And now we are back, everyone! Once again for the Fourth of July for this year of 2024, I SuperHeroTimeFan, once again come back to you with another brand-new chapter for my famed The Owl House and MegaMan NT Warrior crossover story, Owl House: NT Witch! I had plenty of time to do as many stories as I could for this special holiday today, and I couldn't pass up doing another double feature just like I did back on Christmas. Your support for this story and the art that I do for it over on DeviantArt really means a lot, and I can't thank you enough. Now, this is going to be another original chapter, taking the place of the Really Small Problems episode. So sit back, and be sure to review, rate, and as always, please enjoy!
Chapter 16: I'll Do Anything
Skara walked down the path leading home after her long day. With school over after the fiasco with Cero and the sudden arrival of Lurerre, even Principal Bump agreed that all of the students could do with a break from the intense day they had just gone through. As she was walking, she looked to her Scroll PET as an alert came up, showing a video message from Gus's mother, Octavia Porter.
"This is Octavia Porter coming to you with a heads-up! The Dem-N1 Grand Prix will be starting next week! All registration deadlines are coming to a close, so to those wishing to participate, make sure you can get in! Mark your calendars, ladies, gents and those who are neither. The Dem-N1 Grand Prix is coming soon!"
"And we'll be there," Skara said with a confident smile before Melody digitized onto the screen, closing out the video message. "We've hit all the requirements for the Dem-N1, right?"
"Yeah, from what I'm seeing, we have," Melody said from the MagiNet, looking over all she and Skara had done. "Custom Bard Power Battle Chips, check. Made it into number five of the NetBattle arena fights, check. And each Virus and Navi fight has been S-Ranked in our fights with them," she listed off. "I'd say we're good and ready to go for when the day the Dem-N1 Grand Prix starts."
"Well, we're ready to go," Skara said as she approached her family home, a luxurious house that looked to be half the size of Blight Manor. She looked to it with a fading smile as she saw some inspectors walking away from the warehouse at the back. "Just not so much on the good part yet." She said before taking a deep breath. As soon as she did, she made her way inside.
Skara walked into her house, seeing musical instruments rested in a small room at the side. Smiling at each of them, she made her way further in, where she saw a woman with her same skin tone, but with blue hair and wearing clothes that would not look out of place on an orchestra leader. Making her way towards her, she set down her stuff.
"I'm home." Skara announced.
The woman turned around and smiled at Skara. "How was the day for you, my favorite musician?" she asked, ruffling her hand on her hair. "When I heard about the attack at Hexside today, I got worried."
"Don't worry, I wasn't hurt, Mom," Skara said, getting up so that she could gather some plates from the cabinet. "No one was. We were just feeling a bit drained. Luz and Azura helped to take care of it, and the minor Darkloid attack that happened after." She explained before setting the plates up on the table.
"I really do like that human friend of yours," Skara's mother said. "When I saw you jump right in to help her fight ShadeMan, I knew she was making you into someone better than you already were. If it weren't for her, you wouldn't even be able to be the first witch to have a Navi."
"And CrossFuse too, don't forget," Skara added on, levitating utensils from the drawer before matching each of them and setting them down. As she was, her expression changed once again. "So… is Dad doing okay?" she asked.
"Singh has been doing better," Skara's mother replied. "You shouldn't have to worry about us and the Capella Energy Industry too much, you know," she said, getting Skara to look down sadly. "I know you want to help, but if we find just the right partner, we should be able to still be the right energy company that the Boiling Isles needs."
"But we've been looking for a new business partner for months!" Skara pointed out. "If you would stop reaching out to snobs like Odalia Blight and try Luz, we could—"
"We respect your friend, Skara."
Skara turned to see a man two years older than her mother approach, with short black hair, a maestro's suit with a tie, and three earrings, one on his left ear and two on his right, as well as a flute hanging from his belt with the seal of the Bard Coven on it.
"Dad, please listen…" Skara started out.
"We really respect Luz Noceda, but you know what Bekka and I have said before," Singh Capella started out. "As friendly as she is, I'm sure that she's too busy with her business and finding ways to deal with the Darkloids to help out smaller companies."
"Luz isn't like that, and you know it!" Skara argued. "She's nice, and kind. When Melody was tainted, she and Azura put all their effort into making sure she could recover. And you know just how much Taylor and Lindsey like Melody too."
"She's also the youngest successful business person in history of the Demon Realm," Bekka pointed out. "Please, don't let this get on your mind too much. We'll be just fine with the company. All we need is time."
Skara clenched her fist, as if she were trying to find the right words to say next. When nothing came, she loosened up and sighed. "Fine," she conceded. "Just… just tell me what I can do to help," she said before walking up the stairs. "I'll be taking a shower. Be back before dinner." She said, now finally making her way upstairs.
"You need me to talk you down while you cool down?" Melody suggested as Skara made her way to the bathroom, starting to now remove her jacket before reaching for her belt. "Or should I check on Taylor and Lindsey and let you be?"
"They could use you," Skara said, checking on her bare arms and abdomen in the mirror as she reached for her hair tie to undo it. "I think I'll be fine."
"Just take it easy, like they said," Melody said, with two red magic circles appearing around her just as she saw Skara's shirt hit the floor. "I know things will work out in the end." She assured before digitizing away, just as the water in the shower started to run.
At Blight Manor, Odalia was in her office, looking at news reports on her scroll. Scoffing at the recent turn of events, she tried to see the business reports, only to come across videos and remixes of her fight with BubbleMan. Letting out a shriek of embarrassment, she tossed the scroll away before focusing on some blueprints placed in front of her, with Alador having been standing before her the entire time.
"The more you deny what had happened that day, the more people will keep finding ways to remind you of it," Alador said. "And you should know that the people are blaming you for the havoc that BubbleMan caused, considering your attack on him caused that chain reaction…"
"Yes, I am well aware of that! You are a very observant witch, Alador, don't be a warlock about my condition," Odalia snapped before looking to the blueprint designs, which showed a device resembling the original Darkloid Destroyer, but smaller. "This seems fairly sizeable. A Darkloid will be sure to underestimate this weapon. Do you have a name for it?"
"So far, the Darkloid Decimator," Alador said, spinning a spell circle from his finger so that Abomination slime could form a 3D visual of the device, now shown to resemble a revolver. "It compacts the size of what was used on the day of the Wailing Star, allowing for easier use. Thanks to some of those Slither Spike Viruses following us home from the Knee, I was able to test it on them, and sure enough, it works on anything from the MagiNet. But I cannot stress enough how we should not yet commercialize this product," he pointed out. "You are one strike away from cancelling all of our anti-Darkloid weaponry, and putting the men and women who helped make this out of a job."
"Luzura Incorporated is already making more moves. Created twice the maximum amount of Battle Chips for that Dem-N1 Grand Prix already after the Slitherbeast Incident, and reigning over all those Navis in MagiNet City," Odalia scowled, seeing the recent events that had happened with Luz and her company. "She's challenging me, I can feel it."
"How about you take a break from all this?" Alador suggested. "There have been some important calls for you, and if you took the time to answer them, I'm sure—"
"You're dismissed, Alador," Odalia said, brushing off her husband. "Leave me be now. I'll decide when I need my break, thank you."
Alador scoffed and rolled his eyes before walking out, passing Emira as she was making her way upstairs.
Emira looked to her Scroll PET concernedly, seeing some stock reports for herself. Taking a closer look at the Capella Energy Industries, she opened up the page on it and started to read. Now letting it float next to her, she went to her room, kicked her shoes off, and flopped down onto her bed back-first.
"Come on, Skar. I know you can pull through this," Emira said as she saw Skara's company status start to dwindle down. "Gotta be something I can do to help too."
"Everything alright?"
Emira pulled her head up and saw Hecate there, leaning on the doorway.
"It should be no surprise that Skara's family company isn't doing so good," Emira said. "Since Skara is my girlfriend, I'm wondering what I can do to help. Sending kissy Emojis and pics of my good side can only cheer her up so much."
"Well, maybe you just need to go there and be with her more," Hecate suggested. "She's in need of help from what you've told me. So she needs all the support she can get, especially if it comes from her girlfriend."
Emira smiled. "You're right. Thanks," she said, getting back up. "Besides, Mom's practically living in her office until that video of her gets old. Not much she can do about us." She said before jumping out the window.
Hecate went over to the window to see Emira now activating her Guard Grip. Spinning a spell circle, she tossed it down and landed on it, now using it as something to hover on as she put her shoes back on. She winked to Hecate before flying off towards Skara's home, getting Amity's NetNavi to chuckle.
Not too long after Emira left, Amity started to wake up following what had happened, and how Hecate brought her home. She got up and rubbed her eyes, starting to look around.
"Wait… oh I missed so much!" Amity exclaimed, starting to panic. "Luz… the basilisk… Lurerre… and…" she said to herself, now starting to remember what had happened. "And… Hecate helped me… she helped get me back home."
"You're awake," Hecate said, walking to Amity while closing the door to Emira's room. "Don't push yourself to try and do too much. Luz is resting at home too after what happened. We all need a bit of rest after today, after all."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Amity admitted, smiling at her NetNavi. "Thanks for carrying me back home."
"It's no problem. I'm happy to do it any time." Hecate replied before digitizing back to Amity's Scroll PET for the day.
Amity chuckled. "Things certainly have become way different in my life since you came into it," she said to herself, starting to slowly lie back down again. "Supporting me from the day you were created, giving me the courage to do the right things no matter what, that hug from the Lunar Eclipse… even carrying me back home," she listed to herself. "Even the way you scold me feels nice in a way. It's not like the way Em or Mom treats me," she admitted. "It's like…" she started before realizing something.
"Oh… That's why…"
At Skara's home, dinner was finished, and Skara herself was putting away the last of the used dishes.
"You need my help with anything else?" Skara asked before looking to her two sisters, Taylor and Lindsey, watching some battles that she and Melody had, as well as footage of other events that had happened since getting her NetNavi.
Taylor had blonde hair with a red streak on the front, and had ripped jeans and a denim jacket, while Lindsey had orange hair with a white streak at the sides, wearing sleek clothes compared to her sister. Both had the same-colored eyes as Skara as well.
"I think we'll be good, Skara," Bekka said before closing her eyes as magic circles appeared from her ears. "You should all get upstairs. I think you have a special visitor waiting for you."
"Mom!" Skara called, laughing with faux embarrassment in her voice. She walked to her younger sisters, ruffling their hair before grabbing her Scroll PET. "Melody and I will show you more tomorrow. For now, let's get some rest."
"Oh, Skara!" Taylor and Lindsey complained in unison.
"Hey, you know it's time to sleep soon. You don't want Braxas to hog your special place in the library when Amity reads to you, right?" Skara asked.
Immediately, both of Skara's younger sisters ran upstairs, leaving her and her mother to laugh before Skara herself made her way up as well.
"Night, Mom!" Skara called before she reached her room. Making sure her sisters across the hall were tucking themselves in, she closed her door and turned around, seeing Emira seated on the windowsill with some flowers in her hand. "Nice one," she said. "But I don't think I'm ready for the bed fun yet."
Emira on the windowsill rolled her eyes before disappearing into blue smoke, revealing the real Emira on the bed, almost ready to pull a blanket over her.
"Come on, you know you need this," Emira joked as Skara walked up and nuzzled her cheek against hers. "And you know I also can't just turn away when you're going through a time like this."
"I'm glad you're here to help," Skara said, sitting on the bed as Emira put the flowers she had on her desk. "Between my family problems and the Darkloid attacks, it's nice to get some normalcy to balance things out."
"Hey, I know things are rough for you, but if I know you, you'll always find a way," Emira said. "Besides, I'm staying for the night just to make sure you feel better. For all my mom knows, I'm just in my room practicing my Illusion magic."
"Well, you'd better practice your stealth too," Skara teased. "Me and my mom could hear you come in. I'm sure my Dad did too if he weren't so—"
"Are you sure?"
Skara stopped what she was saying and looked to the side with worry on her face.
"What is it?" Emira asked.
"Quiet for a minute, please." Skara requested, grabbing a cup from her desk. Placing her hand with a spell circle over it, it started to glow red before she pressed it against the wall, listening in on her parents down the hall.
"We've hit a few blocks, but I'm sure we can still find a way to make the delivery runs go," Bekka said in the Master Bedroom with Singh. "People still need energy, and even in this time, there's no one who can rival our company."
"It's not just that, but the cost for just keeping the equipment working," Singh said as Skara's positive expression started to lessen as she listened in. "I didn't want to tell Skara this, but our company's worth has been going down. Sure, we've managed to increase it a bit after the BubbleMan incident, but now people don't need the energy we supply as much as they used to."
"But we're still here, aren't we?" Bekka asked.
"I'm doing all I can to make sure the company and our family are still standing," Singh said. "I'm calling in as many favors as I can to just make sure she still gets the best fifteenth birthday she can get for Sunday," he brought up, causing Skara to gasp. "For all she's done for the Isles, it's what she deserves. But until we get more money running, and until Mary can ensure the complete safety of our transportation equipment, we're tight on money as it is. But make no mistake, I will do all I can to make sure Skara can get the birthday she deserves, even if I have to burn through every favor I have to so."
By now, Skara started to tear up as she pulled her cup away from the wall. Staggering back, she landed on her bed, just as Emira walked over and sat next to her.
"What's the matter now?" Emira asked.
"They… they're hardly getting by… and they still want to make sure we get the best," Skara said tearfully. "But it's not enough for our family or the company. And they know it, but… it's still not enough."
"They don't want to make you worry too much," Emira said, putting her arms around Skara to try and comfort her. "Whatever problem you have, know that not even I will rest until you have a smile on your face again."
"I have to do something to help. Anything to make sure we're still good." Skara said.
"Don't push yourself, Skara," Melody said as Skara's Scroll PET floated up. "We're doing all we can to help, and if they need help, they'll tell us. We don't have to overwork ourselves more than we are with Luz."
"Luz…" Emira said before looking to Skara. "Want me to talk to her?" she offered. "She helped the school with extra funding. I'm sure she can help you out."
"She and Azura went through enough trouble just to cure Melody," Skara said. "I can't rely on her too much. I wouldn't be a good friend otherwise."
"Okay, so asking for Luz is out of the question…" Emira conceded reluctantly. "What do you plan to do?" she asked.
"I'm going to do everything to make sure that Mom and Dad still have a company to tend to for the rest of the week," Skara proclaimed. "It'll take me off CrossFusion duty for a while, but if I can help them keep the family business standing, then screw it, I'll risk it all."
"Oh, Skara…" Emira said, hugging her girlfriend tight to comfort her even more.
"Sometimes, I think you're just too good for this world." Melody admitted with a soft smile on her face as she watched the couple cuddle together.
Meanwhile, at the Owl House, Luz was talking to a Hexside student at the door while Hooty watched King and Owlbert chow down on a box of pizza, with Eda having equal amusement as she closed the Portal Door behind her.
"One custom NetNavi, Battle Chips, a Guard Grip and all the equipment you need to be with your Navi in MagiNet City, as requested, Maria," Luz said, handing a box to a witch with a Hexside uniform that had pink pants and red sleeves with black spots on them, as well as blue hair and a red streak. "Hope you enjoy your time with Lady Luck."
"I know I will," Maria said, winking at Luz. "Thanks again!" she bid, handing her a bag of snail coins before making her way home for the night.
"Nice girl. Really hope she gets that Adrian boy that she was crushing on back at school," Luz said before walking back into the Owl House. "And another one for the closet." She said to herself, looking to her newly-earned sack of snails she was given.
"How much have you even gotten, anyway?" Eda asked as Owlbert watched King try to eat three pizza slices at once, only to laugh when he started to choke.
"I don't know," Luz replied just as King grabbed the nearest cup of water before flinging it at Owlbert, now proceeding to chase him. "I stopped counting after five-hundred thousand after we got back from the Knee."
Eda, who had now been drinking a bit of Apple Blood, spat it out in shock, causing Luz to jump in surprise.
"Five freaking thousand?!" Eda exclaimed. "Where are you keeping it all?!"
"Well… come on up, and I'll show you." Luz said, guiding Eda up.
Inside of Luz's room, Azura was sending a spell at the closet as it began to shake. Carefully, she moved two chests in front of it before securing the lock placed on the latch. She let out a sigh of relief before Luz and Eda walked in, with King and Owlbert in tow.
"Ah, good. You're here," Azura said. "Just let me AreaSteal the next sack into the closet, and we can count again on the weekend."
"Wait, how much did you say you had?" Eda asked, walking to the closet.
"Wait, Eda! Don't! I just—!"
Before Azura could finish, Eda snapped her fingers, getting the lock to fall off. As soon as she opened the latch, several dozens of snail coin sacks flooded out, trapping her in it while Luz grabbed King and leapt to the light above, just barely being caught in the literal money flow before Owlbert landed on her shoulder too, causing the light to slightly come loose, forcing Luz to drop onto the new desk she was given.
"… finished securing that door," Azura lamented as Eda came back up, gasping for air and with snail signs in her eyes. "Thanks a lot. That took me two whole hours to fit in there. It'll take me longer if you mess with the protection system I put there."
"This is way more than five-thousand! Just by looking at all these sacks, I'm positive that you've earned enough to host the largest party in the Boiling Isles!" Eda exclaimed.
"People are really into the trend, Eda," Luz said, carefully climbing down as King scrambled for his mini bed, which had floated up when the money flood came. "And this is only part of what I've earned. I gave at least a third of what was probably two million to charity, the homeless and to Principal Bump for Hexside."
Eda's eye twitched before a tear started to form, as if she had just heard that her favorite drink was discontinued and was looking to kill. Recomposing herself, she got out from her place and helped Luz up, allowing for Owlbert to perch himself on her shoulder while King used rowed himself over.
"So… you have any to spare for me?" King asked.
"Help me in the company, and you'll get some of this." Luz teased.
"Luz… I'm both proud… and envious of what you've accomplished here today," Eda said. "But if you have this much money from the three weeks you've already been here, then maybe it's time I took you to a special place that I like to call… Hit Me Up Casino."
"Gambling, Eda? No, no. No," Luz protested as Azura started to get all the money back into the closet. "That's a the suicide of all money that has been hard-earned, and I can guarantee you that if I even did agree to do that, I would lose easily."
"Come on, loosen up a little," Eda encouraged. "When the weekend comes, I'll take you there. Whatever you may or may not lose, I'll make up to you, I promise."
Luz simply rolled her eyes as Azura continued to get all the sacks back in, even grabbing the one she had just been given. "Fine, only on the weekend," she conceded. "It'll be my first day of teaching tomorrow, so nothing that gets in the way of this job. But if I'm right, and I do lose what I've earned, you're gonna get it."
"Fair with me, Kid." Eda said, walking out, only for Azura to smack her on the head before she reached the door.
"Next time, you clean this all up, without taking any for yourself." Azura said before continuing to clean up, all while Luz watched what happened with wide eyes.
The next morning, at the Capella household, Emira woke up. She rubbed her eyes and looked around from the sleeping bag she had brought with her, finding Skara to be gone. She got up and walked over to the bed before seeing a note on it. Picking it up, she opened it and read what was on it.
"Started the day early so that I could make the delivery rounds. I asked Melody to have Hecate bring over some new clothes for you and create make sure Odalia doesn't notice you were gone all night. I'll see you at Hexside. Love Skara Capella, my beloved."
Emira looked over to the desk, seeing the bag of new clothes from her mansion. She smiled before picking it up, now making her way to the bathroom to get ready for the day.
"Take care, sweetie." Emira said before closing the door.
Elsewhere, Skara landed an airship near Gus's home. Getting off, she took with her some supplies before knocking on the door, revealing Octavia.
"Skara, hello," Octavia greeted in a friendly manner. "I thought your father was going to come and install our new power cell."
"I volunteered," Skara replied quickly. "You needed a refill on your energy cells, right?"
"The generator's ready for the new one on the roof," Octavia said. "You need any help?"
"Nope, I just needed to know where to start. Thanks." Skara said, making her way up as Perry walked over.
"That wasn't Singh." Perry said.
"Skara said she volunteered," Octavia said before seeing Gus walk over. "So, my little ninja. You ready for the first day to be taught by Luz?"
"Sure am!" Gus replied. "I can't wait to meet up with Willow and Amity!"
At that moment, the lights that had dimmed inside went back on at full power. Perry smiled in satisfaction before turning them off just as Skara came back down.
"All set!" Skara said as Gus looked to her in surprise. "You were the last house on the list. I just gotta get to school and then I'll come back to help with the rest."
"Skara, you doing okay?" Gus asked, getting Skara's attention. "When did you get up? An hour ago?"
"Two, but I'm set for the day," Skara said before realizing the time. "I'll change on the way. See you in class!" she called before getting back to the airship and flying off.
"Maybe we should check with Singh about this." Perry suggested.
"I'll make the call," Octavia said. "You take Gus to school."
At Hexside, Amity and Willow were outside of the door leading to Luz's classroom for the first day of the NetBattlers' Track. As they waited for the door to open, Amelia and Cat walked up behind them before Mattholomule, Viney and a few other students joined in as well. Gus appeared next to them in a puff of smoke, surprising Zoe and Paris slightly before they recomposed themselves.
"You ready for this?" Willow asked.
"Yeah, I sure am," Amity said, looking to her Scroll PET as Hecate smiled at her. "The day's finally here!"
"You guys talk with Skara lately?" Gus asked, getting Willow and Amity to turn to him. "She came by my house to install the newest Capella Energy Industry cells, and seemed a bit…"
"Eager?" Willow finished up. "Yeah. She came by my house too just as I was finishing my shower. Didn't look like she slept for her full eight hours."
"You're not the only ones," Amelia said, getting the trio to turn to her and Cat. "When I asked her what was wrong after doing my own family home, she didn't even give herself the time to answer before rushing over to Cat's place."
"It's making me worried," Cat said. "Ever since last semester, things hadn't been looking good for her family company since others started to rise. Her parents had been managing all of the deliveries and services on their own, but they're putting Skara in charge of them now?"
"Based on how she dodged the question on why neither of the Capella parents or the employees made it to install the cells themselves when she stopped by my place too, I don't think they even know what she's doing," Mattholomule said. "You think we can ask Skara herself?"
"Ask me what?"
Everyone almost jumped as they noticed Skara having just arrived, standing in her Hexside Uniform now and putting down a bottle of water as well as a cup that had what appeared to be Apple Blood in it. What concerned Amity, Willow and Gus, however, was that the bags they noticed under her eyes were barely gone.
"If you're ready for the class today," Willow quickly said. "When did you get up today?" she asked concernedly.
"Two hours before I usually do," Skara replied as Emira, who had just joined Edric at the back, looked to her with worry. "Don't worry, I got some extra rest while the airship was on autopilot."
"Clearly not enough." Edric muttered.
"Ed, that's my girlfriend you're muttering about." Emira quietly scolded.
"I heard him!" Skara called.
"And that's why you don't try to say anything about a Bard under your breath." Emira reminded Edric.
Soon, the doors opened, and the selected group of students entered. They all looked at the classroom with awe, seeing how everything was set up and how it greatly differed in comparison to the other classrooms at Hexside. At the front, they saw Luz standing there, now with her new Hexside uniform, but also with a shortened version of the scarf she wore a few days ago, and with some longer pants as well.
"This place looks amazing!" Maria exclaimed, looking around in awe.
"Yeah, it does." Hecate commented from the MagiNet as several other Navis of the students, including GardenMan, Melody, MirageMan, Prairie, Eratoeir, and now fully formed, BlockMan, inspected everything as well.
BlockMan was a muscular NetNavi with a very blocky appearance to him, as his name implied. He had a silver bodysuit with a helmet which had two antennae on the sides, as well as brown armor, red knee pads, and a guard over his mouth, his eyes colored yellow.
"You can see that Mason put a lot of work into this," BlockMan commented to Eratoeir, who smirked at his outgoing personality. "Mattholomule and I recognize his handiwork anywhere."
"I bet he did." Eratoeir said.
"Good morning, everyone," Luz greeted to all of the witches and demons who were in the first group for her class. "I can see some familiar faces from before I joined. And some unexpected ones as well."
Upon hearing this, Skara and Amity turned around, seeing Boscha between Amelia and Cat, nervously sinking into her seat.
"I didn't know you signed up for this class too." Amelia commented.
"I… needed this," Boscha admitted. "With what I found out about Lurerre and the Darkloid attacks becoming more frequent, I felt that I finally needed to learn more about what we're dealing with, and what we can do to help stop it."
"Your reason for joining is very much appreciated, Boscha," Luz said. "Even if it were not the case, I would have welcomed you with open arms to my class."
Boscha looked up and slightly smiled. "Thank you." She said humbly.
"Now, on your desks, you will find the syllabi that I have made for the class," Luz said, getting all of the students to see the packets she and Azura had made. "Read through this on your own time, and you will understand all that will be covered for this class. For today, we start out with some basics," she started out before snapping her fingers. "NetBattle routine."
Everyone looked around as the room started to dim, with everything around them slowly fading away. Replacing the classroom, but not the desks or chairs, was a blank area of the MagiNet, with the training panels lit up. Luz walked to the center of the red side and looked to the side, just as Azura digitized in. The two nodded to each other before the latter aimed her MagiBuster at the blue panels, creating Mettaur Viruses.
"The first part of the class will demonstrate your knowledge gathered from what you have seen in NetBattles firsthand, from the videos seen of MegaMan in action that have were spread around following my announcement to teach here, or from what you have experienced yourself. For those without a NetNavi of their own, you don't have to worry," Luz said as everyone watched what was happening. "All you need to know is the basics. NetNavis can come free when you take this class," she assured the students. "Now, Battle Chips can last for a certain amount of time in any situation. They will all have certain effects, and some types will be very effective against certain Navis. To those who have done their research, what Battle Chip helps when dealing with multiple opponents at once, from all sides?"
"Okay, there's the HeatSide, BubbleSide, SideBlaster, CrossBlaster, and…" Cat listed to herself before realizing the answer, raising her hand to speak up afterwards. "Spreader!"
"Correct." Luz said, aiming out her hand, which had a Battle Chip Gauntlet over it. Soon, she gained a Spreader blaster and fired it forward, Deleting all of the training Viruses.
Azura clapped for Cat for a moment before sending out five Swordy Viruses.
"This part is a little bit tricky," Luz went on. "You can't always blast at Viruses, some won't give you the chance, and you have to get creative with the Battle Chips that you have," she said. "For this, you need the right Battle Chip combination to take on more complex Viruses, such as the Swordys. Come up with the right combination, then step up here, and demonstrate what you have. You should be able to do this with two Battle Chips using the Gauntlets provided to you, no more and no less."
Everyone looked to each other before they each started to draw out what Battle Chips to use. Luz looked to them with a smile, knowing she was teaching them well, before seeing the distracted look on Skara's face.
"What's with her?" Luz asked before Boscha suddenly walked up. "Boscha?"
Everyone looked to Boscha as she put on a pair of Battle Chip Gauntlets, one with a slot in it. The training Swordys took notice of her and started to advance, but she already slid a Battle Chip into the gauntlet with the slot.
"AreaSteal, Battle Chip In, Download!" Boscha called out just as the Swordys began to advance on her faster.
Narrowing her eyes, Boscha then activated a WideSword over her right Battle Chip Gauntlet and soon, AreaStole forward. Reappearing in front of three Swordys, she slashed them all, taking them out in one go, before repeating the process to take out the remaining two.
"Not too bad, Boscha," Luz complimented, getting Boscha to smile softly again at the light praise. "Good work."
"Thanks." Boscha replied.
"Alright," Luz said, clapping her hands as the rest of the class was applauding Boscha's display, getting the room to return to normal. "Everyone look over your Battle Chips, find the right combinations for a victorious NetBattle, and for your assignment, have that tactic recorded when you take on Viruses or in active NetBattles in MagiNet City," she announced. "For the rest of the class, I want you with NetNavis to pair up and strategize together on your own NetBattle strategies," she instructed, getting everyone to start and pair up before she turned to Skara. "Can I ask what's on your mind?" she asked softly.
"It's nothing, I promise," Skara said. "I just had a busy morning doing some errands for my family's business. You all know how the situation is."
"Yeah, which is why I'm asking," Luz replied. "My company isn't… causing problems for yours, is it?"
"What? No! Of course not!" Skara protested. "This started before you came, Luz. And even if that were the case, I'd never blame you for it, nor would my parents."
"I just want to make sure you're doing okay," Luz said. "If you ever need anything, I'll be there to help you out, I promise. Can you do the same."
Skara sighed and nodded. "Okay. If I need anything to help out the company, you'll be the first to know."
Luz smiled. "Good to know," she said. "Now, go ahead and team up with someone. Wouldn't want you to fall behind."
Skara nodded and walked off, joining with Cat as Amelia was talking with Boscha. As Luz watched everyone, she noticed Emira, who had paired with Viney, looking to Skara with concern on her face.
After class ended, everyone now went to lunch. Luz got her food and walked to find her friends. As she was trying to find them, she saw Skara talking with Emira before getting up and walking out. Now more curious than ever, she walked to her and sat down where Skara once was.
"Everything alright?"
"Skara's been doing all she can to help her parents with the company," Emira explained before motioning to the Abominations student with ram horns, Mary. "Mary over there is a part-time employee for the Capella Energy Industry. I tried to ask her what happened, and she says that some things have gotten difficult at the company to even progress with the deliveries. Skara had to use her personal airship to do all of the deliveries this morning before we started the class. It's making me worried for her."
"She didn't mention that before," Azura said. "Anything else we should know about?"
"I… I don't know if I should tell you," Emira said shyly. "Skara's my girlfriend, and I don't want to spill any of her worries while she's already got so much on her plate."
"Emira, please," Luz said. "You're her girlfriend, but if there's anything going on, I've gotta know."
"We promise, if Skara asks, we didn't hear it from you." Azura added on.
Emira smiled at Luz and Azura before turning her attention back to the former. "Her parents have not just run into service difficulties, but also financial problems," she said. "She feels that she's becoming a burden since Singh Capella is putting doing all he can to make sure she gets a good birthday next week. She said she would be doing all she can to make sure they can stay on top, but seeing her so distracted and down, a far call from how chipper she usually is?" she went on as Edric placed his hand on her shoulder for comfort. "It's not a sight I like to see."
"Why don't they ask for help?" Luz asked.
"From what I've been told, they've already tried to reach out to Blight Industries, but there's been no response for weeks," Emira explained. "As for your company, well…"
Later that day, Skara had just arrived back, closing the door behind her. As she was making her way towards the kitchen towards the kitchen, she saw her father talking on the crow, the Demon Realm's version of phones for witches and demons. She was about to talk to him about what she did until she heard what was going on.
"Well, I'm glad you were able to get your energy cells replaced, Mrs. Porter, and I'll be sure to thank Skara for helping out," Singh said. "Pleasure to do business with you too. I'll see you soon." He said before hanging up.
"What did Octavia say?" Bekka asked, walking towards her husband as Skara hid behind the staircase to listen more carefully. Seeing Taylor and Lindsey about to call for her, she motioned for them to be quiet before listening back on the conversation.
"Guess Skara wants to help out more than we thought," Singh said to Bekka. "She made twice as many deliveries as we would have as of recent, and each with peak efficiency to the work."
"So, what's got your lute in a twist?"
"We're earning a lot from what Skara helped to do, but it's still not enough to keep the company afloat," Singh said, getting Skara to wince. "I'm against laying off employees to keep ourselves running. Each of them have contributed so much, even the student workers."
"Any word from Odalia or the Ponds and Manx families?" Bekka suggested.
"Katrina Manx is pressed with their business creating the new Healing Packs, and both Rory and Matthew Pond have told me that they don't have what it takes to help us as a partner, what with how Amelia's parents being occupied with the security systems to improve against Darkloid attacks," Singh said. "As for Odalia, still no word. I wouldn't blame her for being in the fetal position each time someone calls her about her little stint, or the fact that her reputation has fallen from the same thing, but as I figured, she's too prideful to support us."
"There's still the condition of the company airship," Bekka pointed out. "If we can strip it down now that it's out of date, we can sell it for parts."
"I want to make sure Skara still has hers, and not rely on hers for future deliveries," Singh said as Skara looked to the window leading to the back, where Mary was inspecting the airship that her parents were talking about. "Once I get it working again, we'll use that, and save Skara the trouble of giving up her own ship."
Before Bekka could say anything else, both she and Singh heard the door slam. Turning to it, they saw it still swinging as Taylor and Lindsey finally came over.
"Was someone here?" Singh asked.
"It was Skara," Taylor said. "I think… she's trying to help."
"She already has, sweetie," Bekka said. "Octavia, Harvey and Steve all told us about it."
"Even that she's gonna try and take the airship for the next delivery?" Lindsey asked.
At that moment, both Singh and Bekka gaped, the latter dropping her baking pan with shock.
"I've been a fool!" Singh exclaimed before he and Bekka ran out the door, not noticing Emira about to enter just as soon as they ran out.
"Mary, how's the company airship looking?" Skara asked, slightly surprising the ram-horned student once Skara caught her attention.
"Still rough in a few places. She'll fly for a bit, but not long enough to make it to the Elbow for the mega energy cell." Mary replied.
"Good, I'll fix it on the way, and you can have my allowance as extra payment!" Skara quickly said, going to the controls.
"Skara, wait! The fuel cells are ruptured!" Mary called out. "You turn it on, and it's gonna blow!"
"Listen to her, Skara!" Singh called out as he and Bekka ran over with Emira catching up behind them. "It's not worth it!"
"I'm doing all I can to save the family company!" Skara called back, starting up the systems. "And even if this busts on the way, I'll carry the cell by foot if I have to!"
"Please, listen!" Bekka called. "We're proud of you, we always have been."
"Just please… shut that down, and come here," Singh begged. "You're my world, Skara."
Skara looked to her father with tears in her eyes. She turned to the systems, seeing everything almost primed and ready. Reluctantly, she reversed everything she did, shutting the airship down. Getting off, she ran into her parents' arms and cried.
"I'm sorry," Skara sobbed as Emira joined in on the hug. "I didn't want to be a burden. I only wanted to help you. I wanted to save us."
"And you've been doing great, honey," Singh said. "We know all you've done for us so far, and for the Isles. And we'll never ask anything more of you."
Skara sniffled as she pulled away. "Take my entire allowance," she offered. "It's not much, but at least it can keep the company—"
"Decline that offer."
Everyone turned to see Luz walking over with Azura, the former with a packet in her hands.
"Luz?" Skara asked.
"Ms. Noceda, we're honored to have you visit us," Bekka said. "And thank you for all you've done."
"What I've done is for the good of everyone on the Isles," Luz said. "I'm fourteen, and running a company with my sister and two employees. I don't know everything about business," she started out. "But I do know how to learn," she said, handing out a packet to the Capellas. "With your permission, from what I've learned in business… I'd like to buy your company, and become partners with you. The two of us as equals, working together… if you'll allow it."
"Luz… you're helping us?" Skara asked with tears of joy.
"When Emira told me your situation, I looked through all business books on how to help, and decided on this," Luz replied. "And my offer to make Capella Energy Industries as the energy division of Luzura Incorporated will help everyone on the Isles in the long run… if you'll allow it."
Singh smiled, holding out his hand while using magic to sign the forms. "It would be our honor."
Luz smiled and shook Singh's hand, getting Skara to hug her tightly afterwards.
A few days later, Odalia angrily slammed the newspaper onto the table. The headline on the front page read CAPELLA INDUSTRIES AND LUZURA INC. NOW MERGED AS ONE. ENERGY DEMANDS RISING! on it, with Luz and the Capella family posing for a picture.
"The Capellas were in trouble, and they reached out to Luzura Incorporated instead of us?!" Odalia seethed to Alador, who narrowed his eyes at her.
"They had tried to contact you, but you never answered," Alador scolded, getting Odalia's eyes to go wide with realization. "Congratulations. You're an idiot with Darkloids and with your own business." He remarked before walking out, leaving her in stunned silence.
Later that night, Skara walked into her room, now happier than she was before. Turning around, she saw Emira waiting and walked to her slyly.
"So… you told Luz on me?"
"I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have," Emira apologized. "But… I didn't want to see you overworked so much. You deserve better, and I just wanted to help."
"Well, I'd say it paid off," Skara said before holding Emira by the chin and leaning in to her, planting a kiss on her lips. After a while, she pulled away. "Thank you."
"Anything for y—"
"We're still not doing it yet." Skara teased quickly.
"Ohh…" Emira playfully pouted.
Author's Notes: This chapter was a bit shorter, but I wanted to make sure to go for something away from the action. I still hope you all liked what I did. Please review, rate, and if you can, PM me for anything on the story. For now, this is SuperHeroTimeFan signing off. Happy Fourth of July, everyone! See you soon!