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 139: Get Ready
It was the night after reuniting with the CATTs. At their base, Luz and Amity were led to Star's room.
"Here's my room," Star said while showing the place. "I can get you two extra cots and blankets from Bunker for you."
"Thanks for letting us crash with you, Star," Luz replied.
"Yeah, thanks for sharing your room…" Amity said before she then collapsed onto the cot.
"Amity, are you alright?!" Star asked in worry.
"I'm fine, just… glad to have found something to lay on," Amity said while Luz sat beside her, stroking her hair gently.
"A lot happened over the last forty-eight hours which resulted in her getting very little sleep," Luz explained. "She was up almost all of last night worried for me after I was put in a cursed sleep by some old hag working for you-know-who."
"Seriously?" Star asked in shock. "Damn, I'd be worried too if that were to happen to Vee."
"So tired… body needs rest…" Amity said while Ghost comforted her.
"I'm going to go get extra supplies, you two make yourselves comfortable," Star said as she walked out, leaving the two alone.
Luz and Amity were left alone along with their Palismen. The two remained in silence, Ghost comforting Amity as she let her body rest while Atticus sat on top of Luz's head. After the moment of silence passed, the two finally spoke up.
"Hey Luz/Amity," the two spoke up to each other. "Do you want/can we talk?" The two looked at each other. "Sorry, go first."
Deciding one of them should wait for the other to talk first, Amity decided to speak. "So much has happened in the last forty-eight hours for us."
"Yeah, it's a lot to take in," Luz agreed. "And we really haven't gotten the chance to process everything."
Amity nodded and looked at Ghost, petting her as she decided to bring something up. "Remember the vision I got from when I touched Donna's keyblade? About the thing that resembled King?" she asked as Luz nodded. "Now I think that it must have been King's dad, trying to talk to me. Not that it matters that much now. I've gone from being a non-believer of the Titan to learning that King is the son of God. It's insane. All of this is insane," she said as her voice broke, tears welling up in her eyes. "And it scares me, especially what could happen to you, Luz."
Luz held onto Amity's hand as she laid next to her. "I'm scared too, Ams," she admitted as Amity turned her head to face her. "Not just for myself, but for you, my brother, and Willow. I have no idea what Belos will end up doing to them. I'm afraid for everyone's safety. Especially since Belos wants to get into my head."
"He won't… right?" Amity asked.
"Yeah, Maya has got it covered," Luz said. "Right, Maya?"
"Yep," Maya said as she briefly took over for a moment. "Everything in here is secure."
"Great," Luz said. "You… haven't been looking into my embarrassing memories, right?" She paused. "Maya?"
"Of course not…" Maya said, trying to sound innocent. "Now don't let me ruin your moment."
Luz sighed in frustration before she felt Amity's hand holding her arm. "If only things weren't this crazy. We could just be having high school hijinks or something."
"Yeah, I miss the old days where things were just… simple," Luz admitted as the two cuddled with each other, Atticus nested in Luz's hair while Ghost remained on top of Amity.
"God, I'm so fucking tired," Amity complained while her head was on Luz's chest.
"I'm tired too," Luz said. "I just want to spend the rest of the night like this…"
Soon, Star walked in with the supplies. "Alright, I got some blankets and extra cots for you two-" She stopped when she saw that Luz and Amity had already passed out, their arms around each other as they slept with their Palismen. "Right… I'll take the extra cot."
In another room, Hunter and King were bunking together. Both of them were looking at each other awkwardly. Maurice was by King's side. Flapjack just rested in a makeshift nest of his own.
"So…" Hunter said, not sure what to say. "How long have you had the squirrel?"
"Oh, um… I've had Maurice for a couple of weeks now," King admitted. "Kinda trained him to retrieve stuff, and he likes berries."
"Wow, that's great," Hunter said.
"How about, um, Flapjack?" King asked.
"I got him after I… um, tried to take the Palisman… and Luz… to the Emperor," Hunter said awkwardly, looking down.
"Okay, maybe a bad question," King said as Hunter sighed in agreement. "We… never really talked much, did we?"
"Yeah, I don't think we did, even when I was friends with Luz," Hunter admitted. "I hung out with her, Gus, and Willow, but never you."
"Yeah, well, I have my own life, including my own friend group and I even got a girlfriend now," King said while lying on his cot.
"Really?" Hunter asked before remembering something. "Wait… is she that otter we saw back in the Underworld?"
"Maybe…" King said before letting out a sigh. "But man, a lot happened in a short amount of time. Like, the family reunion was nice… and then I went to an island of Anti-Titan fanatics, and realized my dad's been with me the entire time… at least, beneath me. I'm like that um, famous human that humans consider to be the son of their God."
"Really? Who?" Hunter asked.
"Some guy named Elvis, I think. Though I don't know much of the details," King admitted.
"Oh, well, I know what you're feeling," Hunter told King. "In fact, I can relate to your situation."
"Really?" King asked him.
"I mean, everything I grew up believing was a lie. My dad wasn't really my dad. My mom wasn't really my mom. My uncle is a monster. And I'm a Grimwalker, the result of my uncle's weird experiments," Hunter recapped. "So yeah, I know what it is like to have the rug pulled out from you underneath like that." He was silent for a moment. "And I wasn't the only Grimwalker. I recently met Artemis, a Grimwalker of Marilyn Clawthorne who faked her death and escaped from Belos about thirty years ago."
"Woah, how did you meet?" King asked.
"She… sorta kidnapped me," Hunter admitted, sounding a bit embarrassed. "But we had a good talk after that and she helped me confirm what I've been wondering about myself. It was… nice meeting someone else like me."
"Sounds like you two are lucky to have each other," King said while looking down. "I might be the last of my kind…"
"I mean… Artemis has lived mostly by herself for thirty years while I was raised in a castle by a psychopath," Hunter pointed out. "You were raised by Eda and had Luz as your sister." He then looked down. "And at least your body isn't rotting."
King looked up when he heard this. "Wait, what?!"
"Oh yeah, I learned about a little something called Grimwalker deterioration," Hunter explained. "Belos didn't perfect the Grimwalker process right away, so most of them died horribly, their bodies rotting and decaying while they were still alive. Artemis has to drink elixirs to manage her from deterioration."
"Really? Oh, that's… that's a bummer, man," King admitted before realizing something. "But what about you?"
"Don't worry, I'll be fine cause, well, Belos did perfect the process…" He paused, looking at King and wondering if he should tell him or not. After a moment, he continued. "He perfected the process with the uncontaminated blood of a living descendant. The blood of someone that was in the Emperor's Coven… at the time," he admitted to King. "He used Lilith's blood to make… me. Lilith… is my mother."
This shocked King. "What?! Holy… holy, my dad's crack-"
"Shh, don't shout it," Hunter shushed him.
"Does Lilith know?" King asked him.
"No, but I plan on telling her," Hunter said while looking down. "At the very least, she deserves to know what Belos did."
King nodded, hesitating before he cautiously asked his next question. "And how do you feel about it?"
"Well… I do need someone to talk to about it right now," Hunter admitted. "Luz and Boscha already know because we were in the mindscape together when I learned about it. Luz encouraged me to tell Lilith since she deserves to know and I do agree with her, but… I'm not sure how to tell her." He looked at Flapjack, who flew over to comfort him. "I mean, I do care about her, and I think I already saw her as a mother figure. But to learn that she's actually my mother… it's a lot to process. I guess that's just like what you're going through right now, processing how the Titan is your dad." He sighed. "Okay, maybe it isn't just like that. What you have to be going through does make my problems look much smaller."
"I mean… that doesn't mean your feelings aren't valid," King pointed out as he looked at Hunter. "But if you ask me, as far as I'm concerned, this does make you a member of the Clawthorne family and I would say you are more than welcome."
Hunter smiled at his. "Thanks, King."
Meanwhile, at St. Epiderm, while most of the refugees inside were trying to get some sleep, some volunteers had to stay up to take guard shifts. These volunteers included teachers, parents, and trouble-sniffers.
"I'll take over for you," one teacher said while taking the other's position.
"Thanks," another responded. "Can you finish processing these refugees?"
The school let in another group of refugees after clearing them. Included in this group were Morton, Tiny Nose, and a white haired blue demon with six red eyes with three glasses.
"Alright, welcome to St. Epiderm, we'll lead you all to where you'll be sleeping," Principal Bump said while looking at the new refugees and recognizing the six-eyed demon. He looked surprised. "Mr. Bloosky, you're back?"
"Yeah, I've returned from my interdimensional vacation thanks to that sphinx's riddle," Bloosky said. "I sure missed out on a lot… do I still have my job?"
Bump was quiet for a moment, not sure what to say. "Just follow me," he said as he led them down the hallway.
Besides the gym, a number of classrooms had been rearranged for the refugees. Cots were set up, healers were spread thin, and mats and blankets were being passed around. Hendrick lead the newcomers to one of the classrooms.
"Alright, if you can follow me, I'll show you which of the classrooms you'll be sleeping in," Hendrick told the newcomers as he led them the way.
Nina was with her family, checking in on them. "How are you guys accommodating?" she asked them.
"We're pretty good, Nina," Pam responded, glancing at the twins who were asleep on the cot. "You don't have to keep checking on us. If we need anything, we'll ask around for any of the healers, including that Dr. Whispers you've mentioned."
"I know, I just…" Nina said before her mother stopped her.
"Nina, you should get some rest soon," Pam suggested. "This has been a…" She sighed and patted her pregnant belly, frowning. "Long day for all of us. I don't need anything more tonight, so please… get some sleep."
"Uh, yeah, sure, I'll do that," Nina said awkwardly before she spotted Lambi, who walked over to her.
"Hey, how is everything going?" Lambi asked, checking in and holding Nina's hand.
"Just making sure my mom and siblings are doing alright here," Nina responded as she turned to her mom. "Um, I don't think you two have formally met yet, have you? Mom, this is Lambi, my girlfriend. Lambi, meet my mom."
"Hello, it's nice to meet you, Lambi," Pam greeted her politely.
"Likewise, Mrs. Fangs," Lambi responded, nodding.
Meanwhile, Gavin had gathered the LOWTH members with Donna, Sarah, Riley, Andrew, Minerva, Roxy, and Lindsay showing up. Donna had recently returned from Latissa.
"Hey, you called for us, Gavin?" Donna asked him.
"Yeah, it sounded urgent," Riley said.
"Yeah, well not an emergency kind of thing," Gavin admitted while looking down. "I just want to say… I'm sorry for some of my actions since joining this team," he said. "Specifically, I'm sorry for being rude at times, for straight up attacking Emily while she was with Lindsay, and for ditching everyone during the Conformatorium break-out. I was dealing with or going through some personal stuff at the time.."
"Does that have to do with your dad?" Sarah brought up. "Since you saw him when we were responding to the break-out?"
"His dad was there?" Lindsay asked in surprise.
"Yeah, along with a lot of things," Gavin confirmed. "I should have been happy to see that my dead was still alive, but… I was angry at him instead. That anger didn't come out of nowhere, but I did later realize that I was under the influence of the Inner Demon."
"The Inner Demon?" Andrew asked in shock.
"Yeah," Gavin confirmed. "I mean, my anger was still mostly on me, the Inner Demon just encouraged it. If it weren't for Hunter, Boscha, Luz, Eda, and Professor Snope… I don't know how worse I'd have become." He then turned to Lindsay. "And Lindsay, I'm especially sorry for how I acted when I saw you with Emily…"
"It's okay, Gavin. I forgive you," Lindsay reassured him, giving him sympathy. "And I understand what you're going through."
"Yeah, we all forgive you," Donna said, patting Gavin's shoulder. "We've all had our moments and did things that we're not proud of, including me."
"It's great that you feel like you can come to us about it, Gavin," Minerva said.
"Yeah, because you're not just a teammate, you're our friend, Gavin," Andrew added.
"And we can help you," Roxy said.
"So… I'm still on the team?" Gavin asked. When everyone nodded, he sighed in relief. "Thanks guys, for understanding."
"Speaking of your dad," Donna brought up. "I actually saw him earlier when I was with Luz and Eda."
"R-Really?" Gavin asked her and she nodded.
"Yeah, and Lilith's there so she could help set a meeting between you two," Donna suggested. "You would like that, right?"
"Yeah," Gavin admitted, nodding. "I would like that,"
That was when Sioux showed up. "Hey, Donna," she said to the silver-haired Healer. "Veronica and the others just came back through the tunnels."
"Really? Thank you for informing me, Sioux," Donna replied as she got up.
She followed Sioux to meet up with the rest of LOWTH as they entered back into the school through one of Andrew's tunnels. Veronica, Beocrow, Tina, Tyrone, and Kyle all showed up, Veronica immediately hugging Sioux.
"I'm so glad to see you, Sioux," Veronica said as Sioux hugged her back.
"Are you guys alright?" Donna asked, noticing the distraught looks on the faces of her friends.
"We're fine, just… shaken," Kyle replied. "We tried to help out the survivors of the Villa as much as we could."
"But what happened there… none of us were prepared for a tragedy like that," Tyrone responded while looking at Tina. "Tina remained silent on the way back, we're worried for her."
A concerned Donna looked at Tina. "Tina, your family are here, would you like to see them?"
Tina gave a nod. "Yes," she said, her voice sounding broken.
"I can take her to see them," Beocrow offered. "I should see my family as well."
"They're here, along with the rest of our families," Donna told them.
"Including mine?" Tyrone asked, giving Donna pause. She shook her head sadly and he gave a sigh. "Yeah, that tracks."
While Donna spoke to her teammates, poking out from behind her hair was Acorn, who had followed Donna back to St. Epiderm in the hopes she would get to see Tyrone again. But when she saw the saddened looks on Tyrone and his friends' faces, it made her frown.
"Tyrone…" Acorn said sadly.
Veronica then turned to Donna. "How is Nina, by the way?" she asked her.
Nina and Lambi were currently alone in an empty classroom they had found, both of them tidying themselves up.
"Are you feeling any better, Nina?" Lambi asked her.
"I think so, but to be honest, I don't know if I can even sleep after all of this," Nina admitted while looking down. "So much has happened today and so much is going to happen tomorrow…"
"Yeah, I know," Lambi agreed. "I'm also still reeling from what we've learned. Like about King…"
"Yeah, no catnip is enough to ease that bombshell," Nina admitted. "Not that I used that stuff… anymore."
Lambi stiffened a laugh. "You know, when I can't sleep, I would just count woolducks in my head," she mentioned. "Maybe… I can sleep with you for the night."
Nina blushed at that. "Um… you might want to phrase that differently."
"What do you-" Lambi realized what she had said and she blushed as well. "Um, I meant, like, sleep together! You know, just share a cot and try to sleep."
"Oh, r-right," Nina replied, both girls blushing in embarrassment.
Once Lambi placed the mat down, she and Nina got on the mat together while lying on the pillows.
"So um, how does the whole 'counting woolducks' thing work?" Nina asked her.
"Well, it's a little habit I have for when I can't sleep," Lambi explained. "I just close my eyes, imagine a barn, and see woolducks jumping over the fence. That's where I count. Wanna try with me?"
Nina gave a nod while holding Lambi's hand. "Yeah…"
The two shut their eyes and Lambi started to count. "One… two… three… four…" As she continued to count, Nina counted along, but she only focused on the sound of Lambi's voice. Her ears picked up her girlfriend's heartbeat and she started counting each beat while Lambi counted woolducks. And then there was her smell…
It calmed the werecat down and Nina let out a gentle purr as she started to drift to sleep. Lambi kept counting, also growing tired while alongside Nina. She turned her head to face the sleeping werecat and brought her body closer to hers while Nina's tail wrapped around her waist.
The two ended up both asleep while cuddling.
It was morning at St. Epiderm. Eda was there to check up on her family and the orphans, and to just help out in general.
"Glad to see you here again, Eda," Ban said as he walked alongside her.
"Yeah, just checking in," Eda responded. "How are the kids?"
"Doing great," Ban replied. "There are some volunteers who help out by keeping the kids company. The kids honestly love this. They see it as a field trip."
"And how about the food supply?" Eda asked him.
"Well, thanks to the Plant students and coven members, we have lots of meal options in the cafeteria," Ban said as he pointed to Cross and Claire walking by, heading to the cafeteria to deliver their grown fruits and vegetables.
"Hey Eda," Morton said as he waved to her, getting her attention.
"Morton, you're here," Eda said, surprised. "You've taken shelter here too?"
"Yeah, when I heard that my cousin Jerbo and his family were here, I decided to join them and see how they're doing," Morton explained.
"Oh that's… wait, you're cousins with Jerbo?" Eda asked him.
"Yeah, didn't Luz and King tell you?" Morton asked her.
"…Yeah, yeah, they did," Eda lied while patting Morton's shoulder. "Good to see you're doing alright. Now then, excuse me," Eda said as she walked away, leaving Morton with Ban.
"Hi, you must be Morton. I'm Ban," Ban greeted him.
As Eda walked away, she muttered to herself under her breath. "I really need to invite him for drinks at some point." She then saw Willow and Skara walking nearby. "Willow, Skara, hey."
"Hey, Eda," Willow greeted her. "Are Luz and Amity around?"
"Yeah, we thought they'd be here with you," Skara said.
"No, they, along with King and Hunter, are still at the CATTs base," Eda informed them. "But don't worry, they're alright."
"Well, at least we know that they're safe," Skara said.
"So, anything new around here since I've been gone?" Eda asked them.
"Well, some more refugees came and we've actually got some extra security," Willow informed her. "There's some of them over there."
Eda noticed the extra security. There was a biped beetle demon flying up to keep watch at the windows, a white rabbit biped woman with blond hair in a blue and black checkered tracksuit, a scorpion biped, and a rhino biped with a handlebar mustache. "Huh, these guys look familiar…"
"Don't you recognize the old carnies… Edalyn?"
Eda's eye widened when she heard that deep and gravelly voice. She turned around to see a large witch man with light-blue ashy skin. His distinctive appearance included a large thumbnail on his forehead, pointy ears and gray eyes, blue lips, and sharp teeth. He wore a black suit with a purple necktie. The suit fit his muscular frame. "Hello, Edalyn. Long time, no see."
"Oh… Thumbstone," Eda said nervously.
"You know each other?" Willow asked Eda.
"Yeah, we knew each other… back in my criminal days. He's known as the Big Man of Palm Stings," Eda explained to Willow before turning to the big man. "So um, what are you doing here so far away from Palm Stings, um, Gary?"
"Thumbstone to you, Edalyn," he reminded her. "As for why am I here, well it's because my daughters have called me for help defend this school."
"Wait, you have daughters?!" Eda asked in shock. Said daughters walked up to Thumbstone.
"Hey, pops," Muka said as she, Gorlei, and Ashey came over, Thumbstone smiling at his daughters.
"Oh how are my little nail-clippers doing? Give your old man a hug!" Thumbstone asked as he embraced his daughters.
"Oh daddy, come on, you're embarrassing us!" Muka laughed while accepting the hug.
Eda just looked shocked to see the man she knew as a stone-cold businessman and racketeer and the one-time champion of the Bonesborough Brawl… as a loving father.
"How's your mom doing? Is she around?" he asked them.
"Yeah, we were going to meet her at breakfast," Muka said. "Wanna join us?"
"I'd love to," Thumbstone replied happily. "I'll meet you three there, first I have to finish my business with Ms. Clawthorne."
"Alright, see ya there," Muka said as she and her sisters headed for the cafeteria.
"Um… wow, I didn't know they're yours," Eda commented. "Though they do share a resemblance…"
"Yes. Having them is my greatest achievement. I'd sacrifice anything for them," Thumbstone declared while turning to Eda. "Being a parent can warm a cold-hearted soul, doesn't it?"
"Yeah, I understand that," Eda said with a nod. "So um, are we cool now? I mean, considering how we left things off…"
"Don't worry, Edalyn, I am a reasonable man. A truce will be in order, until Belos and the Day of Unity have been dealt with," Thumbstone explained. "But after that… maybe we could catch up." His tone changed when he said this and he started walking to the cafeteria, leaving behind a very nervous Owl Lady.
Jak walked up to Eda. "Geez, what did you do to this guy?" he asked while Eda said nothing.
Kyle was carrying a tray of food while in the cafeteria. He heard his name called.
"Yo, Kyle!" Muka shouted as she waved to him from a table. "Come sit with us!"
"Oh, um okay," Kyle replied as he walked over to the Graux table, noticing their parents. "Oh, are they your folks?"
"Yeah, meet my mom Lonail," Muka said as she pointed to the blue haired, pale skinned but pretty woman in a sundress.
"Hi, it's nice to meet you," Lonail said to Kyle.
"And that's our daddy, Garrison," Muka said as she pointed to her dad. "Mom, dad, this is Kyle Pox, our classmate."
"Nice to be acquainted with you, Kyle," Thumbstone greeted, offering his hand.
Kyle seemed a bit nervous as he looked up at the large man. "Um, nice to meet you too, sir," he replied, shaking Thumbstone's hand. Tombstone had a very tight grip, causing Kyle to gasp in pain.
In the infirmary, Felicia was having breakfast in her bed when Nina came in.
"Yo," Nina spoke up. "Just checking in."
"Oh. Hey, Nina," Felicia said while looking up at the werecat. "Glad to see you."
"So how have you been doing since coming here?" Nina asked her.
"I'm feeling a lot better now. My arm doesn't hurt as much, and they say my eye will heal," Felicia said before looking at Nina sadly. "Nina… I heard about what happened at the Villa. I'm so sorry. You have my condolences."
"Thanks, that means a lot, Felicia," Nina responded before noticing four trash bins near her bed. They weren't there a minute ago. "Say, when are there four trash bins in here?"
Felicia looked at them. "Huh, I just noticed them now…"
"That's because it's us, Felicia," one of the trash bins said.
"Yeah, with our keen ninja skills!" another one of the trash bins shouted.
Nina and Felicia's eyes widened, but before they could respond the trash bins were covered in a cloud of smoke and when it cleared, in place of the trash bins were four kappa ninjas.
"Hey, Felicia!" the kappas spoke up.
"You guys!" Felicia said happily. She managed to get out of bed and hug Kose and Fuyuko. "I'm glad to see you four!"
"Wait, you know these guys?" Nina asked in confusion.
"Yeah, these are my contacts, best info gatherers I've met," Felicia said. "Meet Kose, Fuyuko, Jocho, and Koun, the Teenage Demon Reptile Ninjas, all from the Yokai Realm. Guys, this is Nina, who helped me out."
"Um… hi," Nina said, waving to them.
"It is an honor to meet you, Nina Fangs," Kose said, bowing to her respectfully. "Thank you for helping out Felicia during a dire situation."
"Hey, it's no problem," Nina replied. "Though how did you guys manage to get in here without being spotted?"
"We're ninjas, we're pretty much masters of disguise," Fuyuko said.
"Wow, you kinda remind me of the Bakenekos and Nekomatas back in our realm," Koun said, looking at Nina in awe.
"Is that a good thing…?" Nina asked.
"Oh they're just as cute," Koun said with a smile.
"Quit flirting with her, Koun," Jocho scolded his sister before turning to Nina. "Don't mind her, Koun's just… Koun."
"I should mention that these guys helped out in finding you, Donna, Luz, Willow and Cross when you guys were captured by the Alchemist," Felicia explained.
"Really?" Nina asked them. "Well, I gotta thank you guys for that."
"No problem, any enemy of the Alchemist is an ally of ours," Kose told her.
"Yeah, so consider us your new BFFs!" Koun declared.
Nina smiled, already taking a liking to these kappa ninjas. "Alright, I think we are going to get along just fine."
Meanwhile, Donna had gathered her friends to finally talk to them about her recent trip to the other side of the world.
"Wait, wait, wait… your brother's alive?!" Veronica asked in shock. Sharing her shock were Tina, Tyrone, and Beocrow.
"Yes," Donna confirmed. "My brother Andros, or Conner as he goes by now, is alive and is part of this Titan-hunting cult on the other side of the world."
"So your evil uncle's claim was a lie after all," Beocrow said. "Have you told your folks about him?"
"I have," Donna confirmed. "I've told them everything, including the stuff about my birth parents and what I am. I would have told you guys sooner as well… but yesterday was really crazy."
"Yeah, it was," Veronica agreed. "But how did they take it? Your parents, I mean."
"Oh, they were accepting of all of it," Donna explained. "They want to support me and help me however they can, which includes helping me to find Conner."
"That sounds great," Tyrone said.
"And what's your brother like?" Tina asked her, curious.
"Well… when I talked to him, I had no idea who he really was at first since he wore this… Titan disguise," Donna explained, still embarrassed by how she had nor been able to put two and two together sooner. "But despite his upbringing on Titan Trappers Island, he's quite friendly, kind, and understanding about what mine and King's situation are like. He even has a pet cat that is often afraid of his own shadow." She looked down, still remembering Conner's face. "When things went south there, he ended up defending us against the people who raised him, stopping them from trying to get to us."
"You know, from the sound of it, he sounds kinda like you," Veronica pointed out.
"Yeah, he really is my brother," Donna agreed. "Once this whole Day of Unity business is taken care of, I plan to look for him. I have a map of all the teleporters that the Titan Trappers have. If I can find the one that will bring me to him…"
Beocrow then spoke up. "If you'd like, I can come with you to find your brother."
Donna was surprised by this, but she still smiled. "Thanks, Beo, I appreciate it."
"So what's our next game plan, Donna?" Tyrone asked her.
"Well, right now, we should keep helping out the people here and protect our school if it gets attacked," Donna told them. "Eda and her allies are figuring out a way to stop Belos, so defending our school is still our responsibility."
The four nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we'll keep a watch out," Veronica said.
"And we'll let the others know as well," Tina said.
As everyone split up, they each headed to certain areas of the school, either to meet up with their teammates or their families. In Beocrow's case, he went to meet up with the rest of the Clawthorne Clan. There, he was spotted by his brother, Felix.
"Hey, Beo, you're just in time." Felix said. "We were discussing Belos."
"This oughta be interesting," Beo said as he joined the family, who were discussing Belos with Eda.
"So let me get this straight," Dennis said while recounting Eda's explanation. "Belos is actually a human named Philip who was, along with his brother, adopted by our ancestors and was led to believe in some prophecy of a danger in the Isles, which he caused, and his only solution to that… is by harming everyone and draining our magic except from those he deems worthy and unleashing some cosmic horror that the Titan had trapped into the Human Realm?"
"Well, that is the gist of it," Eda confirmed.
"And now he plans to hijack Luz's body as his own?" Dell questioned as his eyes narrowed. "And he dared to consider himself as family?"
"As far as I am concerned, he is no family of ours," Eartha declared "Not only has he for a long time harvested Palismen and Palistrom trees, but he also let his goons humiliate Lilith and imprison Zee! Why if I had the chance, I'd slap the paste out of him!"
"Indeed, hon," Brolin replied. "We can acknowledge that some members of our family have made mistakes, and they have owned up to those mistakes. But Belos continues to make these bad decisions, including harming our own, making him no family of ours."
"So, does that mean we get to kick the Emperor's keister?" Beverly asked, pounding her fist.
"When the opportunity strikes," Draydon responded.
"You guys are too lax about this…" Jay said with a sweat-drop.
"Come on, Jay, we should all fight the power!" Lulu shouted, raising her fist up while her toddler son did the same.
Beocrow listened to this while turning to Cross, who had been quiet during the whole thing. After the family was in agreement about Belos, Beo decided to walk up to his cousin.
"Hey, Cross," he spoke to him.
"Oh, hey Beo," Cross responded, turning to him.
"Snail for your thoughts?" Beocrow asked him. "You're worried about Zee, are you?"
Cross gave a nod. "Yeah, I have been thinking and I am worried for her. I know that Eda and her allies do plan on saving her, but… I want to join them and help break Zee out of the castle."
"Have you talked to your parents about this?" Beo asked him.
"I did, actually," Cross confirmed. "They were worried about me going there, wanting to come with me. But I convinced them to not come with me since I didn't want to put them in danger. I know there's a good chance that things could go horribly wrong… but it's my sister. I have to do something."
"Then, you can leave protecting your family here to me, Cross," Beo offered. "I can keep them safe while you're gone."
Cross smiled at him. "Thanks, Beo. I appreciate that. I wish you luck in protecting our family."
"And I wish you luck as well, Cross," Beocrow replied. "Although… I plan on asking Eda to let me see Luz before coming back to help my friends out. I did miss her yesterday, but I want to take this chance to see her."
"Yeah, she'd be glad to see you again," Cross agreed.
Beo gave a nod while looking around. "You know, this has gotten bigger than we ever expected. Back then, we were just regular students that got involved in a lot of shit going on."
"Yeah, I get what you mean," Cross responded. "Like, I went from lying low to planning on storming the Emperor's Castle."
"And me and my friends went from fighting muggers to fighting the Emperor's Coven," Beocrow said.. "These things just change so quickly, which leaves me to wonder…"
"What could the future look like even if we win?" Cross asked. "Like, what would the Isles without Belos even look like? We've lived our whole lives under his rule, it's difficult to imagine what it will be like without him."
Beocrow just took a look around. "Perhaps it would look like what St. Epiderm right now… witches helping out and working together to take care of each other."
Cross looked around and smiled. "Yeah, that does sound like a better Isles…"
Meanwhile, CATT headquarters was busy with activity. The rebels were rushing from one task to another while Raine was handling several crows at once.
"Yes, just make sure to stay put until I contact you," Raine said into one crow before they spoke into another. "Yes? What? At which coven?"
Coming out from the rooms were Luz, Amity, King and Hunter, all looking around. "Whoa, things sure are busy here," Luz comments.
"Yeah," Amity replied while looking around. "Has anyone seen Acorn? I haven't seen her since last night."
"I saw her flying with Donna the other day," Ghost told Amity while at her feet. "Sad since I wanted to chase her around again."
Hunter then noticed someone talking to Lilith. Someone he recognized. "Wait, is that…?"
"Thank you for coming here on short notice, Ulrich," Lilith told the Construction Head.
"Tis no problem, Lilith," Ulrich responded before he noticed Hunter and the others. He nodded at him. "Hunter, good to see you're doing well."
"Head Witch Ulrich, you're here with the rebels too?" Hunter asked him.
"So Raine really does have a Coven Head on our side," King said.
"Yeah, Ulrich has really helped us lately, including giving us info about the Draining Spell," Star said as she walked over. "How are you doing, Ulrich?"
"Pretty good, Star," Ulrich responded while turning to the kids. "I see you all are Eda's kids, and Alador's daughter as well. I… do regret not doing anything to stop Arthur and Destiny from hurting your father, Amity."
"It's okay, Ulrich. They're gone now," Amity reassured him. "But what we're interested in is your reason for betraying Belos."
"Yeah, although since you're a guy who got easily beaten by Tiny Nose at the Covention once, I'm surprised you're still Head Witch," Luz brought up, remembering seeing Ulrich among the Construction witches getting beaten by a power-up Tiny Nose.
"Um, yes, I don't talk about that moment," Ulrich muttered. "But as for my reasons, after Lilith revealed the Emperor's true identity to me, I started to think about whether Belos's future for the Isles was really the best kind of future for my sons or not. And I decided that no, his version of the Isles was not the one I wanted. Especially after learning about the Draining Spell. I knew that I had to do something at that point."
"Well, glad to know you're one of the good Heads," Luz commented with a smile.
"I wouldn't call myself good," Ulrich admitted while looking down. "I took part in the raid that resulted in the deaths of many rebels. While I was just doing my duty, I don't expect Whispers to forgive me for that. Although I did apologize to Goonla about it."
"Well, despite your past," Amity said, remembering that most of Goonla's crew, witches she had worked with, were killed by the Coven Heads. "You're not even the shadiest person that we are working with, so I'm willing to give you a chance."
"Yeah, me too," Luz said. "After all, none of the Coven Heads knew that you were being duped by Belos. You deserve to take a crack at him just like the rest of us."
"Thank you all," Ulrich said with a nod before he turned back to Lilith. "Might I speak to Raine?"
Minutes later, the rebels were gathered around a table, Ulrich showing them a map of the Isles. Pictures of Coven Heads and the Emperor and Coven symbols were up on display.
"I can confirm the current locations of the Coven Heads," Ulrich said as he pointed a stick to the map. "Bard Head Napoli was leading the relief effort at the Torsa Villa after the recent arson, providing aid to the survivors. This morning he and his scouts were called back to the castle. But then there's Alador, who is currently under house arrest. He was recently relocated to the Abominations Coven."
Listening in from the hallway outside the room, Amity looked worried while Luz patted her hand in comfort. "Don't worry, Ams, your dad will be rescued."
"Thanks, Luz," Amity replied, smiling.
"As for the rest of the Heads," Ulrich continued. "Weevil, Pawculus, Cutburn, Brooke, and Graye are still in the Healing Coven under heavy protection. However, I've recently learned that since Graye isn't expected to recover by the Day of Unity, they've appointed a new Illusions Head… his apprentice, Emily Tricks."
This surprised the rebels, Le'Belle speaking up. "Emily got promoted to Head? But… isn't she young?"
"From what I've heard, she just turned eighteen yesterday," Ulrich informed them, shocking Le'Belle.
"Wait, yesterday was her birthday?!" she shouted before looking down. "Poor girl…"
"Thank you for the information, Ulrich," Raine told him. "Will you be staying with us?"
"I wish I could, but I don't want Belos to become suspicious of my whereabouts," Ulrich pointed out. "Last thing I want is for his scouts to find me here."
"I understand," Raine replied, nodding. "You've been taking a lot of risks, but I thank you for your help, Ulrich."
Ulrich gave them a nod. "It may not make up for my past actions, but I promise to not disappoint you, Raine."
In the hallway, Luz, Amity, King, and Hunter overheard the plan, while Hikari just sat nearby while drinking her tea. The four shared shocked looks.
"Emily's… a Coven Head now?!" Hunter exclaimed before King covered his mouth.
"Quiet, you don't want us to give away!" King whispered.
"Emily being the new Illusions Head," Amity said while looking in disbelief and concern. "What could this mean?"
"I don't know, Ams," Luz replied, looking down. "And I don't know what we should do."
"You think she could be forced or…?" Hunter asked.
"Her future, just like all our futures, are very clouded at the moment," said a voice.
The four turned to Hikari. "What do you mean?" Luz asked.
"Well, I haven't been able to make any fortune from my tea leaves," Hikari admitted. "Which does make me worried. I was hoping to get a feeling of whether the Day of Unity will come to pass tomorrow or if we will stop it today, but… nothing. So all we can do… is see how the events will unfold in the moment."
Back at St. Epiderm, Skara went to the room that the Saltstars were in and was greeted by Boris.
"Boris? Is that you?" Skara asked upon seeing Boscha's older brother.
"Hey, Skara, it's been a long while," Boris said with a smile when he saw Skara. "How have you been? Doing alright?"
"I am," Skara responded, smiling. "Though I'll admit, you've gotten quite rugged since the last time we saw each other."
"Yeah, I think I do need a shave," Boris said, noting his unshaven scruff of a beard he had gotten from his time in prison.
"We should catch up sometimes," Skara suggested as she looked over at Athena. "But first I'm going to go say hi to your mom, I'll chat with you later," she said while walking over to Athena.
"Yeah, later," Boris waved before he noticed his sister with Tom, both of them watching Skara. Deciding to talk to her, he walked over to his little sis. "Hey, you two."
"Hey, Boris," Boscha said to him. "So, uh, you and Skara looked like you were getting along."
"Yeah," Boris responded. "I'll admit, it is hard for me not to picture her as the fussy little girl that drew on the walls a lot. Both hers and ours. Do you remember that?"
"Hm, yeah," Boscha said while looking down, which was noticed by both Boris and Tom.
"Everything alright, Boscha?" Tom asked her.
Boris saw it too. "Does it have anything to do with Skara?"
"Well, it's just… things have been awkward between me and Skara for a while," Boscha admitted. "I don't know where we really stand with each other right now. I mean, we're okay but how okay are we? I guess we haven't really talked about it…"
"Well, why not talk now?" Tom suggested. "Now is as good a time as any to let Skara know how you feel and get it off your chest."
"Yeah," Boris agreed. "Best to talk to her now. Cause let's face it, none of us know what tomorrow is going to be like. And who knows, you might be surprised."
"Yeah, I know that feeling too well," Tom responded while looking down. "I thought that me and this rebel girl, Star, wouldn't see each other again after Mewni's destruction. But when we both met up again, we were actually glad to see that the other was alright, despite the fact that she did kidnap me once. Honestly, I don't think any drama you and Skara have is as bad as the drama that you and Skara had."
Boris just looked at Tom. "You really don't know teen girls, do you?"
Tom blinked in confusion. "What?"
After considering their words of encouragement, Boscha made her decision. "Yeah, I guess I should go talk to her."
Meanwhile, Skara had just finished up her talk with Athena. "You think my mom has pulled through by now?" she asked her.
"Hey, as long as I've known Calypso, she's a fighter. When properly motivated, nothing can stop her. And I'm pretty sure that she is very motivated to see you again.."
"Thank you, Ms. Saltstar," Skara responded before noticing Boscha walking up to her. "Oh, Boscha…"
"Hey, Skara," Boscha responded, sounding awkward. "Can we… talk? Alone?"
Seeing how serious Boscha looked, Skara nodded. "Yeah, of course," she said as she got up. "Nice talking to you, Ms. Saltstar."
"Anytime," Athena replied, watching the girls walk out into the hallway so they could talk.
Once they were alone, the two looked down, awkwardness hanging in the air between them. Skara spoke first. "So… what do you want to talk about?"
"Well… I've been wondering if… things between us are alright," Boscha replied. "Like, if we're cool and all."
"I… think so," Skara admitted before she gave a sigh. "Though things have been a bit weird between us."
"Yeah," Boscha agreed, still looking down. "Weird since the Glandus War."
Skara looked up at the triclops girl. "You know, Boscha, I've changed a lot over the last few months… but I can tell that you have changed a lot as well," she acknowledged. "I know that I should give you a second chance, after all Amity gave you a second chance… but I don't know why I'm so hesitant."
"I… don't blame you, honestly," Boscha said, the two falling into silence for a moment. "But I would like to be friends again. I mean, it won't be like it used to be. We've both changed too much and fell into different friend groups. Maybe we won't be back as best friends… but we can still be friends, though I understand if you don't want that."
Skara took a moment to think over what she wanted. She sighed. "It… it is what I want, really. I'm just so tired of the awkwardness and I can't deny that I still care about you. Heck, I've never really stopped caring about you, Boscha. I was just afraid of falling back into my old role." She paused, realizing something. "Maybe that's why I was so hesitant to forgive you and give you another chance. Because I was once afraid of you and the influence you had over me. But… not anymore. I am stronger now and Nina told me that you forgave her as well. And because of that and you respecting my independence, I think it's only fair for me to finally forgive you as well, even if I'm the last person to forgive you. Because I was the one that knew you the longest. So I'm willing to officially give our friendship another chance once all of this Day of Unity stuff is over."
Boscha looked up at her and smiled. "Yeah, I would like that. Thank you for giving me that chance, Skara."
Skara nodded. "You're welcome. I forgive you, Boscha," she said as the two hugged, Boscha ending up teary eyed.
Willow was nearby, smiling as she watched the two rekindle their friendship. Eventually she decided to walk over. "Hey, Skara."
"Oh, Willow," Skara responded as she and Boscha released each other from the hug.
"Listen, I'm going with Eda back to the CATTs base, and I'm probably not coming back here until after Belos is defeated," Willow informed her. "I don't know if Belos will be coming after me or not, but I don't want to risk anyone here getting hurt because of that."
"I could come along with you, Willow," Skara offered.
"Thanks, but you should stay with your family," Willow suggested. "I don't want you to get hurt because of me."
"I… understand." Skara said reluctantly. Immediately she gave Willow a hug. "Just… be careful, okay?"
"I will," Willow replied, hugging her back. "I'll see you later, Skara."
"You too, Willow," Skara replied as the two shared a kiss. After the kiss, Willow looked at Boscha and gave her a nod. Boscha nodded at her back.
"Be safe," Boscha told Willow.
"You too," Willow said as she went to give Boscha a hug as well.
After that, Willow went to her dads, giving them a hug and saying her goodbyes. "I'm sorry that I have to leave you guys like this," she said.
"We understand, Willow. And we trust Eda and the others to protect you," Sully said.
"But more importantly, we know that you can protect yourself," Gilbert said.
Willow smiled. "You two are the best dads I could ask for," she said before hugging them again.
After that, Willow walked up to Eda. With her were Beocrow, Cross, Boris, Matt, and Gavin. "I'm ready, Eda."
Eda gave her a nod. "Alright, let's head out," she said as she descended into one of Andrew's tunnels with the group following her.
Back at CATT base, Geist let Eda in along with the group following her.
"Hey, I'm back!" Eda announced. "And I brought along a few guests who'd wish to meet some of you."
Everyone looked and when they saw who was with Eda and Boris, Steve walked over. "Matt?"
"Steve!" Matt responded as he rushed to hug his brother. "I'm so glad to see you again!"
"Oh man, it's good to see you too, bro!" Steve responded, hugging his little brother.
Gavin spotted his dad with Eberwolf. "Dad?"
"Gavin," Darius said as he tried to walk up to him. However, his movement looked very awkward. "I'm… sorry… for not-" But much to Darius's surprise, Gavin hugged him.
"I'm just… glad to see you again," Gavin told him while hugging his father made of Abomination matter.
"Beo! Cross!" Luz shouted as she was greeted by her cousins. "What brings you two here?" she asked, hugging the two.
"I'm just here to see you before things get crazy," Beocrow said to her. "But Cross decided that he wants in."
"Yeah, so that I can help save my sister, and possibly Barb if she is in trouble," Cross said.
Luz smiled. "Glad to have you join us," she said before she then spotted Willow. "Oh hey, Willow, you're here too?"
"Yeah, I decided that staying with you guys was safer for everyone," Willow said.
A bit later, Matt and Steve started to catch up, Steve was trying to explain himself and his defection to Matt.
"I know that I have a lot to explain since I left the Emperor's Coven," Steve said.
"Yeah, dad said he'd slam you next Toesday for making Carol worry," Matt said.
"I figured he'd say something like that," Steve said regretfully. "And I'm so sorry for making you guys worried and for not contacting you earlier. It wasn't safe for me to visit or try to reach out to you, since that could just put you in danger. And I had a good reason why I had to defect." He pointed to Hikari. "Because of her."
"Hi, you must be Steve's brother," Hikari said while walking up to them. "My name is Hikari, nice to meet you, Mattolomule Thollomule."
"Oh, um, nice to meet you," Matt replied while shaking her hand. "You look like you'd be in one of my classes," he noted.
"Yes, I was considered a wild witch at seventeen," Hikari admitted, which shocked Matt.
"What?!" he asked. "So the Emperor's Coven…"
"Decided to brand witches who were school dropouts with sigils no matter how young they were," Steve said. "She was going to be arrested and I had to protect her, even if it meant becoming a traitor." He sighed. "I knew that was bad, but from what I hear it has gotten even worse."
"Yeah, it has," Matt confirmed. "Graye and his coven scouts came to Hexside and tried to brand us, but we managed to repel him. But I understand your reasons, really."
Steve smiled. "Thanks, bro," he said as Sunny walked up.
"Hey Steve, is this your little brother?" Sunny asked him. "Nice to finally meet you."
"Hey, didn't I see you before at the coven day parade?" Matt asked her.
"Yes, I was there," Sunny replied.
"Huh, I thought you looked familiar," Matt responded. "Name's Matt, by the way."
"Well it's nice to finally meet you, Matt," Sunny replied politely while shaking his hand. "My name is Sunny Muse."
"So how do you and Steve know each other?" Matt asked, Steve looking nervous while Hikari just smiled knowingly.
Meanwhile, Gavin was talking to his father, Darius speaking to him as best as he could.
"So, you were dead… technically," Gavin said while looking at Darius. "But you were in your Abomination form."
"Yes… I am," Darius told his son. "I'm… incomplete."
Gavin looked at his father, his expression pained. He couldn't help but feel bad for the condition he was in. "Dad, I… I'm so sorry for what I said earlier the last time we saw each other," he said to him. "I was so angry at you. But now I know that even though you've made a lot of mistakes, you're not just some evil witch who intentionally tried to ruin my life or my mother's life. You're not a villain. You're just… my dad." He reached out and touched his arm. "And I'm glad that you're alive, dad."
Darius looked down at his son. "You have… really grown… good witch, Gavin," he told him. "I wish I had… been there for you more…"
"Honestly, there's not really a point over wishing things could have been different," Gavin pointed out while looking down. "Truth be told, I'm not proud of the things I've done either. But I can't do anything about what's already been done. I can only… keep moving forward while trying to be better. And to move forward, I choose to forgive you." He looked up at Darius. "Because I can't deny that I have good memories about you, dad, and I think forgiveness would be good for the both of us."
"I agree," Darius nodded before noticing his son's look. "Gavin?"
"Just… one thing I have to ask," Gavin said. "Did you… favor Hunter more than me?"
"No, I didn't," Darius explained. "But I know that… you needed me more. I wasn't… there… as much as I should have been."
"Well, you're here now, aren't you?" Gavin asked him. "So… could we spend some time with each other?"
Darius managed to smile. "Yes," he agreed. "So Gavin… how have… you been lately?"
Gavin managed to smile as well. "Well, all I can say is, things have been a bit crazy after last Scumday…"
Meanwhile, Luz chatted with her cousins as they told her their plans.
"So, what's the game plan for you boys?" Luz asked.
"Simply put, I plan to join the team that will infiltrate the Emperor's Castle in order to find my sister," Cross said. "Since I'm familiar with most of the castle during my time as Graye's unwilling errand boy, I might be able to help locate where they're keeping her, and Barb too."
"As for me, I'm just here to see you," Beocrow admitted. "After that, I plan on heading back to St. Epiderm to help Donna and our friends to protect the school."
"What about you, Luz? Are you staying here?" Cross asked her.
"I am probably going to stick with Amity," Luz said. "Which might include rescuing her dad so Belos doesn't use him as part of his plans. So do Donna and Lindsay know about your plans to raid the castle?"
"Yeah, I did tell them," Cross answered. "They're fine with it, since they understand that I have to save my sister. Though they are worried for me and Zee, of course."
"Wait, what does he mean by Donna and Lindsay?" Beo asked her.
"Oh, you didn't know?" Luz asked him. "Donna and Lindsay are both dating Cross now."
"…Huh." Beocrow responded. "How about that, I never figured you'd be into polygamy, Cross."
Cross gave a sigh. "Not you too…"
"Oh, I just think that you two have interesting love lives," Beocrow commented. "I never thought much about romance myself."
"If you think Cross's love life is interesting, me and Ams are married," Luz told the two.
"Wait, what?" Cross asked her in shock.
"Yup. Had our own private wedding and everything," Luz admitted.
"So is it, like, a legal wedding?" Beo asked her, just as shocked even with his stoic face.
"Yeah, like you can't just say that so casually," Cross pointed out.
"Relax, it wasn't a legally binding marriage," Luz clarified. "It happened in the Human Realm, we invited our friends there…" She realized something. "Oh shit,"
"What?" Cross asked.
"I just realized… Gus and his dad are still in the Human Realm," Luz reminded herself as she got up. "I gotta have a Bad Girls Coven meeting…"
Later, Luz had gathered Amity, Willow, and Matt to discuss Gus.
"I just remembered that Gus is trapped in the Human Realm right now," Luz said. "With the portal door destroyed, there's no way to bring him back after the Day of Unity."
"Of course," Willow replied, looking worried. "Gus and his dad are still there."
"Don't worry, I helped build the portal door before, I can just build another one," Matt pointed out. "The only problem is that I need Titan's Blood, and without the key…"
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that," King said as he popped up into the conversation. "I got enough Titan's Blood in me you can use."
Matt was quiet for a moment. "Wait, what…?" he asked, looking shocked.
"Yeah, King's dad is… well… the Titan," Amity admitted, leaving Matt with an even more shocked look. "But look at it this way, at least Gus and his dad are in the HR instead of here right now."
"Yeah, I'm glad that he's in the HR," Willow said. "He's much safer there…"
Back at St. Epiderm, Nina was with her family when she saw someone approaching them. It was a friend.
"Hey, Nina," Dusty said as he waved to her. "I, uh, just wanted to come by and see how you and your family were doing."
"Hey, Dusty," Nina replied, nodding at him. "We're doing well."
"Who's your friend, Nina?" West asked her.
"This is Dusty Bringems," Nina introduced. "Dusty, this is Pam, my mom, and my younger siblings, West and Winter."
"Nice to meet you all," Dusty told them. "And I'm sorry about the fire."
However, Pam was looking at him strangely.
"You know, you remind me of a young witch I knew back when I was around Nina's age," Pam said, recognizing him. "Are you related to someone named… Onyx?"
Dusty's eyes widened. "Um… no! Hehe, I don't know anyone named Onyx," he said nervously. "Um, I should go now, I think Kevin needs a second opinion about something!" he said as he rushed away.
"What was that all about?" Winter asked while Nina arched an eyebrow.
"I'll be right back," Nina said as she went to follow Dusty into the hallway. She spotted him hurrying down the hall. "Dusty, wait!"
Dusty paused and turned to see Nina. "Um, what's up, Nina?"
"We need to talk," Nina told him. "About yesterday at Hexside."
"Oh… um…" Dusty looked nervous. "S-Sure, but not here," he said as he and Nina walked around to find somewhere private.
After finding a spot where they were alone, Nina began to talk to him.
"I was saved twice by a shadow back at Hexside," Nina explained. "At first, I thought it was Amity's shadow. But when I got a closer look, I realized that the shadow was shaped like you. Hat and all." She crossed her arms. "That was right before you found me and brought me to the others, wasn't it?"
"Um, I didn't see a shadow when I found you, Nina," Dusty claimed, but Nina was unconvinced.
"Don't try to hide it, Dusty," Nina said. "Because of this and your immortality thing, I know that you are a Fae and that your shadow saved me."
"I am not a Fae!" Dusty denied immediately.
"Okay, then what are you then?" Nina asked, pressing him. "A yokai, ghost, some kind of deity? Just tell me, since we're friends, and I've kept your immortality secret."
Dusty hesitated, looking down wondering if he should tell his werecat friend or not. Eventually, he decided to come clean. "A-Alright, I'll tell you… the shadow wasn't mine… that shadow was me."
This just confused Nina. "What do you mean that shadow was you?"
"Okay, the truth is… I'm actually a living shadow," Dusty revealed. "A shadow that used to belong to a Fae."
"But… you have a shadow," a confused Nina said as she pointed to the shadow that was on the ground beneath Dusty's shoes.
"Oh, that? It's a trick I learned over the years," Dusty said, snapping his fingers which made the shadow beneath him fade out. "See?"
Nina was taken aback, looking down at the floor in shock. "Whoa, you'd make any illusionist jealous with that," she commented before looking up at Dusty. "Wait, if you were the shadow of a Fae, who did you belong to?"
Dusty hesitated, taking a deep breath before he continued. "Well, I used to be the shadow of a Fae who called himself the Collector," he explained to her, looking down. "Truth is, I hated being their shadow. I didn't like them all that much, especially for his role in making an entire generation of witchlings disappear."
Nina blinked. "Wait, the lost generation?" she asked him in shock. "So that wasn't the doing of the Pied Piper?"
"The Piper dealt with the pests, the Collector's role was taking what debt the Isles owed to him," Dusty explained. "But the Collector took it too far and proved to be too powerful to be controlled, so he was sealed away by the two leaders of the Fae, Oberon and Titania. While the Collector was battling them, I managed to slip away from him and go off on my own, meaning that I was free while he was imprisoned. Eventually, I learned how to change my own form and make myself physical, which allowed me to adopt my own identity separate from my host. I have gone by many names like Onyx, Orange, Grey, Flint, and Alexandrite. But I mostly do the same stuff. I attend school, capture and train Beasts, and make plenty of friends and rivals."
Nina had to take a moment to process this. "Okay… that is… mind-blowing. Though as a shadow of someone else, do you know where they end and you begin?"
"Well, I do share some of my host's memories," Dusty admitted. "Some of them I can't make any sense of. But despite that, I do know that I'm not the Collector, nor do I want to be like him. I've tried my best to distance myself from the Collector and be my own witch."
Nina looked at Dusty, more curious than ever. "So… you're still the Dusty I know. Although this does explain how you can withstand pain, a lot."
"Yeah, even as a shadow, I've survived worse," he admitted.
"So… what memories do you have from your host?" she asked him.
Dusty paused before looking up. "Well, for starters, I do remember seeing the stars…"
Viney, meanwhile, was splashing her face with water in the bathroom. She looked at herself in the mirror, seeing that her eyes were red while her hair was down and in a mess. After she freshened herself up, she walked out of the restroom and went to find her mom. But saw her cousin Tina phasing through the wall. "Tina?"
"Hey, Viney," Tina said, waving to her. "I was looking for you."
"Oh," Viney responded while looking at her cousin. "So, uh, how are you feeling?"
"A… little drained after yesterday," Tina replied while looking down sadly.
"Yeah, me too," Viney admitted while looking down. "The fire was…"
"Devastated, to say the least," Tina said while looking down at her shoes. "Have you… spoken to Emira yet?"
"Not really," Viney said, still looking down. "To be honest, I feel like I've broken my vow as a healer, considering how many are dead because of me…"
"Viney…" Tina looked up and walked over to her. "It's not your fault."
"It is, Tina," Viney responded, her hands tightening into fists. "If I had taken out Firebees when I had the chance-" She paused and sighed. "Well, that would've saved everyone in the Villa. I could have prevented the fire…"
"You're not the only one who could have stopped it, Viney," Tina pointed out with a saddened look. "Titan, I'm supposed to be an oracle, but I couldn't have predicted this. None of us did." She looked down again. "But if anyone's at fault, it would be me."
Viney looked at Tina in concern. "No, it's not your fault, Tina. No one is saying that it is, right?"
"Maybe they should…" Tina said in a depressed tone.
"So… how did your parents take you being a hero?" Viney asked, trying to change the subject.
"Well, they do understand my reasoning… well, my dad went on a rant about how I shouldn't have endangered myself like that," Tina admitted. "Though, he was just worried about me, so I can't blame him." She was quiet for a moment. "I… I haven't told the others yet, but… I might decide to leave the team."
Viney looked surprised. "Leave LOWTH? But… you're one of their founding members."
"Yeah, I don't wish to leave them. However, because of what happened yesterday… I don't know if I should continue on," Tina said. "Maybe I should at least take a break… if not leave the team entirely. Mom recommended I should seek out counseling, which I think would do me some good…"
Viney looked at Tina before she replied. "Yeah, it could," she said with a sigh. "Honestly, I was thinking of something similar."
Tina looked at Viney. "What do you mean?" she asked in concern. "Viney?"
"It's… nothing to be concerned about," Viney claimed.
Meanwhile, in the infirmary, Felicia was surrounded by the kappas who hung out with her.
"How are you feeling now, Felicia?" Fuyuko asked her.
"How did you even end up like this?" Kose asked her, concerned.
Felicia looked down, not answering right away. "I overheard my mom talking with someone about the Day of Unity and a draining spell that was going to drain almost everyone's magic. I wasn't supposed to hear that and… she tried to kill me."
This shocked the kappas. "Oh man, we're so sorry that happened, Feli," Koun said, sympathetic.
"Yeah, what kind of a mother would do that to her kid?!" Jocho asked in anger.
"One that only sees her kid as a tool to get ahead," Felicia said with a sigh. "Everyone else is doing their part in stopping the Day of Unity and while I did tell them what I knew, I wish I could do more. Unfortunately, my Penstagram account was blocked, and the Emperor's Coven is monitoring all social media, thus preventing me from exposing my mother and Belos."
"Well, there's gotta be something we can do," Kose said before turning to his purple masked sister. "Fuyuko, you're the tech expert, do you got any suggestions?"
"Well, as much as I've familiarized with the techno-organic technology of this realm, it might prove difficult to hack into social media on these scrolls," Fuyuko said. "The coding in these runs with bypass spells and arcane readings I have yet to translate."
"Well, I appreciate the help," Felicia said. After being quiet for a moment, she sighed. "You know, there is someone I wish I could see right now…"
"Really? Who?" Koun asked her.
"Todd Tweed… my dad," Felicia said, surprising her friends. "I mean, I'm still processing the fact that he is my dad… and that my mom knew all this time. I don't think he knows and I have no idea where he is right now…"
"Felicia?" Tabrella's voice was heard as she, along with her friends, came into the infirmary. "We were told that you're still here…" She paused when she and everyone else saw the kappa ninjas around Felicia.
"Uh oh, better hide!" Koun said as she hid under the bed.
"We don't really need to hide," Jocho pointed out while turning to the five girls. "Sup, we're Felicia's friends. I'm the scary but friendly one."
"Ooh, hi! I'm Andrea, nice to meet you!" Andrea said as she bounced up to shake Jocho's hand.
"Tabby, Lindsay, everyone…" Felicia said, both surprised and nervous to see them. "What… brings you girls here?"
"Well, we came to check up on you," Tabrella said. "Andrea explained to us what happened to you."
"Yeah, and we're sorry," Tracy said while looking down. "Both for what your mom did to you… and for assuming the worst about you."
"We didn't think that your crazy mother would pull that kind of crap and frame you about it," Jackie said while holding her hat to her chest. "Admittedly, we were all ready to condemn you."
"But we know now that you had nothing to do with that story getting out," Lindsay said.
Felicia looked at them, a guilty look on her face. "This is still my fault. If I didn't snoop about your business, Tabby, then maybe my mother wouldn't have roped you, your daughter, and your family into this media frenzy. She did this because of me. And I'm so sorry. I'm really worried about what could happen to you and your family."
"Well, thanks for worrying," Tabrella replied with a sigh. "My parents are in a panic right now, though they're mostly afraid of what would happen to me and Katie. The media is making it out like we're the bad guys…"
Felicia frowned. "But you're not."
"I know, we all know we're not responsible for Duke's death," Tabrella said while walking over and patting Felicia's hand. "You don't have to blame yourself, Felicia. I'm not angry at you. Especially after hearing what your mother did to you."
"Yeah, and you really didn't deserve it, Felicia," Andrea said while looking down sadly.
"And you definitely deserve a better mom," Tracy admitted as everyone sympathized with the fox girl.
"Thanks, guys," Felicia replied with a small smile, appreciating them.
"So, um, aren't you going to introduce your friends to us?" Lindsay asked her.
"Oh, yeah," Felicia said. "Girls, meet Kose, Jocho, Fuyuko and Koun, they're ninja kappas that I met a while ago."
"Teenage Demon Reptile Ninjas, at your service!" Koun declared as she got out from under the bed. "I'm Koun, I'm like the best party animal around."
"Really? You like parties as well?" Andrea asked as Koun nodded. "Me too! I throw the best parties!"
"Really? That's pretty wicked!" Koun replied, smiling.
"Oh great, there's two of them," Jocho muttered.
"So what's your deal, scary and friendly?" Tracy asked him.
"I'm the tough guy," Jocho explained.
Fuyuko was nervous when meeting Lindsay and Tabrella, speaking awkwardly. "Um, hi. Nice to meet other friends of Felicia's… I think, I'm not sure if I read it right."
"Well, we are acquainted with her, but we do care about her well being," Lindsay said.
"I would ask, what kind of purple is your mask?" Tabrella asked her.
"Oh, um it's about Amethyst color," Fuyuko explained.
"Well, it does suit your look," Tabby commented. "You ever thought of modeling? I do see you having the frame for it."
"A-A model?!" Fuyuko asked in surprise.
"You should try it out once in a while, I used to model for Tabrella's clothing designs," Lindsay said.
Jackie went up to Kose. "So are you like the one in charge of yer siblings?"
"I am the leader, yes," Kose responded with a nod. "My sensei made me the leader, though Jocho is the oldest out of us, but I haven't led my team astray yet…"
"So where did you guys even come from?" Jackie asked him.
"Well, we actually originated from the Yokai Realm," Kose explained. "We ended up here in this realm after we got captured by someone who calls himself the Alchemist, a madman who wanted to experiment on us."
"Goodness," Lindsay said in shock. "That sounds horrible."
"Yeah, but luckily we escaped from him and ended up here," Kose said. "Though sometimes we do miss home…"
Meanwhile, in the Yokai Realm at a cloudy palace, Kitsuni was currently waiting in a hallway. She sat down while looking at her own thumbs.
'What do you think they'll do to us, Kitsuni?' asked Todd, who was sitting next to her, though only she could see him.
Kitsuni sighed. "Whatever decision they make, hopefully it won't be too bad."
'It's not going to hurt us, right?'
"Of course not," she reassured him. "I mean, they could try splitting us up, or I might have to give up something. I just want this whole thing to get over with. Especially if it means talking with Madame Izanami."
'This, um, Madame Izzy seems to be a big deal,' he pointed out.
"She is a big deal," Kitsuni explained. "She is a goddess of creation, known to create land, trees, islands, and other gods. Mother of all Yokai, and she is also a death god who often does business with the other death gods. She and I are, um… not in a good place."
'Why is that, if you don't mind me asking?' Todd asked her.
"It is because of a mistake I made a long time ago," Kitsuni explained to him. "Me and an old friend played with the fate of a mortal. For his role in it, my friend ended up having to create what humans know as the story of Exodus, while I was banished from the Human Ream and had to spend thousands of years doing community service. That included cleaning souls, hard chores, and at one point I was a sorcerer's apprentice."
'A sorcerer's apprentice?' Todd asked.
"It was either that or a thousand years cleaning bath houses," Kitsuni explained. "It wasn't all that bad, really."
"Kitsuni," said a Yokai bird demon. "You're being called in."
Kitsuni sighed and stood up. It was time to face the music. She went into the office, expecting Madame Izanami to be in there. "I'm here, Madame Izanami."
"Izanami isn't here to see you, actually," said the person on the chair as they turned around to face Kitsuni, who gave a surprised look.
"What the…?!" she asked in confusion. "What are you doing here… Yen Sid?"
It was indeed Yen Sid, sorcerer and founding member of the Order. He intertwined his fingers. "I wish to talk to you about an important matter."
"What is this about?" Kitsuni asked, still getting over her shock.
"Well, I'd like to ask you about your most recent report," Yen Sid said. "About there being Heartless and a keyblade warrior in the Boiling Isles."
Kitsuni gave a nod. "It's true, there was a bunch of Heartless created by a woman with a heart of darkness, Nicole Hieron. She is now just a Shadow. And I can confirm that there was a dragon-masked warrior who wielded a keyblade that assisted in taking care of the Heartless."
"I see," Yen Sid responded with a nod.
"Sir, do you know who this keyblade warrior is?" Kitsuni asked him.
"I don't," Yen Sid admitted. "But… I do find it troubling. Keyblade warriors aren't as common now as they used to be, but now there are two in the Boiling Isles. The young girl named Donna Masterskull, who holds an inherited keyblade, and this dragon-masked warrior. Speaking of which, how is Ms. Masterskull?"
"She has a good heart, but she is also young and is in need of much guidance. What she needs is a mentor," Kitsuni explained.
"You, perhaps?" Yen Sid suggested, which shocked Kitsuni.
"Me?" she asked in disbelief. "But sir, I never finished my training…"
"I know," he acknowledged. "But you, Kitsuni, were one of my finest apprentices."
Kitsuni was taken aback by this. "Uh, thank you, sir. But while I am flattered that you think so, you do know that I chose to leave after the debacle in the Graveyard ten years ago…"
Yen Sid fell into silence upon being reminded. While his face was usually stoic, Kitsuni could see the sadness in his eyes as he recalled the fates of those involved in the Graveyard debacle. Though it was ten years, it still affected both him and his former apprentice. But despite that, he still pulled something to show her. It was a small box.
"I want to give you something, Kitsuni," Yen Sid said before he opened the box. Kitsuni looked into it and was shocked to see what's inside.
Todd looked at it through her eyes, but was only left confused. 'What? What is that?'
"Are you… sure about this, Yen Sid?" Kitsuni asked him.
"Kitsuni, I know that you have a good heart, and from what I hear about your other half, Todd Tweed, he has a good heart as well," Yen Sid told her. "I understood your decision to walk away from your training and I never held it against you." He paused, looking down. "But I have always hoped that you would come back. And due to recent events, like the Mewni Massacre and the Heartless attack in the Demon Realm… I'm concerned about the future. What we're doing now isn't enough, which is why I've already talked to Madame Inazami and the others, putting in a good word for you."
This surprised her. "I… I thank you, sir."
"It was no issue, Kitsuni," Yen Sid responded. "But now I must ask you one thing… to take back what was once yours."
Kitsuni looked in the box again, her face reluctant…
At the CATT base, Amity was catching up with the Thians.
"Taking care of Kay wasn't an issue since she hatched," Amity said, seeing Kay playing with her big brother. "The first few days were tough, especially when I was trapped in the HR. Luckily, I had Luz, Eda, King, and Camila to help out watching over her."
"Well, we are just glad that she was taken care of, thank you for keeping her safe," Goonla told her.
"Yeah, we owe you and the Clawthornes a lot," Levi said.
"You really don't owe us a thing," Amity said while patting Kay. "I… really appreciated having Kay in my life, but I am glad she is with her family now."
"Well, we thank you again for keeping watch over her for us," Goonla said. "And now that we've reunited with Kay, it's time for the Thians to make their next step… and leave the Isles."
This shocked Amity. "You… you guys are leaving?!" she asked.
"Well, we are escapees and wanted for treason," Levi pointed out.
"Indeed, and a fisherman like me-self has some contacts on the other Titans back from when we were smuggling witches off the Isles," Goonla explained. "Hopefully, I can reach out to them and bring back some help."
Amity frowned. "So if you plan on leaving the Isles, how will you be able to leave? Belos will most likely be watching the harbors now."
"True, and I don't have a ship anymore," Goonla admitted. "But there is someone who offered to help us to get off the Isles."
"Really? Who?" Amity asked.
"He's referring to me…" said a voice.
Amity's eyes widened when she heard the familiar voice and she turned around to see that coming into the room… was Captain Hook himself.
"Hello again, Amity…" he said, smiling.
"Hook?!" Amity exclaimed before she turned to Goonla. "Captain, with all due respect, I don't think it's a good idea to trust him. Hook attacked your ship and your crew once…"
"I know," Goonla replied. "But Hook is a pirate, and that experience could be useful to us in avoiding the attention of the Emperor's Coven."
"I couldn't agree more," Hook said. "After all, we're on the same side right now, since we have a common goal."
Amity was silent for a moment, still staring at Hook before getting up. "Okay… Hook, I need to talk to you alone."
Once she brought the pirate to somewhere they could talk alone, Amity's shadow moved and pinned the pirate to the wall. Hook grunted as Sam held him in place, arms up. Amity summoned her Sword of Adam and aimed at his neck.
"A little excessive for just a talk, don't you think?!" Hook asked.
"Listen here, you scurvy-sucking son of a bitch," Amity hissed at him, giving him an intense glare. "I am warning you just once that if anything happens to the Thians under your watch, I will kill you."
Sensing the serious tone Amity had, Hook gave a response. "N-not to worry, my young witch friend, I promise to not lay a hand or a hook on them."
"Really? Cause I know all about your loopholes," Amity said. "So I want you to promise to neither betray, nor cause any harm, direct or indirect, to the Thians. Got it?"
Hook nodded. "Y-Yes, I promise all of that."
"Good." Amity said as she lowered her sword. "Sam, let him go," she instructed, her shadow releasing him. "You know, I do wonder what you will do after Belos is dealt with. Are you still going to come after me again? Cause honestly, I do not want to be trapped in the same cycle that you and Pan were in. I am not having that."
Hook just gave Amity a stare. "Well let me ask you this… can you bring my Smee back?" he asked. When Amity was unable to answer, he nodded. "That is my reply."
Amity just looked down. "For what it's worth, you have my condolences about Smee."
Hook adjusted his jacket and prepared to leave, but stopped himself. "One more question… is Peter Pan really dead?"
Amity gave him a look. "Yes, he is."
Hook studied her face for a long time before he gave a sigh. "That's a shame," he said before he began to away, leaving Amity alone.
Grimhilde was getting something to eat, checking the food supplies and ironically settling on an apple when she heard Sunny's voice.
"Grimhilde?" Sunny asked as she approached her. "Is that… really you?"
"Sunny," Grimhilde said, turning to see her. She smiled. "Well, this is a surprise."
"I didn't think it was you, at first," Sunny admitted, not looking as happy to see her. "Because the last time I saw you, you were…"
"Old and ugly?" she asked her.
"Well, not like that. You were different," Sunny said. "But wow, you look beautiful."
"Yes, I am," Grimhilde said, nodding. "It's so good to look like my old self again. No more looking like an old hag, or being trapped in that accursed mirror…"
Sunny frowned as she looked at Grimhilde."I know that it did come with a cost though," she said. "I… did hear that you poisoned Luz."
Grimhilde paused, her smile vanishing as she looked at Sunny, realizing that the witch was judging her. She gave a sigh. "I won't deny that. It's true. It was unfortunately necessary," she claimed. "Honestly, Luz wasn't even my target and I didn't intend for anyone to be killed. I just did what I had to in order to uphold my end of the deal and free Bloody Mary. I understand that not everyone is happy with what I did, but I'm not expecting them to be happy either and I'm certainly asking them to like it. Because I don't need anyone to like what I did. I just want my life back." She looked down at her apple. "I know that might be selfish… but I can live with that. I was a selfish person then and I am a selfish person now. That's just who I am."
Sunny continued to frown, not sure what to make of Grimhilde. "I actually do understand your reasoning for what you did," she admitted. "I don't agree with it… but I understand it. Although, I don't think you're completely selfish, Grimhilde. You did warn me about Terra, and now you're trying to help stop Belos."
"That is correct," Grimhilde admitted. "But it doesn't change the fact that my end goals are fundamentally selfish, since I'm trying to get my life back even if it is at the expense of others." She shrugged. "I have no delusions about that."
"So… what do you even plan to do after all of this?" Sunny asked.
"Well, since me and Mary are even, I don't plan to stick with her. I plan to go live my own life," Grimhilde admitted while stroking her chin. "Hmm, maybe open up my own business somewhere. Definitely not here in the Isles though. Too much bad blood. But I'm not like Hook or Mary, I'm not interested in revenge. Once we're done with this, we'll part ways."
"Well, all I can say is that I hope you have a good life," Sunny told her with a sigh before she turned to walk away. "And I hope that everyone you did was worth it…"
After Sunny was gone, Grimhilde looked down at the apple in her hand. She was quiet, contemplative even.
"It was," she decided, taking a bite from the apple.
Meanwhile, Luz and Hunter were walking through the base.
"So you think this is where Raine lives or it's like one of those spare homes they have?" Luz asked him. "In fact, how much is a Bard's salary?"
"I um, I guess as much, if not more, than a scout's," Hunter replied before noticing a room with the door hanging open. He spotted Star inside. "Star?" he asked as he went in.
"Hey, guys," Star waved to them while sitting next to Ludo, who was simply drawing. Hunter was shocked to see Ludo there.
"Ludo? You're here?!" Hunter asked in surprise.
Ludo looked up and noticed Hunter. "Hey, I know you! You used to bring me food back at the castle…"
"Oh, is this the Ludo you've talked about before?" Luz asked, seeing the kappa-like monster.
"Yeah, like Star, Tom, and Eclipsa, he's also a refugee from Mewni," Hunter explained. "When I learned that he had seen the Exorcist robots first hand, I was hoping he could give me more information that would clarify Belos's vision. But around the time when the Emperor's Coven took out the BATTs, Belos had him relocated to the Conformatorium before I could get more information out of him."
"Well luckily, I managed to escape!" Ludo declared while he continued to draw. "But not without Webstor, of course."
"Webstor?" Luz asked, noticing the injured spider biped on the other side of the room. He was lying in a cot while being tended to by a healer they didn't recognize. "Hey, I recognized you. You were at the petrification ceremony," she said to Webstor.
"Oh, yes that was me," Webstor groaned while covered in bandages and wearing a cast. He looked up at Luz and his eyes widened, remembering her as the girl whose family he almost had to petrify. "I recognize you, Luz Clawthorne. I guess it is nice to see you again… under slightly better circumstances."
"Webstor Manylegs… oh man, it is you!" Hunter realized, looking relieved.
Webstor looked over at Hunter, recognizing him. "The Golden Guard… I'm surprised to see you here… is that a mechanical arm?"
"It's a long story…" Hunter admitted. "But, I'm glad to see you're okay."
"Hmm, thank you," Webstor said before turning back to Luz. "Its funny. I've only actually seen you twice, but you defined a huge part of my career."
"What do you mean?" Luz asked him.
"As Head of the Media Coven, I was the one who covered up your existence," he explained to her. "For years, I was keeping incidents with you hush-hush, even from Lilith. And now that we've finally met… it's funny." He looked down in regret. "I also had to cover up Belos's atrocities, including what happened to those involved in the Slayground incident. The ones who refused to stay silent…"
"Alright, Mr. Manylegs, I think you'll make a full recovery," the healer told him.
"Thank you, Dr. Whispers," Manylegs replied.
This shocked Luz and Hunter. "Wait… Dr. Whispers?" Luz asked as the healer removed her hood, revealing herself to be Hail as she turned to Luz.
"Oh, you must be Eda's daughter, Luz," Hail replied with a smile. "Nice to finally meet you."
"Wait, you wouldn't happen to be related to Raine Whispers, would you?" Hunter asked her.
"Why yes, I am their mother," Hail confirmed. "My name is Dr. Hail Whispers. When my Raine asked me to come over here to help out the CATTs since they needed a healer, I was happy to do so. Mr. Manylegs suffered a lot of injuries that weren't properly healed when he was imprisoned. Intentionally, it seems."
"Poor prison conditions… not surprised at this point," Luz said while looking at Hail. "But it's nice meeting you, Dr. Hail Whispers," she said politely.
"Thank you," Hail responded.
"Mr. Manylegs," Hunter spoke up. "Maybe you can be of help."
"How can I be? I'm no fighter…" Manylegs said.
"But you can testify against Belos and the Emperor's Coven, which would help out the CATTs a lot," Hunter suggested. "After Belos is overthrown, a lot of witches are going to have to be held responsible for their role in his reign. You can help us with that."
Webstore thought about it before he nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I think I will do that. Better than fighting."
"And… I should probably testify as well," Hunter admitted. "Even if I was in the dark about a lot of what Belos was really doing…"
"Manylegs… wait a minute!" Luz finally realized, her shouting startling Webstor. "Now I know why your name's familiar! You're the Manylegs of Otabin!"
Webstor's eyes widened. "You… you know of my book?"
"Yeah!" Luz replied happily. "Your book really meant a lot to me as a child. Like, whenever I felt down, I would always read Otabin to make myself better. It helped me go through a lot in my childhood."
"R-Really?" Webstor asked, feeling appreciated and relieved in hearing this. "Otabin… I haven't thought about him in a long time. I was in a very different place when I wrote about him. But I'm so happy to hear that my legacy won't be just covering up Belo's crimes," he said with a smile, his eyes tearing up. "At least I made a positive impact on someone…"
"Luz, Hunter," Star spoke up to them, getting their attention. "You two need to look at these."
The two walked over to Ludo's bed, where Star held up his drawings. "Ludo's drawings?" Hunter asked.
"Yeah, while I was watching over him, I gave him some paper and crayons to draw with," Star said as she showed them the drawings. "But these drawings are… concerning."
Luz and Hunter's eyes widened when they saw the drawings, which were filled with depictions of graphic imagery. They saw images of the Exorcist robots and other demons slaughtering and devouring Mewmans and Monsters. One of them depicted an X-mark crack in the sky.
"Dear Titan…" Luz said, thoroughly disturbed.
"This is… just like the drawings he made on the prison walls," Hunter noted.
Star looked worried about these drawings. "What happened on Mewni took a toll on Ludo's mind. I've had a hard time helping him keep focused, but then there's one drawing that bothers me the most…"
She showed them one drawing Ludo made. It was completely black except for a pair of yellow eyes in the middle of it. "I've tried to ask Ludo about it, but he just blabbers in gibberish."
Luz and Hunter shared a look. "This is… concerning," Hunter said.
"Wait, this creature," Luz said as he pointed at the drawing. "Do you think this creature might have something to do with your vision and the creature Willow was warned about?"
"I'm not… sure," Hunter admitted. "The creature I saw had only one eye."
"I'm honestly confused about that part," Luz also admitted. "Do you mean like if it's like a cyclops with one eye in the middle, or like a person with two eyes but is missing one of them or is wearing an eye-patch like my mom."
Hunter thought about it before he went to grab a black crayon and a piece of paper. "Let me draw it out," he said as he went to a desk, drawing out the picture to fit in the description.
Luz and Star watched him draw, Ludo looking over as well. "Say, you're really good at this."
"Thanks," Hunter responded as he finished the drawing and showed it to them. "This is what I saw… though admittedly, I only saw the silhouette."
Luz looked at the drawing of a winged humanoid figure, which did seem to be missing their left eye. Seeing this, made Luz's eyes widen in realization… and panic.
"Oh shit!" Luz shouted as she backed away in shock. "Hunter… are you sure this is what you saw?!"
"Why? What's the matter?" Hunter asked her, confused.
"That figure… looks like mom," Luz said, surprising Hunter and Star.
"What?" Star asked her.
"When mom goes into her harpy form, she has yellow eyes," Luz pointed out while turning to Hunter. "Which eye was the creature missing?"
"I… don't remember, honestly," He admitted. "I think that sometimes I remember this thing having only its left eye and sometimes on its right eye. But I can't be sure which eye it was…" This filled Luz with dread, which Hunter noticed. "But, we still don't have a lot to go on. Like, if this could be connected to Department A or it could be connected to whatever is in the Nightmare Realm. But this can wait until after we finish dealing with Belos."
After calming herself down, Luz gave him a nod. "Yeah, I agree. But I'm still worried about this," she said as she looked at Ludo. "Ludo, what else can you tell us about the drawing you've made?" she asked, pointing at the black figure with yellow eyes.
Ludo stared at his drawing, dread overtaking him. "I still see those eyes in my nightmares…"
Meanwhile, Eda and Raine were together as they talked.
"Have you seen my posters they put out?" Riane asked Eda.
"Yeah," Eda replied with a smile. "They got down your good looks, just like they did with mine."
"Well, glad you think so," Raine responded, the two of them falling quiet after that, even though both of them looked like they had much on their mind.
"Say, Raine," Eda said at last. "Have you ever thought about what happens after Belos gets defeated?"
"Oh, well… I'm thinking that I'll probably have my hands full. Dealing with Belo's loyalists and building a new government and all," Raine replied. "Would you be helping me out?"
"Well, I might consider it," Eda admitted. "But I'll be better at the fighting Belo's butt-kissers part than the helping build a new government part"
"Yeah, that seems about right," Raine said as they chuckled.
"Luz might not be around as much," Eda admitted.
"What do you mean?" they asked, confused..
"Well, Luz wants to spend more time with her mom in the Human Realm and I do agree that she should," she replied, which surprised Riane. "It was the right choice, honestly. Camila deserves to spend more time with Luz, and Luz deserves to spend more time with her birth mom. So it's only fair. But even without Luz, I'll have my hands full as well with the orphanage."
Raine looked at Eda with a smile. "Looks like we both have our hands full."
"Yeah, makes me wonder if we'll ever have time to spend together," Eda replied, causing her and Raine to stare down for the moment.
"We're… not that different after all, are we?" Raine asked her. "Having all of these responsibilities and having people to look out for."
"Yeah," Eda nodded in agreement. "We're just one in the same." Another thought occurred to Eda. "Rainestorm… do you think we have a chance?"
Raine looked at Eda. "About Belos?"
"No… about us," Eda clarified while looking at Raine. She took a deep breath. "I know this isn't the right time to ask, but… for years I've lived with a lot of regrets, such as telling you about my curse when she should have," she admitted. "But… whatever happens with Belos, whether we win or lose, I don't want to miss my chance again to tell you this. I… I love you, Raine Whispers."
Raine was surprised by this, but they didn't pull away. Instead, they looked Eda in the eyes while drawing closer. "I… I love you too, Eda Clawthorne," they told her, making Eda smile.
The two had locked eyes, neither of them saying a word. It seemed like nothing would ruin this moment, but it was then… they heard whispers.
"See? I told ya!" Amber's voice was heard.
"It's about time," Katya replied.
"Took them long enough," Derwin commented.
Raine and Eda turned to see Amber, Katya, Derwin, Boris, and Tres hiding behind a corner. "What are you five doing there?!" Raine called them out, starting the five.
"Go! Go!" Boris told them as rushed off.
"Congratulations, by the way!" Tres told them before they scattered and laughed to themselves.
Raine just sighed. "What am I going to do with them…"
Eda gave a snicker. "They're definitely your kids."
Later, Luz met up with Beocrow again, the two sharing their goodbyes.
"It was great to see you again, cuz," Luz said as she hugged Beocrow.
He returned the hug. "Yeah, it was great seeing you too, Luz," he said before they released each other. "Goodbye, Luz. And good luck."
"You too, Beo," Luz responded.
Atticus communicated with Takai, the two Palismen saying their goodbyes as well. "Come on, Takai," Beocrow told his Palisman, who flew up to his shoulder. Atticus only gave them one last look before flying back to Luz's hair.
"Are you kids ready?" Eda asked Beo, Gavin, and Matt.
"Yeah, I'm ready," Gavin responded after he finished hugging his dad and Hunter.
"Same," Matt replied.
After Beocrow gave a nod, Eda made her announcement. "Alright, back to St. Epiderm," she said before the four left for St. Epiderm.
Once she saw they were gone, Luz saw Hunter coming up to her. "Luz, do you have a moment?"
"Sure, what's up?" she asked him.
"I need your help, if you can follow me," he said as he led Luz over to King. "King, can you help me as well?"
"Sure, I'm free," King replied. "What do you need, Hunter?"
Hunter took a deep breath before continuing. "Well, I think now's a good time to tell Lilith that I'm her son, before everything gets too crazy," Hunter explained to them. "But I think I need some help."
"Say no more," Luz told him, patting his shoulder. "We'll be happy to help. Maybe we can get Amity to help out as well."
"Yeah," Hunter agreed. "That would be nice."
Soon, Hunter was bringing Lilith into another room…
"What is it that you want to tell me, Hunter?" Lilith asked him as Hunter led her into a dark room. "And why is this room dark?"
Suddenly, the lights were turned on and they could hear the sound of party blowers as confetti was thrown around.
"Congratulations!" Luz and King declared while Amity and Sam flew up to release the banner. Lilith read the banner…
'IT'S A BOY!'
"Um… come again?" Lilith asked, even more confused.
"Me and Luz set it up ourselves!" King declared, pointing at the banner.
"Okay… Hunter, what is going on?" Lilith asked, still confused.
Hunter looked up at Lilith. He seemed very nervous. "Um, you see, Lilith…" he said, trying to muster up the courage to tell her. "Okay, so… there's something you deserve to know. I know about Grimwalker deterioration, but I also now know how Belos was able to prevent it when he made me. He realized that in order to… completely stabilize me to avoid Grimwalker deterioration, he needed… blood of a living descendant of his brother." He paused before continuing. "And that descendant… is you." He looked down nervously while Lilith looked at him in silence. "So technically, I'm… your son, Lilith."
Lilith remained silent and stoic, not even gasping as she let herself process what Hunter had told her. He anxiously looked up at her while Luz, King, and Amity watched, wondering what Lilith was thinking right now.
"L-Look, Lilith," Hunter spoke up again. "This doesn't have to change anythi-"
"SON!" Lilith suddenly screamed, starting the kids as she burst into tears and then… went to hug Hunter.
Hunter was surprised by Lilith's response, which brought him to tears as well. "M-Mom!" he shouted as he hugged Lilith, the two crying as they held onto each other
Meanwhile, back at St. Epiderm, Hooty rose his head up, sensing something.
"I sense something is going on…" Hooty said while looking around. "I don't know what, but it makes me upset that I'm not there! Hoot-hoot-hooooot!" he cried while laying onto Lulu's lap.
"There, there, Hooty." Lulu pats on his head in comfort.
Back at CATT base, Lilith and Hunter continued to cry together while Luz, Amity, and King watched.
"You know, this is… going to take some getting used to," Amity commented, still not sure what to think of the whole 'Hunter being Lilith's son' thing.
"Yeah, it will, but I'm happy for them," Luz admitted, smiling as she watched mother and son embrace each other.
King was just looking at the banner. "Do you think the banner was too much?" he asked.
Shortly after that, it was time for the war meeting. Everyone had gathered around the table. The ones present were Raine, Darius, Eberwolf, Eda, Lilith, Boris, Amber, Katya, Derwin, Luz, Amity, King, Hunter, Willow, Cross, Le'Belle, Tres, Bindell, Bunker, Bela, Goonla, Levi, Steve, Sunny, Star, Larry, Grimhilde, Hook… and Bloody Mary. Everyone else stayed clear of her, giving her plenty of space as she sat down on her own seat, Grimhilde sitting beside her. Odalia, Geist, Edric, and Emira were the last ones to show up, having arrived from St. Epiderm.
Amity turned to see her family. Edric gave Amity a smile and wave, but Emira didn't. She just looked down with a saddened look while following the rest of her family into the room. Amity, Bela, and Hikari all looked at Emira in concern.
"Emira, are you alright?" Hikari asked as Emira joined her and Bela.
"I'm… fine," Emira claimed, adjusting herself for the briefing around the Boiling Isles map.
"Alright, is everyone listening?" Raine asked them while looking around. "Alright, now we shall start the briefing. As you all know, the Emperor's Coven right now is already in a disarray after the attacks on the schools and the Torsa Villa fire. This has left them vulnerable, and with the Day of Unity happening tomorrow and several of the Coven Heads currently in the Healing Coven, now is our best chance. So our plan is to create as much chaos as possible… with harmless pranks and fireworks."
"I got that covered," Edric said while holding a satchel filled with his handmade fireworks.
"We're targeting precincts across the Isles, the chaos and the confusion putting the Emperor's Coven in even more of a disarray and forcing them to expend more of their resources trying to control the situation. While they are busy dealing with that, we will attack several different locations," Raine said as they pointed to the pins. "The Abominations Coven, where Alador is. The Healing Coven, where half of the Coven Heads are supposed to be, and the Emperor's Castle. Amity will be infiltrating the Abominations Coven."
"Wait, alone?" Cross asked.
"With my Fae abilities, I can teleport and use Sam to scout around," Amity explained. "I can get in and get out very quickly."
"So what will you be doing?" Cross asked, turning to Luz.
"Me, mom, and Aunt Lilith are going to help prank the precincts," Luz explained. "I wanted to go with Amity at first, but this does seem like a better plan. She can get in and out much easier than anyone else and I am a master of pranking."
"And I'm going with them as well," Larry explained. "I can get you guys inside the precinct."
Raine nodded. "And remember, we need to prioritize minimizing loss of life as much as possible. These scouts were lied to about Belos as well, so it is important that these attacks are non-lethal. We want to disrupt, not terrorize. That includes the Coven Heads. We want to capture them alive if possible so they can be held responsible and testify against Belos. It is possible that Belos has back-ups chosen, but securing the Coven Heads will still disrupt his plans and make him look bad, causing witches to doubt him."
Everyone nodded in agreement while Raine continued. "Now then, the teams will consist of groups of three and four. Eda's team will consist of her, Lilith, Luz, and Larry."
"Team Eda and the Three L's," Luz commented.
"You will target Coven Precinct 128 in Bonesborough," Raine told them. "The ones to target Coven Precinct 206 in Latissa will be Team Two: Geist, Ed, and Bunker. Team Three will consist of Odalia, Emira, Hikari and Bela and their target is Coven Precinct 300 in Metropelvis. Team Four will consist of Boris, Derwin, Katya, and Amber at Coven Precinct 540 by Merlin Meadows"
"Wait," Boris said, standing up. "I thought I was gonna help with taking down those Coven Heads!"
"I reassigned you. Tres, Darius, Eberwolf, and Star will be with me to raid the Healing Coven," Raine explained. "We can't underestimate those Coven Heads, so we need some of our heavy hitters in order to take them down as quickly as possible."
"But I think-"
"Boris," Raine interrupted. "I know why you want to come with us, but revenge isn't our top priority. Right now we need to secure the Heads, including Calypso. Justice will come in due time," they told him as Boris sat down. "As for the infiltration of the Emperor's Castle, it will be led by Steve and Le'Belle with Bindell, Cross, Grimhilde, and Bloody Mary following them. With the attention of the Emperor's Coven being on the attacks on the precincts and the Healing Coven, a group should easily be able to enter the Emperor's Castle while posing as scouts. From inside the Castle, Steve and Le'Belle believe that they can convince other scouts to rebel against the covens. That would create enough of a distraction to give you a chance to free the prisoners."
"A part of me still feels like I should be a part of this group," Hunter said, conflicted.
"Well, you don't have to," Cross pointed out. "You've told us where the private dungeon is and where some of the secret passages are. That information, along with Lilith's, is more than enough."
"Correct," Raine nodded. "And once they are in the castle, they can let Bloody Mary and Grimhilde in through the service tunnels and in the ensuing chaos, Bloody Mary and Grimhilde will be able to go after Belos. Even if they don't succeed, the Emperor's Coven will no longer be functional and Belos will be weakened, hurting his image." They then turned to Hook and the Thians. "Meanwhile, Hook will guide the Thians out of the Isles and try to get some back-up from the other Titans. It'll be a lot safer that they don't get involved, in case something happens."
"You have my promised word that they will be protected," Hook declared while glancing at Amity, who gave him a deadly glare while behind her Sam transformed into a noose to hang Hook from. "From both direct and indirect harm," he added.
"What about St. Epiderm? Will everyone in there be alright?" Willow asked.
"Don't worry, in addition to LOWTH, Athena and her family will help protect the school, Willow," Odalia reassured her.
"So the plan is to stop Belos from carrying out the Day of Unity, although presumably he can't finish the Day of Unity without a working portal. I do recall that Belos has artificial Titans Blood according to Dr. Atos," Luz brought up. "Do you guys think Belos would use it to open the portal?"
"I highly doubt it," Bloody Mary said. "If he attempted it, it would probably blow up in his face… literally. He'll end up just like me."
"And the last thing we need is a Bloody Belos," Edric muttered to Emira, who didn't respond and kept quiet.
"However, Belos is probably going to try something desperate tomorrow and that will make him even more dangerous. It is important that we try to stop him before that and make sure that he can't fulfill the Day of Unity," Raine said as they pointed to Sunny. "Sunny, you will be staying behind here at base to help protect it, our injured, and our prisoners. Hunter, Willow, and King, you three can stay behind to assist."
"I'll do my best, Raine," Sunny replied with determination.
"Alright, you all know your parts and are in agreement with the plan, right?" Raine asked as everyone gave a nod. "Great! Now is the time we make history, everyone. War briefing, dismissed."
And so, everyone got up as they prepared for their different tasks and took the time to say their goodbyes before they moved out.
Amity and Luz went to Willow, King and Hunter, the girls hugging each other. "We'll see you once we complete our missions, Willow," Amity said to her.
"Yeah, we won't let Belos get to you guys," Luz said as she then hugged King.
"Just be careful you guys," Willow said as Amity also hugged King.
"Yeah, because after this, I want us to go on a lot more adventures," King said.
"Oh, there will definitely be more adventures," Luz said before looking at Hunter. "And hey, maybe we can finally take you to the Human Realm, Hunter. Once we get a new portal door built, I mean."
Hunter smiled. "Yeah, I'd like that."
Amity looked over at her family and walked over. "Mom, guys," she spoke to them. "I wish you all luck with your missions."
"You too, dear," Odalia said as the two hugged. "We'll see you and Alador later."
"Yeah, good luck on saving him from the Abomination Coven," Edric said while hugging Amity. "When you see him again, tell dad to stop needing to be rescued."
Amity laughed. "Yeah, I'll tell him that," she said.
"Hey, once this whole thing's over, I was thinking we could all have dinner at my place," Geist suggested before hugging Amity as well. "Food and drinks are on me, guys."
Amity smiled before turning to Emira. "Hey, Em… good luck on your mission."
Emira just gave her a nod before hugging Amity. "You too, Mittens."
Meanwhile, Steve and Sunny were hugging each other. "Just be careful on your mission, Steve," Sunny told him.
"I will, Sunny," Steve replied. He sighed. "I just hope that when I see my old scout mates, they'll listen to reason."
"I'm sure they will," Sunny reassured him. "I mean, all it took to get me to join was you introducing Hikari to me and explaining why you defected. So just tell the others the truth."
Steve smiled. "Thanks, Sunny," he said before he spotted Lilith nearby. "I, uh, should wish Lilith luck," he said as he went to confront Lilith. He saw her hugging Hunter, who hugged her back.
"Good luck, mom," Hunter called her, which surprised Steve.
"You too, son," Lilith replied.
"…Wait, what?!" Steve asked, looking surprised to hear and see this.
"Yeah, I know," Eda said as she stood next to Steve, arms crossed and a smirk on her face. "I was surprised too."
Meanwhile, Luz was embracing Cross, who hugged her back.
"Good luck," Luz told Cross. "Tell your sister I said hi."
"I will," Cross promised. "And good luck on your mission too." He smirked slightly. "I guess we really are the same."
"Oh, what do you mean by that?" Luz asked him. "That we're both trouble-makers? Delinquents?"
"No," Cross said, shaking his head. "I mean we're both Clawthornes."
Luz smiled and punched his shoulder. "Hell yeah we are."
Meanwhile, Amity spotted the Thians, who were preparing their leave. She flew over to them. "Hey, I just wanted to see you guys before you left. I… guess this is goodbye."
"Yeah, I guess so," Goonla said, frowning. "For now, at least."
"I mean, hopefully we will be able to see you again," Levi said while holding Kay.
"May I?" Amity asked him. Levi nodded and handed Kay to her. As she held Kay, she looked down at her. "Hey Kay. Listen, we might not see each other for a while, but I promise that once the whole thing's over, we'll see each other again. Be a good girl, and be good to your father and brother, okay?"
Kay looked up at Amity, nuzzling into her. "Bamity!" she shouted, which made Amity smile, tears in her eyes.
"Yeah, I love you too," she said.
The groups were now ready to hit the precincts. Eda, Luz, Amity, and Lilith hid with their cloaks on while up on a rooftop.
"Alright, we'll just need to wait for Larry to bring us those extra scout uniforms," Eda told them, while watching the precinct. "Then we will be able to get inside."
"I got enough magic spray cans, non-magical paint balloons, and stink bombs for everyone," Luz said while holding buckets of spray cans, paint balloons, and stink bombs.
"Oh this is going to be exciting," Lilith said to herself. "My first pranking with the family."
"I think you'll do well with this, Lily," Eda commented.
Amity looked at all of them before she spoke up. "I'm going to go get my dad. But I want to let you guys know… thank you all, for taking me in and helping me go through a lot over this summer."
Luz frowned. "Amity, you sound like you don't think we'll ever see you again."
"I mean, I wanted to say that just in case," Amity said. "We don't really know what's going to happen, do we?"
"Of course we do, Ams," Luz said as she hugged her girlfriend. "We are going to kick Belos's butt, aren't we?"
Amity smiled and hugged Luz back. "Yeah, of course," she said. "Sorry, I guess I'm just a bit nervous now that we are finally doing this."
Luz nodded. "I get it," she said. "But don't let yourself get distracted by dwelling on the worst case scenario, okay?"
"Yeah, go save your daddy, kid," Eda said, giving her a thumbs up.
"We wish you luck, Amity," Lilith said as both sisters went to hug Amity as well.
"I love you all so much," Amity said as she hugged them back. After that, she walked over to fly up from the roof. "Good luck, guys," she said before she teleported away.
Meanwhile, Odalia's team were preparing to hit the precinct in Metropelvis.
"You girls ready for this?" Odalia asked them.
"We're ready, ma'am," Hikari said as she and Bela held up potion flasks while Emira prepared her illusions.
"We'll put on a show," Emira said to her mother, nodding.
As they traveled through Metropelvis, Hikari looked at Emira, who was preparing her illusions. She frowned, sensing great distress coming from Emira. Deciding to confront her, she walked over to Emira.
"Hey," Hikari said to her. "Are you okay, Emira?"
"Oh, um… yeah," Emira claimed, though Hikari wasn't convinced.
"You know you can tell me anything, Emira," Hikari told her. "I sense that you're distressed over something, so if you want to talk about it, I'm here. Only if you wish."
Emira looked at Hikari, thinking over it for a moment before taking a deep breath. "Well, it's… about me and Viney. You know about the Firebees incident at the Torsa Villa? We faced him before when he was causing some arsons. Viney was going to end him but I stopped her, convincing her to not go down that road… but now I don't know if I made the right call or not. What happened in the Villa… it was my fault…" she said while looking upset.
Hikari looked at her sympathetically. "It's not your fault, Emira. It was Firebees that decided to burn the Villa, you didn't make him do that."
"Still… I can't help but feel guilty about it, especially because of the horrible position I put Viney in," Emira told her with a saddened look. Hikari immediately went to hug her.
"It's okay, Emira," Hikari said as Emira hugged her back. "Do you wish to sit this one out?"
Emira immediately shook her head. "No. I'm fine," she insisted.
"Okay, but can we talk more after this?" Hikari asked her. "We can even bring Viney in."
"Yeah, that sounds good," Emira said with a nod as they continued to walk to the precinct.
Once they got to the precinct, they were about to make their move. Emira's hands started to glow, while Bela and Hikari prepared their tricks.
At the Latissa precinct, the trio of Geist, Edric and Bunker kept themselves invisible when placing the fireworks nearby.
"Alright, the fireworks are in place," Bunker said.
"Never had to be this discreet since I tried to sneak into a Wands N' Roses concert," Geist commented.
"How did that go?" Edric asked.
"Let's just say, the riot wasn't fun," Geist said with a sigh. "Poor Chucky…"
The original BATTs made their way to the Merlin Meadows precinct, holding their instruments.
"Everybody ready?" Katya asked, holding her tambourine.
"Ready," the other three replied.
"Alright, let's make some music," Boris said while wearing his mask, ready to play…
"Ready, girls?" Odalia asked them.
"Ready," they responded.
At the Metropelvis precinct, the scouts saw sparks appearing in the air. "What the…?"
"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" another replied to another scout, only for the latter to disappear. "Gah!"
"What's going on?!" one scout shouted as suddenly a ghost ball rolled over to his boot and exploded, unleashing a bunch of ghosts
"OOGA-BOOGA-BOOGA!" the ghosts declared.
"AAAAAAH!" the scouts screamed as they ran into the precinct, only for it to be filled with ghost balls…
At the Latissa precinct, fireworks were set off all around, each of them showing off derogatory comments about Belos and the covens.
"Who's responsible for this?!" the captain demanded.
"Hey officer!" shouted Edric, who waved at them and stuck his tongue out. "Can't catch me!"
"Get him!" he ordered. The scouts went to grab Edric, only for him to disappear. "What!?"
More fireworks were set off in the sky, some of them even flying into the building, but most of them were illusions. However, the scouts didn't know which were fake and which were real, sending them into a panic.
"What's happening to me?!" a scout asked when he ended up moving against his will.
"Where is that music coming from?!" the guard asked as the scouts and guards moved around involuntarily. Some ended up sleeping, while others ended up marching out of the precinct and dancing.
The original BATTs played their instruments, getting the scouts and guards to wander around and become a disorganized mess. "Keep playing, guys," Katya said while they kept playing.
Back to Eda's team, Larry came back with the extra scout uniforms.
"Alright, here's what I brought," Larry said as he handed them the uniforms.
"These look… outdated," Lilith commented while looking at the mask.
"It's what I could find, sorry," Larry told them.
"Well then, if we're going to get in there alive, we need to be… inconspicuous," Eda said as everyone nodded in agreement.
Moments later, a disguised Eda kicked the door open as she along with the disguised Lilith and Luz showed up with Larry.
"Alright! We're here to do some paperwork!" Eda declared dramatically, but no one paid any attention to her. They were too busy.
"Talk about being less inconspicuous…" Lilith commented.
"Would've appreciated some reaction," Luz whispered.
"This is a good thing, we'll blend in nicely," Larry said as the four went in.
At the Abominations Coven, Amity was waiting outside. She saw some Abomination scouts stationed as guards, not realizing that Sam was sneaking out from the castle. Sam went to Amity.
"Everything's all clear," she reported. "I also found your dad in his office."
"Thanks, Sam," Amity replied before teleporting in.
Meanwhile, at the Healing Coven, Raine's group spotted some scouts standing outside one of the entrances and they moved quickly to knock them out before they could break in.
"Remember, let's try to do this as fast and as quietly as possible," Raine said while karate-chopping a scout in the back of the neck, making them unconscious.
Darius knocked some out with his blunt hand, while Eberwolf shot tranquilizer spells on them. Star simply punched and kicked the guards, but they were all beaten by Tres, who drained some of the scouts enough to leave them unconscious.
"Let me handle this, guys," Tres said as he drained the rest of the scouts.
"Huh, this makes our jobs easier," Star commented while Eberwolf nodded, both of them glad that Tres was on their side.
Meanwhile, in the Emperor's Castle, Le'Belle was seen leading Blazer in his Hellhound form and D-Josh.
"Green Scout, brought in some more wild witches?" the guard asked.
"Yeah, I found these two stragglers running around," Le'Belle said while showing her sigil, the guard using a spell to scan it for clearance. "But since the Conformatorium is still being repaired and the precincts are too busy, I thought I would bring them to some cells here."
"Alright, you're in," he said as the gates opened. Le'Belle went in with the arrested prisoners behind her.
Once they got in, she looked back at the two. "Nice job on the disguises… Cross."
"Thanks," Cross replied while in disguise as Blaze, while Steve was disguised as D-Josh.
"Bindell should be ready for us soon," Steve whispered.
Back in the Bonesborough precinct, Eda, Larry, Lilith and Luz were setting some stink bombs and paint bombs around in secret, at the back and near the cells.
"Alright, once we set them off, this place will smell as bad as New York," Eda said.
"New York?" Larry asked.
"A place in the Human Realm, really bad plumbing systems," Eda explained.
"You know, I kinda want to see the evidence warehouse before we set the bombs off," Luz admitted. "See if we could find and savage some of our stuff we left from the Owl House, before it got burned down. They might also just have some other really cool stuff."
"Wait," Lilith said as she raised her head up. "Do you guys… hear that?"
"Hear what?" Larry asked as Eda and Luz heard it too.
"We hear it as well," Eda said as they walked around. "It sounds like… ticking."
Luz walked around as she looked around the back. Hearing the ticking noise getting louder, she along with Eda, Lilith, and Larry follow the noise to a stack of crates. They heard something in the crates and Luz transformed her hands into claws to slash the crate open. They looked in and what they saw shocked them.
It was a bomb, but this one looked far more destructive than the stink bombs.
"Is that… a bomb?!" Luz exclaimed.
Lilith's eyes widened as she heard more ticking sounds. "There's… more ticking…"
They realized that they were surrounded by a bunch of bombs.
Raine's group had managed to make it inside the Healing Coven, quickly dealing with anyone in their path until they found the rooms that the Coven Heads were being kept in.
"Alright, we do this quietly," Raine told them as Eberwolf and Star went to Calypso's room. Raine, Darius, and Tres entered the room where the other Coven Heads were supposed to be, kicking the door open.
But what they found… was an empty room.
"Um… where are the Coven Heads?" Tres asked while looking around.
"They should… be here," Darius said while looking under the beds.
"Something's not right…" Raine said, having a bad feeling about this.
"Calypso's not in her room either!" Star shouted as she and Eberwolf ran up to them.
Raine's eyes suddenly widened in realization as they figured out what was happening. "It's a trap…" They turned around. "We need to get out of here!"
Shortly after they said this, a huge explosion occurred in the Healing Coven…
Larry realized what was happening when he saw the bomb and heard the ticking of even more bombs. "Luz, get away from there!" he shouted as he grabbed her and pushed her toward Eda and Lilith. "Get out of here!"
The bomb went off, setting off an explosion…
Odalia's group were making their escape when they heard an explosion occur in the precinct behind them.
"What the…" Odalia said as she turned, seeing the cloud of smoke. "What just happened?!"
"Those ghost balls couldn't have done it…" Hikari said as they looked back at the precinct in shock and horror.
An explosion occurred in the Latissa district, which startled Geist, Bunker and Ed.
"What just happened?!" Bunker asked in shock. "I thought those fireworks weren't gonna hurt anyone!"
"They're not supposed to!" Edric told them. "I tested them on myself to make sure!"
Geist looked back at the the explosion, having a bad feeling about this…
The Merlin Meadows precinct exploded as well, which confused the BATTs.
"What the hell?!" Katya shouted in shock and confusion.
"That… that wasn't supposed to happen…" Derwin said.
"What… was there a gas leak?!" Amber asked while Boris's eyes widened.
"No… it was a setup," Boris realized in horror.
Amity teleported into the Abominations Coven, finding herself in one of the offices. She spotted Alador sitting at his desk, doing paperwork.
"Dad! I'm here!" Amity shouted as she flew up to him… only for him to be revealed to be an illusion. "Huh?" she asked in confusion. "Sam, I thought you said he was there!"
"I thought it was him!" Sam responded.
"Then… where is he?" Amity asked.
"Talking to your shadow, former-Blight?"
Amity's eyes widened when she heard that familiar voice. She turned around and saw someone that she was surprised to see…
"Venoma?!" Amity asked in shock, seeing Venoma who was now wearing a dark-purple spy suit with a red emblem that resembled a reptile. "What… what are you doing here?! I thought they locked you up for murder!"
"They did, but thanks to an old contact of mine, I was let go on good behavior," Venoma said with a smile. "But, I'm not the only one who's here to see you…"
Venoma moved aside and someone else stepped into the room. When Amity looked at the second individual, she looked confused… and shocked.
"What… kind of an Abomination is that?!" Amity asked, stepping back.
"One that Odalia should've been if she had fallen into that vat!" shouted the creature in a voice that was familiar to Amity, making her eyes widen in realization. The Abomination looked more like a glowing skeleton with a purple translucent body. His exposed bones were green and he wore a purple cloak with bleached blue pants. When he touched the doorway, it caused an acidic effect, purple steam spreading
As Amity looked at the Abomination-looking man, she uttered a name. "Arthur…"
Meanwhile, Le'Belle, along with the disguised Cross and Steve, were walking down the castle hall.
"Huh, this place is… quiet," Cross commented while looking around.
"Yeah… it's unusual," Le'Belle agreed.
"Guys! It's a trap!" Bindell's voice shouted.
However, before the three could do anything, they suddenly found themselves surrounded as a group of previously invisible scouts became visible. They saw Bindell with the group, tied up.
"You can lose the disguise… Steve," Leonte said as he, Thunder, Alburno, Scameron, and Joana were present. Flora D'Esplora was there as well, having Bindell tied up.
"Oh shit…" Steve said, seeing all the scouts surrounding them.
Meanwhile, in the Bonesborough Precinct, Eda, Lilith, and Luz had managed to survive the explosion. As they recovered, Eda frantically looked around.
"Luz, Lily, are you two okay?!" Eda asked them.
"We're fine, mom!" Luz shouted while looking around at the flames. "Luckily we used our wings to shield ourselves…"
"Wait," Eda realized as she looked around. "Where's Larry?!"
Remembering that Larry had been closest to the explosion and had taken most of the blast, Lilith looked around… and gasped. "No…" she said, drawing Eda and Luz's attention. She pointed to where Larry was… and his flaming mask.
"Larry…" Luz said in shock, seeing his mask and a large scorch next to it…
Larry was dead.
Back at the CATT base, everyone was hanging around in the infirmary.
"So is there anything else you saw, Ludo?" Hunter asked him. "Anything you can explain through these drawings?"
"Oh the Merry-go-Round broke down, I got eaten by a clown…" Ludo sang, much to Hunter's frustration.
"Poor guy," Willow said while wringing a wash rag in a bucket of water.
"Yeah, Star said he hasn't been the same ever since their world ended," Sunny replied while turning to Willow. "You know, I've heard a lot of good things about you, Willow."
"You have?" Willow asked in surprise.
"Yeah, Calypso talks about you all the time, like how you're good to her daughter," Sunny mentioned, which made Willow blush. "And getting to meet you, I can see she wasn't wrong."
"Aw, thanks, Sunny," Willow said with a smile.
Meanwhile, King was currently playing cards with Webstor while catching him up on everything that happened in the Isles while he was in prison.
"And then Mel revealed herself to be a goddess fae, bringing me and Ed to the Underworld," King explained. "That's where I met Laura, an otter from another dimension. She's my girlfriend."
"The Underworld… now that would make an interesting book," Webstor said.
Suddenly they all heard a nearby booming noise. "What was that?!" Sunny asked in shock.
Hunter got up along with Willow. "Stay here, I'll check," he told her.
"I'm coming with you," Willow responded… right before something crashed through the entrance of the infirmary. Everyone dove clear and when the dust cleared, they looked up and saw that marching up to them… was an Abomaton.
"An Abomaton?!" King asked in shock.
"It's the end times!" Ludo cried.
"You are all under arrest!" someone shouted.
Two figures appeared behind the Abomaton. The one who had spoken was Captain Wolffe and next to her was Coven Head…
"What are you doing… Ulrich?!" Sunny asked, seeing the Construction Head with Wolffe.
"Nice job, Ulrich, you led us right to them," Wolffe declared, grinning behind her mask. "Now, for their capture…"
At that moment, everyone realized what Ulrich had done.
"No… you were a traitor," Hunter said, looking at Ulrich who avoided his gaze.
Meanwhile, the Media Coven was heavily guarded. After all, if Belos lost the media, he would lose the Isles. Getting in would be nearly impossible… if you weren't a group of ninjas who specialized in infiltration.
"Alright, we're in," Kose said as he and his kappa siblings, along with Felicia, climbed out of the vents after making sure that the coast was clear.
"I never understood why they make vents big enough for us to fit in," Koun admitted as they all looked around.
"Thanks for taking me here, guys," Felicia said.
"No problem, kit," Jocho responded. "We'd love to take a chance to do something against the Emperor's Coven."
"But are you sure about this, Felicia?" Fuyuko asked her. "Your mom is here and you know what she is capable of…"
"Which is why I got you guys," Felicia whispered. "I know my way around this place, and all we need is to get to my mother's studio. Since I can't get the word out through social media, I could use her own studio to broadcast myself across the Isles, giving me a chance to warn everyone about the Day of Unity."
"Gotta say, this is a huge risk, kit," Jocho commented.
"I know," Felicia admitted. "But I wanted to help more and this is the best way." She paused for a moment. "And it is what Beel would have done…" she admitted, looking down.
Keeping to the shadows, Felicia and the Kappas snuck around as Felicia hung onto Fuyuko's back. They avoided the studio crew, the reporters, and the few scouts that were guarding the area. Whenever there were scouts they couldn't avoid, they discreetly knocked them out. Jocho slammed his fist into one scout to knock him out, while Fuyuko used a tranquilizer dart to knock out another.
No one spotted the five intruders as they snuck their way down the hall to Felicity Fox's studio, avoiding and taking out the crystal balls that would have caught them on film. After Kose and Koun knocked out some more scouts with their judo kicks, they made it to where Felicity's studio was.
"Is this the one?" Koun asked.
"Yeah, it is," Felicia confirmed as they went inside, passing by a poster of Felicity Fox standing back to back with Belos.
As they entered inside, Kose made sure that the coast was clear. "Don't worry, this place is empty," he said.
"Great," Koun replied. "Makes this job easier."
"Almost… too easy," Jocho pointed out.
"You can say that!"
Felicia's eyes widened when she heard her mother's voice, who appeared from behind the curtains, revealing herself. "How generous of you to deliver yourself to me, Felicia…"
"Mom?!" Felicia shouted as she backed away.
"I knew that you would turn up to try to ruin everything that I spent years building!" Felicity declared. "And I was hoping you would bring your little friends with you as well."
"Alright lady, I think we had enough of you!" Jocho declares, taking out his kunais.
"Yeah," Kose agreed, bringing out his swords. "If you are really thinking of challenging us, it won't go well for you."
"We're gonna kick ass and take names!" Koun shouted as she took out her sickles.
"After what you did to Felicia, we'll make sure the Isles know what a terrible mother you are!" Fuyuko declared while holding her staff.
Felicity just smirked at them. "Oh, I won't be the one fighting you all…"
"Makes things easier for us!" Jocho declared as he charged… only to trigger a wire. A blow dart hit him in the neck. "Ah!"
"Jocho!" the kappas shouted, seeing their brother fall with dozens of darts sticking out of him.
"You're gonna pay for that!" Koun declared, only for a cage to fall onto her. "Hey!"
"What's going on?!" Kose shouted as he and Fuyuko were suddenly hit by blunt weapons, knocking them away from Felicia. The fox girl was shocked to see that Kose and Fuyuko were suddenly tangled by rope, binding them.
"Kose! Fuyuko!" she cried out before turning to her mom. "You… how did you-"
"You're not the only one with friends," Felicity smirked as appearing from the shadows were the two adversaries who helped set up the trap for the kappas…
"It is an honor to meet you again… Kappas," spoke the Alchemist.
"And their little fox friend too," the Ninja Supreme said while looking down at Felicia, who backed away in fear.
Back at St. Epiderm, Aries ran down the hall and was spotted by Donna.
"Ms. Hornston, what's wrong?" Donna asked her.
"Felicia's not in the infirmary!" Aries responded in a worried tone. "I've tried looking around for her, but she's gone!"
"What?!" Donna asked in shock. "We gotta find her. I'll alert the others and we'll spread out to search through the school."
"Got it," Aries nodded as they went to start looking for her… only to hear a nearby explosion. "What was that?!"
Donna's eyes widened. "It came from… inside the school!"
At a part of St. Epiderm, a hole in the wall had been made. Guards were left paralyzed on the ground as walking past them was a hooded Draco, his group consisting of Silas, Coils, Medusan (who had paralyzed the guards), Viperion, Rattleton, and a group of Septarians. Behind them was another hooded figure.
"Hmm, that should attract some attention," Draco said as he looked down at the guards.
"Hold up, intruders!" shouted the rabbit woman as she along with some of Thumbstone's men made their appearance known. "You're not going any further!"
"Let's take these guys down!" spoke the rhino carnie. He, the beetle-demon, scorpion-demon, and other carny demons charged at them.
"Oh, you're not who we're here for," Draco said as he looked at his Snake Men. He gestured with his staff to the carnies. "Make this quick."
Viperion and Medusan both grinned as they stepped forward. When the rhino got too close, Viperion split gunk into the rhino's eyes, blinding him. While the blinded rhino guy stumbled around, Medusan used their snake eyes to bite the rhino guy, quickly paralyzing him.
The beetle demon flew up and attempted to shoot spells at the intruders, but he was quickly wrapped up by Coils. The beetle demon was brought down to the ground, Coils swinging him around to hit the wall.
The scorpion biped demon tried to use his tail to try to sting at Coils to make him let go of his comrade, only to get intercepted by Rattleton, who used his rattle to hit him in the face.
"Woo! Now that's a good old fashioned hoe-down!" Rattleton declared while avoiding the sting of the scorpion's tail. He was saved by Silas's whip, who pulled the scorpion away and punched him out.
"That'll take care of him," Silas said as another carnie tried to take him out, only for Silas to punch him to the floor
The rest of the Septarians mowed through the other carnie witches as they began to spread into the school, looking for someone. The rabbit demon was soon the only one left standing as she took out a large dao sword.
"Alright! You have made a fatal error by making enemies of Thumbstone!" she declared while charging at Draco, who almost boredly blocked her sword with his staff.
"Please, I have no interest in you or your boss, rabbit!" Draco declared before his staff blasted the rabbit woman to the floor. He then smiled, but not because of his defeated enemy. It was because he saw five shadows on the ground, five shadows belonging to a group of heroes who stood in front of him and his Snake Men. "There you are…"
"You all aren't taking a step further!" Donna declared while dressed as Wonder Witch. With her were Crowbar, Ghostina, Minos, and Florella. "You guys… you're the Snake Men!"
"Looks like she recognizes us!" Coils chuckled before getting swatted in the back of the head by Silas. "Ow!"
"Obviously!" Silas shouted at him.
"Well, well, if it isn't my dear niece Donna," Draco said with a chuckle.
Donna recognized the voice, reacting in horror. "No… it can't be!"
"Do you know this guy, Donna?" Florella asked her.
"Yeah… that's my uncle," she said, shocking her friends.
"Your uncle?!" they exclaim.
"So that's the evil uncle you talked about," Crowbar realized.
"Yes, yes, I am the 'evil uncle' cliche," Draco said, his tone slightly annoyed. "Can we move this along? I have a schedule to keep."
"I thought you were dead, Draco," Donna told her uncle.
"You mean you wished I was dead," he said. "But I gotta say, I like your new look. The last one made you look like a streetwalker. But I'm glad that I'm not the only one who's gotten through a transformation recently."
"Regardless, you and your Snake-Men will be taken down!" Donna said while summoning her keyblade.
"Oh, I don't doubt you and your friends will try to take us on," Draco said as he gestured to the hooded figure behind him. "Which is why I brought an old mutual friend of ours…"
"Hello, little snack," spoke a voice that Donna also recognized.
"No…" Donna said in a low voice as she saw the figure remove his hood, revealing himself to be Lupe.
"Surprised to see me?" Lupe asked with a grin. He was sporting an eyepatch now. His body twitched as he started to transform into the Big Bad Wolf. "I have been looking forward to this…"
"Is this the guy…?" Florella asked Donna, who gave a nod.
"Yeah, but no matter," she said as she held up her keyblade. "Let's defend this school!"
"Yes, let this be our final battle!" Draco declared as LOWTH charged, Draco and his Snake Men also charging at the heroes.
Florella faced off against Coils, who used his outstretched arms to try to grab her. "I got you! Now time to feed!" he said as he opened his jaws.
"Might I recommend a vegan diet?" Florella asked as she drew spell circles, vines wrapping around Coil's stretchy arms.
"WAAAH!" Coils cried out as he got tangled up in vines.
Silas used his whip to try to get to Florella, only for Minos to intercept as he used his hammer to hit Silas. The snake demon was forced to back away as he glared at Minos and his hammer. "Do you know who I am?!" Silas shouted. "I used to be a top student at Glandus!"
"Tell it to someone who cares, asshole!" Minos declared as he and Silas fought.
Medusan tried to bite Ghostina, who only phased through her. Ghostina attempted to imprison her in ice before she ended up facing off against Viperion. She drew a spell circle to shoot an ice blast, which Viperion dodged, the ice blast hitting an unfortunate Septarian instead.
Donna and Beocrow, meanwhile, faced off against Lupe and Draco.
"Just so you know, I've met my brother, Draco," Donna said as she held her keyblade up.
"You did?" Draco asked, sounding surprised.
"Yeah, I know that you lied about him being dead," she said as she glared at him. "You left him with the Titan Trappers."
"Oh, yes, I did," Draco admitted. "I'm sorry that I lied to you. I promise I'll make it up to you by killing someone you do care about…"
"Like her little adopted family!" Lupe suggested.
"Hmm, I like that idea," Draco agreed, angering Donna.
Donna glared at her uncle. "You stay the hell away from them!" she shouted as she charged, only for Lupe to intervene and slam her back. She slid back, shooting ice blasts from her keyblade, which Lupe dodged as it hit another Septarian instead.
"Wow, so easy to anger," Draco said before he found himself surrounded by a murder of crows. "What's huh?!"
"You're going to pay for all the pain you've done to her, punk," Beocrow's voice said before Draco felt a kick to the face, knocking him back.
"Oof!" Draco shouted as he saw the crows formed into Crowbar. "Hmm, I see that my niece's little friends aren't pushovers," he said as he used his staff to try to shoot at him, but Beocrow just scattered into a murder of crows. "What kind of shape-shifting magic do you have?!"
"Beats me," he said before he scattered again to avoid getting shot. "Been like this since I was young," he commented while he avoided getting shot. He then summoned spells to shoot at Draco, who spun his staff to deflect them.
Donna, meanwhile, used her keyblade to shoot at Lupe, but he kept dodging. He ran up and swung her claws at her, but Donna dodged and spread ice on the floor, making Lupe slip. "I'm not going to make the same mistake as last time," she declared while holding up her keyblade. "Maybe I can try taking out your other eye."
Lupe snarled at her in anger. "You little overconfident, dumb bitch!" Lupe shouted while charging at her again, only for her to sidestep and shoot ice spikes on his arm, making him roar in anger.
"You're not so big and bad now, are you?" Donna asked with a smirk, before hearing a blast and a grunt.
"Ahh!" Beocrow shouted as Draco had finally managed to hit him, making him fall on the floor. He got up and saw Draco walking up to him.
"Neat trick, but you really shouldn't rely on it so much," Draco said as he held his staff up.
"So what?" Beocrow said as he stood back up, holding up his fists. "Can you do anything without that staff of yours?"
Draco looked at Beocrow and smirked. "Tempting…" he said as he aimed his staff at Beocrow. However, Beocrow knocked the staff away, causing Draco to miss. Before Draco could adjust his aim, Beocrow punched him and kicked Draco in the stomach. Draco grunted in pain and headbutted Beo back, but Beo quickly recovered and started landing some more punches.
Draco stumbled back, breathing hard. Beo saw his opportunity and drew a spell circle, preparing to use it on Draco…
Only for Draco to suddenly lunge forward, pulling a dragger from his sleeve… and slamming it into Beo's chest.
"Ha!" Draco laughed while Beo looked down at the dagger in his chest in pained confusion… before Draco pulled the dagger out, causing Beo to fall to the ground.
"NOOOO!" Donna cried out as her eyes widened in shock.
Ghostina, Minos, and Florella turned after hearing Donna's cries. They realized what had happened.
"BAIL!" Florella shouted in shock.
"NOOOO!" Minos cried out after knocking out a Septarian.
Ghostina's eyes teared up as she removed her mask and hood. "Beo… no…"
Draco stared down at the body at his feet, watching as the life left Beocrow's eyes. The last thing Beocrow would see were the cold eyes beneath Draco's hood staring down at him. Afterward, Draco was silent…
Then Draco laughed. He laughed while standing over the body. "I told you, Donna! I promised that I would kill someone you cared about!"
And he had delivered on that promise.
Beocrow Clawthorne was dead.
Meanwhile, at the Emperor's castle, an unmasked Belos was on the balcony, watching the smoke coming from the distance.
"The best way to truly defeat one's enemy is to find a weakness and exploit it," Belos declared before giving a sigh. "Take Ulrich for example. His weakness was his love for his sons, and he'd do anything for them… even infiltrate a rebel group and sell them out if I promised to spare them." He looked up at his staff, seeing his reflection. "That battle at the Night Market was a set-up to have Ulrich save the rebels and integrate himself into them. But I can't just kill the rebels, since that would only make them martyrs. No, I needed to ruin them first. I needed to frame them for terrorist attacks so that I could be the hero to stop them."
He continued to watch the smoke in the distance. "While I do have to sacrifice some of my own men for my plans, I've done my math. I have more than enough witches to free the Horned King, so I can afford to lose some expendables. But I do have a back-up plan as well, which is why I sent Draco to St. Epiderm." He set his staff down and folded his arms behind him. "I figured that sending Draco to St. Epiderm instead of the Emperor's Coven is better for the image of the Emperor's Coven anyway, since as far as the rest of the Isles is concerned, Draco is a rogue element."
"But… why are you doing this?" a familiar voice asked him. "This doesn't sound like you, Philip."
"I've been doing these false flag operations for decades, it helped me get into power in the first place," Belos declared. "A few lives don't matter in the grand scheme of things. Whether you like it or not, this is me. And I'm not going to let anyone stop me. Not even you… Eclipsa."
Eclipsa was bound in Abominable flesh arms that pulled her to the ground. "This is madness, Philip. You can't think you're going to get away with this…"
"Oh, the Day of Unity will happen one way or another, of that I am sure," Belos said while looking back at her. "And you're going to have the honor of watching me fulfill my destiny," he declared confidently. However, when he saw the saddened look on Eclipsa's face, he frowned.
"What happened to you, Philip?" she asked him. "What are you doing?"
"What you were never able to," Belos said as he turned back to the rising smoke. "Win."
Well that escalated quickly, did it?
So the main purpose of this chapter is to take care of anything that we felt needed to be taken care of before the big fight with Belos. Since we're trying to make sure to tie up any loose threads as possible before the end of Book Two. So, this is our last chance to take care of some unfinished business before things get crazy again.
Which is why we brought back so many old villains, since they're loose threads as well. While this chapter is mostly just characters talking and wrapping up their arcs, the next chapter will definitely be more action and conflict oriented.
And compared to the Weirdmageddon arc that still played out mostly the same in canon… don't expect that to be the case here. Because anything goes at this point...
Some trivia:
-Arthur Blight's new appearance is indeed taken inspiration from Blight from Batman Beyond, and Scare-Glow from the Masters of the Universe franchise. It's funny since I did see fanart interpretations of Odalia becoming like Blight from Beyond.
-Venoma's new outfit is supposed to be similar to the Baroness from GI Joe.
-We thank Jack_Skeletron for the Lambina scene where Lambi helps Nina count woolducks.
-We introduced the Graux's sisters' parents, including Thumbstone who is a homage to Marvel's Tombstone, who interesting fact does have a caring relationship with his daughter as well. Even allows her to get married to the son of his hated enemy, Robbie Robertson. Even give him a dash of Arlong since he runs a racketeering ring in the Boardwalk of Palm Stings. His carny crew are based off of Tombstone's employ and Spider-Man's enemies, including White Rabbit(Bunny-Ears), Rhino(Horndust), Scorpion(Scorpuski), and The Beetle(Ringo Beets).
Review Section:
Crash X Fusion: It was actually our idea we had long before spantidem brought it up, since we've been planning this for months. As for info on the AU, well Luz would still be in the detention track, so Emily didn't stop her from targeting Ms. Torigore. Because of this incident, and Emily told Eda about it, Amity became her immediate assigned tutor so Luz develops a crush on her. Emily learned that the Drakescales are cousins because they approached her and Luz, since Graye wanted Cross to get close to Emily, and that meant revealing their relationship. As for Hunter, he was off duty, so Cross stands in for him in events where they need the Golden Guard. But they don't necessarily need Hunter behind the mask. Mostly publicity stuff that isn't worth Hunter's time.
Krypton Writes: Well, sorry but we have been playing around with some ideas of these universes.
Matteso585: 1) No. This is just a version of Lunella existing in the AU. 3) No, they can change their appearance. Showing Maleficent's shadow is meant for the audience to see, not Emily. 4) I mean, it's Glandus. The school itself is the problem.
Spantidem7: Right now, Manny doesn't have a voice actor. As for your questions:
1) Obviously. 2) We don't know. 3) No. 4) Emily does care about Eda, she just still has some resentment towards her and doesn't call her 'mom'. 5) Yes. 6) At this point in her character arc? No. 7) That's a very broad question. They're siblings. Of course they argue. 8) Perhaps. 9) Maybe. 10) She thinks she's a bully, but Emily still tries her best to keep the peace. 11) Because of Emily, who help to keep Luz in check. 12) We don't know. 13) She probably has mixed feelings on it.
Franco Almiron: Helluva Dad will return after Book 2.
Ultimate-drax: Lilith's alright, just had to return to her duty. As for Mabel being obsessed with Gideon, that's actually quite common in the Reverse Falls AU. Though, this is a toned down example in this case…
Shuffollower: Nope.
Darraq: Sure.
Blue Tagg: Maybe.
Alamout: 1) Grimwalkers are created from the dead body parts of someone. Homonculi are artificially created through alchemy. 2) Perhaps. 3) No spoilers. 4) The Ninja Supreme. 5) No. 6) What makes you think they didn't?
