Luz Clawthorne: Two Worlds, One Family Chapter 125: The Last Stand, an owl house fanfic

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

Chapter 125: The Last Stand

Flashback… years ago… the Flaming Druid Incident.

It was supposed to be a simple scenic trip on a travel boat. A group of witches were on their way to another part of the Titan. Things were going quite well over the next hour…

Until the S.S. Druid caught on fire.

Flames burst around the boat. Many witches panicked. All were fighting for survival, many children were thrown with life-jackets that were filled with rocks for some reason, making them sink into the boiling seas while their parents watched.

Screams of terror echoed, as about a hundred and two witches perished during that incident.

However, one lone emergency boat made it to shore with a single survivor: a young girl. She had witnessed her entire family wiped out from the incident.

"Oh my Titan…" she said as she fell on her knees, looking down as she seemed to cry over the incident… "Oohohohooo." However, her tone began to change. "Hohohoho… ehehehhee…" Her mouth curled into a grin as the green haired girl appeared to not be crying… but laughing "WAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAAA!"

Much to her surprise, the girl found that she wasn't sad at all once the shock wore off. Instead, the whole incident was just too funny for her.

Present Day

"Tell me everything."

"Like I said, we have a mutual enemy," Beel explained while looking at Luz. "Terra Snapdragon was the one who took Perry Porter and kept him imprisoned. But rather than keep him in the Conformatorium, she kept him in the Plant Coven."

"How do you know that?" Luz asked him, a bit suspicious.

"I was following up on some suspicions I already had," Beel explained. "You see, I learned about a raid that took place at the pier during the Gland Prix, a raid that resulted in a bunch of rebels being killed or captured. This took place at the same time that Darius was killed, Eberwolf was hospitalized, and Raine disappeared. The rest of the Coven Heads, minus Adrian and Terra, were present at the pier…"

"Hang on, how do you know about those?" Luz asked him. "Those weren't public."

"I learned about it from Felicia," he explained. "I asked her where Terra Snapdragon was at the time of the raid, since it wasn't like her to not get involved in something like that. And with help from her ghost and a pixie I hired to follow the elder Blights, who were seen with Terra, I was eventually able to confirm that Terra was keeping someone imprisoned in the Plant Coven. And according to a scout named Severine, a drunken Graye let it slip that Perry Porter was her prisoner, which lines up with when the raid took place and when Perry Porter disappeared."

Luz was shocked by this. "So… what you're saying is… Perry has been Terra's prisoner the entire time?!" She then started thinking back to how she learned Terra was the one who supplied Jenny with the love potions to give to Perry. "Oh shit…"

'It's starting to make sense now,' Maya commented, sounding equally as shocked. 'Remember it was Terra who supplied Gus's bitch of a mom with the potions to mind control Perry and Raine was brainwashed with Terra's tea and Amity said that her dad was apparently under some mind control as well.'

"Holy fuck! That crazy plant lady… wait, what's your deal about Terra?" Luz asked Beel. "And how come you didn't say anything about all of this until now?"

"I only recently discovered this," he admitted while looking down. "As for my interest in Snapdragon… I have my own grudge against her."

"Grudge?" Luz asked him. "What did she do?"

"She killed my father," he explained to her. "Years ago, my father ran the Zatar's Honey Plant. It was a family business, where we would produce and sell the finest honey in the Boiling Isles. Though I must point out that honey is made from plants, not from bee demons. I just like to point out. But that's beside the point." He gave a serious look. "My father was in charge of the family business, but he was also in the Plant Coven, which was then and currently is run by Terra…" Luz realized where this was going as Beel continued. "She demanded him to sell his family company to the coven, but he refused… so she had him killed."

"I'm… so sorry about that," Luz told him with a sympathetic tone.

"I witnessed his death when I was little," he admitted. "I made sure that I was hidden from sight until Terra left. I tried to tell everyone, but Terra made it look like he died from an accident and claimed that he sold the company to her before his death, just so she could have access to the honey supply. No one believed me without proof, and since then I've been trying to expose corruption in the covens. I'm telling you this is because we have a chance to save Perry Porter, and finally bust Terra Snapdragon for her crimes… if you're willing to join me."

"I… I need a minute," Luz said before she held up a crow. "Especially since my mom should know about this."

"The Owl Lady?" he asked. "Well, guess we could use the help."

Once Luz contacted Eda, she explained the situation to her.

"What?!" Eda exclaimed before whispering. "Are you sure, Luz? That's where he is?"

"That's what I heard," Luz confirmed. "Mom, this is our best lead for finding Perry after so long. We could get Hunter in on this, but I don't think he could do anything about it."

"You're right, Luz," Eda admitted. "In the eyes of the EC, Perry's a traitor. Although, I do question why this old pothead in particular wanted him?"

"She did supply his ex with love potions, so maybe this is personal for her," Luz suggested. "But yeah, it might just be up to us. Though honestly, this wouldn't be my first rescue mission. There was that time me, Aunt Lilith, and Tres broke into Hieron Labs to rescue Megan."

"You did what!?" Eda asked her, sounding shocked.

"Oh yeah, I didn't mention that before, did I?" Luz realized. "I guess I assumed Aunt Lilith told you about it."

"No, she didn't," Eda said with a groan. "Look, we'll talk about that later, right now we should focus on what you want to do. I don't want you to go face that crazy witch again, Luz. This could be a trap."

"But mom, I have to do this." Luz argued while looking down. "I made a promise to Gus, a promise I plan to keep, and that's to bring his dad back. It has to be me."

Eda sighed over the crow. "You really had to bring up Gus, did you? Speaking of Gus, should we tell him about this?"

Luz contemplated this before shaking her head. "No, not until we have Perry. The last thing I want is to give the little guy false hope, or put him in danger again. Gus has been through enough as it is."

"You're right," Eda agreed. "Well, if this is our best lead, we should follow up on it then."

"We?" Luz asked her. "You're coming too?"

"Of course," Eda said. "After all, I was the last witch who saw Perry before he disappeared. And I don't want you to face Terra alone, since I know you're probably too stubborn to be talked out of this even though we're messing with an unstable Coven Head."

Luz nodded. "But we gotta do this, for the G-Man."

"For the G-Man," Eda agreed.

"Teri?" the shocked Cross asked. He saw his friend wearing a black hoodie with a gray jacket and pants. "Are you okay? Where have you've been? Nobody has seen you for more than a week!"

"I… I don't know, Cross," Teri said while rubbing his head. "My memory of last week is fuzzy, full of holes. I… I'm not even sure how I got here." He turned to Cross, gripping his arm. "I just know that I need help, and when I saw you, I knew you could help me."

"Don't worry, I'm here," Cross said as he helped Teri up. "Let me take you to the Shystreams. They can help."

"The Shystreams?" Teri asked while turning to Cross. "You finally asked Lindsay out?"

"Um… not exactly," he admitted while on the way.

Once Cross made it back to the Shystreams, he knocked on the door. Lindsay answered it and was surprised to see not only Cross back after leaving just minutes ago, but who he was with as well.

"Teri?" Lindsay asked, recognizing him.

"Hey, Lindsay." Teri said with a groan.

"He needs help," Cross told her.

Lindsay nodded. "Come in, both of you," she said as she led them in. "Mom! Dad! Aunt Dorothy! Come here, quick!"

Once Lindsay's family came over and the situation was explained to them, Teri was escorted to the couch. Bloom handed him some water.

"Here, drink this," Bloom told him as Teri accepted the cup.

"Thank you," Teri replied as he drank from the glass. Cross and Lindsay sat with him.

"Son, your friends haven't seen you for a while," Colt told him.

"Your dad said that you were out of reach, that he sent you away for your safety after your house was destroyed by the Grim Goblin," Cross told him.

"I… I don't remember that," Teri admitted while looking down.

"Should we contact your dad, Teri?" Lindsay suggested. "Let him know where you are?"

"No, I… don't think I'm ready for that yet, if that's okay," Teri said.

"It is more than okay. Don't worry, Teri, we'll get you the help you need," Aunt Dorothy told him.

"Yeah… just as you guys helped out Emily, right?" Teri asked.

Everyone paused, surprised that Teri knew this.

"Teri… what did you-" Cross started to ask.

"Say? Come on, you don't have to play dumb," he said as he slowly turned to Lindsay, a strange look appearing on his face. "I mean… what kind of witches are you? Housing a fugitive witch like her, sheltering her while overlooking her past crimes."

"What… young man, what are you saying?" Bloom asked.

"Teri, this doesn't sound like you," Cross said, sounding both confused and worried. However, Teri ignored him and continued to look directly at a nervous Lindsay.

"Of course… she isn't here to protect you anymore, Lindsay," he said with a grin, followed by a chuckle in a tone that Lindsay knew.

"No…" Her eye dilated and stood up, backing away from Teri out of fear.

"Hello, Lindsay," Teri said, using his Grim Goblin voice "I've missed you…"

Cross stood up. "Teri, what is going on?" he asked, only get backhanded across the face by Teri, who launched Cross into a wall, causing the family to scream.

"What the hell?!" Colt shouted as he rushed over to protect Jojo and Lindsay.

Teri ripped off the clothes he wore, showing his Grim Goblin attire underneath. "Well, who's ready to tussle with this cowboy?" he asked, grinning as he eyed Lindsay. "How about you, saloon girl?"

"Yah!" Uncle George shouted as he pushed the Grim Goblin aside, knocking him over the table. "Leave my niece alone!"

"Oh? Looks like I'll settle you first, old coot!" he shouted while picking up the table with one arm and throwing it at Uncle George, knocking him to the floor.

"George!" Dorothy cried, seeing him knocked down.

"Ruff! Ruff!" Jojo barked at the Goblin, but Bloom held him back.

"Bloom, take everyone to the cellar, now!" Colt ordered as Bloom took Dorothy and Jojo with her. Colt went up against the Grim Goblin, attempting to draw a spell circle. But before he could finish it, the Grim Goblin rushed forward and grabbed his hand, twisting it. "Ack!"

"Naughty, naughty, naughty," the Grim Goblin taunted as he twisted Colt's arm before he felt himself get hit in the back by a chair from Hendrick. He turned around, looking unfazed. "Really?"

"Nobody messes with my family!" Hendrick declared, only for the Goblin to kick him in the leg, breaking it. "AH! SHIT!" he cried out, falling on the floor.

"Pathetic," the Goblin said before throwing Colt to his son. He marched toward Lindsay, who seemed to be frozen in fear, before Cross tackled him.

"No!" Cross shouted as the Grim Goblin activated his rocket boots, causing them to fly around the living room. Things got knocked over and smashed as Cross tried to restrain him. "Teri! Stop this now!"

"Teri's not home right now, boy!" the Goblin declared as he flew toward a window. "Just me!"

He crashed through the window, causing Cross to let go of him and roll across the ground. The Goblin then tapped on a gauntlet, summoning his glider. The glider shot abomi-goo at Cross and began to drag Cross away.

"One problem taken care of, and now for what I came here for," the Goblin said as he turned around and went back into the house. Hendrick tried to get up to stop him, only for the Goblin's boot to stomp on his injured leg again.

"AH! TITAN!" Hendrick cried out.

"Hendrick!" Lindsay shouted as she rushed over to her brother. She looked up at the Goblin. "Stop this, please! You don't have to hurt them!"

"Oh, I know," the Grim Goblin admitted. "But it is so much more fun for me this way."

Meanwhile, Cross continued to be dragged across the ground by the glider. He managed to break one of his arms out of the Abomi-goo by turning it into a dragon claw and then he drew a spell circle, summoning a flame that he used to free himself from the Abomi-goo. He then rolled across the ground, groaning in pain.

"I gotta head back," Cross said as he got up and saw the glider flying past him to the farmhouse. "Oh no," he said before he heard Lindsay's scream. "Lindsay!"

"Help!" Lindsay cried out while the Grim Goblin held her over his shoulder as the glider returned to him. He stepped on it as Lindsay shouted while punching his back. "Let me go! Let me go!"

"Lindsay!" Cross shouted as he summoned his staff and flew towards the Goblin, chasing after him and Lindsay as they flew off.

The Goblin noticed Cross following them and he threw a pumpkin bomb at him. "Na-a-ah! No following!" he declared as the pumpkin bomb exploded in a flash of light, blinding Cross as he fell off from his staff.

"Cross!" Lindsay cried out as she saw Cross falling toward the ground while the Goblin cackled.

Cross hit the ground hard. When he looked up, he could barely make out the Grim Goblin flying away with Lindsay before he fell unconscious.

In the lunch hall of the Emperor's Castle, Sunny looked around and spotted Patrick, who was eating alone.

"Oh Mister Belos, he's our witch, Mister Belos is dandy, he rides a unicorn as his steed, they'd call him the wizardoni!" he sang to himself while eating his sandwich.

"Um, hey Patrick," Sunny waved to him, getting the tick biped to notice her.

"Ah, um… I'm trying to remember your name… Sammy? No, Sally, Suzie…"

"It's Sunny," she corrected him.

"Sunny! Yeah, hi there, you're Head Witch Brooke's aid, right?" he asked as Sunny sat across from him.

"Yeah, though I have taken over her duties while she recovers," Sunny replied.

"Well, I sure hope that she gets better soon," Patrick said.

"Me too," Sunny replied. She looked down, her mind still on her conversation with Grimhilde from last night and about how she warned her about Terra. She looked up at Patrick. "So um, Patrick. What is working with Head Witch Snapdragon like?"

"Hmm? Oh it's been pretty decent," Patrick responded. "I water her garden, trim the trees, and I make the spinach puffs that she can't get enough out. Wanna try some?" he offered, holding up a bag of spinach puffs he just happened to have with him. "They're vegan friendly, by the way."

"Um, thanks, I'll consider it later," Sunny told him. "But back on topic," she said while looking around to make sure nobody else was listening. "What I really want to know is if you've ever seen Terra do anything… shady?"

"Shady?" Patrick asked in confusion. "I'm sorry, but I don't understand your question."

"I mean has she done something… illegal?" she asked him.

"What do you mean? Ms. Snapdragon is a good witch," he insisted. "She has kept the Plant Coven in top form and shape ever since she was made Plant Head. Good ol' Terra has never done anything wrong."

"What about the riot back at the Coven Day parade?" Sunny pointed out, causing Patrick to pause. "She instigated that riot by trying to attack those kids."

"Uh… the riot?" Patrick asked as his eye twitched. In fact, his whole face started twitching. "Well… when you consider it from a… certain point of view-" He shifted his neck around, which alarmed Sunny.

"Patrick, are you okay?" Sunny asked in concern.

"I-I-I- but then again, she got that probation," he pointed out to himself as his eyes widened before they suddenly went blank as he tilted his head, almost as if his brain shut down.

"Patrick?!" Sunny exclaimed before Patrick woke up.

"Whoa nelly, how long was I out?" Patrick asked in shock.

"I was asking you if there's something off about Terra Snapdragon," Sunny reminded him.

"Oh, that," Patrick responded, while standing up. "Alright, Sunny, looks like I'm going to have to give you a tour at the old greenhouse."

"Really?" Sunny asked, wondering if this could help her see what the old woman had warned her about.

"Of course, I'm gonna personally show you that there's nothing wrong or illegal going at the Plant Coven," Patrick assured her. "Why, there is no witch with cleaner hands than Terra Snapdragon!"

In the aftermath of the tragedy of the S.S. Druid, the young girl continued to laugh before some other witches heard her.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" one of the witches asked as they came out of the forest.

The young girl stopped laughing as the couple of witches spotted her and saw her next to a boat. "Oh my Titan… child, are you okay?" the adult witch asked as they rushed towards her.

"Look," the witch woman said as she pointed to the sinking wreckage of the boat just offshore, along with floating bodies. "Oh my word…"

"I was on that ship," the young girl mentioned while looking down with a frown. "Everyone else is… dead, all dead because of a fire that started."

"A fire?" the man asked in shock.

"I saw it all too. Everyone panicked, they were fighting for survival. They threw their own children into the boiling waters wearing rock-filled life jackets."

"That… that shouldn't have happened." the woman said. "Those life jackets were meant to levitate them away."

"Are you the only survivor?" the man asked as the young girl nodded. "Well don't you worry, we can help you."

"Could you tell us your name?" the woman asked her.

The girl looked up at them, hiding her glee. She didn't tell them that she started the fire on purpose or that she casted a spell to make the life-jackets heavier. "My name is… Terra. Terra Snapdragon," she said.

Years later, Terra was in her early twenties and was using her plant magic to fight another witch in a duel. Eventually, she got the upper hand and used her thorns to kill the witch in front of a cheering audience.

"My, this one was getting too old for this," Terra said before she looked out at the crowd of robed witches "From this day forth, I am in charge here! This thieves guild will now be run by me, Terra Snapdragon, the new leader of the Tarot Guild!"

The Guild members looked at each other before they began to cheer for her, accepting Terra as their new leader now that she killed their old…

"Madame Snapdragon," spoke a Guild minion.

"What is it?" Terra asked him while smoking a joint.

"We've just been informed about this growing cult that's been getting more traction throughout the Isles," he explained while showing a poster of Belos with his mask on. "He calls himself Belos, and he's been making radical claims that magic must be separated into nine covens because of the dangers of 'wild magic.' He says that the Titan speaks to him."

Terra narrowed her eyes at the poster. "A self-proclaimed prophet, hmm? We haven't gotten one of those in a while. This Belos could be just another wannabe cult leader, but he could be a potential threat…" she said while smoking up before forming a grin. "Or an opportunity…"

"Witches from all over the Isles have begun to rally behind him because of how powerful he is," the minion mentioned.

"Powerful? How powerful can he be?" she asked, sounding curious. She wanted to see this great Belos herself.

At a rally, Terra, while wearing a cloak, joined the crowd in front of a stage as the rumored Belos himself appeared.

"Children of the Isles!" Belos announced as he held his staff. "The Titan has spoken to me and has granted me a vision! A vision for a better future, a better Isles, all under my coven system. Magic has become too wild, too unpredictable and dangerous. It needs to be purified and the Titan has told me the means to do so!" He summoned an explosion of flames from behind him, causing the crowd to be amazed by his demonstration. He demonstrated his power with light magic that exploded into mini fireworks.

Terra looked up at the lights that sparkled above her. "I'll admit, he knows how to put on a good show," she admitted while noticing one witch climb up onto the stage.

As Belos continued his demonstration, the lone witch threw a kunai connected to a chain at Belos. The future Emperor easily dodged the blade as he turned to face the attempted assassin.

"Belos!" he declared. "You will pay for wiping out my village!" he shouted before he swung his blade.

The crowd watched, including Terra, as they saw the assassin try to kill Belos in an act of vengeance. Terra watched as Belos dodged the attacks before shooting a lightning spell at the assassin's chest, knocking him back. Belos then tightened his fist and the assassin found himself wrapped up in his own chain before his kunai went down his throat, killing him.

After dealing with the assassin, Belos turned to the crowd. "Now where was I?" he asked before continuing his demonstration, showing off his magic, including the likes that the crowd had never seen before. The crowd was in awe, but none more so than Terra.

Belos was with the original Golden Guard, Abel, and Vina as he spoke to some witches who had been in his audience and had won over by his rally.

"You've gained quite the cult following," spoke Terra, earning their attention.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Vina asked.

"My name is Terra Snapdragon, I'm quite infamous around these parts of the woods," she declared while holding up her dragonfly staff. "I'm willing to forfeit my staff to you, in exchange for… helping you gain more followers."

"Oh, what can you offer, Ms. Snapdragon?" Belos asked her.

"Control," Terra declared with a grin. "I can help you bring more lambs into your herd and control your growing flock. I want in on this… coven system you're building up."

Odalia was now at the front of the Clawthorne home, carrying with her a bag of things she had brought. Opening the door with the key she had been given, she announced her presence. "Hello? I'm back."

"Odalia, good to see you," Gwendolyn said, looking up from the living room. Blazer was there with her and he spotted Odalia.

"Odalia? Wait… Ed's mom?" Blazer asked, surprised to see her.

"Hello, Blazer," Odalia greeted him with a nod. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm… feeling fine, ma'am," he replied, though he still felt awkward around the woman.

"If you're looking for Lilith, she's upstairs in her room," Dell mentioned.

"Thank you, Dell," Odalia said as she started to walk upstairs.

"Wait, what are they doing upstairs?" Blazer asked them.

"Oh, they're going to be performing a séance," Gwen explained. "Oracle witches like Odalia can summon the spirits from the great beyond."

"Oh, you guys do that here too?" Blazer asked, being familiar with the practice. "A lot of Sinners back in Hell can do that too."

Lilith heard a knock on the door and she went to open it, seeing Odalia there. "Is everything ready?"

"Yes, I got everything in place," Lilith said, pointing at the floor, which had a circle drawn on it and several items scattered around. "Luckily I kept some of Vina's things after her death. Came with the box of stuff Flora gave me when my old office was cleared."

"And I got the supplies ready for the ritual," Odalia states while setting her bag down. "That way, I will be able to speak to Vina and try to help find out who killed her… but I will admit, I am a little rusty in this sort of thing."

"Are you sure this will work?" Vina asks Lilith, looking doubtful. "You could have tried to find a more qualified Oracle…"

"Odalia offered and she will help you," Lilith told Vina.

"Is she speaking to you again?" Odalia asked her.

"Yes, she hasn't stopped talking and talking," Lilith replied. "It gets frustrating to hear her complain all the time. What did Eda call her? A Chatty Maddie?"

"Why I never…" Vina fumed.

The two women got work on setting up the séance circle for the ritual. Once their setup was complete with the voodoo doll in place, the two held hands as they performed the ritual.

"Through nightshades, lit sage, dead leaves and bog stew," Odalia chanted as her eyes glowed a mint color. "Spirit of Vina Charmspell, please let me see and hear you!"

The crystal ball in place glowed, purple smoke forming out of it. Coming out and taking form was Vina, who became visible to both Lilith and Odalia.

"Vina…" Odalia said while looking up at Vina's spiritual form.

Vina looked at Odalia, thinking of the first thing she could say to her… "Well, if it isn't Odalia, the ex-Blight and Lilith's ex," she said nonchalantly while crossing her arms. "My Titan, have you let yourself go. I don't know if it's from being the former CEO of Blight Industries or bearing three children that hate you."

Odalia looked appalled. "I… what… oh my Titan, you are not-"

"What you imagined back when you were a little witchling?" Vina asked, scoffing at her. "Yes, this is the real me, toots. Truth is I don't like children, I don't like you, and I don't like anybody. Tell me, Odalia, how many cats did you have to eat to get this big? I'm surprised you didn't have to use a mobile chair-"

"Enough, Vina!" Lilith told her old mentor off. She was not gonna let her insult Odalia anymore. "You either stop insulting Odalia this instant, or you can forget passing on. In fact, Odalia can banish you to the ghost realm if she wants to."

"What?" Vina turned around to her before giving Lilith a scoff. "You're bluffing."

"Actually, thanks to my years in the Oracle Coven, I do know how to banish spirits from the mortal plane," Odalia pointed out. "After all, exorcism is a common practice."

Vina scoffed again before she realized that Lilith and Odalia weren't playing around. "Ugh, fine. I'll play nice, if it means passing on away from the hoyden and the buffalo."

The two glared at Vina before Odalia spoke up to her. "You know, Ms. Charmspell, my own children act more mature than you are. You sound more like a brat than a fully grown witch."

Vina glared at Odalia. "How dare you…!"

"And just so we have an understanding, I'm doing this for Lilith, not you," Odalia told her. "If you want my help, I expect you to act professional. Is that clear, dear?"

"Grr, Lilith, are you going to let her talk to me like that?!" Vina asked, turning to Lilith, who just rolled her eyes.

"Let's focus on your personal belongings," Lilith said, ignoring Vina's complaint. She held up one object, Vina's coven badge. "We should be able to look into your memories with items that you have a strong attachment to. We can start with your badge, see if there's anything you can remember from it."

"Other than my duties in the coven," Vina said as she shook her head. "I don't think so."

"What about this?" Odalia asked as she held up some kind of trinket, which Vina noticed.

"I recognize that… it's an old puzzle box you used to let me play with from your desk," Lilith pointed out, seeing the puzzle box.

"Oh yes, I remembered having this," Vina said more softly as she floated over and tapped on the puzzle box. "In fact, I've had it… since I was just a girl…"

Odalia looked to the crystal ball, levitating it up. "Show us what memories this item holds," she said as the crystal flashed a memory for them to see…

The Savage Ages, before the Coven System, when wild magic wasn't outlawed.

A young Vina Charmspell wore raggedy clothing and was holding a teddy bear as she ran through the village. She looked back in horror, seeing raiders running around the village. They stole from homes, killed villagers, and caused a whole lot of unsavory imagery she had to witness. She tripped and fell in her panic. As she started to get up, she saw a raider coming for her. She used a light spell to blind the raider so she could escape, but she left her teddy bear behind in the process.

In another memory, the young Vina was coughing up. She was in what looked like a junkyard, where a bunch of homeless witches were living. She was getting checked up on by her parents, who were healers.

"Don't worry, Vina," said her mom. "It looks like it is just a cough."

"We have a lot more patients, dear," Vina's father said after coming over. "We may not have a clinic, but we're the best healers here. Especially during the plagues."

Vina's parents were selfless healers, helping those in need no matter what.

But during one plague, little Vina was confronted by her parents

"Vina, we got some new patients, so why don't you play outside the junkyard for a while?" her mother suggested.

"Here, try to solve this puzzle box," her father suggested, giving her the puzzle box. "If you solve it, you can show it to us."

"Wow… thanks, mom, dad!" Vina replied before she saw her mom's concerned expression. "Are you okay, mom?"

"I'm fine, dear. Just… go out and play," her mom told her as Little Vina turned around and went to play with the puzzle box.

Later on, after solving the puzzle box, little Vina headed back to show her parents her accomplishment. "Mom! Dad! I solved it!" she declared, only to feel another witch grab her arm.

"You are Vina, correct?" the witch asked, making Vina turn to her.

"Y-yes," Vina said in confusion. "W-who are you? I want to see my parents."

The witch sighed. "I'm sorry, but you can't see them."

"What? But why?" Vina asks him, " I want to show my parents I solved the puzzle!"

"Vina… your parents… they're sick," she told her, causing Vina's eyes to widen. "And they don't want to risk you getting sick. I'm sorry, but you can't stay here."

The young girl gasped and dropped her puzzle box. Tears leaked from her eyes upon hearing the news.

"Stop this! Stop this right now!"

Odalia stopped, looking up at Vina who had shut her eyes and turned around. "I don't want to see that memory. Why did you show it to me?!"

"Vina?" Lilith asked before she saw Vina fly up to phase through the ceiling. "Vina, wait!"

In the woods, Luz and Beel waited until they saw Eda in her harpy form flying down while carrying a cloaked figure in her arms.

"We came as fast as we could," Eda explained while setting the cloaked figure down. "Had to be discreet, so your inviso-glyph cards came in real handy, Luz."

"Yes, they were pretty useful indeed," the cloaked figure spoke as they removed their hood, revealing themselves to be… Raine Whispers.

"I knew it!" Beel shouted. "I knew you were alive!"

"Raine!" Luz shouted as she ran over to give Raine a hug. "So glad to see you, stranger."

"You too, Luz," Raine replied while patting Luz's back. "Eda told me everything about where Perry could potentially be…"

"Yeah, the Plant Coven," Luz confirmed. "Where Terra is."

"Which is why I decided to bring Raine along," Eda explained.

Raine nodded. "This is personal for me. What happened to Perry is my fault, so it is only right that I play a part in saving him and bringing Terra down. Honestly, I should have never brought him into the BATTs to begin with, not when he had a son." They looked down with a guilty look. Though they didn't say it out loud, this was the reason they didn't want to bring the Parks into the CATTs. They didn't want a repeat of what happened with Perry.

Eda gave them a nod as she turned to Luz and Beel. "Alright, so what's the game plan?"

"I have thought of a way to get in," Beel explained. "As a student of the Plant Track, I do have access to the Plant Coven. Or at least the public areas. But to get to Terra Snapdragon's office, we have to get past her security."

Beel then described the security. "To get to Terra's office, you'd have to go past her many traps. The obvious carnivorous plants, security globes with flying eyes that can raise the alert when they unwanted intruders. Rusty smidges that crawl around and are hidden in plain sight to keep an eye on those in the coven," he explained. "Also there's pixie and gnome guards."

"So what we're dealing with is the most evil, eco-friendly security system imaginable," Luz summarized. "With security like that, she is obviously hiding stuff."

"Sounds like my heist days," Eda commented.

"But how do we even go through?" Raine asked. "We don't want to draw too much attention…"

"Leave it to me," Beel responded. "I have ways of getting past these security measures. After all, I've been planning this for a long time…"

Back at the Emperor's Castle, the trio of Eve, Sioux, and Linkin were currently asking Scameron about Hatesew.

"I haven't visited his office this week," Scameron admitted. "But I have visited there before while I was off duty. Always picked up his books and magazines from his library. You could say that I'm a big fan of his work."

"Have you seen anyone suspicious?" Linkin asked.

"Like, is there anyone who has it out for him?" Eve asked him.

"Honestly, Howard does tend to creep out almost everyone because of the mask he wears all the time," Scameron admitted. "But if you've seen his interview on The Hogart Scorns Show, you would know that he wears that mask of his due to his upbringing and his mother's verbal abuse. Poor guy, if you ask me."

"Hmm, that doesn't narrow down much," Sioux said before she heard shouting.

"Guys! Guys!" Korn cried out as he and his sisters ran up to the gang.

"What's up with you four?" Linkin asked them.

"T-There was a monster at Hatesew's office!" Korn claimed while shaking in fear.

"What?!" Sioux asked. "A monster showed up?!"

"Yeah, from some kind of secret door in Hatesew's library," Cyndi explained.

"It had an octopus head with flaming red eyes and a humanoid body with tendrils coming out of its back!" Blondie described.

"It gurgled at us too," Patty added.

"What kind of monster is that?" Eve asked while Scameron thought about the description.

"Octopus head… tendrils from its back… otherworldly gurgle," Scameron said while tapping his head. He then snapped his fingers. "I think I know what you guys are describing!"

"You do?" Korn asked as Scameron summoned a book with a spell circle.

"From one of Hatesew's most popular books, the starring monster: Lor Garh Chaka'kan, the Beast with a Thousand Names."

"Chaka'kan? I've heard about them," Sioux realized. "They used to make Crystal Ball games based on that creature. It goes by many names in different realms, but here they are known as Chaka'kan,"

"That's right," Scameron said as he turned the pages of the book. "Chaka'kan is a dimensional beast that roams between realms, influencing the minds of their inhabitants. Cults were formed around it, including here in the Demon Realm."

"Let me see this," Eve said as she was handed the book. She looked through it, a certain page piquing her interest. "According to this, Chaka'kan can only be summoned through a ritual of sacrifice. They will step into our reality after being satisfied with the sacrifice."

"So you're saying that Howard Hatesew was sacrificed to bring that beast to life?!" Patty exclaimed.

"If that were the case, who performed the ritual?" Blondie pointed out.

"You guys mentioned a secret door in the library," Linkin told them. "Mind taking us there?"

"But that monster could still be there," Korn said fearfully.

"I can come along with you guys if you want," Scameron offered. "As a scout, I should also look into this claim of a monster, and help defend you guys from it. I am, after all, a member of BIG."

"Sure, we'd like that you'd join us, Scameron," Eve replied while turning to Korn. "Lead the way, Korn."

Korn and the Cerberus Sisters led the gang, plus Scameron, to the library, where they saw no monster as they looked around.

"The monster was here," Korn claimed as they searched. "You guys should've seen how horrifying it looked! Especially the flaming eyes…"

"Keep your guard up just in case," Scameron told them as they looked around.

"Good advice," Linkin replied. "But don't worry, this isn't our first monster hunt." He then turned around and gave a shriek. "YAH!"

"Is it the monster?!" Eve asked as everyone turned to Linkin and whatever had scared him.

"No, it's just me," spoke Ms. Jitters, who glared at them.

"Ms. Jitters, what are you doing here at Hatesew's library?" Scameron asked her.

"Scameron," Jitters acknowledged. "I'm here to look for some overdue library books. Unfortunately, I have yet to find them." She gave a huff. "That Howard… he always takes my books and never returns them on time! Why I've warned him that if he's missed his due date again, he will be doomed! Doomed… doomed…" She echoed for dramatic effect.

"You wouldn't happen to see an octopus-headed monster, have you?" Sioux asked the coven librarian.

"Saw no such thing," Jitters responded. "No monster, no library books." She then turned and started heading to the door. "I did warn him!"

After she left, Sioux took a note. "That librarian may be a suspect."

"Has motivation and gives us the creeps, it checks out," Korn listed off.

"Come on, follow us," Cyndi said as they went through Hatesew's library, heading to the last spot they and Korn were at.

"This is where the monster appeared, but I don't remember which book I pulled that triggers the door to the secret passage," Korn admitted.

"Looks like we'll just have to try all of them," Linkin said as he pulled out a book, only for nothing to happen. "Nope."

"Not this one," Eve said after pulling out another book.

"Definitely not this one," Patty said before she and her sisters pulled out more books.

The gang, along with Scameron, kept pulling out random books from the shelf until Sioux finally pulled the right one, revealing the secret passage. "I found it."

"Look," Korn said as the shelf opened to reveal a stairway passage. "That's where the monster appeared."

"Come on, gang, let's go find out where this takes us," Eve declared as she took charge… before she slipped and fell. "Ack! Ah! Ow!" she cried while rolling down the steps until she hit the floor at the bottom. "I'm okay…"

"I'll summon the first aid," Linkin said while summoning a first aid kit.

"Cross, wake up!"

Cross groaned as he felt himself getting slapped in the face. He opened his eyes and felt another slap. "Ow! Hey, I'm awake!" he shouted, seeing that it was Tracy Speedemon who slapped him. "Tracy?" he asked, recognizing her from the IFWOT.

"Thank Titan, you're alright," spoke Jackie, who was also with Tracy. The two helped Cross up. "Are you alright, sug?"

"I'm fine, just…" Cross groaned before he realized something. "Lindsay! The Goblin has her!"

"We know," Tracy said. "Her parents told us what happened."

"We came as soon as we could, but we didn't see him or Lindsay," Jackie admitted solemnly. "But then a little birdy showed up and led us to you."

Elio flew over to Cross, landing on his shoulder. "Thank you, Elio," he said before looking down out of guilt. "If only I had dodged his bomb and then… oh Titan, he was…" It suddenly hit him that the Grim Goblin and Teri were the same person.

"Hey, don't beat yourself up," Jackie assured him.

"Yeah, that Goblin creep may have taken our friend, but I'm gonna make sure that he pays for his mistake!" Tracy declared.

Cross was still looking down at the ground. He knew that Lindsay needed help. But he had no idea how to find the Goblin and he didn't think that he could save her and fight the Goblin at the same time. Then he realized what he had to do. "I need Emily's help."

"What?" the two girls asked him as Cross summoned his staff.

"Hold up, dude," Tracy said while getting in front of Cross. "Are you planning to head down to the Emperor's Coven to get Emily? Cause I'm not sure if you could…"

"I know Emily," Cross told her. "And I know that she cares about Lindsay as much as I do. She will help me."

Jackie and Tracy looked at each other in concern before turning to Cross. "Are you sure?" Jackie asked.

"We can join you to help save Lindsay," Tracy suggested.

Cross shook his head. "Lindsay and her family were targeted because the Goblin knew they were harboring Emily, who was attacked the other day by someone working for the Tarot Guild. I doubt that this was a coincidence. Her family could still be in danger, so I need someone here to watch them in case they get targeted again," he pointed out as he got on his staff. He looked up at the two girls. "Can I trust you to protect them?"

After a moment, the two girls nodded.

"Thank you," Cross said before he flew away on his staff. He knew where he needed to go.

Elsewhere, at the docks of the Isles, there was a line of witches and demons waiting to board a boat. Two of the witches waiting were Dolly and Kadabe.

"How are you feeling, Dolly?" Kadabe asked her.

Dolly looked tired. Her once curly hair was a mess, she had dark eye-shadow, and she looked even paler. "I can still hear him," Dolly responded. "He's still in my head, mocking me for leaving like a coward." She looked down fearfully. "Something bad is going to happen…"

Kadabe looked worried. "Don't worry, hopefully soon we will be out of the Inner Demon's reach and your mind will be cleared."

Dolly looked up at Kadabe, giving her a small smile. "Yeah, thanks again Kadabe… for everything you've done for me. I wish I could have been more useful…"

"It's okay," Kadabe told her while they moved up the line. But as she took a step, Kadabe paused. Her eyes suddenly flashed violet. "Oh…"

Dolly turned to her and her eyes widened. "You're having a vision," she realized.

"Yes…" she said. After a few moments, her head twitched and she almost fell before Dolly caught her.

"I got you," Dolly said, looking worried for Kadabe. Her visions always made her nervous.

Once Kadabe's eyes flashed back to normal, she gasped. "We need to go back!"

"What?" Dolly asked her as Kadabe stood back up. "What are you talking about?"

"Dolly, my vision… we may have a chance against the Inner Demon after all!" Kadabe declared with a smile. "We shouldn't be leaving the Isles, we have to go help beat the Inner Demon!"

"What?" Dolly asked her in confusion. "What did you see?" she asked as Kadabe ran out of the line and headed away from the docks. "Kadabe, wait!" Dolly shouted as she followed her.

"Come on, we can win this!" Kadabe declared as Dolly caught up to her.

"Kaddy, wait!" Dolly shouted to her, grabbing her hand. "What about the boat?"

"We shouldn't leave the Isles, Dolly," Kadabe told her, determined. "There is a chance we'll see this through."

"But Kaddy, we can't stay here!" Dolly told her, looking very afraid. "I… I don't want to face the Inner Demon again! You know what he did to me!"

Kadabe paused, realizing how upset Dolly was. "Dolly…" she said, turning to her. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you like this, Dolly."

"I-It's fine," Dolly replied, wiping away her tears.

"No, it's not," Kadabe told her, holding her hands. "Dolly, I know that this is very upsetting and very personal for you. I know that you're afraid, but I do think that we can win. All I'm asking you to trust me on this." She squeezed her hands gently. "Please."

Dolly looked up at Kadabe, blushing slightly. She wiped her own tears and stifled a laugh. "Why do you have to be like this?"

"What can I say? I like to be on the winning side," Kadabe pointed out. "But I want to be on it with you."

Dolly smiled, the two locking eyes with each other… until they heard a cackling laugh.

"Hello, Dolly," spoke the voice of the Grim Goblin. The two oracle girls looked up in shock and saw the Grim Goblin, now masked, hovering over them on his glider. "And look, the Glandus deserter's also here!"

"You!" Kadabe shouted as she got Dolly behind her. "Why are you here?"

The Grim Goblin laughed. "The Tarot Guild has unfinished business with you two…"

Some time after joining up with Belos, Terra stood with eight other witches. They stood where the Emperor's Castle was currently in the early stages of construction. Terra looked around at what would one day be an impressive castle and at the crowd waiting for Belos to speak.

"My, Belos sure knows how to bring in an audience," Terra commented.

"Gosh, he sure does," said a smiling Judy Goreland. "And to think that not too long ago I was just a theater to picture show actress, now I'm gonna be Head of Illusions," she declared while holding up her mirror pendant. "I wonder if I should take on apprentices…"

"There is still a downside to this," spoke Dr. Naga Venomstrike, who was wearing his usual leather and fishnet attire. "As soon as the Golden Guard presses that glove on our wrists, most of our magic will be sealed away."

"Oh I don't mind that at all," Terra said with a dismissive way. "If it means I get to serve someone as powerful as Belos, then I'm okay not using the other types of magic. Besides, Plants has always been my thing,"

Venomstrike rolled his eyes. "Of course it has…"

Prague the Crafter looked around at the foundations of the castle. "I already like the design you're going with, Brad."

"Thanks, Prague," Brad Tholomule responded humbly. "Of course, I have been receiving some help from the Hammers and Saltstar families, who wish to be part of Construction."

"Saltstar? Such a strong family," Prague commented.

"Ooh, I agree," Venomstrike said with a smile. "They always peaked in their physical prowess."

"Yawn," said Scarmadeus Keys. "I can't wait for this to be over. I just thought of a funny rhapsody that I should get working on," he said with a mischievous grin. "It's going to be a classic."

"I am just looking forward to using my new coven to expand medical care across the Isles to everyone in need," Karlos Green said eagerly.

"Of course you are," Venomstrike said. "What about you, Zoltar?"

Zoltar the Magnificent rubbed his temple. "I've been in contact with my human counterpart again, he told me good luck."

"Again with the human counterpart, Zoltar?" Scarmadeus questioned with a scoff. "You sure you're not hearing voices again?"

Judy looked up at a large Viking-looking witch. "How are you holding up, Scourge?"

Scourge didn't say anything at all. He just stood there in silence, giving a stern look.

"Don't bother him, Judy. You know that all Scourge can think about is what strong beast he can conquer," Terra told her.

"Is everyone ready?" asked Vina Charmspell, the young witch woman walking over to stand in front of them. "Belos is about to start, so please stand to your assigned hue so he can give you your sigils."

"Of course, Charmspell," Prague said as the nine went to their assigned hue bars of the circle. Terra walked over to the green hue while passing by Vina.

"Hello, Charmy, wonder if any of your family's watching?" Terra whispered to Vina, who gave her a glare.

"Don't make me hex you, Snapdragon," Vina retorted.

"I'd like to see you try," Terra said while stepping on her hue, standing next to Scourge and Zoltar. All nine were now standing on their hues.

After getting to their assigned hues, a cloud of smoke forms appeared on the stage. The gathered witches of the Isles watched as they saw Belos himself emerging from the floor.

"Children of the Titan!" Belos declared while raising his staff. "I welcome you and thank you for coming here on this joyous day! For years I have spread the word and teachings of the Titan. At first, they fell on deaf ears. But I did not give up and I am only here today because of all of you. This is not just my achievement or the Titan's. This achievement belongs to every one of you as well. I am grateful and so is the Titan, because you have made this important day possible. With the creation of the Coven System, we will enter a new chapter in our history…"

Watching from the crowd were younger versions of Gwendolyn and Dell, looking up at awe while holding hands. Watching from a distance from them was a young Arthur Blight who hid his face under his hat while standing alongside with his brothers.

"With this Coven System, we can bring an end to the Savage Ages," Belos continued with his speech. "Bring an end to the suffering and the pain brought to us by savages like the Tarot Guild, raiders, werewolves, werecats, dragons, and wild witches. And it will be made possible thanks to our Coven Heads, who represent the Titan's dream for a better tomorrow!"

Also watching from afar was a young man who resembled Cross. He was known as Draydon Drakescale and he gave Belos a stern look. Also amongst the crowd was a young Scooter Crane who looked up with an optimistic look.

"These nine witches will lead the main nine covens. Each for one of the nine types of magic that must not mix!"

A young Hieromyous Bump was observing this along with a young Herbert Blanc… and behind them was Principal Faust.

"Now I know that many of you will have reservations about joining covens," Belos mentioned. "But remember that it is the Titan's Will. Otherwise, you'll be no better than those wild witches that have plagued us! If we want a better future, we must unite. So encourage your loved ones, your family and your friends, to join a coven and help save the Isles!"

The crowd cheered as Belos turned to the witches before him. "Now then, let me grant you your sigils, which will officially make you… Coven Heads!" he declared as the Golden Guard came over with a branding glove that had the sigils.

As they raised their arms up, the Golden Guard pressed his glove to each of their wrists. Some would wince, but those like Scourge didn't. Terra raised her wrist to have her sigil branded into hers. After the branding, she looked down at her wrist and saw the Plant Coven sigil branded on her, making her smile.

Outside of the Plant Coven, the group consisting of Luz, Eda, Raine, and Beel looked at the entrance while wearing green cloaks.

"Beel might be let in with no trouble, but what about the rest of us?" Raine pointed out.

"Yeah, we can't let Terra know that two Clawthornes and a currently missing rebel leader were seen entering her coven," Luz admitted.

"Luckily for you, I know the scout schedules," Beel said as he pointed to a group of Plant Coven scouts just hanging out at the side of the building during their break.

The unsuspecting scouts were either on smoke break or playing with their scrolls when they heard a certain kind of music, a music that put them in a trance. The scouts stopped what they were doing as they followed the music to the blind spot away from the crystal ball camera.

Once those scouts were out of sight, the sound of punching and kicking was heard, followed by grunts.

After knocking out the scouts, stealing their uniforms, and hiding the real scouts, Beel led the disguised Luz, Eda, and Raine toward the main entrance. Beel went in first, then the three false scouts. They entered the main hall. Everything was green, with plants and vines covering nearly every surface. It was like an indoor forest with Plant Coven members being carried on huge flowers to different parts of the building.

"Well, this place is huge," Luz commented while looking around. "It is like a huge greenhouse."

"Come on, let's go get where we're here for," Beel said as he led the way.

At another part of the Plant Coven, Sunny was accompanying Patrick, who was with a group of visitors.

"Alright, welcome to the Plant Coven!" Patrick declared. "My name is Patrick, and with me is a friend of mine, Sunny Muse!"

"Hi," Sunny said with a smile as she waved to the families. "It's nice to be here."

"Sunny here wished to join our group and check out the Plant Coven as well," Patrick explained. "And as Head Witch Snapdragon's personal aide it is my solemn duty to show her and you how amazing and not concerning at all the Plant Coven is!"

Beel noticed the tour group and turned to the others. "Let's tag along for a bit," he suggested as he led the others to Patrick's group.

"Yeah, this feels familiar," Luz commented in a whisper as they joined up to the tour group.

"Now as you can see, here in the Plant Coven we keep samples of every kind of flora in the Isles, to both preserve them and to find out their uses. We have some especially rare types of plants here and we even have plants from beyond the Boiling Isles! Did you know that they have plants on other Titans? I didn't know that before I took this job! I like to say that we're like the Beast-Keeping Coven, just with flowers and fruits instead of beasts and bugs! And if you can see anything you like while on the tour, you can buy seeds at our gift shop at the end of the tour!" Patrick explained as he led the group. "In my opinion, the Plant Coven is the most essential of the nine covens, since plants play an important part of our ecosystem and in keeping the Titan in good condition."

"What about Lake Lacuda?" Luz asked from the back of the group. "That place is still filled with garbage!"

"Oh, right, we will try to get to that eventually," Patrick responded, though he didn't see who asked.

"We should get that cleaned soon," Sunny admitted, also thinking about Lake Lacuda's trash problem.

As the group was led further into the building, Beel nodded to the others and they broke away from the group when Patrick wasn't watching. "Now let's go see our seed storage!"

The four slipped into another hallway, using inviso-glyphs until they were in a room full of moss. Beel stopped them and pulled out and held up an oracle pendant, tapping on it. "Let's go," he said as he walked through the moss hall, where they saw rusty smidges coming out while glowing and twitching.

"What's happening to them?" Luz asked.

"A jam pendant, you can use these to fuzz out rusty smidges," Beel explained while pointing to his pendant. "Being friends with Felicia has its benefits."

"We have many greenhouses that simulate different environments and conditions. This greenhouse is where we store the Palm Sting plants," Patrick explained as he showed the group a lot of exotic plants and cacti. "We have to make sure they get enough heat in this compound."

He moved the group into a forest greenhouse. "This one is reserved for the forest flora. We keep all the nightshade we have here."

Patrick then showed them another greenhouse… filled with flesh-looking plants "And over here are where we keep the skin leaves!" he said as an eye popped up.

As they avoided the flying eyes, Beel led them to another hall where they saw pixies and gnomes standing on guard.

"Masks up," Eda said as they pulled masks up above their noses. Beel held up a canister of sleeping nettles, pressed it, and rolled it over towards the pixie and gnome guards. Once the canister stopped, it started to shoot and spread the sleeping nettle gas, which the guards took notice of.

"Sleeping nettles!" the gnome guard cried out before he passed out.

"Must… stay… awake!" the pixie guard yawned before he fell asleep as well, allowing the infiltrators to pass them.

Back to Patrick's group, he was showing Sunny and his tour group to the lab. "This is where we test the applicability of different plants and materials," he explained. "A plant can have many different uses in many different fields and most covens depend on us. For example, potionists need plants for their potions, constructionists need wood for their building, and beast-keepers need plants to feed their beasts. And in addition to finding their uses, we also try to improve upon our plants, making them stronger and more adaptable to different environments."

"Uh, Patrick, sir," spoke a Plant Coven member. "The peanut gallery is complaining again." He pointed to the living peanuts with mouths that were sprouting.

"It's too cold!" "Too warm!" "Where's the salt?" "Wrong temperature!" the peanuts complained.

"Well, they're just peanuts, they'll complain no matter what you do," Patrick said while Sunny raised an eyebrow. "They're worse than the mandragoras."

Meanwhile, the rescue party found themselves in another room filled with carnivorous plants and guard hedge animals.

"Hedgedog demons," Eda groaned as she summoned her staff, seeing these creatures growling at them.

"And I thought Willow had a good garden defense," Luz muttered while summoning ice and fire from her hands.

"We can take them on," Beel declared while extending his stingers from his arms as Raine brought out their violin.

Patrick had led Sunny and the group to a certain sector of the compound where they could hear a music rehearsal.

"Oh, this is my favorite part of the tour," Patrick said with a giddy look. "Take your seats, everyone! The show's about to begin."

"Show?" Sunny asked.

"Why we're just about to sing," the conductor plant declared as she got all the plants in places as they prepared to sing.

"Ba-bum! Ba-bum! Ba-bum, ba-bum!" the dandelions sang.

"Whoooooo!" the lilies sang as well while the chorus of plants sang.

"Little bread-and-butterflies kiss the tulips, and the sun is like a toy balloon!"

They sang as Patrick bopped his head sideways. "There are get up in the morning glories, in the golden afternoon!"

Luz burned through the carnivorous plants while Beel used his magic to shoot electric balls from his stingers, shocking the hedgedogs and plants trying to eat them. Raine played their violin, performing soundwave spells to counteract the vines coming after them.

"There are dizzy daffodils on the hillside, strings of violets are all in tune!" the flowers continued to sing. "Tiger lillies love the dandy lions, in the golden afternoon(golden afternoon)!"

Sunny smiled, liking the song.

"There are dog and caterpillars and the copper centipede…"

Eda used her glyphs to burn and freeze the carnivorous plants. She threw one ice card at one piranha plant trying to eat Raine, causing the plant to freeze up.

"When the lazy daisies love the very peaceful life… they lead...~!"

Luz let Maya take over and she slashed and cut down the guard plants while Beel electrocuted the hedgedogs to knock them out.

"You can learn a lot of things from the flowers," the flowers sang. "For especially in the month of June~!

Then one flower sang a solo. "There's a wealth of happiness and romance… all in the golden afternoon!"

Maya used her wings to slice a tree monster into two. She and Luz had managed to take out most of the carnivorous plants with help from Eda, Raine, and Beel. They then saw the final monster to face off, a large mandrake creature that roared at them.

"All in the golden afternoon… the golden afternoon…"

Sunny got the spotlight as she was offered to sing along with the flowers. Patrick helped her onto the stage and she looked at the flower chorus and the tour group, ready to sing.

"You can learn a lot of things from the flowers~!" Sunny sings, "For especially in the month of June… there's a wealthy of happiness and romance~!"

The flowers then sang with Sunny in unison. "All in the golden afternoon!"

The mandrake fell to the floor, all mangled up with ice spikes on its chest. Luz was in her ice form and standing over the defeated mandrake.

"Now that's cold," Beel commented.

"Vina? Are you up here?" Lilith asked as she went up to the roof of the house. She spotted Vina's ghost, hovering on the rooftop. "Vina?"

"Leave me alone, Lilith," Vina said while not looking at her.

Lilith gave her old mentor a concerned look as she walked over. "That memory we saw… I just want to say, I'm sorry for what happen-"

"Don't be sorry," Vina told her while turning around to face Lilith. "I do not need your pity, Lilith."

"I heard stories about the Savage Ages from my parents," Lilith told her, walking over and sitting beside her. "But I always took it for granted that you were alive during that point as well. That you would have experienced the raids… and the plagues…"

"Life before Belos was hard for witches like me," Vina told her while looking down. "Although my parents could have been alive back when I needed them… if not for their selflessness."

Lilith looked up at Vina. "Is that why you've been giving me a hard time? The loss of your parents… Vina, they wouldn't have want you to-"

"Don't tell me what my parents wanted!" Vina hissed at her while looking upset. She then paused, taking a moment to calm down and take a deep breath. "When I first met you, I did see so much of myself in you. And I saw weakness." She sighed. "After my parents died, I promised myself that I would never get hurt again. That I wouldn't make the mistakes my parents did. When I began to mentor you, I hoped to teach you the same lessons that I had. But instead you've decided to join a rebellion, help delinquents and your ex despite warnings, and you even let Basilisks loose in another realm…"

"Vina, let me ask you one thing," Lilith said. "Were you… happy in the Emperor's Coven?" When Vina didn't answer, Lilith continued. "Because honestly I am more happy now because of the people in my life than I ever was in the Emperor's Coven. Reconnecting with my sister and my family, getting to know my wonderful niece, reconnecting with old friends, including finding new friends like Hooty." She then turned to Vina. "What happened to your parents was out of your control. You were young, there was nothing you could have done, and I'm sorry. But you made your choice to live as an unhappy spinster who had no family and no friends. You chose to be alone, to never let anyone get too close so you wouldn't get hurt again and you became an unpleasant witch who I can't help but feel bad for. Being a selfless witch who cared about others wasn't the problem, it was just you. You became a miserable old woman who even now does nothing but complain about how things don't go her way… like an overgrown child."

Vina was silent for a long time before she looked over at Lilith, then looked down at herself. "Did your sister ever mention how she met me?"

Lilith raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"I met your sister back at the IFWOT," Vina admitted as she began to recount. "She spoke to me and I mocked the idea of her being in the Emperor's Coven, telling her that she probably wouldn't make the cut. So if you're looking to blame someone for Eda rejecting the Emperor's Coven, well… you could say it's my fault," she admitted. "Did she really not tell you?"

Lilith shook her head. "No," she admitted while looking down. "I guess Eda didn't want to ruin my 'childhood hero' for me." She was quiet for a moment, thoughtful. "You know, Vina, in spite of everything between us, you actually did make a positive impact on someone… me."

Vina turned to Lilith with a questionable look. "After everything you said, I thought you would have hated me."

"While I don't agree with your views, I wouldn't be who I am now, for better or worse, without you," Lilith admitted. "You did define who I was for a while… and now you define who I don't want to be. And it's thanks to you that I was able to survive in the Emperor's Coven. So I am grateful towards you, Vina."

Vina was quiet for a second. "Well… good. I guess you're not a complete failure then."

"Why don't you come back?" Lilith suggested. "And just so you know, I'm not doing this just to get you out of my hair, Vina. I'm doing this because I do want to help you find peace. You deserve that much.."

Vina was surprised by this, but she seemed unsure. "But what if I find more memories that I don't want to revisit…"

"Then me and Odalia can help you go through them," Lilith told her. "Don't you want to bring the one who killed you to justice?"

Vina gave her a nod. "I do."

And so, Lilith went down from the roof and back inside with Vina. They found Odalia waiting for them outside the room.

"Hey, how did it go?" Odalia asked her.

"She's ready now," Lilith responded before they all went back into the room to continue the ritual.

Meanwhile, at S.C.O.R.N., Gibson Oscorne was in his office with Mr. Blood.

"How much could we be losing since our ties to Blight Industries have been cut?" Gibson asked him.

"It is not looking good, sir," Blood responded. "Since halting the Abomitonium project, we owe thousands of snails for all the parts needed-"

"What about the prototype on the other project?" Gibson asked him.

"Prototype is complete, but we will have to get funding from the Emperor's Coven if we want to go into mass production," Blood suggested.

"So we'll have to try to get on the Emperor's Coven's good side then," Gibson said with a sigh before he started drinking a glass of water. He glanced out the window and noticed something that made him spit-take. "BLOOD, GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

CRASH!

The Grim Goblin came crashing through the window in his glider. Mr. Blood immediately stepped up to try to defend Gibson, but the Goblin grabbed him and threw him across the room. "Hello, Gibson," he said, showing his unmasked face.

"T-Teri," Gibson said in shock. "I… I was worried for you!"

"Sure you were," the Goblin said in a sarcastic tone.

"Listen, son, if you can hear me, you can't let the Goblin take you over," Gibson begged his son while slowly walking towards him. "I-I promise that things will be different. I promise to get you the help you need-"

"Save your breath, old man," the Goblin declared, flying towards Gibson and grabbing him by the collar, pinning him to the wall. "Let me make this clear… I've always hated you. Me and Teri… we considered you a bad dad."

"Teri…" Gibson gasped while getting pinned.

"Don't Teri me, you're talking to me!" the Goblin shouted as he raised his fist and gave Gibson a punch to the face. He then knee-kicked Gibson in the stomach and did so repeatedly as he ranted. "You were always too busy for him, always focused on your stupid job! If you really loved Teri, you should have tried harder to find him rather than focus on the Blights!"

Gibson was getting beaten up badly by his own son. He spat out blood before he felt his arm getting broken. "AAAH!" he screamed. "Please… no more."

"Oh, we are just getting started," the Goblin said as he threw Gibson onto the ground. The Goblin then stepped off his glider, casually walked toward Gibson, and stomped Gibson's face, knocking him out.

At the Emperor's Coven, Adrian was doing paperwork when he heard a knock on the door. "Come in."

Coming in were Kiki and Pugsley. "Sir, there's someone who wishes to see you," Kiki explained before throwing said guest into the office… Cross.

"Cross? How… surprising that you decided to show your face here again," Adrian said with a frown.

"Head Witch Graye, where is Emily?" Cross asked him.

"Why do you want to know?" Adrian questioned.

"It's something urgent and I need her help," Cross told him. "Please, let me see her."

Adrian was silent for a moment before answering. "Hmm, I don't think Emily's available right now, young man," Adrian said while looking down at his pen. "She's far too busy to spend her time with the likes of you, Drakescale."

"But sir, there's someone that needs her help-"

"Then why don't you go ask a scout?" Adrian told him, slamming his hands down on his desk while glaring at Cross. "You left the service, Drakescale. I have no use for you and I do not want to see you around here ever again."

"Well, tell her it's the Grim Goblin," Cross told him, making Adrian's eyes widen. "He's back, and has captured my friend-"

"The Goblin?! You want Emily to face that psychopath again after he almost killed her?!" Adrian snarled at him, reaching across his desk and grabbing Cross by the collar. "Get out of this castle and never show your face here again!"

"But sir-"

"Kiki, Pugsley, escort Mr. Drakescale of the castle! This is your only warning, Cross," Adrian hissed at him before shoving him back to his two assistants. "Take him away!"

"We'll throw him out at once, sir," Kiki said as she and Pugsley escorted Cross out of the office.

"You guys don't understand, the Goblin is out there!" Cross tried to tell the two while being led through the halls.

"We know that the Goblin is still around, but if you saw him, report it to the coven station," Kiki told him.

"Don't worry, we'll look into your case, sir," Pugsley told him. "We have been trying to find that Goblin."

Cross looked at the two in exasperation. He couldn't believe this. However, he knew that he still had to find Emily so they could rescue Lindsay and hopefully help Teri. Cross then had an idea. "Um, hey, Pugsley, right? Do you have the time?"

"The time?" Pugsley asked as he let go of Cross to look at his watch. "Why it's about-"

"Think fast!" Cross swung Kikimora off the floor, throwing her into Pugsley.

"YEEK!" Kiki cried out, crashing into Pugsley as Cross made his escape. "That annoying runt! After him!" she shouted as she and Pugsley got up and chased after Cross.

Cross ran around the castle, looking for Emily. He looked back to see Kikimora and Pugsley on his trail. "Crap," he muttered while trying to figure out a way to lose them and that was when he had an idea.

"Come back here, ya brat!" Kiki shouted as Cross turned around a corner. The two turned as well, only to see an empty hallway lined with potted plants that went into two directions.

"Where did he go?" Pugsley asked, looking around.

"He's obviously ran fast enough to have run ahead!" Kiki told him, looking between the two hallways. "You take the left, I'll keep going straight!"

Kiki and Pugsley split up as they went to look for Cross. However, unknown to them, Cross had given them the slip. He waited for them to be gone, then lowered himself from the ceiling using vines.

"Now to find Emily," he said, trying to remember where Emily's quarters might be. He rushed through the halls while trying to not draw any attention to himself. 'I can't believe that after all this time, the Goblin was Teri, my best friend. What… what could have happened to make him like this?'

Making another turn, he saw Emily with Hunter. "Emily!"

Emily turned and was surprised to see Cross. "Cross?! What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you," Cross said as he skidded to a stop in front of Emily. "I need your help, Lindsay has been kidnapped by the Grim Goblin."

"What?!" Emily asked in shock, her eyes widening in fear. "The Goblin has her?!"

"When did this happen, Cross?" Hunter asked him.

"It's… it's my fault," Cross said, looking down with a guilty expression. "The Goblin… he turned out to be Teri, my friend."

"Teri?" Emily asked, trying to place why that name sounded familiar. "Wait… you don't mean the Oscorne kid? The one with the dark poetry?"

"Yeah, him," Cross nodded. "I don't know what's happened to him or how he became the Goblin. But he took Lindsay somewhere. I tried to stop him, but I couldn't take him on alone. That's why I came to you for help. Because I know you care about Lindsay and-"

"Cross," Emily interrupted. But rather than look angry with him, she looked more worried for Lindsay. "Of course I will help. I've been wanting a rematch against this jerk anyway…"

"Wait," Hunter said as he stepped up. "I'd like to help out as well. It wouldn't be right to leave you guys to take on the Goblin and it is my duty to protect citizens from him."

"Sure, you can come along. But there's only one problem though," Emily pointed out. "We don't know where he is and how to draw him out."

"We might be of help," said a voice.

The three turned to see that the SSE along with Scameron had shown up. "Guys… how much did you hear?" Hunter asked.

"We already know about the Grim Goblin's identity, and we heard that he's got your friend," Linkin explained.

"We just came back after going through a secret passage around the castle," Scameron commented. "Apparently, the Chaka'kan has been using these passages to get around the castle without being seen."

"The Chaka'kan?" Hunter asked.

"We'll put a pause on this mystery for right now," Eve explained. "Especially since this could be a chance to save Teri from the Goblin… and I know how to draw him out… with me. He captured me once before, after all. Give him the right bait and I am sure he will try it again."

The SSE turned to Eve in shock. "What?! No way, Eve, we cannot let you do this!" Korn protested.

"For once, Korn's right," Sioux said in concern. "Confronting Teri while he's in that Goblin state is too dangerous and risky."

"You could get hurt or worse," Cyndi told her.

"I know, guys, confronting the Goblin can be dangerous," Eve said while looking down. "But Teri… he needs help. The Goblin has a hold of him, and I'm probably the only one who he won't harm. I may be a clumsy witch, but that doesn't stop me from going out to help those in need."

Emily looked at Eve and decided that she was worth taking a chance on. "Do you have a plan though?" she asked her.

"Well, I did think about drawing his attention with my Penstagram," Eve suggested. "But what I need is something that you guys can use to track me down when he takes me."

"I may have something you could use," Hunter suggested. "Placing a rusty smidge on you can help lead us to where he takes you."

"Of course, since it can be modified with oracle magic," Scameron realized..

"Man, dealing with both the Chaka'kan and the Goblin at the same time? Now that's a double-whammy," Korn commented.

"Yeah, not what I had in mind on a Scumday," Patty replied.

"But there is still a chance that you could get harmed by him, regardless of what you think," Cross said to Eve, skeptical of the plan.

"Actually… I might have an idea," Emily realized as she stepped up. "And Cross, I think you can have a prominent role in it."

Cross looked curious about what Emily had in mind while Sioux responded. "And what do you suggest, Ms. Director?"

Emily smiled. "Let me… assign the roles," she said as she started to tell them the plan she had in mind.

About thirty years ago, after the incident at the IFWOT, Jenny was shown hidden in a cloak as she made her way to a secluded location in the forest, far from Bonesborough. She soon saw a light coming from a cave and she walked over to it.

"Come in, come in, my child," spoke Terra Snapdragon, who had decorated the cave with large plants and vines.

Jenny entered the cave while looking around. "You said to meet you here…"

"Were you followed?" Terra asked and Jenny shook her head. "Very well. Follow me."

As she led Jenny further inside, the young girl saw that there were many books, potions, and ingredients around that Terra kept in stock. A lot of it was stuff that was forbidden. Jenny couldn't help but feel a shiver as she went deeper into the cave.

"Now, I understand that you want to get a… certain boy to like you, right?" Terra asked her.

"Y-Yeah," Jenny responded. "How can I get him to like me?"

"Well, personally I am all against this whole lovey-dovey crap," Terra said with a disgusted look. "Especially teenage romances… but I'm all for giving you what you want, darling. I can give you… the love potion that you've tried to create."

"You can do that?" Jenny asked as Terra walked over to her.

"Why of course, my child!" Terra declared, forming a grin. "After all… I lived to help unfortunate witchlings like yourself," she said, placing her hand on Jenny's shoulder. "Poor unfortunate souls with nobody to turn to…"

Terra moved around as she started to sing. "I'll admit that in the past I've been a nasty, they weren't kidding when they called me, well, a bitch," she said as she used her hands and plants to create shadow puppets to show all the evil she 'used' to be before her shadow puppet went from terrorizing witches to helping them. "But you'll find out nowadays, I've mended all my ways, repented, seen the light, and made a switch!"

"True? Yes," spoke the plants around Jenny, who sounded like Terra.

"And fortunately, I know a little magic," Terra sang as she pulled out a container, opening it up as it gave off a deadly scent. "It's a talent that I always have possessed… and lately, please don't laugh." She threw the ink on the wall, painting it with her hand. "I use it on behalf of the miserable, the lonely, and depressed."

"Pathetic…" the plants cooed into Jenny's ears after seeing Terra's cave-painting of her weeping with a broken heart.

"Poor unfortunate souls!" Terra sang while leading Jenny further inside. "In pain… in need." She grabbed Jenny and swirled her around. "There is one who wants to be thinner, and another who wants to get the girl, and do I help them? Yes, indeed."

Jenny sees the cave drawings interpreting two witches that needed Terra's help. Terra provided them with what they needed, but then there were some consequences…

"Those poor unfortunate souls!" Terra sang again as she stopped swirling Jenny around. "So sad, so true…they come flocking to my coven, crying 'Spells, Terra, please!', and I help them? Yes I do."

She brought Jenny underneath a certain area covered in willows. Once she went through, she saw they were surrounded by witches… drained witches

"Now it happened once and twice, someone couldn't pay the price," Terra sang as she showed Jenny the mummified corpses. "And I'm afraid I had to rake'em, 'cross the coals… yes, I've had the odd complaint." She shrugged it off. "But on the whole I've been a saint~! To those poor unfortunate souls~!" She pushed Jenny out as she swayed with a boa around her.

Terra stopped singing and began to explain to Jenny. "Now here's the deal. I can provide you the ingredients, teach you how to make the love potions that you need to get the one you love the most to love you back. Now, who was it that you want to have for yourself, dear?"

"Um… well, his name is Perry Porter," Jenny replied, while brushing her hair. "When I first saw him, I thought he was just some… dorky bard who is into journalism But he was cute… I want him. I've tried to make a love potion but I can't get or find the right ingredients. I thought I had perfected it if not for Eda…"

"Oh don't you worry about that, my dear," Terra said as she grabbed a jar full of pink plants. "I may not be a potionist, but I do know plants and if you mix the right ones together and combine their unique properties you'll have him under your thumb! And you wanna know a secret? While the Emperor did outlaw love potions, we use them to make sure certain coven members don't turn on us."

"But isn't that against the rules?" Jenny asked her.

"Do you care, darling?" Terra asked as Jenny shook her head. "Now, there is the matter of payment if I loan you my… ingredients."

"What kind of payment?" Jenny asked with a gulp. "Is it… my soul?"

"Oh no, no, just some snails and, well, some favors, and we got a deal," Terra declared. "Now I can give you the supplies. Just make sure that Perry drinks these things every three days. Ooh how about a… monthly payment for a supply delivery. Sounds like a good deal?" she asked.

"Um… I guess," Jenny replied with a smile. "If that can get him to like me… but what if it doesn't work on him?"

"Well of course it'll work on him," Terra declared. "Keep feeding him that stuff and he can't resist you! He'll be head over heels over you." She then began to sing again. "These boys love to make a lot of blabber, normal dating quickly becomes a bore. But give him a taste and you don't even have to say a word, cause after all, dear, what is idle babble for?"

"Come on, they're not all that impressed with conversation!" Terra sang while pulling Jenny into a dance. "True gentlewitches avoid it when they can," she sang while spinning Jenny around until she stopped. "But he'll dote and swoon and fawn, oh he will treat you like a sawn, it's she who plays the game who gets a man!-" She paused while singing. "Or, woman, or non-binary, whatever your preference is."

"Come on you poor unfortunate soul!" She took Jenny to her potions room. "Go ahead! Choose or bail!" She offered her a variety of potions. "I'm a very busy Head Witch, and I haven't got all day, it won't cost much, just some snails."

"You poor unfortunate soul, it's sad but true! If you want to cross the line, my sweet, you've got to pay the bill," she drew a spell circle, as her hand went through it. "Make an everlasting oath, go ahead I know you will! (Audrey, Ivy, now I've got her, girls)," she briefly spoke to the plants. "The boss is on a roll~!"

Jenny made her decision and shook Terra's hand in an everlasting oath.

"This poor unfortunate soul~!" Terra declared as the oath was completed.

After getting past security, the rescue party finally made it to Terra's office.

"Well, we're here," Raine said as they opened the door.

The insides of Terra's office was a greenhouse like the rest of the building, but it was here behind closed doors that Terra kept the sorta stuff she didn't want visitors to see as part of the family-friendly facade that Patrick's tours presented the Coven with.

"I'm getting chills being here," Eda muttered while looking around the office.

"Well, we are in the office of the most insane Coven Head," Luz commented. "At least she doesn't seem to be here right now." She paused, noticing that on one shelf there were some potions… which contained skulls and crossbones on the bottles. "Those can't be legal."

"Potion Z…" Beel said as he read one potion.

Eda looked at a jar which contained Dildaleeches. "Oh crap… is she supposed to keep these?"

Raine looked at the labels. "Well, they are the property of the Emperor's Coven…."

"This is the kind of drug that most get busted owning," Eda commented.

"So basically like how the CIA produces and sends crack to urban neighborhoods," Luz commented.

"CIA?" Beel asked her.

"A Human Realm government spy agency in the country of America," Luz explained to him. "To be honest, I'm not surprised that the E.C. has this kind of shit. Just another reason why the whole institution is hypocritical."

Raine then noticed a certain, pink pedaled plant and their eyes widened. "This must be where she makes her mind-controlling tea," they said, glaring at some boxes of tea that were nearby.

"Come on, we should keep looking for Perry," Eda said, pulling Raine away after seeing them freeze up at the sight of the tea.

Beel looked around and spotted some bags of fertilizer. Some of the bags were ripped, spilling out its contents, which contained… an eyeball and a finger. "Well, that's not suspicious at all."

"No kidding," Luz replied, turning around and noticed some dangerous-looking plants around, including some colorful ones which alarms her and Beel.

"Mom, Raine, don't touch those plants," Luz told them. "Some of them could be dangerous."

"Dangerous?" Eda asked her.

"Yeah, that one there has poison leaves," Beel said, pointing to the purple plant. "And that thorny one over there gives you a bad rash just by one poke." He pointed to the spiky plant.

"Willow told me about some of these," Luz admitted. "Specifically so I wouldn't go and touch them while we were playing… man, I would probably have died a long time ago if she hadn't been the responsible one."

"But we have yet to find Perry," Raine said, looking frustrated. "Just… where is Terra keeping him?"

Eda, while looking around, glanced up. She paused as she looked up at the ceiling. "I… I think I've found him!"

"What?" Luz, Raine. and Beel asked.

"Look up!" Eda shouted as she pointed up to Perry, who was trapped on the ceiling, his eyes glowing as he was covered in vines.

"Perry!" Luz and Raine exclaimed.

"Come on, Luz," Eda said while changing into her harpy form. "Let's hurry and get him down."

Luz nodded and changed into her 'cambion' form. "Yeah," she said as they flew up, ripping the vines off of Perry. They grabbed the vines connected to his head, pulling them out and causing his eyes to stop glowing.

"Ugh…" Perry groaned as Luz and Eda helped him down, hovering back to the ground. "What… what happened?"

"Easy there, Perry," Eda told him as she and Luz tried to help him stand up. However, he immediately buckled and had to be caught, since it had been so long since he used his legs.

"Perry, are you alright?" Raine asked him.

"My mind… is so foggy…" Perry said while shaking. "She… she had me kept up here for… what day is this?"

"We'll talk about that later," Luz told him. "Right now, you need to be reunited with Gus."

Perry's eyes widened at the mention of his son. "Gus! Yes, I need to see Gus! How is he?"

"He's been… going through some stuff," Luz admitted. "But he'll be better when he sees you."

"Come on, we have to take him out of here," Beel told them. "The exit is right around-"

"Oh I don't think so."

The sound of Terra Snapdragon's voice sent shivers down their spines. Before they could act, vines were launched at each of them. Luz and Eda were quickly bound by the vines, followed by Raine, Perry and Beel.

"Luz!" Eda shouted while they were all pinned to the wall.

"Do you really think you could get away with this?" asked a voice from the shadows as Terra Snapdragon made her appearance known to them. "Did you think that you could infiltrate my coven without my plants notifying me?!" she demanded while looking around. "Oh look, the Clawthornes are here… and with the young sprout!" she said while turning to Raine. She smiled. "Oh, how I missed you, Raine. You gave us quite a scare when you went missing…"

"Yo, what's up, mystery fans!" Eve spoke up as her scroll recorded her. "This is Eve Slipknot, coming to you live at the Emperor's Coven, where me and my gang, the Shadowy Secret Expozers, are solving another monster case!"

"What started out as a murder mystery turns into a monster from another world… mystery," Eve said while appearing inside the castle. "The Chaka'kan! I sure hope with my luck, I don't get kidnapped this time!"

*Buzz*

"I'll chat with ya later to talk about how this mystery went!" Eve declared while at the balcony. "As I'll be right here at the Emperor's castle! With my gang!" she said, bringing the SSE into the shot. "Also the Golden Guard and the Silver Sentry!" The video cut to the Golden Guard and Silver Sentry, both doing back-to-back poses for Eve's video.

Looking at the video, Eve turned to Emily. "You think he'll see the video?" Eve asked.

"Look at the view count," Emily said as she pointed to how Eve's video was receiving many likes and views. "With the Golden Guard and Silver Sentry in it, he's bound to notice."

"But are you sure this will work?" Eve asked her, looking concerned.

"WAHAHAHHAA!"

As if to answer her question, they heard a familiar laugh and Emily turned to Eve. "Run!" she ordered as they both ran inside while the Grim Goblin flew near the balcony.

"Where are you, Eve?!" the Grim Goblin demanded before seeing several scouts on the balcony preparing to attack him. "Too slow!" he shouted, throwing his pumpkin bombs at them and causing a bright flash. Once the scouts closed their eyes, the Goblin quickly flew inside the castle, looking for Eve. She hadn't run far, so he was quickly able to fly in front of her.

"AAH!" Eve screamed.

"Aw, I missed you too!" the Grim Goblin said as he grabbed Eve.

As soon as he did, he left the castle. But not with the Golden Guard or the Silver Sentry

After that, the Grim Goblin flew on his glider to an abandoned factory as he kept Eve bound and gagged. Eve realized that she wasn't alone and was surprised to see Kadabe there along with Dolly Tempus, Gibson Oscorne, and Lindsay Shystream. All in a row bound in magic ropes over hooks connected to chains.

"Now that everyone's here, the court shall be in session!" he declared while placing Eve on a chair, tying her up.

"Hey, how come she gets the chair while we're forced to hang around on hooks?!" Dolly demanded to know.

"Quiet, you!" the Goblin declared as he flew up on his glider next to a witch holding a sword and scale. "Now then, judgment day is upon you! Because you are all guilty of many crimes against the Isles! And I will be the one to provide justice!"

"Please, Teri, don't do this!" Gibson begged him.

"Please, daddy dearest, you can't talk your way out of this!" the Goblin declared while glaring at Gibson. "You are guilty of a whole lot of things! Enabling and collaborating with child abusers, neglecting your own son to the point of not even looking for him!"

"I… I have been working on looking for you!" Gibson claimed.

"Sure, when you were not busy manipulating Alador Blight!" the Goblin pointed out before he flew over to Dolly and Kadabe. "Now as for you two traitors. You, Kadabe, betrayed your own school and switched sides during the Glandus War to save your own skin! And you, Dolly Tempus, collaborated with a traitor! Not to mention you two know too much and tried to flee the Isles to avoid your punishments!"

"Please, don't kill us!" Dolly cried out while in tears.

"Come on, man, you don't have to do this!" Kadabe begged.

"No! You deserve everything you have coming!" the Goblin declared before he then turned to Lindsay, who looked fearful. "And then there's her…"

"Please… let me go!" Lindsay cried out with a shiver as the Goblin grabbed her face to make her look at him.

"You are guilty of the biggest sin of all, harboring a criminal in your home!" the Goblin declared while brushing Lindsay's hair. "You harbored Emily Tricks in your home, keeping her a secret from everyone!" He let her go and flew up to the statue. "Because of all of your crimes, crimes against the Isles and Teri Oscorne, you've all doomed by my hands!" He pointed at Lindsay. "Starting with you!"

"Mmm!" Eve cried out, seeing the Goblin tap a button as the hook began to move the screaming Lindsay.

"No! Please, no!" Lindsay begged as the Grim Goblin used the controls to have Lindsay hover over a vat that contained sharp shrapnel. "Please…!"

"No more time to beg, my dear! YAHAHA!" The Goblin declared as he was about to press the button to drop her.

CRASH!

Crashing through the window just in time with their staffs were the Golden Guard and the Silver Sentry. While the Golden Guard blasted the Goblin away with his staff, the Silver Sentry flew over to grab Lindsay and pull her to safety.

"You okay?" the Silver Sentry asked her.

"Y-Yeah," Lindsay replied while looking up to the silver guard, her heart skipping a beat. She was relieved to see her. "Thank you, Emily."

"No, no, NOOO!" the Grim Goblin barked as he got back on his glider and hovered over to the Golden Guard and Silver Sentry. "You two will ruin everything! I will have my justice!"

"She has nothing to do with your vengeance, Grim Goober," the Golden Guard declared as the Silver Sentry freed Lindsay and made sure she headed toward the exit. "Your reign of terror ends here and now."

"Oh if it's a fight you want, then it is a fight that you'll get!" the Grim Goblin declared as he leapt off his glider and engaged the Golden Guard.

The Golden Guard used a plant glyph to try to tangle the Goblin with vines, but he cut through the vines with wrist blades. When he was close enough, he tried to stab the Golden Guard with his wrist blades, but Hunter dodged them and tried to grab his wrists. However, that left him open to a kick that caused him to grunt and stumble back. The Goblin kicked him again, harder.

"Ack!" the Golden Guard grunted as the Goblin kept kicking him. It was then that the Silver Sentry returned, grabbing the Goblin from behind and throwing him to the floor. "Thanks," the Guard told the Sentry.

"No problem," the Sentry replied, though the brief distraction allowed the Goblin to get up and deliver several fast punches towards the masked witch. "Oof!"

Meanwhile, while the Goblin wasn't paying attention to her, Eve started to move her arms around to loosen her bonds. She had hidden a knife on her and was starting to cut through the ropes when she felt someone else helping her get free.

"Don't worry, I'll get you out," Lindsay said while taking off the gag.

"What are you still doing here?" Eve asked in shock. "You should be out of harm's way."

"I am not going to leave you or anyone else here," Lindsay argued, which Eve reluctantly accepted. After she was freed, she and Lindsay went to free everyone else while the Grim Goblin was distracted.

The Grim Goblin focused his attacks on the Silver Sentry, repeatedly punching her. "Pathetic!" he declared as he threw the Sentry around, knocking over some crates. "You think making a grand return to the Emperor's Coven and putting on a new mask will make them forget who you really are, Emily?" he asked as he held the Sentry up by the throat, slamming her down to the floor.

The Sentry grunted and the Goblin was about to stomp on her when the Golden Guard blasted him with a spell, pushing him back.

"Oh, I almost forgot about you," the Goblin growled as he dodged another spell shot at him by the Golden Guard. He quickly summoned his glider, which slammed into the Golden Guard and sent him crashing into some crates. The Silver Sentry tried to get back up, but the Goblin leapt on top of her, absolutely whaling on her.

"I guess you needed this reminder of how our last fight went," the Goblin cackled as he beat the Silver Sentry down. "Now let's get a better look at your pathetic face, Emi-"

But after he removed the mask, he realized that it wasn't Emily in the Silver Sentry uniform. It was… Cross, who has a black eye from the beat down.

"Cross?!" the Goblin shouted in shock. "But then-"

The Goblin suddenly got hit in the back by a fireball, knocking him off of Cross. He looked up and saw that the fire spell had come from… Eve, who started to walk toward the Goblin while dispelling her illusion to reveal that she was actually…

"Emily Tricks?!" the Goblin along with Kadabe, Dolly, Gibson, and Lindsay said in shock. The Goblin especially was taken aback. "But… how?! Where's Eve?"

"The real Eve is still safe from you," Emily revealed.

"But are you sure this will work?" Eve asked her, looking concerned.

"WAHAHAHHAA!"

As if to answer her question, they heard a familiar laugh and Emily turned to Eve. "Run!" she ordered as they both ran inside while the Grim Goblin flew near the balcony.

Once they were inside the castle, they opened up a secret passage that the SSE had found earlier. Eve ducked inside while Emily placed on a concealment stone, which disguised her as Eve.

Emily as 'Eve' then began to run around the castle until she saw the Grim Goblin flying up to her. Emily gave her scream as the Goblin came to get her… just as she planned.

"I let myself get captured, just so Hunter and Cross can come track you down," Emily said as she pulled something from her hair: a rusty smidge. "Thanks to these, Hunter was able to track me down here and find the others you kidnapped while Cross took my role as the Silver Sentry."

"Oh, now I get it. You pulled the old switcheroo," Kadabe commented in awe. "Excellent play, Emily!"

"How dare you trick me!" the Goblin shouted, not liking this at all. "I was supposed to have my Eve!"

"Eve doesn't belong to you, creep," Emily told him off as she shot a fireball at him.

"Ha! Another illusion-" The Goblin then got pushed back by her fireball, launching him to the floor. "What?! How… how are they real?! What trickery is this?!"

Ignoring him, Emily turned to Hunter, who had gotten back up after dismantling the glider. "Make sure the others get to safety, I'll keep him busy!" she declared as she turned to face the Goblin, only for her to disappear in red smoke.

"What the-?!" the Grim Goblin asked in confusion before Emily reappeared behind him and kicked him in the back. The Goblin turned around and charged at Emily with his wrist blades out. He swung the blades at her, but Emily dodged them. She dodged the blades and cast more fireballs at him and though he tried to avoid the flames the scorch marks on his armor were still evident.

As the two fought, Hunter and Lindsay freed the others from their bonds. "Everyone alright?" Hunter asked.

"We're fine," Dolly responded.

"Everyone get out of here as fast as you can," Cross told them as he limped over, hurt from the fight.

"What about you, Cross?" Lindsay asked, looking worried for him.

"Don't worry, I'm resilient," Cross responded as everyone was led to the exit, but Gibson stopped.

"Cross," Gibson said to him. "Please, bring my son back."

Cross looked up at Gibson and gave him a nod. "I will, Mr. Oscorne," he said as he saw Gibson out along with Lindsay.

Emily and the Goblin continued to fight as Emily kept shooting her fireballs at him while the Goblin kept dodging. He decided to use some bard spells Teri knew, his hands glowing before he sent out a large clap, which created a shockwave that Emily managed to dodge as it broke some crates behind her.

"Still trying to play the hero, Emily?" the Goblin ranted at her. "I see you haven't changed one bit. What are you trying to prove? That you can save the day? That you can get the girl? Will that make your pain go away? We both know the truth. You're still just a little girl playing pretend, crying for her parents who abandoned you, which made you taking it out on-"

"Oh, shut up!" Emily shouted as she shot her flames at him, causing him to be pushed back. She disappeared in a swirl of red smoke and then reappeared along with several other illusions of Emily. While the Goblin looked around, trying to figure out which Emily was real, the real Emily blasted him in the back. "Oh, I'm sorry? Did I interrupt your big 'reason you suck speech? You probably think that you're something real special, but you're just another condescending dumbass!"

The Goblin tried using his wires to grab Emily by the wrists, but she burned through them with her flames. "In fact, you're no better than me, obsessed with a false idea of 'justice' that you think you were denied and being stuck on the idea that others should get what they 'deserve' when sometimes you just have to let go and move on instead of being hyper focused on if someone was left off easy or not. But you can't accept that, can you? You can't accept that sometimes it's better to not be fixated on karma. You can't let go!"

When she got close enough, Emily brought her fist toward his masked face and hit him directly in the face with a fireball. This knocked the Goblin to the ground. He quickly got up, glaring at Emily. But his mask was now partially cracked, revealing his face. "I'm not letting you get away with this!" he shouted as he got ready to attack Emily, only to feel vines grabbing him in the arm. He turned to see Cross. "Et tu, Cross?!"

"You need help, Teri," Cross told him as the Goblin sliced the vines off of him with an extra blade.

"Teri doesn't need your help!" the Goblin cried out. "Teri has me! I'm the only one who can protect him!"

"More like hurt him," Cross declared as he and Hunter joined Emily, the three Golden Guards standing together. They then charged at the Goblin together, Cross using an ice spell to freeze up his armor.

"No!" the Goblin shouted, feeling the armor growing stiffer from the ice. Emily delivered another kick towards him, while Hunter teleported behind him and tripped the Goblin over. The Grim Goblin, aka Teri Oscorne, fell down. He tried to get back up, but Emily kicked him in the face, then delivered a punch to dislocate his arm. "GAH!" She then stomped on his leg, making him immobile. "FUCK!"

Emily was now on top of the Goblin, pinning him to the ground. As he groaned weakly, she pulled out her knife from earlier, aiming it at his face. The Goblin looked up to Emily, his swollen eye widening as he realized what she was about to do. "No, wait!"

"Emily, don't!" Cross shouted as Emily thrusted the knife towards the Goblin. "EMILY!"

But to the shock of everyone, the Goblin didn't perish. The knife hit the floor next to his head and the shocked Goblin looked up to see Emily giving him a smile. "Tricked ya," she taunted as she got up, the three surrounding the defeated Goblin.

"We… did it," Hunter said as the Goblin looked up at him.

"No… it can't be…" the Goblin said as his eyes rolled back and he fell into unconsciousness.

"We should get the equipment off of him," Cross suggested as he and Hunter removed the gauntlets from Teri.

"The scouts should be here soon," Hunter said while turning to the worried Cross. "Don't worry, we'll figure something out for Teri. But we'll have to keep him for observation for now."

Emily looked down at the defeated Goblin, staring at him for a long while. She then gave a sigh of relief.

The Goblin's reign of terror was over…

Back at the old Clawthorne home, Lilith and Odalia continue to help Vina search through her memories.

"None of this is helping," Vina complained. "These objects only show me a time before my death."

Odalia then noticed an empty potion flask. "How about this? We've never tried using this before."

"My old flask," Vina said, looking at the flask as she picked it up. As she touched it, a memory was revealed to her and the others…

Inside Vina's office, Vina was talking to Lilith.

"Well Lilith, apparently you have been performing quite well as Captain, and Flora has nothing but praise," Vina said while reviewing some files. She looked incredibly tired. "Good work."

Lilith lifted her head up at the praise before noticing how tired Vina looked. "Um, is there anything I can do for you, Vina?" Lilith asked her.

"No," Vina responded as she drank from her flask before noticing that Lilith was still there. "What are you waiting for? A pat on the back? Leave!"

Lilith frowned as she left the office, looking down at herself.

As Vina watched Lilith leave, she briefly looked conflicted and she spoke up. "Lilith,"

She turned to Vina. "Yes, Head Witch?"

Vina started to say something, but changed her mind at the last second, shaking her head. "Nevermind," she said. "You are dismissed."

Lilith nodded and sighed before she left, leaving Vina alone.

Vina also sighed as she sat back in her chair. She looked over to her flask before she heard someone come in. "Ugh, what do you want?"

"Head Witch Charmspell, is that any way to say to a guest?" Terra Snapdragon asked as she entered the office.

"You know I'm not really fond of guests, especially you," Vina told her off. "So let me ask you again: what do you want?"

"Oh, I'm just here to check up on you, dear," Terra said as she walked over to the desk. "You have been working so hard lately and we hardly see you anymore, so I am curious about how your investigation is going."

"I keep drawing dead ends," Vina said while looking down at the files. "But I believe that there still has to be a connection to all these crimes. Maybe an organization we don't know about, one that needs Belos's attention." She sighed. "But we have no solid evidence, so solid leads. It is so frustrating."

"Oh, now that is troubling," Terra admitted. "Say, I just saw Lilith coming out of your office…"

"Yeah, we talked about her latest arrests," Vina responded as she looked up at Terra, wondering what she was getting at.

"That's so?" she asked, the Plant Head tapping her chin. "You know, I am surprised that you kept her. You never took on an apprentice before her."

Vina gave her a suspicious look. "Why are you curious about her?"

"Oh it's just that, well, you're not as young as you used to be and I've noticed that she's becoming a lot like you," Terra admitted. "It's almost as if you want to leave a legacy after you're gone, like you want to leave a mark on someone so that they remember you."

Vina glared at the Plant Head. "What do you even know?" she asked. "The only thing I need to be remembered for are my actions done for the Emperor's Coven."

"Is that so?" Terra asked her with a smirk. "Well then, I hope you get the legacy you desire," she said before she left the room.

Vina watched Terra leave and she scoffed. "Old bag of dead leaves," she muttered as she looked around for her flask. "Where… where did my flask go?" She then saw that it was on the corner of her desk. She grabbed it and took a swig of it.

After drinking it up, Vina sat back on her chair. She gave a sigh as her eyes and body started to feel heavy. "Getting… sleepy…" she said as she closed her eyes.

Her hand drops the flask on the floor, causing it to spill some substance. Substance that wasn't there before, leaving a skull-shaped smoke cloud. Vina's arm hung limply from the seat and near it was a trail of leaves behind the desk…

At that instant, Vina's heart stopped.

After the flash of memory, Lilith, Odalia and Vina were all left with shocked faces.

"This flask… it had poison in it," Odalia realized.

"I… I didn't realize it was moved," Vina said in horror. "I thought that Terra was always an old bag of leaves but… what she did to me…"

Lilith looked even paler than before. "How… how could I have not realized this before!?" she exclaimed while looking up to Vina with a guilty expression. "The one who killed you… was Terra Snapdragon!"

Back at the Plant Coven, Terra was laughing madly at the four intruders.

"Wahahaha! This is a joyous day!" Terra declared with her arms up. "Raine has come back to me, and I got the Clawthornes here as well! I knew that keeping Perry here would pay off!"

"You…" Luz said while glaring at the plant witch. "What you've done to him… you were the one who supplied love potions to Jenny Porter!"

"Jenny? Jenny… oh, I remember her!" Terra replied. "Why yes, I did supply her with the love potions she needed for dear old Perry-boy." She moved to Perry. "But ever since you two had a kid, the effects started to wear off! You just had to knock up my best customer, did you?! Of course, she ended up running away and I don't know where she went. But having Perry here would at least be a good trade off!"

"So you've been keeping Perry here?!" Raine asked while glaring at Terra.

"Well, better than the Conformatorium, honestly," Terra admitted. "I convinced Belos that since Perry had a son who was close to Luz, he could be useful someday. So he allowed me to be his… parole officer."

"Parole? This is just downright enslavement!" Luz called her out.

"Yeah, well, at least he isn't in the Conformatorium with the other dead rebels," Terra said with a shrug, which caught Raine's attention.

"What? What dead rebels?!" Raine demanded to know.

"Oh young sprout, guess you didn't get the memo," Terra said as she grinned. "Belos did promise to not lift a finger against your rebel friends as long as little Eda jr promised to not do anything stupid. Little Luz may have kept her word… for the most part… but Belos didn't." She chuckled. "Because he's been discreetly petrifying them one by one, like Admiral Barack, his mushroom sidekick and that disgusting cat who says 'squatch' a lot. Oh, and that Rick guy, Belos made sure that he was shattered to pieces."

Luz, Eda, and Raine were shocked by this.

"No… no he…!" Luz stammered.

"What about the Thians?" Eda demanded.

"And the rest of the BATTs?!" Raine added.

"Oh, them? Last I checked… they were the most recent to be executed," Terra chuckled, making Eda and Raine's eyes widen.

"No… I… I can't believe…" Raine looked down, tears leaking from their eyes.

Luz also had tears in her eyes. "Kay's family… Boscha's brother…" she realized before she clenched her fists in anger. "That motherfucker!"

"Yes, I'm afraid that you failed them, sprout," Terra said, grinning as she tormented Raine. She then noticed Beel. "I'm sorry, who's the bee kid?"

"I am Beel Zatar, and you killed my father, you bitch!" Beel shouted to him.

"You have to narrow it down, which father did I kill?" Terra asked him.

"Buzzelik Zatar!" Beel spat at her. "You killed him!"

"…Nope, sorry, doesn't ring a bell," Terra said while Beel snarled at her.

Eda spoke up. "The IFWOT… that is how you learned about Jenny. Why would you give away love potions to a child?!"

"Because I like making deals, Edalyn!" Terra declared. "I love making deals no matter the age, especially when those deals are bound by an everlasting oath! It's how I get by." She then moved them over to show off the garden she kept in her office. "As when they can't fulfill their debts, well…they become a part of my garden."

She moved away some plants in the corner of the office, revealing her garden. It had flowers that all had the faces of witches, faces frozen in terror and pain. When they saw Terra, the flowers let out pained and horrified screams.

"What the shit?!" Luz exclaimed.

"Lovely, aren't they?" Terra asked them. "I've always taken good care of my garden. Who needs children when you have these babies… and Perry could have joined them."

Eda glared at the Plant Head. "You're a despicable witch, Terra. But why? Why do all of this? Don't you have enough power through Belos?"

"I did it because, well… why not?" Terra answered with a shrug. "I'll admit, I originally did follow Belos cause I thought it was a good investment for power. I was in awe of him at first, since I never met a witch like him. But then, as the years went by, we had to follow all these 'rules' and 'regulations' that Belos put into place and I started to lose my respect for him. Like, what's the point in having power if you can't abuse it? And I wasn't in charge of the Tarot Guild for nothing."

This shocked everyone, while Beel just glared at Terra. "WHAT?!"

Terra smiled. "Oops, did I say too much?" she asked, feigning shock. "They called me the Producer. Old Grimhammer was someone I made a deal with to become the face of the Tarot Guild and deal with the everyday affairs while I hid my depravity for years! I have always been the leader of the Tarot Guild, way before Belos even took over the Isles!" She laughed before pointing at Luz and Eda. "And you two have been this thorn in my side for a while now, pun intended. And after what you did yesterday, I think it is time for me to pull the thorn out!" She began to raise her thorny vines up. "I have been looking forward to this for a long-"

"Hello, Head Witch Snapdragon!"

Terra paused when she heard Patrick's voice, causing her to turn to the door.

"My friend, Sunny, wishes to see you-" Patrick said as he and Sunny came in. They paused when they saw the commotion.

"What's going on here?!" Sunny asked.

"Oh um… let me explain," Terra said as she gagged her captives and raised them toward the ceiling.

"Who are those witches?" Patrick asked her.

"Oh I see what's going on," Terra said as she tried to confuse him. "Both of you got into my stash, didn't you?"

"What? What stash?" Sunny asked, trying to look up at the captives while Terra attempted to block her view. "Who are those witches, Head Witch Snapdragon?"

"And what's it to you, huh?" Terra asked. "I know you, you're that Sunny Muse I've heard about. Calypso's aide."

While Terra was distracted, Luz used her claw to draw a glyph symbol on the vine wrapped around her, creating some ice around.

"I came by to investigate the activities of the Plant Coven," Sunny said while looking up at the trapped witches "Is that… the Clawthornes and… RAINE?!"

"Ugh, I can't believe this… well, looks like I'll have to-" Terra then felt a kick to the back by Luz, who had freed herself from her viney bonds. Luz spun around and threw her fire glyph cards, burning the vines that were bound around Raine, Eda, Perry, and Beel. "Why you little-!"

"You're going down, Snapdragon!" Luz declared as she summoned her flames and ice magic.

"Sunny, you have to run!" Raine told her. "Terra Snapdragon is a traitor!"

"Oh congrats, Raine, you've just killed another witch!" Terra declared while summoning more of her carnivorous plants. "My Piranha Plant monsters… EAT THEM!"

Everyone got into battle position before they began fighting the piranha plants. Raine made a powerful whistle that sent shockwaves, destroying them. Eda was in her harpy form, slashing at the large thorns and vines to stop them from trying to hurt them. Beel used his electric charged stingers to shock the carnivorous plants.

Luz was facing Terra, who got up. "You think you're some hotshot, brat?!"

"I'm not afraid to go round two with you!" Luz shouted as she jumped up, her hands bursting into flames and frost. She cast her spells against Terra, who grew a thorn bush to shield herself. Then the thorns formed into fists which she sent towards her. Luz dodged most of them, but then got hit in the stomach by one thorn fist.

"You think I didn't learn my lesson from last time, little Clawthorne?!" Terra asked with a grin. "Calypso isn't here to save you now, thanks to me!"

"What?!" Sunny asked in shock. "You mean… you let that vampire in?!"

"A shame that he had to die, even if it did work in my favor," Terra responded as she rose from the ground, having large vines around her. "Calypso may have survived, but I'm satisfied with the results! Now her entire family will be ruined!"

Luz snarled as she flew up towards Terra, this time with her claws extended. "You bitch!" she shouted as Terra's vines got in the way. She swiped at them and let Maya take control, her scales turning red and her wings sharpening. She tried to slash her way to Terra, but before she could get too close Terra summoned another vine that slammed Maya to the ground.

"Everyone, hang on!" Sunny shouted as she decided to join the battle, drawing a spell circle to summon two red birds from a portal. The birds had razor-sharp wings that they used to slice through the vines and plants as they headed directly for Terra.

But Terra spotted them as she summoned large spiky thorns that popped up from the ground, impaling and killing the birds, making Sunny gasp.

"Oh, how much I hate birds," Terra told her.

"Jeff… Safron…" Sunny said in horror as her eyes teared up. A moment later she got tangled in vines by Terra. "Yah!"

"Oh Sunny dear, how I loathe you!" Terra declared while bringing Sunny close to her. "Witches like you give witchkind a bad name! You've pussied up our society! You witches are the reason why we have these pesky child safety laws!" She was about to aim her thorns at Sunny, but then she got tackled by Patrick, stopping her from killing Sunny.

"Ah!" Sunny shouted as she fell, but was then caught by Eda.

"Patrick, what do you think you're doing?!" Terra cried out while getting pinned to the wall.

"Terra, I don't know what's going on, but you need to stop this!" Patrick shouted.

Terra glared at Patrick… and smiled. "Oh silly Patrick, it would be a shame to go through the trouble of finding another aide…"

"What do you mean by-UGH!" Patrick felt his stomach pierced before his head got chopped off from another thorny vine. His head rolled across the ground, still alive for a few more brief seconds. "Say, the brain does actually stay alive for a few seconds after your head's chopped off," he said before he died.

"Patrick!" Sunny cried out in horror while Terra crackled.

Raine tried to use their bard magic on Terra, but Terra shielded herself from the magic notes before she sent vines to attack them. Raine then attempted to use their violin to try to control the vines, but one of them made them trip and fall down. Terra laughed as she launched her thorns down at Raine, but Eda flew in front of Raine, slicing through the vines.

After protecting Raine, Eda tried to fly toward Terra, slashing through vines and burning through them with fire glyphs. But Terra seemed to have an endless supply of plants and easily replaced the vies with more. One grabbed Eda by the leg and when Eda pulled that one off two more grabbed her arm and began to pull her down. Eda winced as she felt more vines grabbing her and pulling her down despite her struggles. Thankfully, Luz came by to slash/burn through them, causing Eda to sigh in relief. "Thanks, Luz."

"Hey, just looking after you," Luz responded.

"Watch out!" Raine shouted as all avoided the large whip sent against them. Raine then used their whistle attack again to disperse more of the carnivorous plants away, though they were quickly running out of steam. They noticed Beel trying to use his own plant magic against Terra's, though her plants were far more aggressive than his. "She's not making it easy on us."

"Ya think?" Beel asked while blocking more attacks from Snapdragon.

Luz/Maya kept taking on the carnivorous plants and the large vines coming at them, but they were starting to sweat from exhaustion. Eda flew next to them, doing a spin attack to mulch more of the plant monsters.

"We have to take this bitch down!" Eda declared.

"I know," Luz responded while looking at Terra, who was now sipping her tea while letting her plants do all the fighting. Luz shot a fire spell at her, but Terra casually blocked it without even looking up. "But we can't even get close to her!" She then heard Perry groan and she looked down to see him lying on the ground, Sunny next to him trying to help. "How is he?" Luz asked as she flew over.

"Terrible shape," Sunny admitted. "I don't think he's ever been fed properly."

Luz considered this and looked around at the battle. She spotted Patrick's body and she froze, her heart beating fast as she realized how futile this was. Terra wanted to kill them all and she could if they stayed here. Perry especially could die, since he was in no condition to defend himself. This was not the time, nor the place to fight Terra.

"Luz?" Maya asked. "Luz, why have we frozen up? Luz?"

Luz snapped out of it, shaking her head. "Everyone! We have to go!" she shouted to Eda, Raine, and Beel. "We came what we're here for, we need to leave!"

"What about Terra?" Eda asked as she blasted an ice glyph at one plant.

"Our priority should be to get Perry out of here!" Luz told them as she and Sunny helped Perry up.

Raine hesitated, but then they looked over at Perry, they couldn't help but agree with Luz. "She's right, we need to retreat with Perry."

Beel spotted the exit and pointed to it. "Hurry! Over here!" he shouted.

Luz helped Sunny to get Perry out while Eda used an ice glyph to block Terra's way. She then went to pick up Raine and fly over to the exit.

"Everyone out?" Eda asked.

"We're here, mom!" Luz waved with Perry and Sunny by her side.

"Come on, Beel!" Raine told Beel, who was trying to close the door behind them when he suddenly got grabbed by a vine. "Beel!"

"All of you just go!" Beel shouted.

"But what about you?" Luz asked him as she tried to grab him.

"Just fucking go!" Beel shouted before he was pulled in, vines slamming the doors shut in front of the others.

Luz ran to the door, trying to force them open. But they were being blocked on the other side. "No!" she shouted, slamming her fist against the door. She screamed and tried to use her spells on the door, but it wouldn't budge. After a moment, she turned to look at Eda and Raine before her eyes landed on Perry. "We… we have to get out of here."

"But that… that kid, we… we have to save him!" Eda shouted.

"Eda… we can't," Raine realized, their voice pained.

"We can't save him, but we still save Perry and ourselves," Luz said as she spread out her wings and went to carry Perry in her arms as Eda did the same to carry both Raine and Sunny.

Beel was dragged toward Terra, who released him. "You're not the Clawthorne brat… but you'll do."

Beel stood us as he drew a spell circle to shoot electric shocks towards her. Terra simply uses her vines to block those shocks. She launched more vines to attack him, which he attempted to avoid and dodged. "My dear boy, you should've been more prepared to die," she told him while sending out more thorns at him.

"I'm not afraid of death," Beel declared as he sent his own thorns at Terra, who dodged them. "As long as my revenge is completed."

"Is that so?" Terra grinned as she drew a spell circle to send a thorn underneath Beel's feet.

"YAH!" Beel screamed as he sent a lightning strike at her with his stingers. He was then restrained by some vines, causing him to wince as he struggled to get them off while Terra moved towards him.

"Oh dear, you know, they do say that revenge is a sucker's game," Terra acknowledged. "Why this revenge mission you have is more of a suicide mission. You're not even worth killing…"

SCHICK

Beel spat out blood, as thorns pierced in his body from behind.

"Oh, no, I take back, you are worth killing," Terra said with a mad grin until she heard Beel laughing. "What's so funny?"

Beel felt pain as he laughed, but he still did so anyway. "You didn't think… I wouldn't… record shit?"

Terra's eyes widened as she scratched Beel's person for any recording device. "What? Since when?!"

Beel smirked, as he had a scroll hidden in his pocket, recording everything…

In her room, Felicia was sharing the live recording on her show.

"You heard it here, folks," she declares, wiping tears from her eyes as she realized that Beel was about to die. "Terra Snapdragon, Head of the Plant Coven, is the leader of the drug and witch-trafficking organization known as the Tarot Guild…"

In the Park household, Gus and Willow were listening to Felicia's show.

"No way…" Willow said in shock.

"Dad…" Gus said while looking down and shaking a little.

At Crane's Home for Unwanted Witchlings and Demons, Donna was with her friends Beocrow, Tina, Tyrone, and Veronica. Eda had asked Donna to watch over the orphanage with her friends, just in case Terra retaliated. They were now listening to the recording… and were all shocked.

"Holy shit…" Tyrone said.

"All this time… Terra was running the Tarot Guild," Donna said as her eyes narrowed.

"Beel…" Veronica said, fearful for Beel's life.

At the Saltstar household, Boscha was listening to the recording with Tom, who noticed that she was looking down without saying a word.

"Boscha?" Tom asked her in concern.

Boscha still didn't say anything as tears leaked from her eyes. She couldn't contain it any longer and she started to cry.

"Boris is dead…" she whispered while hugging herself. "My brother is dead…"

In the throne room, Belos was shown the recording by a scout. To say the least, Belos was not pleased. His fingers dug into the arms of his throne and he growled behind his mask.

"Bring Terra Snapdragon to me," Belos declared as his eyes glowed in anger.

A shocked Terra looked at Beel, who just smiled at her. "You had a good run, Snapdragon. But now you're going to face the consequences of your actions," Beel gloated. "You've had this coming for a long time. I'm just glad that I got the last laugh…"

Seething in anger, Terra used the thorns to shred Beel apart. As blood splattered all over her face and dress, she heard footsteps running toward her office before one of the doors was broken down by several Plant Coven scouts.

"Terra Snapdragon!" declared one of the Plant Coven scouts. "By the orders of the Emperor, you are hereby under arrest for treason of the covens!"

"Oh really…?" Terra asked as she turned her head to them and gave them a creepy smile. "You know… I think I lost my shit today," she declared as she raised her hands up and launched all the thorny vines at the scouts while screaming in rage.

Meanwhile, back at the abandoned factory, Teri was led out by some coven scouts. He was in chains and his weapons had been taken away as a safety measure. Emily, Cross, and Hunter also came out with him. They saw that outside were Gibson, Lindsay, the nervous looking Dolly and Kadabe, and the SSE, who had arrived with the scouts. Teri spotted his dad and Eve present.

"Dad…" Teri spoke up, now himself again. "I'm so-"

"Don't apologize, Teri," Gibson interrupted, his expression stern… before it melted into one of relief. "Because you don't have to."

"T-thank you," Teri said, surprised by this. He then turned to Eve. "Eve…"

"Don't worry, Teri, I promise that I'll make sure you get the help you need," Eve told him.

"Thank you, Eve," Teri said while turning to her team. "And you guys… thank you, for protecting Eve from the Goblin."

"Hey, it's no problem, dude," Korn said.

"We hope that you'll get the help you need, Teri," Linkin said.

Lindsay, meanwhile, rushed over to hug both Cross and Emily. "Thank Titan you two are alright!" she cried as she hugged them. She then let go of them and turned to Emily. "Emily… I just… we were so worried for you."

"I'm sorry that I had you worried, Lindsay," Emily responded while looking down and rubbing the back of her head. "It's difficult to explain right now, but I had to return."

"She can explain it to you later, Lindsay," Cross told her in a whisper. "But I can take you back home if you want."

Lindsay gave him a nod. "Yes, thank you, Cross."

Kadabe noticed Emily and despite how nervous she was, she decided to go up to her. "Hey, Emily… um… about the whole 'desertion' thing… I hope there's no heard feelings."

Emily turned to her and after a moment she let out a sigh. "You know what? Water under the troll bridge, Kadabe," she said, extending her hand to Kadabe. "I don't care about that Glandus crap anymore anyway."

"Oh… well, I guess I'm off the hook then," Kadabe said while shaking her hand.

"I don't think so…" Dolly said, pointing out that they were surrounded by coven scouts.

"Hey, Hunter," Sioux spoke up to Hunter, whispering. to him "I got the results about this substance from the Porter household you wished me to analyze. Luckily, I know a good potionist." She handed him a slip of paper.

Hunter looked at the slip of paper, his eyes widening. "This… this is from-!"

"Hey, guys," said Patty, who was holding up her scroll. "You might want to hear this," she said as she showed it to everyone else.

"What you're hearing right now is a live audio feed that exposes Terra Snapdragon, Head of the Plant Coven, as the Producer, aka leader of the Tarot Guild, a criminal ring guilty of witch-trafficking, love potion deals, murder, and countless other crimes. Terra Snapdragon was already a controversial figure in the Plant Coven, but this changes everything."

"Old Grimhammer was someone I made a deal with to become the face of the Tarot Guild and deal with the everyday affairs while I hid my depravity for years! I have always been the leader of the Tarot Guild, way before Belos even took over the Isles!"

Everyone gave shocked expressions, including Hunter. Not only did he find that the substance he found from Perry's home was plant matter from the Plant Coven… but Terra Snapdragon was the leader of the Tarot Guild.

"All this time, she was…" Eve stammered as she turned to Gibson.

"Don't look at me, this is new to me as well," Gibson replied. "I honestly didn't know!"

Emly looked furious, summoning her staff and storming off.

"Emily, where are you going?!" Hunter asked.

"I got a score to settle," Emily said coldly before she flew off to the Plant Coven.

"Emily, wait!" Cross shouted as he summoned his own staff while Lindsay went to join him. "Lindsay, no, it could be dangerous."

"But I can't let you or Emily handle this alone," Lindsay pointed out. "I want to help too."

Cross looked at her for a moment before giving her a nod. "Just hang on," he said as Lindsay hung onto Cross as they flew after Emily.

"Come on, Flapjack," Hunter said as he was about to go as well before he heard someone laughing...

"Hehehe hey, Hunter," Teri said, now switched back to the Grim Goblin now. "That is your name, right?"

"Yeah…" Hunter said as he turned to the Goblin. "I guess we never got properly introduced, though I heard you are some kind of split personality"

"Not exactly," the Goblin admitted with a smile. "I am what you might call… the Inner Teri."

Hunter and Eve looked shocked by this. "The… Inner Teri?" Eve asked.

"The guardian of Teri's mindscape?" Sioux asked. "Fascinating…"

"This is getting kinda weird now," Korn whispered.

"You know, he has told me all about you, Hunter," the Goblin said with a chuckle. "He's missed you…"

"He? Who's he?" Hunter demanded to know.

"Why, your old friend… the Inner Demon," the Goblin revealed, shocking everyone present, especially Dolly. "He misses you…"

"Oh no…" Dolly said as she started shaking violently.

"What's wrong, Dolly?" Kadabe asked, trying to comfort her.

"Something really bad is about to happen," Dolly realized while grabbing her hair. "And I think… I think… I think that the Inner Demon isn't working alone."

Terra's office was filled with red. Terra, now soaked in a blood stained dress, looked around at how her wonderful office was now stained and splattered with the corpses of scouts she had to slaughter.

"Ah shit, and this was my good organic-friendly dress," Terra complained. She then sighed and closed her eyes. When she reopened her eyes, she was smiling again. "But there's going to be more scouts coming… looks like we have to move up our timetable, my friend."

"Understood… Terra," said the voice of the Inner Demon, who Terra could hear loud and clear.

"With my secret's out, Belos will want my head," Terra explained. "I can barricade myself in the Plant Coven, turn it into a fortress, but we still need to act quickly. And… we will need to keep Belos and his loyalists from devoting their full attention to me."

"What do you suggest?" the Inner Demon asked.

"Well, since most of the Tarot Guild was wiped out earlier today, I had to change the plans a bit, but fortunately I had the idea for the perfect diversion…"

Meanwhile, at the Conformatorium, Wrath was checking up on the prisoners when he saw a black blob suddenly emerge from the ground.

"What in the Titan's-!?" Wrath was then pinned down and pulled into the ground.

He was then transported into a room in the Conformatorium, a room that had a large lever. While he laid on the floor, he saw that emerging from the shadows was Nicole.

"Former Warden Wrath…" Nicole spoke up.

"Mrs. Hieron?!" Wrath exclaimed. "What… what are you doing here?!"

"You're going to do as I say," she told him while kneeling down to him. "You're going to release all of the prisoners… or else."

"What… why should I do anything for you?!" Wrath shouted. "You're a criminal as well."

"A criminal who knows where your son lives," Nicole revealed, shocking Wrath. "I have the power to bring him here… or to a far less pleasant location."

"No… you wouldn't!" Wrath shouted while seeing Nicole give him a serious look. "You… you hypocrite."

"Do as I say or your son gets it!" Nicole declared.

Wrath sweat dropped, knowing that the life of his son was on the line. He reluctantly got up and reached toward the lever. "You better not hurt him, Hieron," he said as he grabbed it.

"I understand too well… that a child is a parent's weakness," Nicole responded with a smile as Wrath pulled down on the lever.

That caused all the cells in the Conformatorium to open. Coming out of the cells on the left side of the block were Eyepatch, Squeaktoed-Jack, Firebees, and Disco Drew. Emerging from the right side of the block were the Mascot Marauder, Judd, Ratagoulie, and Shivers.

"Alright… FREEDOM!" Shivers shouted as he and the other prisoners started causing chaos by attacking the guards.

"Finally, I'm free," Eyepatch declared before he heard someone.

"Hey, my eyepatched friend," said Cuddlebuns, who hopped towards him. "Care to help a little bunny out of here?"

"Of course," Eyepatch said as he helped Cuddlebuns escape.

Also emerging from his cell was the skull-faced scout with the green mohawk known as… Judd.

"What the heck's going on?" Judd asked as he looked around at the riot going on.

"Free! I am free to burn things!" Firebees declared while using his flames to burn some nearby guards. "And you will only be the first!"

Nicole walked between the cells, liking what she saw. But as she looked at the prisoners, she noticed something… different. She could see it. The darkness in their hearts. The fear. The anger. And that darkness… it was in her as well. She used her shadowy tendrils to grab a few of the prisoners and even some of the guards.

"Hey, what's the big idea?!" Ratagoulie asked as he along with Squeatoed-Jack, Disco Drew, and Shivers were captured.

"Disco Drew was just getting used to freedom!" Drew shouted.

"Hey, is that… Nicole?!" Jack recognized.

"What is she going to do to us?!" the Mascot Marauder exclaimed as he along with the guards and some of the other prisoners, including a few Tarot Guild members, looked at her in fear.

"I have never done this before, but there is something I… want to try," Nicole said as she brought out more of her tendrils and they creeped towards the chest of her captives… and inserted themselves into their hearts.

"AAAAAH!" they all cried out.

"WAAAH This is very painful!" Squeaktoed-Jack exclaimed as his flesh turned into shadow.

"Uggh!" Shivers groaned as his eyes became yellow white.

Disco Drew and Ratagoulie stopped screaming as a heart-shaped emblem with an x-mark appeared on their chests.

The rest went through the same transformation, being turned into shadowy creatures of all shapes and sizes. They stood there looking obedient, as if they had become, not soulless...

But Heartless.

Well we can talk about some references used for the fic. Firstly as you can see that the Ex-Siders being transformed into Heartless is a reference to how the Enforcers from Jackie Chan Adventures are always transformed into various demonic henchmen as a running seasonal gag.

The title of this fic is a double meaning, as it is not only a reference to Amazing Spider-Man #122's "Green Goblin Last Stand" with the Grim Goblin's defeat, but also for Beel Zatar, as he was killed off by Terra. Originally, we were going to have Cross in his dragon form to fight off against the Grim Goblin, but then we decided to have the three Golden Guards, Hunter, Emily and Cross, to fight him together instead. Funny how these golden heroes defeated the Goblin, and not a reference to the Gold Goblin… which is a terrible decision for Marvel in making Norman a good guy(especially in main comics canon).

Sunny Muse's magic to summon those red birds is a reference to Maria Renard from Castlevania: Nocturne.

Another references to have is through the Terra flashbacks. It has been thought out and planned that Terra Snapdragon would be responsible for the tragedy of the S.S. Druid, being the surviving young girl as this was her start of evil. We have planned out how this would go along with leaving out hints of the incident. You all thought it wouldn't be related but as it turns out it is.

Chaka'kan, the Beast of Many Names, is a reference to Cthulu along with a Scooby-Doo MI villain Char Gar Gothakon from the Scooby-Doo: MI episode "The Shrieking Madness." We will get to resolve that plotline later on.

We did referenced Ursula around Terra as she makes the deal with Jenny. Using "Poor Unfortunate Souls" from The Little Mermaid is a nice touch. Also some references from the animatic by Ungeziefer Art.

We also used "In the Golden Afternoon" from Alice in Wonderland for the singing flowers and Sunny to sing. To show how the Plant Coven puts up the front of being a harmless, environmental-friendly coven while there are some dark depravity behind closed doors…

So we wanted to give a tie in to the Grim Goblin's story as the Grim Goblin's last stand. Having him go after Kadabe and Dolly was always the plan, and his plan to target Gibson and Lindsay to boot as a list of people to kidnapped. Took some liberties in referencing the "Enter the Goblin" episode of Spider-Man: TAS. We also make references to Spider-Man: No Way Home.

And… Emily's speech to the Grim Goblin is something that while writing I do admit that it does come across as calling out someone who acts so condescending and hyper focused over the trivial stuff. I'm not gonna disclosed names, but just saying that we're sick and tired of dealing with them being a "Mr. Garrison" over such trivial and minor stuff, like certain characters like Kadabe deserving karma, despite her helping Hexside and getting Dolly return to normal helps balance things out, and not to mentioned their strange fixation about Hades being a jerk, and likes to bring up his past misdeeds despite that in this fic, he's a lot more closer to how he was really portrayed in the original Greek myth. Their fixations and obsessions has become a lot more intoxicating, and lead to me to believe that they can't see the fact that characters can grow and be emotionally mature than what they expect them to be. Because that is the whole point of the story, that this person seems to not learn from.

So remember, this kind of entitlement will not be tolerated. Just let us write what we want to write for this story as we know the plot and characters in this fic. You're free to interpret or theorize as much as you like from this story, just don't get a hissy fit that you didn't get what you wanted. Because that makes you no better than Horace.

The choice of having Beel and Patrick killed off by Terra is to highlight Terra's threat. I know that some of you are still thinking that Luz could've beaten Terra… I should let you know that what happened at the "Coven Day Disaster" chapter Luz got lucky when facing Terra. Cause Terra is a whole lot more powerful and more experience than Luz is. Just because Luz got lucky, doesn't mean it'll be easy to take on an experienced strong witch. Just like how Luz and co got lucky in beating a goddess like Mel when she got her guard down, as Mel could've done a lot worse.

Now to answer reviews:

OMAC001: Indeed.

Matteso585: 1) You don't have to worry about that. 2) Yes, because the Tarot Guild are child-trafficking scum-bags lower than microbes. The thing with Adam in GOTG3 is very different, as the anti-heroes knows that if the Tarot Guild can't fess up who's really in charge, then there's no need to keep scum alive. 3) There was never a plan for that. That's just your wish-fulfillment. 4) You do know that it's meant to keep you wondering and questioning how this can differ from canon, right?

Crash X Fusion: Glad you've analyzed that.

Guest 1: 1) A lot since the Tarot Guild is basically wiped out at this point. 2) Eventually. 3) Probably.

Guest 2: We like the MoringMark Grom Factor comics. What are you talking about?

Xndelongchamps: My question is how on earth are you making two reviews in one chapter?

Shuffollower: Glad that didn't happened.

Ultimate-drax: Hope you like.

Spantidem7: 1) Eda or Hunter will let Luz know. 2) No spoilers 3) No spoilers. 4) Nope. 5) TBA. 6) Not connected, though even I don't know if they have met. 7) Because Stella literally did nothing to personally hurt him, and he's aware that she was an abuse victim. As for your proposal OCs, they don't seem to interest us enough. Though Dagon may be the only one of interest. Also your first and fourth theory are unlikely since, well, the latter just sounds too mean spirited. And we don't do that kind of mean-spiritness here. Who do you think we are, Comedy Central?

Next chapter... chaos.