Steve looked up to Abel before he began to explain. "Well… when I was a kid, I went to the Covention with my mom and… when I saw the Emperor's Coven panel, I felt inspired. I wanted to be one of them, to take after the witches who inspired me to be better…" He looked down sadly. "Of course, a lot of those witches I looked up to are now gone. Vina's dead, the original Golden Guard's dead, and Lilith, who dedicated her entire life to the Emperor, left."

"That must've hit you hard," Abel commented.

"Yeah," Steve agreed. "Though, when I saw Lilith after she left, she didn't appear to regret her decision. I mean, she threw away everything that she had worked her entire life for and despite that she looked like she was doing… well." He shrugged and stared at the floor. "Really makes you think."

Abel nodded. "Well, you said that a lot of the witches you admired are gone, but there is still one witch that isn't gone and is still in the Emperor's Coven. You know him quite well… your mentor, Captain Leonte."

Steve nodded as he thought about Leonte and his first meeting with him…

Steve was shown in his Hexside uniform, part of the Construction Track, as he was at the Emperor's Coven try-outs, standing in front of the coven scouts who were seated at a table.

"And now, I, Steve, shall demonstrate to you my amazing magic and show you why you should pick me to be part of the Emperor's Coven!" he declared as he demonstrated by slamming his hands down and forming a statue of himself as a coven guard pointing up. "Ta-da!" he declared, only for a construct to suddenly grow up from the statue, like a pillar. "No, wait! That's not how it's supposed to go!"

Poor young Steve tried to stop it, but the statue grew into a tower endlessly. Steve summoned a hammer to slam it down, only for it to break off and fall down to the other stands. Causing many of the people to scream and dodge.

"Um… whoops?" Steve said nervously while looking at the scouts.

"Wow kid, of all the blunders I've seen throughout these try-outs… you're actually the worst out of 'em," one scout declared while holding an X sign. "Rejected!"

"Rejected," another said while the last scout gave the same answer.

"Aw man," Steve said as he lowered his head, turned around, and walked away.

However, there was one captain that was observing the try-outs and had seen Steve's construction magic. He decided to confront Steve. "Excuse me, young man."

"I know, I'll help clean my mess up." Steve replied while looking over the damage.

"Well, it's not about that," he told Steve. "I know that you've failed try-outs, but I saw some potential in you."

"Me? Potential?" Steve asked the captain.

"My name is Leonte, and if you're still interested in joining the Emperor's Coven, I can help you get there," he told Steve.

Soon after recruiting Steve, Leonte brought him to an area that surprised Steve… the outskirts of the Forest of Fear.

"What are we doing here?" Steve asked him, tensing up from seeing the mist in the distance.

"The natural creepiness of the area is going to be a part of your training," Leonte replied. "I'm gonna teach you how to fight while under pressure."

"Really?" Steve asked. "Like do I have to hold a boulder on my back?"

"No, you'll just get really bad back pain if you try that," Leonte said as he grabbed a stick and threw it to Steve, who caught it. "Now, your first lesson… expect the unexpected."

Steve looked confused. "What does that-" He saw Leonte disappear. "...mean?"

"Up here!"

Steve looked up, shocked to see Leonte… flying up in the air without a staff. "You're flying?!"

"That, I am," Leonte replied while flying over Steve in the air. A ring of fire appeared over his head, like a halo. Eventually he landed in front of Steve. "Like my tricks, young one?"

"How?" Steve asked, wanting to know.

Leonte snapped his fingers, dispelling his illusion and exposing an Abomination balloon. "Basically I create a balloon made of Abomination goo and then turn it invisible. I use a fire spell to make the balloon float and the ring of fire giving hot air to the balloon makes it look like I have halo on my head and that I am flying without any type of magic. It is one of my greatest tricks. I use it to trick adversaries."

"Whoa…" Steve said in awe while looking at Leonte. "Would you teach me something like that, sir?"

"That is if you're still for becoming the greatest scout in the Emperor's Coven," Leonte said while holding his stick up. "You up for it, private?"

Steve nodded while holding up his stick. "I'm always up for it, sir!"

And so, Steve's training with Leonte near the outskirts of the Forest of Fear began. After school, Steve would come to the forest with Leonte to help him train up to become a proper scout. Using his tricks, Leonte wasn't a pushover with his training. He made sure that Steve was prepared to fight under pressure.

Another part of his training was improving his magic. Steve showed him his specialty was in construction magic and Leonte gave him some pointers in using his magic, like putting Abomination goo on a table and asking Steve to make a pot out of it so he would learn how to channel his magic at ease. The first try ended in a mess…

On a lunch break, Steve and Leonte ate some of their lunches as Steve noticed the scar on his teacher's left eye. "Say um, I hope you don't mind me asking, but how'd you get that eye?" he asked him.

Leonte felt the scar. "I got it in Glandus back when I was your age," Leonte explained. "I was saving one of my classmates from a teacher."

Steve gulped. "Were you… hurt that bad?"

Leonte nodded. "I was hospitalized for weeks. But since then, it motivates me to be better, so that no one should end up in a similar situation I was in."

Steve then asked. "So… why me? Why did you really choose me of all witchlings?"

Leonte looked at Steve before speaking. "Well, kid, I saw a bit of myself in you. And you appeared to be honest. Truthfully, not everyone in the Emperor's Coven believes in the Emperor's vision for the Isles. Many, even some Coven Heads, are only in it for themselves and their own personal power. But not you, Steve. I believe that the Coven could use more people like you, who are more genuine about wanting to help the Isles."

Steve smiled and he gave a nod. "I did not know what I wanted to do with my life until I discovered it. I just know that I wanted to join so that I can help people and be one of the best."

Leonte nodded in agreement, knowing that he had picked the right student.

His training continued as Steve showed progress and improvements. He had to learn to work smarter, not harder. He improved his magical flow through his pottery. And he even learned how to dodge and fight back against Leonte's tricks.

After months of training, Steve re-entered the Emperor's Coven tryouts. This time, he shows his improvements by raising a construct of interconnected statues of a bunch of coven scouts raising the flag of the Emperor's Coven sigil.

"My Titan, you have constructed a replica of the famous statue of 'Raising the Emperor's Flag on Carpus Handa'!" The scout raised his hand as he clapped to Steve. "You have passed!"

"Passed!" the second scout replied while the third scout nodded.

"Congratulations, welcome to the Emperor's Coven, Steve," said the third scout which made Steve proud of himself as he looked to Leonte who gave him a nod of approval.

"Thanks, Leonte…" Steve said, though his real training into the Emperor's Coven was about to begin once he graduated…

After his session with Abel, Steve walked around the Emperor's Castle and entered the rec center.

There, he spotted the training course where he saw one dark-skinned witch man with yellow lightning bolts over him, yellow eyes, and a muscular structure. He was arm wrestling with a brown haired witch woman with blue four eyes, orange-skin, and an athletic build as well.

"You can't take on the Thunder!" spoke the lightning-bolt covered scout, Thunder.

"Really?" the witch asked as she turned over Thunder's arm, making him wince.

"Yeow!" he cried out as he rubbed his hand. "How'd ya do that, Joana?!"

"What can I say? Just all in the biceps," Joana said while spotting Steve. "Yo, Steve! You wanna get in on this?"

"Uh, no thanks. Just passing by," Steve waved as he passed the two and headed to the other door.

"Tsh, your loss," Joana said with a shrug as she called to the other scouts. "Who's next?!"

Steve stopped by the Healing Ward and saw one scout in particular. "How are you holding up, Skrap?"

"Terrible," Skrap replied. He was a biped demon with blue skin, little blue eyes, horns, and reddish spiky hair. He was covered in bandages.

"Still recovering from that Shark Demons attack, huh?" Steve asked.

"What the fuck do you think, Steve?!" Skrap ranted while Steve moved along. "Hey, tell the nurse I need them to help me scratch something!"

Next Steve went to the lobby where he saw multiple scouts hanging out, playing pool, and drinking. He headed to the bar while many of the scouts called out his name.

"Steve!"

"Hey, guys," Steve said while walking over to sit at the bar. He then saw a fellow scout come out of the restrooms and get covered in a bucket of spiders, causing a crowd of laughter.

"Oh haha, very funny guys!" shouted a young dark-skinned witch boy with glasses. The young scout brushed off the spiders. "You're lucky that out of all the allergies I have, spider venom isn't one of them." He huffed while walking over and spotting Steve. "Steve, glad to see you."

"Hey, Scarmeron," Steve said, waving to him as Scarmeron came to sit next to him. "Anything I missed since I've been gone?"

"Nah, things were a little less hectic," Scarmeron replied. "Of course, we did lose one scout."

"Oh, sorry to hear that," Steve replied with a sigh. "Another one lost…"

"Yeah," Scarmeron replied while someone passed by.

"Hey Steve-man, welcome back!" spoke a brown haired witch boy with gap teeth and a beaver tail as he held up a chalkboard. "The betting pool's up, who do you think will die next?"

Steve looked at the betting pool board. "Kikimora's the most likely to die, Hugh."

"Everyone's betting that she'd die next, but that just means I make more snails when she doesn't!" Hugh said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, though since she got demoted for getting on Emperor's bad side, there's still a likely chance that the Emperor may send her on a suicide mission," Scarmeron said. "Well, at least that is what the rumor mill said."

"Though the money I'm making now is nothing compared to what I made after Snapdragon lost her bet during the school war," Hugh declared before he looked around and lowered his voice to a whisper. "Don't tell her I said that…"

Steve nodded while he wondered what was going on at the rumor mill…

"So yeah, there's word going around about a possible divorce that Head Witch Blight is going through," spoke a biped cow demon in a coven scout uniform. She appeared to have poofy blonde hair. "Like, who could have seen that coming? Alador and Odalia are about to be splitsville soon… of course, I did hear a rumor about Odalia having an affair behind his back…"

Steve walked up and saw a bunch of scouts gathered around to hear the latest gossip and rumors from the cow-biped. "What's the latest word?" Steve asked one of the scouts.

"Barie's just telling us about the Golden Guard," the scout replied. "There's rumors that the Golden Guard is actually dead and that they got a new one!"

"Hush now, sug!" Barie told the scout off. "Or else I'll have to stomp on ya, got it?!"

"Y-Yes, Barie…" the scout said, lowering their head.

"But who could the new Golden Guard be? Is it Venoma? Alburno?" one scout theorized.

"Maybe the Golden Guard is an illusion, all for show!" another replied.

"But he took out that scarfish yesterday!"

"Wait, couldn't this Golden Guard be a she?"

"Or agender-"

"Quiet!" Barie slammed her hooved hands on the table, then calmed herself. "I know that you all have your little theories, but does anyone want to know my theory on who the Golden Guard is?" Everyone turned to her. "The Golden Guard… is… a puppet."

"A puppet…?" Steve asked, unsure.

"Yeah, I mean, what else could this new Golden Guard be?" Barie asked. "No one could possibly do the job, so it's obvious that they have to make a marionette of him to take his place. It is the only thing that adds up."

"But what about the Grim Goblin incident?" Steve asked.

"Please, I'm sure that was just for show," Barie said with a shrug. "Honestly, you have to think what's really going on behind the scenes like I do! Like for example, that Sunny girl from the Beast-Keeping Coven is a no-good tramp!"

Hearing this makes Steve narrow his eyes. "What?"

"Oh y'all ain't heard it from me, but see, the Sunny Daze was an aid for both previous Head Witch Eberwolf and Head Witch Brooke," she explained. "That little 'nice girl' act is just her way to swindle you for yer money, and probably for pleasure if ya know am I saying?" She made a lewd gesture. "I wouldn't be surprised that she joined the Beast-Keeping coven so she could get freaky on those-"

SLAM!

Barie was startled as Steve slammed his hands on the table. He gave her a deathly glare.

"Hey," he said to her. "If you're gonna make up nasty rumors, be careful who you piss off… or else you won't have much luck."

Barie looked at Steve. "And who do you think you are?! Do you know who I am?!" She stood up, glaring back at Steve.

"Yeah, cannon fodder," Steve replied as he walked away.

Steve continued to walk around until he finally found who he was looking for. It was Captain Leonte, who was walking and speaking to Captain Wolffe.

"We still have yet to locate this wild witch," Wolffe explained. "Despite our best efforts, she always manages to slip out of our grasp."

"She'll be found eventually," Leonte responded with a nod.

"Captain Leonte!" Steve called out, causing the old captain to turn to him.

"Yes? What can I help you, young scout?" Leonte asked, not recognizing Steve with his mask on.

"Oh come on, Cap, you don't recognize my voice?" Steve asked.

Leonte looked hard at Steve. He snapped his fingers. "Steve?"

"Bingo!" Steve raised his mask up with a wink. "Glad to see you, master!"

"Oh don't call me that, Steve," Leonte said, waving it off. "How have you been doing? How's your mother, and your father? Along with your brothers…"

"They're all doing good," Steve answered. "Um, I'm wondering if you're free or not? Want to have a chat with ya, like old times."

Leonte nodded. "For you, of course." He turned to Wolffe. "I'll be seeing you later, Wolffe."

"Yes, Captain," Wolffe said with a nod while seeing Leonte leave with Steve.

Leonte led Steve through the Emperor's Castle, Steve looked super excited.

"I can't believe that I've made it to the castle!" Steve declared.

Leonte chuckled. "I'm glad that you're excited, rookie," he said while walking up to a certain someone. "Steve, I'd like you to meet Head Witch Lilith,"

Steve turned as he saw Lilith, back when she had her hair dyed. "It's um… nice to meet you, ma'am!"

"Likewise," Lilith nodded as she turned to Leonte. "Is he going to be working under me?"

"Yes ma'am," Leonte said with a nod. "I thought you could show him the ropes. Steve, I want you to listen to everything Lilith says, okay?"

Steve gave a salute. "I won't disappoint either of you!"

"...and that's about it," Steve said after he finished recapping recent events to Leonte. He and Leonte were walking and talking. "I don't know what to do, sir. I mean, I still want to help people, but lately I don't think I'm doing a good job about it."

Leonte sighed. "You're being too hard on yourself, Steve." He patted his protégé on his shoulder. "You let yourself feel guilty over the disappearances of those kids when there was nothing you could do about it. You don't have the power to stop all bad things from happening, which means that you can't hold yourself responsible for every small thing that goes wrong. Because bad things will still happen. People will still get hurt. That is just inevitable and you can't prevent that no matter how much you want to."

"That's… that's hard to accept," Steve told him, removing his mask to show his face.

Leonte gave an understanding nod. "It was hard for me too," he admitted. "Want some advice? Follow orders and do the best you can with what you're given. Don't weigh yourself down with things you have control over and focus on what you can control when you are on the job. The rest should fall into place."

Steve glanced away. "I guess so…"

"Have you… talked to Lilith lately?" Leonte asked, curious.

"I have, a few times," Steve replied while looking down. "Most recently at her party where she didn't want to talk about some things. But she is doing well and taking care of herself."

Leonte was quiet for a moment before speaking. "I'm gonna be honest, I'm quite disappointed in Lilith."

This got Steve to turn to Leonte. "Really? But… why?"

He turned to Steve, giving him a response. "You wanna know why, Steve? I know how you admired her over the years. I had a lot of respect for her too and I was shocked when she just gave everything up. It was… difficult for me to come to terms with." He looked down. "A lot of people around here don't like talking about her since she's left. Not all could believe it at first. Some suggested that she left because she was playing the long game to convince her sister to join the coven but I know that it isn't the case. I know… that she isn't coming back."

"But… maybe Lilith made the decision that was best for her," Steve suggested, which Leonte scoffed at.

"Please, you can't be selfish when you're in the Emperor's Coven," Leonte pointed out. "What we're doing here is bigger than any one of us. Every witch in the Isles has a role to fulfill in the Titan's grand plan, so I'm asking you, Steve, to have faith in Belos. That's what Lilith lacked. Faith."

Steve still looked. unsure "Maybe… Lilith didn't think the future Belos promised would be worth it if it was a future without her family…"

"That… is fair," Leonte admitted. "Though if Lilith was anyone else, Belos probably wouldn't be as merciful. I am glad that I haven't been asked to bring her in, because that is not something I would not take pleasure in. But clearly she was not cut out to be the Head of the Emperor's Coven like we thought and that is a shame."

"She does have a new job." Steve brought up. "At the Museum of Supernatural History as their assistant curator."

"Well, I hope that fits her better," Leonte said. "Even if it's still disappointing regardless…"

"Do you ever have… any doubts about what we're doing and what Belos is planning for the Day of Unity?" Steve asked.

"...No," Leonte denied while looking around. "Never. I believe in the Emperor. I believe in the Titan. We may not have an easy job, but if it was easy then anyone would be here."

Leonte stopped walking. "It's been a good talk, Steve, but I have to go. Hope to see you in the future." He began to walk away.

"Yeah," Steve replied quietly, looking down. "The future…"

Later, Steve was contacted by Calypso and he entered her office.

"You wish to see me, Head Witch Brooke?" Steve asked her.

"Yes, Steve," Calypso replied while at her desk. Sunny was standing next to her and she waved at him.

"Hi, Steve!" she said.

"Hey, Sunny," Steve responded. "So what do you need me for?"

"I need you to be Sunny's escort for a trip to Latissa," Calypso instructed him. "I need her to meet up with an old contact of mine. Let her know that 'The Huntress' sent you two."

"Latissa?" Steve asked her. "I was stationed there once on a stake out…"

"Which is why you're good for the job," Calypso replied. "You two will need to wear something casual so that you don't stand out. I don't want anyone else to know why you're there."

Well, a simple escort mission sounded nice for Steve.

Later in Latissa, Steve and Sunny were dropped off by a griffin taxi.

"Thanks for the ride," Steve said as he flipped a snail to the driver. He was wearing a brown tunic with gray sleeves, dark blue pants, and black boots. Sunny was wearing a blue blouse with red and yellow bell-bottom pants with red flats. "Alright, better get close to me, this part of town's quite dangerous, Sunny."

"Why thank you," Sunny replied while wrapping her arms around Steve's arm. This made the scout slightly blush.

Steve nodded. "Um, yes, of course," he said as he walked along with Sunny.

The two walked through Latissa, passing by the stands and shops. Steve made sure to keep Sunny in sight while eyeing some of the shady figures around them. Passing the duo with a wheelbarrow of body bags was Dr. Bride and Glinda.

"Come Glinda, for this will be one of my best projects!" Dr. Bride declared while Glinda just gave a disturbed look.

Sunny tried to see the bright side on the escort mission, since she had been keen on getting to know Steve better. Especially now that he wasn't wearing the mask. In fact, he did look familiar…

"So Steve," Sunny said. "Can you tell me about yourself?"

"Um… alright," Steve responded. "What do you wish to know?"

"Well… what's your family like?" she asked him, causing Steve to look down in silence. "Oh, it's probably personal… sorry."

"No, it's fine," Steve said, waving it off. "Basically, you could say that my fam's… complicated." He sighed. "Growing up, I was raised by my mom. It wasn't until I was older that I learned that I was the product of an old relationship that my mom had with my father before he married his wife Sandra, whom he had two sons with. My father didn't even know that I existed at first… when he had an affair with my mom, his now ex-wife kicked him out of the window."

"Oh," Sunny responded. "That does sound complicated…"

"Yeah," Steve replied awkwardly. "Now he's been helping take care of my mom while I'm off doing coven duties."

"You're… lucky that you have parents, Steve," Sunny replied while looking down. "Mine passed away when I was little…"

"Oh," Steve said sadly. "I'm sorry."

"It was a long time ago," she replied. "My mom died after I was born, and my father passed away from an accident. It was just me and my step-mom for a time, along with my step sisters. I'm very lucky to have them, as they were very kind to me and tended to my needs. Even helped me decide which coven to choose. I wanted to join Bard because of my singing, but I also have a knack for helping beasts and demons, so I joined the Beast-Keeping Coven instead."

"They sound like great people," Steve commented.

"They are," Sunny said with a nod before suddenly they were confronted by a black hooded old woman.

"Excuse me, dearie," spoke the old witch, revealed to be Grimhilde, as she held up a basket of apples. "Would you like to have some of my apples?"

"Oh, certainly, ma'am!" Sunny said as she went to grab one…

"Hold it," Steve said, stopping Sunny. "Don't take any strange food from those you don't know. You have no idea if her apples are poisonous or laced with all kinds of drugs."

"Oh, I'm not that suspicious…" Grimhilde said, glancing away.

"I've dealt with those who put razors in their apples, not taking any chances," Steve said as he brought Sunny away from Grimhilde, leaving the old crone alone.

The shrunken head containing the soul of Dr. Facilier suddenly spoke. "Why did you do that?"

Grimhilde blinked, as if she just snapped out of a daze. "I don't know…"

Steve and Sunny continued on their way and slipped into an alley before they were jumped by a mugger.

"Alright, hand over your snails and shoes!" spoke the mugger.

Sunny gasped as Steve stepped forward. "Get behind me." he said as he kicked the knife from the mugger and punched him into the trash cans.

"AAH!"

Steve turned and saw two other muggers grabbing Sunny, who struggled.

"Let me go!" she shouted.

"Hey!" Steve shouted while seeing one of them summon a flame.

"Not one step," he told him "Or the lady gets it!"

"Hand over what you got!" the other mugger replied.

Steve glared as he stood his ground. "Alright, you want to play dirty." He suddenly disappeared, surprising the muggers.

"What's huh?!" the fire mugger said before the two muggers were hit from behind in the head, knocking them away from Sunny.

Sunny was shocked as she was grabbed away by Steve, who revealed himself. "Thanks… how'd you do that?"

"Something I picked up from my mentor," Steve responded as he used his magic to summon rope, bounding the three muggers. "Better contact the coven station and let them know about a pick up."

After dealing with the muggers and leaving them for the other scouts, Steve and Sunny finally found the address they had been given.

"This must be the place," Steve said as they stood in front of a large house.

"Yeah," Sunny said as she rang the doorbell. Opening the door was an orc woman with black and silver hair, a tattered tank top, gym shorts and on her left arm is a club connected to her shoulder through an organic prosthetic.

"What?!" she shouted, looking at them. "What do you want from Nazgul the Marauder!?"

"Um… the Huntress sent us…" Sunny said nervously.

"Oh," Nazgul said, her voice immediately becoming friendly. "Cali must've sent you. Wait right here, I have something for the Huntress." Nazgul went back inside as she looked for something in her home. She came out with a package. "Got it! Here you go!" she said, handing it to Sunny.

"Uh thanks, Ms. Marauder!" Sunny replied.

"Don't mention it," Nazgul said with a wave as the two left. "Tell her I say hi!"

After they made it back to the Emperor's Castle, Steve and Sunny returned to Calypso's office.

"Here you go," Sunny replied while handing the package to Calypso.

"Safe and sound, are you sure you weren't spotted?" Calypso asked them.

"Nope, no one followed or suspected us," Steve responded.

"...good," Calypso replied. "Thank you, both of you. You are dismissed."

After they left the office, Steve and Sunny walked alongside each other down the hallway as Sunny spoke. "Thanks for escorting me and… protecting me from those muggers, Steve."

"Hey, it's the duty of a scout to assist a coven aide," Steve replied.

"Yeah," Sunny said while smiling. "Actually, I'm gonna be honest… I requested you to accompany me."

Steve looked surprised "R-Really?"

She nodded. "I requested you because I remembered how nice you were and out of all the scouts, you're the most non-threatening."

'Not sure if that's a compliment or not,' Steve thought.

"And also," Sunny said as she twirled her hair while looking down. "After this, I'm thinking I would like to spend more time with you in the future… perhaps outside of work."

Steve smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I'd like that."

"Great!" Sunny said excitingly before readjusting herself. "I-I mean, that's good! We could get to know each other better…"

For the first time all day, Steve was feeling really good about himself.

"Steve!"

The voice of one captain called to him, making Steve turn to his superior. "Head Witch Pawculus has requested you for a mission… we're getting called to a raid."

"A raid?" Steve asked, raising his eyebrow.

Now at the outskirts of the Bat Queen's forest, Steve was dropped off along with a task force of scouts. They were briefed by Head Witch Pawculus.

"Alright, listen very well, scouts," Pawculus declared as next to him was Captain Wolffe. "Your mission is to secure and retrieve Palismen for Emperor Belos. Delta Squad is to enter the Bat Queen's forest first and clear the way for the Alpha and Beta Squad. Understood?"

"Yes, Head Witch Pawculus!" the scouts shouted with a salute while Steve glanced at the dark forest that made up the Bat Queen's territory.

Delta team moved into the forest. Steve walked along with them, but then someone shoved him aside.

"Watch out of the way, y'all!" Barie declared as she marched forward, getting in the way of the other scouts.

"We have the same mission too, you know?" asked one scout.

"But if this mission is going to be successful, it's going to be under mah success!" Barie declared as she moved up front.

"Hey, you gotta be quiet…" Steve told her.

"Ah know what I'm doing!" Barie declared before she stepped on something. "I'm the-"

SCHNINK!

Barie didn't get to finish, as her mask fell from her face after a large thorn went through her head, instantly killing her.

"What the hell…?!" one scout asked as they backed away, setting off a tripwire. Suddenly, more thorns shot out and killed five scouts before they even got the chance to react.

"FUCK!" Steve shouted as the scouts scattered. Some of the scouts fell into holes that had been covered up. They screamed, only to be silenced as the holes had spikes on the bottom. One scout ran and fell into a large bear-trap, another scout stepped on a trigger that set off an explosive that sent that scout's remains flying. Steve could only stand back as he watched his fellow scouts get massacred by dozens of traps.

"AAAHHH!" one scout cried as something spilled over her, causing the skin to melt from her bones.

Three more scouts were grabbed by the branch of a tree that ate the scouts. Another scout was sliced into pieces after running through some sharp wires. This was followed by spikes popping up from the ground that killed some more.

Steve just ducked down, covered his head, and closed his eyes. The cries of his scout mates were echoing through the woods as he felt blood splattered all over him. He stayed still until all the cries and screaming stopped…

Once he heard nothing but silence, Steve opened his eyes. Slowly, he looked up and saw how his fellow scouts had been slaughtered. What was it he had called Barie earlier that day?

Oh yeah. Canon fodder. That was what they were.

He then hear footsteps as he turned around to see the second team coming toward him.

"Well," Venoma said as she along with Alburno marched over. "Looks like we won the lottery when it came to team assignment…"

"And Pawculus's prediction was correct," Alburno replied while looking at Steve. "Only one of the first wave survived. Though hey, at least we have less traps to worry about."

Steve was shaken while the other scouts passed him by, avoiding the traps that had been set off. One scout was kind enough to help Steve up while they went on their mission. With them were some Abomatons...

Ghost was laying on her tree branch when she heard the sound of Baum screeching. She looked up and spotted the flying monkey Palisman.

"What are you screeching at, Baum?" Ghost asked, only for an abomi-goo net to shoot up and ensnare the flying-monkey Palisman. "BAUM?!"

The cat Palisman looked down and saw the Abomaton that had trapped him. It was accompanied by a few scouts. "One down…" Alburno said, being amongst the scouts.

"I have to warn the Bat Queen!" Ghost shouted as she hurried from tree to tree, being spotted by Venoma.

"There!" Venoma pointed up as she led the scouts in the Bat Queen's direction.

Soon, the Bat Queen walked over to where her three babies were resting. She gave a saddened sigh, having known this day would come.

"Babies, wake up!" the Bat Queen told her children as they started to wake up. "It's time to play hide and seek! Just like we've been practicing." The little bat babies looked confused. "And if you hide really good this time, I'll let you watch crystal ball all day!"

This excited them as they prepared for their game.

"Now go hide now," the Bat Queen said, watching sadly as her babies went somewhere to hide. Once they left to find their hiding spot, she took a deep breath and left her cave to face the task force that consisted of the scouts and their Abomatons.

The scouts had made it to her location as the Bat Queen made her appearance known, baring her fangs and spreading her wings. "You dare trespass in my territory, Emperor's lackeys?!" she declared.

"By order of the Emperor, all of the Palismen under your care will be confiscated by the Emperor's Coven," Pawculus declared.

"Surrender now, Bat Queen!" Wolffe added.

"Never!" the Bat Queen shouted with a glare as she hissed at them.

"Third to the left, one route under the tree," Pawculus said while the scouts spread out with their Abomatons.

The scouts and Abomatons began to trap and capture the Palismen. The Abomatons blocked their escape routes, which Pawculus had predicted, while some captured the Palismens with their nets. All the while Bat Queen fought back against the scouts, knocking them aside as the Palismen she protected were caught all around her.

Amidst the chaos, Ghost managed to avoid being captured by an Abomaton. She realized that all of the regular escape routes would be covered, so she had to go a different route, rushing past the scouts and the Abomatons.

"One escaped!" one scout pointed out as Ghost slipped out of sight.

"Forget it," Venoma told the scout while holding up a net full of captured Palismen. "Focus on taking down the Bat Queen…"

Ghost managed to rush out of the forest, heading to the only place she knew she could ask for help from. There was only one person she could think of going to now…

In the Owl House, Luz and Amity were in their room watching from the crystal ball while Acorn sat on the shelf watching with them. The two were having a lazy day as they watched a grudgeby game.

"Think the Wurms will win this year?" Amity asked while snuggling close to Luz.

"I doubt it, the Latissa Larvas are killing them," Luz answered while handing her a box of chocolates. "Choco-crickets?"

"Yes, please," Amity replied as she grabbed some before they heard a tap on their window. They turned and to their shock, saw a familiar cat Palisman. "Ghost?!"

Luz opened the window, letting Ghost in. "Amity, I need your help!" Ghost meowed to Amity, making her eyes widen.

"What'd she say?" Luz asked while Acorn looked concerned, keeping her distance.

"There's a raid happening at the Bat Queen's forest!" Amity translated.

"What?!" Luz and Maya exclaimed together, Maya horrified by the news.

The two rushed out of their rooms, going straight to Eda. "Whoa, what's going on?" Eda asked, noticing Ghost with them. "Ghost? When did you get here?"

"Mom, the Bat Queen's forest is being raided right now!" Luz told her.

"By the Emperor's Coven!" Amity added,

Eda's eye widened and she gave a determined nod. "Alright, we have to do something about this… but the Emperor's Coven can't know that we were there."

"Meaning, we'll just have to disguise ourselves," Luz said while going to the closet and grabbing some cloaks.

"What's going on?" Camila asked after exiting King's room.

"The Emperor's Coven is raiding the Bat Queen's forest," Amity explained while grabbing her cloak and covering herself in Abomi-goo to form a disguise.

"We're gonna stop them and save the Palismen, there's no way we're letting Belos feast off of them!" Luz said while grabbing a cat mask.

While they got ready, Eda pulled out a crow and made a call. "Yo, Lily, there's something I need to tell you…"

In the Clawthorne residence, Hunter walked down the hall with Flapjack when they heard Lilith's conversation with her sister.

"A raid?!" Lilith exclaimed while on the crow. "Dear Titan, I thought this day would never come," she said while Hunter and Flapjack secretly listened in. "We can't allow them to hand those Palismen over to Belos, Eda."

Shocked, Hunter and Flapjack looked worried. Flapjack chirped to Hunter, suggesting something that shocked him. "What? I know you want to help them, but…" Hunter sighed. "What if I get caught?" he asked his Palisman, who continued to chirp away…

The captured Palismen were locked into cages as airships hovered overhead. Steve could only stand there, watching events unfold. Alburno noticed this and went over.

"Are you alright, Steve?" Alburno asked him in a friendly manner.

"Y-Yeah," Steve responded, spotting the Bat Queen in the distance still fighting off the scouts, refusing to go down no matter how outnumbered she was.

"I know that his line of work can be hard," Alburno said while patting Steve's back. "But you don't have to do anything right now if you don't think you're able to. Just… stay low, wait for this to be over, and try not to get killed."

Steve nodded before spotting the Golden Guard, who had shown up and was checking on how the raid was going on. "The Golden Guard's here?"

"Yeah, heard he got back in the field," Alburno replied.

The Golden Guard stopped in front of an Abomaton as it carried a bubble full of captured Palismen. One of them was Baum. The Golden Guard noticed this, the mask making their face unreadable as they stared at the Palisman for a moment before turning away.

In the bushes, Luz, Eda and Amity were wearing their disguises as they watched the raid unfold. The trio looked at each other, nodding while Eda held up the glyphs. "Who's up for some wild ass-kicking?" Eda whispered.

"We're all in," Luz said as her eyes turned red.

Amity, whose Abomi-suit now has a cat mask resembling something like Catwoman, nodded. "I think I got an idea…"

The Bat Queen was knocked into a tree while desperately trying to protect her territory. She glared at the scouts while Venoma walked towards her.

"You just don't know when to quit, do you?" the coven scout questioned.

The Bat Queen glared at her. "I will not let you get away with this!"

Venoma's hands dripped venom as toxic Abomi-goo rose up around her in a snake-like manner. "We will, but don't worry. I'll make sure that you don't live long enough to see it…"

"Look!" a scout shouted, interrupting Venoma as they turned to see a cloud of red mist spreading around them. The scouts held their crossbows tightly, expecting an attack when they began to hear an echoing voice.

"WHO DARES DISTURB THESE GROUNDS!?"

The booming, demotic voice echoed, making the scouts quivered. From the red mist emerged a tall figure cloaked in red with horns and a skeletal face covered in scraps of flesh, an eyeball falling out of a socket.

"What is that?!" Alburno cried out as lightning flashed from behind the horned figure. Steve backed away as he fell to the ground.

"You are not welcome here!" the figure shouted while the scouts began firing arrows and casting spells at the demon. But it all went straight through the figure, causing them to laugh. "Your magic has no effect on me! For I am a god! And you have invoked my wrath!" They raised their hands up, shooting more lightning. The wind picked up as mini-tornadoes began to swirl around and fire exploded from the ground.

Behind the bushes, Amity was controlling the illusion of the horned figure. Eda and Luz, meanwhile, used their glyphs to create lightning, fire, and mini-tornadoes. These mini-tornadoes got some of the scouts caught in them along with an Abomaton. And one bolt of lightning hit an airship, causing it to go up in flames as it fell down to the forest.

"Mayday! Mayday!" the pilot cried out as he jumped out of the airship. The airship then crashed into the woods.

"Oh, the witchanity!" another scout cried, seeing what happened.

"LEAVE NOW OR I WILL DEVOUR YOUR SOUL!" the illusion screamed as flames exploded around him, sending the scouts into a terrified panic. Several of them began to flee.

"Pawculus! What do we do?!" Wolffe asked the Oracle Head.

"We need to fall back but keep the Palismen secure!" Pawculus declared. "Out of all the scenarios I've predicted, this wasn't one of them…"

WHACK!

Pawculus was struck in the head by a branch, held by Sam. Before Wolffe discovered the shadow, she was also met with the branch to the head, knocking her out.

"We need… to retreat…" Pawculus said before he fell unconscious. Sam looked down at them and couldn't help but snicker.

Alburno backed away, noting that the other airships were already fleeing, leaving behind the cargo they were supposed to load. "Let's get out of here!" he shouted while hurrying off. The rest of the scouts began to follow in his example, many of them dropping the cages of Palismen left and right. Some of them stopped to carry Pawculus and Wolffe to safety.

Venoma looked at the horned figure in shock, then down at the Bat Queen before she made her choice and started running.

"Yes! Flee! Flee and never return!" the illusion shouted at the fleeing scouts while running through the red mist were the disguised Luz, Eda and Amity. Eda wore her red cloak with a cat mask while Luz wore her purple cloak. They spotted the dropped cages and rushed over to let the Palismen out.

"Don't worry, you're safe!" Luz declared while the Palismen got out of their cage.

Amity found the controller for the Abomatons and pressed the shut off switch, releasing the Palismen from their containment. She then noticed one scout still on the ground. His mask had fallen off, which allowed her to recognize him.

"Steve?" Amity gasped as Steve turned to the masked girl. He instantly recognized her voice.

"Amity?" Steve gasped.

"How are you doing, old girl?" Eda asked as she helped the Bat Queen up.

"I think… I'll recover," the Bat Queen said as she stood up. "Thank you."

"Hey, us moms gotta look out for each other," Eda replied.

Luz freed more Palismen from the cages before she turned and spotted one figure who wasn't running with everyone else. Instead, they were heading straight toward Luz.

"I knew it," the Golden Guard said as they pointed their staff at Luz. "There is no way you were fooling me… Luz," they said, knowing who it was behind Luz's cat mask.

"Luz? Who's Luz? I don't know anyone of that name," Luz denied.

"Please, while everyone else was fooled by your spooky trick, I knew better," the Golden Guard declared. "I knew that where there is trouble, you would find a Clawthorne in the middle of it. I've been ordered not to fight you, but I don't see anyone else to tell me otherwise. Do you?" They gestured around, indicating that everyone else was either already gone or too distracted to notice them. "I've been looking forward to this…"

Luz narrowed her eyes at the Golden Guard. "So you're the new guy, huh? Let's see how you measure up!" she shouted as she cast light beams, which the Golden Guard dodged. They swung their staff as cloned illusions showed up around them, shooting beams at Luz from multiple directions.

Luz dodged the beams and cast fire spells at the Golden Guard's illusions. Each of them disappeared one by one, but the real Golden Guard used their staff to teleport away. Luz looked around and sensed someone behind her, causing her to rise-up her kick as her leg changed into her cambion form, clashing against the Golden Guard's staff. Luz's fists was surrounded in flames as she punched the Golden Guard, who used their cape to block the punch, leaving a scorch mark.

The Golden Guard marked something on the ground with their foot while glaring at Luz who jumped up and did a sidekick towards her. The Golden Guard dodged the kick, while Luz spun around to kick them from behind. The Golden Guard blocked her kick, used their foot to make another mark on the ground, and then blasted Luz away with their staff. Her cloak was in tatters as Luz glared at the Golden Guard.

"Did they tell you what almost happened to the last Golden Guard when he faced me?" Luz questioned them. "You wouldn't like me when I go feral."

"I don't think I need to worry about that," the Golden Guard responded.

Under her mask, Luz raised an eyebrow. "What are you-" As Luz took a step forward, she saw something glowing on the ground and she looked down. Her eyes widened when she saw it was a glyph the Golden Guard had made in the dirt during their fight. Before Luz could do anything else, she was encased in ice. "AAH!" she shouted while being held in the ice with only her head free. Luz realized that the Golden Guard had used one of her own tricks against her and she had fallen for it. "You've got to be fucking kidding me!"

Meanwhile, Amity walked over to Steve. "Steve… what the hell are you doing here?!" she demanded to know.

"I… Amity-" Steve stood up, trying to reach out but Amity stepped back.

She turned away, not looking at his face. "Get out of here before you get hurt, Steve," she suggested.

Steve heard her words clearly and he nodded. "R-Right, I will," he said as he started to run away. He briefly slowed down. "It's… good to see you again, Amity."

She glanced at him. "Yeah, likewise," she said as she watched Steve leave.

Luz tried to get out of the ice but to no avail. The Golden Guard held their staff up in front of her as they admitted their handiwork. "You're not going anywhere now."

"No shit, Captain Obvious," Luz spat while the Golden Guard lowered their staff.

"Not so fun to be on the other side of the glyph now, is it, Luz?" the Golden Guard asked while removing their mask in front of Luz, making the Clawthorne's eyes widen. "Hello, Luz."

"Fucking shit…" Luz cursed.

It was Emily. Emily Tricks was the new Golden Guard.

"Surprised?" Emily asked while grinning to Luz. She gestured to her uniform. "How do you like my new look? Gold has always been my favorite color."

"How much did you have to do under the table to convince the Emperor to give you this position?" Luz asked, making Emily glare at her.

"Your little juvenile quips won't get you out of this, Clawthorne," Emily told her. "I'll see to it that you get punished for your actions accordingly-AH!" She felt a kick from behind her head, caused by Hunter who teleported behind her with his staff. He wore a red cloak while slamming a fire glyph on the ice Luz was trapped in. The ice instantly melted away, freeing Luz as Hunter joined her side.

"Are you alright?" Hunter asked her.

"Believe it or not, but I'm actually glad you're here," Luz responded as she got up.

Hunter turned to see Emily Tricks in the Golden Guard uniform, shocking him. "No way..."

"Be careful, this one's tricky," Luz said while getting in a fighting stance.

"You will pay for that!" Emily declared while adjusting herself and pressing a button on her staff. A portal popped up and she grabbed a rigid horn lance from it before she launched herself towards the two.

Luz and Hunter dodged the attack, Luz using her plant glyph to wrap around the lance and pull it away from Emily. Hunter, using his staff, teleported to a different position and kicked Emily in the side. Luz shot out her wings as she flew up, launching herself down to throw a punch at Emily. The new Golden Guard activated a shield to block the attack, but then she felt an electric shock that discharges the shield, courtesy of Hunter's lightning glyph.

Emily used the staff to draw back while drawing spell circles to bring out a large worm. Luz used her claws to slash at the creature, dispelling the illusion. However, Emily swung a left-foot swing kick to Luz, who blocked the attack. But this gave Emily the chance to throw a haymaker at Luz, making her fall back. Emily threw another punch to Luz, who interlocked her arm and punched Emily's side. But Emily pulled her arm off as she turned invisible.

Luz looked around and Emily was about to strike her from behind, but Hunter knocked her away. Emily turned to see Hunter unhooded and that was when Emily realized who he was.

"You…" Emily stood up, getting a good look at him and Flapjack. "You two were… the ones at Glandus…" She tightened her grip on her staff. "You're the scout who ruined everything I've worked for!"

"You're the one who was connected to a trafficking ring!" Hunter pointed out as Emily glared at him. "You had to be stopped!"

Emily gripped her staff as she gave her wicked grin. "Payback time!" she shouted as she sent bolts at Hunter, who was knocked to the ground by them. Emily jumped up, raising her leg to bring it down on him, but Hunter rolled away. However, this Emily was an illusion as the real one turned visible and kicked him in the stomach.

"GAH!" Hunter coughed and as Emily was about to kick him again, she was restrained by Luz.

"LET ME GO!" Emily shouted as Hunter managed to crawl away from her.

"Not on your life, Tricks!" Luz declared before Emily used the back of her head to shove Luz off. Managing to be free herself, Emily used her staff to contain Luz in a bubble. "Hey!"

Emily turned to Hunter and swung her staff at him, but he blocked it with his. She angrily swung a kick at him, but Hunter blocked the kick with his metal arm. This surprised Emily and gave Hunter the chance to punch her across the face. She hissed as Hunter grabbed her staff away and pressed a button, freeing Luz. But Emily quickly tackled Hunter and grabbed her staff back before kicking him.

"You still underestimate me!" Emily growled while Luz flew up to try to kick her in the face but Emily dodged it. She swung her staff, hitting them both with a spell.

Luz and Hunter backed away, disoriented. This gave Emily the chance to kick Luz in the stomach while grabbing Hunter and throwing him down to the ground. Hunter grabbed her face with his metal arm as he struggled against her grip. A blade popped from her gauntlet as she attempted to stab him…

But Luz pulled her away from him by grabbing her cape and throwing her across the ground. Luz helped Hunter up before they turned to look at Emily, who glared back at them.

"I thought you were crazy before, but this could get you killed, Tricks!" Luz declared.

"She freakin' tried to kill me!" Hunter exclaimed as they dodged another bolt attack from her staff. Emily rushed toward the two, but Luz managed to grab her arm and swung her into a tree.

"You may wear the Golden Guard's outfit, but at the end of the day, you're nothing but a stand-in," Luz called out to her while Emily got up and pressed a button on her staff, shooting out a whip. She used the whip to grab Hunter and pull him in close enough so she could deck him across the face, drawing blood. He retaliated by using the bottom of his staff to hit her by the nose.

Having enough, Emily threw Hunter across the ground while Luz kicked her from behind. Emily swung her fist at Luz, who blocked it while Hunter kicked Emily's leg, making her wince. Emily kicked Hunter across the chin before swinging her staff, knocking them both back.

"You will pay for this…!" she ranted until her staff was knocked away by a glob Abomi-goo.

"Luz!" Amity shouted as she showed up with Eda, the Bat Queen, and a disguised Lilith who wore a cloak and mask. Amity saw the unmasked Golden Guard and froze. "Emily…"

"Alright, there's no point in fighting anymore, Emilimabeans," Eda declared. "You're outnumbered and your forces have already pulled out. It's over."

"Are you two alright?" Lilith asked while helping Hunter up. He nodded.

"Leave this place!" the Bat Queen told Emily.

Emily backed away, seeing that she was indeed outnumbered. She also knew she had to get back to her superiors before they became suspicious. She glared at her enemies.

"Fine, I won't fight you all… alone," she said as she pulled a remote from her pocket and pressed a button.

It was then that the Abomatons were reactivated, flying over to where the Owl family and Emily were at. They landed in front of Emily, who gave them their orders. "Kill them!" she shouted before she ran off, freed her staff, and ran away.

"Of course she leaves," Maya growled while spreading her wings.

"Forget her, we have to take these guys down!" Luz declared as one Abomaton fired laser beams at them from its metal plating. "Take cover!"

They all scattered as the laser beam hit and incinerated a tree. Lilith was shocked. "If these Abomatons aren't stopped, they could wipe out the entire forest!"

The Bat Queen gasped. "My babies are around!"

"Then we'll have to take them all out!" Luz declared while shooting a fire glyph at one Abomaton, who blocked the flames with a shield. The Abomatons unleashed their weapons against the group, firing fireballs and laser beams as their hands formed into blades.

Eda turned into her harpy form as she dodged an abomi-ax while Amity used her spiked abomi-goo gauntlets to block the ax. Using her Abomination magic, she managed to stop the abomi-ax from hitting Eda with its second swing while the Bat Queen flew into one of the Abomatons, tackling it.

Lilith also turned into her harpy form as she used her hands to shoot out lightning at some of the Abomatons, but they didn't seem affected. Behind her are the Palismen, which she found after releasing them. Hunter teleported around, trying to find a weak point and break into the core of the Abomaton, but he had no luck.

Luz attempted to kick one Abomaton back and punch another while in her cambion form, but they were unaffected. She was then blasted by one Abomaton in the back, causing her to fall.

"Luz!" Amity and Eda rushed to her aid, Eda helping her daughter up. "Are you okay?"

"Those guys… are a lot tougher than I thought!" Luz winced, her irises suddenly turning white. "You guys feel a chill?"

"No…" Amity replied while looking at the Abomaton in anger. Her eyes glowed bright pink, as she raised her hands up to make the Abomaton stopped in its tracks as the goo started to boil. Eda tried to slice off the head of one Abomaton, but it just reformed.

Hunter was knocked back by the fist of an Abomaton before he slammed a plant glyph under it in an attempt to restrain the Abomination weapon. But the Abomaton just ripped its binds off and began to charge its cannon while aiming it at Hunter.

"RAAAWWRR!"

Suddenly, a misshapen Abomination popped out and punched the Abomaton away from Hunter. The Abomaton was knocked back as the Abomination punched a hole through its metal chest, pulling out a battery which shut down the Abomaton and causing it to melt away.

Hunter looked shocked as he saw the Abomi-monster before him. It was tall and had a large torso, skinny and misshapen legs, large fists, and a hunchback. The most noticeable feature was its face… half of it looked almost human, while the other half looked melted off. Hunter looked into the Abomi-monster's eyes… and felt a chill down his spine, though he didn't know why.

"That's not mine…" Amity noted, confused by the sudden appearance of this strange Abomi-monster.

"Ugh…" Luz groaned while kneeling down, shivering.

"Luz, are you alright?" Amity asked, turning to her girlfriend.

"Better… stand… back!" Luz raised her hands toward one Abomaton, her scales turned icy-blue, and she drew a spell circle, freezing the Abomaton into a block of ice. "Whoa… I got ice powers now!" she declared before she sneezed. "And a cold…"

After shaking off the realization, Luz used her spells on the Abomatons to slow them down and limit their movements, which made them easier to fight.

Another Abomaton was decked by the Abomi-monster. Watching this, Lilith used her static charge against one Abomaton and when another tried to take her out, it got decked from behind by a structure popping out of the ground. Lilith turned around and saw an unmasked Steve.

"Steve?" Lilith said in shock.

"I… came back to help!" Steve revealed. "There's a way to shut these guys down, you need an Abomagnetic pulse."

"Where could we find an AMP?" Lilith asked while Amity took down one Abomaton.

"I know how," Amity responded, opening a hatch in the metal and starting to pull at the wires and organs.

The Abomi-monster continued to tear apart the Abomatons threatening Hunter. The blonde boy and his cardinal Palisman stood up, watching the carnage in awe. The Bat Queen knocked one Abomaton with her head while fighting alongside Harpy Eda and Luz. Amity, meanwhile, worked on creating something from the parts of the downed Abomaton while Steve and Lilith kept guard.

"How's learning the ice, Luz?" Eda asked while kicking the head off of one Abomaton.

"All this, and my abs still haven't popped out!" Luz commented while freezing one Abomaton before it could hit her.

Amity had finally finished. "Switching over the wires to the receiver and battery, and you get…" She reinserted the battery and the Abomaton's eyes glowed pink. The mechanical parts of its body lit up before it sent out a pulse causing every Abomaton that was attacking to be shut down.

Despite the Abomatons starting to fall over, the Abomi-monster still tore one last Abomaton while Luz froze enough before they both realized it was over.

The Abomi-monster then turned to Hunter, getting a good look at him. Hunter looked up at the monster, sensing something odd before the monster ran off into the woods.

"Wait!" Hunter cried out, but the monster had disappeared completely. He tried to follow but then he noticed something on the ground nearby. He and Flapjack went over to it and saw that it was orange fur…

Once everyone regrouped, the freed Palismen swarmed over to the Bat Queen as she performed a head count and turned back to the witches. "Thank you… thank you all for protecting the Palismen," she told them.

"It's no prob, BQ," Eda replied.

"We're always there to help when you need it," Amity replied while Luz stayed quiet, looking nervous.

"Yes," Bat Queen agreed, though her expression changed when she turned to Lilith and Steve. "But as for you two… despite your help, I demand for you to leave immediately!"

Lilith lowered her head. "I understood, Bat Queen," Lilith replied as she began to leave along with Steve. Hunter looked toward the Bat Queen and the others, giving them an awkward wave before he began to follow Lilith. He did look back and his eyes met Luz's before they quickly looked away.

"Now… about your situation," Eda said to the Bat Queen while one of the rescued Palismen watched the leaving trio with great interest.

As they left Bat Queen's territory, Steve spotted some of the dead scouts from when they set off the traps earlier. He then turned to Hunter, who just stayed quiet and looked down at the ground. It was then Lilith that spoke up.

"Are you okay, Steve?" Lilith asked him. Steve didn't answer right away.

"… In all honesty, Lilith, I'm beginning to regret my life choices," Steve said while turning to Hunter, recognizing who he thought was a former coven scout. "Is that you… Hunter?"

"Yeah, I have a… new look," Hunter replied while lifting up his metal arm.

"Did you leave the Emperor's Coven like Lilith did?" Steve asked him.

"Not exactly…" Hunter admitted, though he didn't want to elaborate. "Say um, can you not tell anyone that I was here or with Lilith?"

Steve nodded. "When I make my report, you'll be omitted," he said before looking back at Lilith. "Lilith… did you quit the Emperor's Coven for your family or was there another reason?"

Lilith thought about it before answering. "Yes, that is the main reason, but it wasn't the only reason why I knew that I could never go back." She looked down to her own hands. "It was because I realized that it wasn't what I wanted anymore. It just… wasn't for me. At least, it wasn't for who I wanted to be." She turned to Steve. "You can leave as well, Steve. It isn't too late."

Steve gave in some thought. "Well… I promise to think about it," he said as he began to walk away from the two. He put his mask on. "I'll see you around."

"Good luck, Steve," Lilith said, waving to him as she saw him walk away.

One of the Bat Queen's babies was hiding when it heard a little noise. It looked up and saw that Luz had discovered its hiding place.

"Found ya," Luz said as the bat baby flew up to Luz and landed on her arms. Eda and Amity had managed to find its siblings as they went back to regroup with the Bat Queen and the Palismen. "Found Xing Xing, hiding inside that little cave."

"They've hidden themselves really well," Amity mentioned while the Bat Queen went to confront Luz.

"Ghost told me about something that I want you to confirm," the Bat Queen told Luz, her eyes narrowing. "Is… Maya really in there?"

Luz took a deep breath and let Maya take over as she looked up at the Bat Queen. "I'm here."

"Maya…" the Bat Queen said in shock. "You really are alive…"

"Sorry that I didn't let you know earlier I was alive, I just didn't know how you would react," Maya said.

"Well… how have you been?" the Bat Queen asked her.

"I've been doing good, all things considered," Maya responded. "Honestly, Luz has been doing her best to make this whole body sharing work for the both of us. It's got some downsides, but I'm starting to get used to this." She rubbed her arm. "I know that it's asking for a lot, Bat Queen, but… can you forgive Luz for what she did? Because I have. I've come to accept that what happened was an accident. She didn't ask for this, but she really has gone out of her way to help me in return."

Amity and Eda looked to Maya and then to the Bat Queen, awaiting her answer. The Bat Queen nodded. "Of course… because of your actions and Maya's testimony, you have won back my trust, Luz Clawthorne. And… I think you are worthy of having your own Palisman, especially after taking care of Maya," the Bat Queen said as she reached into her hair and pulled out the Palistrom wood she had taken from Luz. "Here you go, child of Eda," she said as she handed it to Luz, who was surprised.

"T-thank you, BQ," Luz replied, feeling a wave of relief wash over her.

Ghost, who has witnessed this, didn't look quite as happy with this development. She then noticed Amity looking at her and she quickly looked away, pretending that she didn't see her.

"Ghost… how have you been?" Amity asked.

"Oh you know, been lazing around," Ghost replied. "But… thank you. Thank you for saving the other Palismen. They are like my own siblings."

Amity knelt down. "It's no problem, Ghost," she said while reluctantly reaching out to the cat Palisman. She stopped herself from touching her and she sighed. "There's something I want to ask… why did you leave?"

"I already told you-"

"No, why did you really leave?" Amity asked. "Because I think we both know that you were not being honest with me when you left."

Ghost looked at Amity, her expression pained. She sighed. "Okay, I wasn't being honest with you or myself at the time… I left because you remind me too much of my Adam. And I didn't want to re-experience what I went through when I lost him. Not again."

Amity was quiet for a moment, deep in thought. "That's understandable," she said as she began to gently pet Ghost, the cat Palisman not objecting. "You were hurt when you lost your owner and you don't want to be hurt ever again. But… avoiding connection with other people isn't the way to live out your life either. I mean, you said you see these Palismen as your siblings, right? Did that change when you thought Maya died? No. You still cared about them and you couldn't change that, regardless of the pain losing Maya gave you. And you leaving hasn't changed the fact that you still care for me, has it?" Ghost didn't answer, her silence confirming it. Amity sighed. "Look, I can't promise you that you won't lose me, so I won't. But I do know that we had a connection. That I care about you. I want you to be my Palisman, Ghost. And I believe that's what you want despite your denial."

Ghost slowly nodded. "I guess… though I still don't trust Luz. She is too similar to Philip…"

"Well, do you trust me?" Amity asked her.

"I… I do," Ghost admitted.

Amity nodded. "Truth be told, I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up, but I want to choose the path myself." This made Ghost look up at Amity.

"I believe that is her deepest desire, Ghost," the Bat Queen said as she came over and nudged Ghost. "Go to her, it is right for both of you."

Ghost looked at the Bat Queen and then at Amity before she walked up to the lavender-haired witch and jumped into her arms. "And I will be by your side all the way, my witch."

Amity smiled and hugged Ghost. "I promise to take good care of you, Ghost," she said, while Luz and Eda both smiled as they watched this moment.

Luz and Amity finally got what they needed.

Later, Luz, Amity, Eda, and Ghost returned to the Owl House.

"We're back!" Eda announced. "And we got surprises!"

"Ghost decided to come back!" Amity shouted, pointing to Ghost as Acorn, Camila, and King came into the living room.

"Oh, Bienvenido de nuevo, pequeño gato de nieve!" Camila knelt down to pet Ghost, who enjoyed the woman's gentle touch.

"Yes, I think I'll like it here," Ghost said, her eyes on Acorn.

"Oh shit…" Acorn said, looking unhappy that her nemesis had returned.

"Check this out, Mami," Luz said as she held up the Palistrom wood, causing Camila and King to gasp.

"Is that… the Palistrom wood you gave back to the Bat Queen?" Camila asked.

"Yeah," Luz replied with a nod. "Because of my actions today and Maya's testimony, the Bat Queen thought I was worthy to have a Palisman. Oh, and thanks, Maya. Really."

"Well, I thought you needed a break from all the angst," Maya said casually, though she shared Luz's smile.

"This is great, Luz!" King shouted. "I wonder what kind of Palisman you'll make? I bet it would shoot flames!"

"Well, I haven't thought of what to make yet, but I know that I'm gonna love them no matter what," Luz said as Eda patted her shoulder.

"And I promise to help you in making the Palisman you want," Eda said. "After all, I gotta continue the family tradition."

At the Bonesborough Emperor's Coven precinct, Steve rejoined the other scouts from the raid, who were all recovering. They were shocked to see Steve show up.

"Steve!" the scouts called out.

"Wow, you actually survived," Venoma said while Alburno was just as surprised.

"Yeah, nothing can take down old Steve," Steve said with a low energy chuckle.

"Well, now that you're here, you can go check in with Captain Wolffe and Head Witch Pawculus," Alburno pointed out. "I am sure they would want to hear from you."

Steve nodded as he headed to the captain's office. There, he saw the recovered Pawculus, who had a bandage over his head, and Wolffe, who had just finished speaking with Emily.

"Steve," Wolffe said, turning to him. "You survived."

"Yeah…" Steve responded.

"Can you confirm what the Golden Guard reported to us?" Pawculus asked while Emily shifted her eyes away. "She reported that we were attacked by a group of unknown wild witches who were wearing masks."

Realizing that Emily didn't fully tell the truth, Steve nodded. "Yes. I didn't get a good look at them, but they were definitely wild witches."

Pawculus nodded. "Very well, you are dismissed."

Once he walked out of the precinct, Steve stood there in silence. They decided to let him off duty for the time being after the experience with the raid. But in that moment, all he could do was just… stare into space while letting what just happened sink in. He witnessed so many deaths of his fellow scouts, with Barie's sudden death still fresh in his mind. Amity's words echoed in his head.

"Get out of here before you get hurt."

He couldn't keep it together anymore. Behind his mask, he started to tear up. He quickly walked to the side of the precinct and started to cry. He hollered loudly as he broke down, collapsing onto the ground and removing his mask as he rubbed the tears from his eyes.

"Hey," spoke Larry the coven guard, who noticed Steve having a breakdown. He marched over to him. "Are you alright, scout?"

"N-n-no," Steve said as he shook his head.

"What's wrong?" Larry asked while Steve tried to calm himself down. Larry handed him a drink. "Here, have some ghoul-aid."

Steve looked at the ghoul-aid and grabbed the juice box. "T-Thanks."

"No problem," Larry said. "Do you have a name, scout?"

Steve took a sip and nodded. "I-It's Steve. Sorry that I look like a mess… it's because of work."

"I see," Larry replied solemnly. "I understand that too well."

Steve looked up at Larry, who sat by his side. "Hey, can I ask you something?" Larry nodded. "What do you do when you… realize that the job you've had for years is… terrible? And that you want to find some way to leave but… you know if you can."

"Well, there are several reasons why someone might stay with a terrible job. It could be the good pay, it could be because they feel an obligation to it, or it could just be because it's familiar to them and they are afraid of doing anything different because of how unknown territory that is." He patted Steve's shoulder. "Look, why don't you ask yourself why you're still in this job, even though you know it's terrible. Because when you know why you're doing something, it becomes easier to figure out how to change that." After a moment of silence passed between them, he helped Steve up. "Will you be okay, soldier?"

"Y-Yeah, I think… I'll call a cabworm," Steve replied. "Thank you, um…"

"Larry," Larry responded before he started to leave. "Good luck, Steve."

"Yeah, you too," Steve said as he began to walk away. He then heard a noise… which sounded like the noise of a monkey. He turned to an alleyway and saw something flying down to him.

It was Baum the flying-monkey Palisman. Steve was surprised to see the monkey Palisman landing on his shoulder, "You… what are you doing here?" he asked as Baum screeched to him. "What? You want to go with me? No, nonono, I can't," he told the Palisman. "I can't have you, you should go find someone else."

Baum looked down sadly, which Steve saw and he couldn't help but reconsider. But he knew that bringing him with him would result in the Emperor having him.

"Okay look," Steve spoke to Baum, who turned to him. "There's a good reason why I can't bring you with me… but I think I know someone special who'd like to have you for a Palisman."

"Happy birthday, Matt!"

Outside of the Storms household, Mattholomule's birthday party was being held. The guests included Gus, Bo, Eileen, Elliot, Luz, Willow, Amity, Skara, Viney, Jerbo, Barcus, Morty, Summer, Simon, Cat, Amelia, and his brother Oskar. Sandra was with some of the parents who had come along, which included Eda, Beth, Jerry, and Murray, Mattholomule and Oskar's dad.

"Thanks for coming to my party, guys," Matt told his friends.

"Hey, we wouldn't miss it for anything, Matt," Gus replied.

"Say Matt, who's that over there?" Bo asked, pointing to the older teenage boy who was covered in dirt and had messy auburn hair with a sleeveless jean jacket, a black shirt, cargo pants, and muddy boots.

"Oh that's my older brother, Oskar," Matt replied. "He hasn't been around much since he works at the tunnels."

"Oh yeah, you mentioned him before," Gus replied, remembering when they were looking for galderstones at the Looking Glass Ruins.

With the parents that are chatting, Murray was looking nervous around Sandra. "Hey… Sandra, um, you look well," he told her.

"Thank you," Sandra responded, being tolerant of her ex-husband. "How's Carol?"

"Good," Murray said awkwardly before he muttered to himself. "Oh Titan, where's Steve when I need him?"

"Huh, the way you spoke of him I thought he was dead," Eda whispered to Sandra.

"He is to me," Sandra said while drinking her punch.

"Hey, I get what you're feeling," Beth told Sandra, "Me and Jerry were once separated for a while, but eventually we were able to work things out and-" Sandra gave her a look, which Beth understood. "I mean, just because we got back together doesn't mean you and Murray have to, every couple is different…"

"So uh, where's the pinata?" Jerry asked.

"Hey, sorry I'm late!" an unmasked Steve shouted as he jumped over the fence. He was now out of his uniform and was wearing a leather motorbike jacket with red cuffs over his yellow t-shirt.

"Steve, you're here!" Murray shouted as he hurried over to his son. "You got something for your brother?"

"Yeah, I got him something good," Steve replied while turning to the others. "Hey Sandra, how's it going?"

"It's all good, Steve," Sandra replied. "Are you alright though? You look tired."

"Yeah, just um…" Steve was unable to finish and he took a moment to readjust himself. "So where's the birthday bro? Got him something real good!" he said in his usual tone, which Eda picked up on.

Steve spotted his brother with his friends, Matt spotting him as he walked up. "Steve, you're here!"

"Yup, Steve Tholomule, at your service!" Steve saluted.

"Wait, Steve Tholomule…" Gus's eyes widened in realization as he slowly turned to Matt. "Your name is literally Matt Tholomule Storms?"

"Actually, it is Mattholomule Tholomule Storms," Matt said with a shrug.

"I have a surprise out at the front of the house," Steve pointed out. "But that can wait until after the party. First, there's someone who'd wish to meet you." Coming out from his jacket was the winged monkey Palisman that stepped down in front of Matt.

"You… got me a Palisman?" Matt asked in shock, seeing the monkey Palisman.

"Yeah, I… kinda found him, or he found me, and, well, what's a better gift to give to your little bro than a companion to bond with," Steve said.

Baum looked at Mattholomule and when Matt reached out to him, the winged monkey turned into a staff. "Whoa… thanks, Steve. I love him already!" Matt said to his half-brother.

Steve smiled, glad to see his little brother liked his gift. Seeing this made him feel a little better about himself after that raid.

As everyone enjoyed the party, Steve decided to stand by the fence, drinking his punch and watching Matt hitting a grootslag-shaped pinata. This was what he needed, to spend time with the family and forget his problems…

"Yo, boy scout," said a voice.

Steve turned to Eda, who appeared next to him. "Enjoying the party?"

"Uh, yeah," Steve said with a nod. "So, uh, I heard you are running an orphanage now."

"Yeah, I know how to handle kids so it is going to be a breeze for me," Eda said before her expression changed. "Are you doing okay, though?" Steve stayed silent. "I know what happened in the forest… I understand if you don't like talking about it, but I can tell that you were affected by it. All I can tell you is that it's going to be harder to not think about it, but it doesn't mean you can't overcome it."

Steve looked at Eda, then down at his drink. "I remember Lilith once said that you wanted to join the Emperor's Coven with her when you were kids. Then you were cursed and… is that why you didn't want to join any covens?"

Eda gave a sympathetic look before she sighed. "I already decided that covens were not for me before I was cursed, but since then I was given a whole new perspective on the coven system and… I know that it is wrong. I don't think you're a bad guy, Steve. But I do think you work for bad people who don't care about you. Because the coven system doesn't care about people. It just makes everyone cogs in a larger machine and anyone who doesn't do their part or play along has no use, which means they have to go. And that even applies" She was quiet for a moment before she patted him on the shoulder. "You're so much more than a scout, Steve, remember that."

Steve gave a nod. "Thanks… Eda."

During the party, Bo brought Matt inside so they would have some privacy.

"Alright, so where's the present, Bo?" Matt asked her.

"Oh, just this," Bo said as she leaned in and kissed Matt on the cheek. His eyes widened as his face reddened.

"B-B-Bo?!" Matt was startled and he saw Bo smile. "Do you… like me?"

"Yeah," Bo confirmed, blushing. "I like-like you, Matt."

"Well… I like-like you too, Bo," Matt admitted. They were quiet for a moment. "So… we're like, going out and stuff?"

"What do you think?" Bo asked as she raised her hand up, prompting Matt to raise his hand. As their pinkies touch, their hands clasp together.

"I… wow…" Matt said as he blushed. "Best birthday ever."

"Happy birthday, Matt," Bo replied as they hugged.

Behind them was Baum, who watched the scene before him. He looked happy for his new owner, finding a special witchling he likes.

After the party, Steve brought Matt out to the front of the house.

"Alright, just want to show you this second surprise," Steve said as he unveiled his motorcycle, showing Matt the cauldron sidecar.

"Whoa," Matt said, looking at the seat. "This is for me?"

"Sure thing, little bro," Steve replied, while handing him a black and red helmet. "Here, want to go for a ride? I already asked Sandra about it and she allowed it as long as we took it safely."

Matt smiled excitedly. "Yes!" he said as he got on the cauldron seat with his helmet on.

Steve got on the bike. "Hang on," he said as he started to drive down the road with his younger half-brother.

The two rode around Bonesborough and to the outskirts, through the red fields of the large ribs. Matt showed Steve what he had been doing in school, demonstrating how he used his Illusions to map out and construct buildings and houses. Steve looked impressed, giving his brother a thumbs up.

Next they rode down the shore, where Steve and Matt skipped rocks on the purple beach. Steve noticed a passing couple, two old demon women who were taking a stroll together while holding hands and blushing at each other. Steve watched this sadly, tearing up a little. Matt noticed this and came to his brother.

"Hey, are you alright?" Matt asked him.

"Y-Yeah, just… where do you want to go next?" Steve asked, wiping his tears.

The two brothers continued farther down the road. They find a cart where a mother and child had an accident where their wheel broke. The two half-brothers helped them out, Matt making a new wheel to replace the broken one while Steve levitated it into place and Baum helped entertain the kid a little.

The two waved to the mother and child when they set off. Steve and Matt looked at each other, smiling at the satisfaction that came with helping others in need.

Eventually, the two stopped by at a burger joint. They ate some burgers and fries while looking at the sunset.

"So, you and Bo got together?" Steve asked him.

"Yeah," Matt replied. "Can't believe I got a girlfriend before you or Oskar. Unless you managed to already hook up with that girl you were staring at during the parade."

Steve chuckled. "Well hopefully you treat that girl nice, okay?"

"Don't worry, I know not to pull a dad," Matt replied, the two laughing while Baum sat on the motorcycle drinking.

After their moment, Steve looked at the sunset one more time. "Hey Mat… you once said that you wanted to join the Emperor's Coven, right?"

Matt looked at Steve and gave a reluctant sigh. "Well, I used to, but there are more options I want to explore first. Mom encourages this, but it doesn't mean I want to give up on the Emperor's Coven just yet."

"I see…" Steve said while looking unsure.

"But you know, I think if I join the Emperor's Coven, it deserves a complete make-over," Matt confessed, which caused Steve to turn to him. "Right now I'm not a fan of what they do. Like, do you know they only showed up to stop the school war the moment Glandus was connected to this Tarot Guild?"

"I was there…" Steve said while looking down. "And yeah, I think I get it." He leaned back. "When I was your age, I wanted nothing more than to be part of the Emperor's Coven. One of the best there is… but lately, I've been thinking it over and… I got what I wanted, but it's not what I thought it was."

"Yeah, I hear that," Matt said with a nod, thinking back to his early Hexside days. Back then, he thought what he wanted more than anything else was power. By now… he has friends and a girlfriend, people who care about him and won't throw him under the bus for their own benefit. And he's so much happier as a result.

"Belos was supposed to know everything, but apparently there was a criminal organization running around kidnapping witches, and it took Eda and a group of costumed vigilantes to put a stop to them. I mean, what is our Emperor even doing?" Steve ranted.

"I didn't think you… had these thoughts, Steve," Matt said in concern.

"...I guess, I came to realize that…" Steve looked down, his hands shivering. "I don't think… the Emperor's Coven is meant for me. At least in its current form."

Matt looked sympathetic as he patted Steve's back. "So… what are you going to do, Steve?"

Steve sighed. "First thing is turn in my resignation, calling it an early retirement. At least, get some compensation from it."

"Yeah, I mean it's not like they can't let you quit," Matt responded.

It was then Steve heard his scroll buzzing and he pulled it out. He sighed. "Looks like it's about to be sooner rather than later."

Leonte: Need you at the Coven precinct.

After dropping off Matt, Steve rode his motorcycle down to the Coven precinct in Bonesborough. Steve saw his mentor waiting for him.

"Sorry I'm late, I had to drop my brother off," Steve told Leonte. "Sir, there's… something I need to talk to you about."

"I'm sure it can wait, cause I need you on a mission," Leonte told him. "A wild witch has been sighted down at the Northern Woods by the Armpit District. She's been avoiding us for months, but we've managed to pinpoint her location… Steve, I need you on this mission, can I count on you?"

Steve found himself at a loss of words as he looked at his mentor. As much as he didn't want to disappoint his mentor, he knew that he needed to tell Leonte at some point. It was unavoidable.

But despite that, he nodded.

One last mission.

Later in the Northern Woods, Steve and Leonte were armed with crossbows and nets as the two looked around for the wild witch.

"I don't see her… what does she look like?" Steve asked him.

"You'll know when you find her," Leonte responded. "Look out for a pale witch in green clothing. Teal eyes and light blonde hair. She's very crafty."

Steve looked around, hearing footsteps which caused him to turn. "You hear that?"

Leonte nodded. "Let's split up," he suggested as the two split apart to look for the wild witch.

Steve walked further into the forest. He could have sworn he heard footsteps…

"Hello," said a voice.

"Gah!" Steve jumped, turning to see somehow behind him. He saw a young pale girl who was shorter than him, probably about the same height as Amity. She had long light-blonde hair, teal eyes with shadow over them, gray lips, and she wore a green long gown and was barefooted. "Oh… oh Titan, don't scare me like that, kid."

"Sorry, I've been told I have that effect on people," she responded. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine… just… looking for a wild witch, so you shouldn't be around here, young lady," Steve told her. "It could be dangerous."

"Well, you're looking at her right now," she said, which caught Steve by surprise. "My name is Hikari, nice to meet you."

"Um… wow." Steve said while lowering his crossbow. "I uh… wasn't expecting a wild witch this young… shouldn't you be running from me?"

"No, because I can read your aura and I know that there's nothing to fear from you," Hikari states with a smile. "I've avoided a lot of scouts, but I can sense that you're a good soul who feels conflicted with the role they've been tasked to play."

"Yeah…" Steve had one question about this girl. "Um, how old are you?"

"Seventeen." she admitted, which shocked Steve even more. "I've been chased around because I dropped out of school since I believed the coven system was unjust for all witches."

"Oh… oh Titan." Steve dropped his crossbow, backing away from Hikari. "You're… you're just a kid and…" He was shaken as he came to the realization that almost had to bring in some kid that looked not even close to an adult witch's age. Is this what the Emperor's Coven is doing now? Trying to force children into covens before they are of age and persecuting them when they refuse? Does… does Leonte know?

Suddenly Hikari gasped as a blue spell circle knocked her out. She was put in a sleep spell, courtesy of Leonte.

"Well done distracting her, Steve," Leonte said proudly as he walked up. "Now come on, let's take her in." He reached out to the knocked out girl, but Steve stepped in between them. "Steve? What are you doing?"

"Sir, this girl is underage and should not be considered a wild witch," Steve explained. "She didn't resist when I found her after a talk with her, I don't think we should take her. She is just a kid…."

Leonte sighed. "Steve… it doesn't really matter how old she is, she's still a wild witch and Belos wants her in a coven. If Belos believes that she needs to be taken in, then we have to obey the will of the Titan."

Steve narrowed his eyes at his old mentor before looking down at the asleep Hikari. "That may be what you and Belos believe… but it's not what I believe."

Leonte looked shocked by this, he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "That witch… what did she do to you?"

"Nothing, I just opened my eyes a bit more," Steve told him, while Leonte shoved him aside to apprehend Hikari. But Steve grabbed hold of him.

"Move aside, scout!" Leonte shouted as Steve held onto him. "Don't make me hurt you, Steve!"

"Go ahead!" Steve dared, causing Leonte to blast him off with his magic. Steve hit the tree and saw Leonte using his Abominations to trap Hikari. "No!" Steve summoned a stone wall that sprouted between Hikari and Leonte before Steve rushed over to grab Hikari away from him.

Leonte kicked the stone wall in with an Abomination boot and saw Steve running with Hikari. He drew a spell circle, causing a vine to grab Steve by the foot, causing him to trip over and drop Hikari as they rolled over the ground. Steve groaned as he got back up, summoning a blade as Leonte drew out an abomi-sword. The two clashed blades, neither enjoying it but neither of them being willing to back down. Both of them remembered when they used to train together at the outskirts of the Forest of Fear surfaced, those lessons having helped make Steve the man he is today.

Now it was the mentor versus the student. As Steve dodged the abomi-blade, his mask fell off and Leonte quickly took advantage of the opportunity as he swung again.

"AAH!" Steve cried out, knocked back as he now has a scar across his left cheek, near his eye. He saw Leonte charging at him again and he quickly turned invisible.

Leonte stopped, looking around. "Nice try, but I was the one who taught you that trick," he said while kicking behind him, hitting Steve who became visible again. Leonte drew a spell circle to shoot an ice beam at him, but Steve dodged with a flame spell as a comeback.

Steve rolled over as he punched the ground, bringing out two rocks. He used his magic to levitate them against Leonte, who used Abomi-goo to block them. The goo fired spikes at him, which caused Steve to flashback to that disastrous raid. Steve managed to dodge the spikes, but not before getting some tears in his suit.

"AAH!" he cried out before Leonte planted his book in Steve's back, knocking him to the ground.

"I believed in you when nobody else did, I helped you into the Emperor's Coven!" Leonte declared. "Don't throw your life away over one witch!"

Steve tightened his fists. "It's not just her…" he said as he summoned pillars that got Leonte off of him.

Leonte quickly recovered and he faced Steve as they continued to fight for Hikari. They were now fighting in a raw battle as Steve formed stone gauntlets to go up against Leonte's Abomination gauntlets. The two punched each other rapidly as Steve threw his kicks while Leonte did the same. Leonte knew how tough Steve was potentially, while Steve was aware of Leonte's prowess. They both summoned their swords again as they clashed against one another. This went on for a long while until they eventually managed to punch each other in the faces at the same time, which caused them both to back away from one another.

Steve looked at Leonte, who shot out a fire blast at him. Steve summoned a brick wall to stop the flames from hitting him. The two fell on the ground. They were looking exhausted from their fight. Leonte and Steve both managed to get up while glaring at one another.

"You're making a big mistake, Steve," Leonte told him. "Please… reconsider-"

"And then what?" Steve asked him. "If she refuses, you force her to join a coven or you petrify her, right? For Titan's sake, Leonte, she is but a child!"

"She's important to the Titan's plan, Steve!" Leonte told him. "It is what Belos-"

"How the fuck does Belos know what the Titan wants?!" Steve called out, which shocked Leonte. "I mean, look around you, Leonte, Belos didn't even know that the Tarot Guild was still around, not to mention that members of his own coven were members! How does he really know what the Titan wants? How do we know if the Titan is just… some normal guy, I don't know…" He looked down at Hikari, then he looked back at Leonte. "I wanted to tell you this after the mission but… I quit." He walked over to Hikari, picking her up.

Shocked by this, Leonte just stared at Steve in disbelief. "Steve, please… if you do this, you'll be labeled a wild witch! I will have to bring you in!"

"I know," Steve acknowledged. "You can't stop me from doing this, sir. This is… my resignation." He began to walk away with Hikari in his arms.

If Leonte wasn't this exhausted, he could've stopped Steve from leaving. But he knew that he couldn't do anything now as he looked at the back of his old student… the same young man he had mentored. "You could've done something more, Steve! You were one of the good ones!" he shouted while he fell to his knees, Steve continuing to walk.

Steve shut his eyes, tears falling down his face as he continued to walk away. He was finally free.

Night fell as Hikari started to open her eyes. She got up, finding herself in a cave and seeing some light coming from a campfire that a coven scout uniform was currently being burned on. She spotted Steve in front of the fire, looking at his coven mask before throwing it to the flames.

He turned to Hikari. "Oh, you're awake," he said.

"What happened?" she asked while noticing the cut on his cheek. "You're hurt…"

"Just a scar," he said dismissively. "You were knocked out by a sleep spell from my captain. I had to get you away from him, so we fought… I think I'm a criminal now."

"Oh…" Hikari said, looking down in sadness. "I'm sorry…"

"Hey, don't be. Steve was gonna quit either way," Steve assured her. "Besides, I couldn't let them take you in. I hate to imagine what they might have done to you…"

Hikari looked up at him. "I thank you, Steve." she told him.

Steve nodded. "I will admit that I don't know what to do now."

Hikari crawled over to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Then we'll just have to take it… one day at a time," she said as the two watched the campfire burn away the physical embodiment of the life that Steve had just left behind.

Every hero has an origin story. This is one of them.

This 90th Chapter is brought to you by the Steve fandom.

We've decided for Steve to have a starring role for the chapter, giving him a day in the limelight and character development. Now his arc has taken a new direction as he's now a wild witch helping out a poor young girl.

So, notes:

Leonte as a reminder to readers, appeared earlier of the fic, who speaks at Scooter Crane's funeral, and that he's an OC submitted by Jack_Skeletron_4ever, who also suggests Steve x Sunny and the joke about Grimhilde trying to poison Sunny.

The Total Drama stand-ins are as followed: Bowen is Owen which is basically a mix between his name and as a bear demon(Like a TD-bear version of Owen), Cle is DJ named after his VA, Cle Bennett, Carter is Noah named after his VA, Carter Hayden. Thunder is a expy of Lightning as well as Joana being a expy of Jo, Skrap is a expy of Scott in reference to him getting attacked by sharks, and Scarmeron is a expy of Cameron. Hugh is the Cody stand-in while Barie is the Sugar stand-in, and obviously the one who gets killed off during the raid as a take that against Pakinew Island's way of making Sugar as an antagonist who shouldn't really have gotten that far due to her dumb luck. She's nothing but an out-dated Honey Boo-Boo parody(If you don't know who that is, you're better off not knowing) and that she was a strain to watch. If anyone deserved to be the main antagonist of that season, it could've been either Scarlet or Amy, or Dave for that matter. Max could've been an interesting gag villain character! Just anyone but Sugar!

"Oh, so you can kill off some stand-in character you didn't like but you can't kill off Faust?"

The difference… Barie is an expendable soldier, while Faust is a teacher who has his use to the story. I really can't stress this out for you guys…

Oh, and almost to forgot about Hikari, who's a Dawn-expy from Revenge on the Island. The reason why I suggested Hikari was that back then if you follow my DeviantArt account, I drew Dawn dressed as, well, Dawn from Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl, and Dawn's name in the Japanese version is Hikari.

The Bat Queen having her babies play hide and seek to save them from the raid is a reference to the one Moringmark Comic "A New Beginning… as well as an end." Only it didn't end on a tragic note.

There's also some parallels to point out about this chapter, and the one from "Deserve Nothing", both have the Emperor's Coven going after Palisman, and Luz learning the identity of the Golden Guard, as in this it leads to Luz receiving her Palistrom back after the Bat Queen got some closure over Maya. If anyone's confused about Emily being the Golden Guard, here's a reminder that with Emily, things are never as they seem and that the deal will be elaborated more in the future.

Also you're wondering about Matt's other brother, Oskar. Yeah, a little explanation: back in Through the Looking Glass Ruins, he was mentioned before I ended up retconning him out since Steve is revealed as Matt's half-brother by Dana after "Oh Titan, Where Art Thou?". But me and Buck decided to keep it as being Mattholomule's brother from Sandra, while Steve's mother is Carol. Both brothers having the same father, Murray, who if you ask for a hypothetical voice acting, it'd be Bill Burr, cause I like Bill Burr especially if Murray is modeled after the dad from "F is for Family".

Also yeah it was meant for Ghost to return as Amity's Palisman. She does wanted to be Amity's Palisman but is still hurting over Adam. But in the end, the two decided to bond together. As for Luz's Palisman in the future… well, just gonna let you know to not expect seeing Stringbeam anytime soon.

Now for the reviews:

OMAC001: Well, better be prepared…

BlueKnight-X2: Yup, St. Epiderm is an elite school, it's the Boiling Isles' Ravenclaw.

Matteso585: 1) Maybe. 2) Answer is this chapter. 3) Yeah. 4) Okay. 5) That too.

Crosshot: Well, hope you like the Steve chapter. You could also point out some moments and tropes like the parallels between Gus, Boscha and Donna shown to have some personal issues as well as some of the moments at the beach.

61394: Like I said, child service does not exists in the Boiling Isles.

Franco Almiron: Thanks.

Ultimate-drax: Well, Julia is also double as a therapist since that's what counselors can do, help out those that are of need of help. And yeah, Jane's probably a grandmother at some point.

Shuffollower: It's Steve! And yeah, a bodybuilding competition would have been a good sight gag but maybe next time.

Alamout: 1) Stay tuned. 2) You bet. 3) Most likely. 4) Yeah.

Burst Bubble: Not anymore due to circumstances. No Mewni means she's not recognized as royalty anymore. So sorry to burst your bubble.

Next time, another relaxing chapter.