21. Chapter 59: The Ballad of Eda Act II(1)

Gatesfield.

"You guys have a theater too?" Eda asked as she and Angel stood in front of a movie theater.

"Yeah, they're showing The Thing today," Angel replied with a sigh. "Mom said I'm not allowed to watch it though, since it is a horror movie."

"Like that's gonna stop us," Eda declared before spotting a group of seniors going in to see the movie. "Follow me."

As the group of seniors entered the theater, the sound of popping popcorn could be heard in the lobby as 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' played in the background. Eda and Angel snuck into the theater, with Eda using her hair like a mustache while Angel hid behind her.

"Ede, your hair's really unbelievable," Angel commented.

"Shush," Eda hushed as they snuck into the theater.

Once they were in the theater, the movie started playing. This was Eda's first time seeing a movie in the human realm and she found herself blown away by the practical special effects.

"Holy shit…" Eda said in awe.

"I know, John Carpenter really went all out," Angel replied in a whisper.

When Eda didn't answer, Angel glanced over at her. She saw that Eda was focusing on the film, not taking her widened eyes off the screen for a second. Angel smiled and turned her attention back to the movie.

Once the movie ended and the credits started to roll, Eda stood up. "This was the best movie I've ever seen in my life! Like the way the monster bit that guy's arms off! And the dog-"

"Hey!" Eda and Angel were flashed by a flashlight held by a theater usher. "You two shouldn't be in here!"

"And that's our cue to… scram!" Eda declared as she avoided the usher, grabbing Angel as the two ran off together.

"Quick, I know an exit!" Angel told her as she led Eda out of the theater while the usher chased after them.

"Come back here!" the usher shouted. He tried to grab Eda, but only managed to grab the piece of cloth covering her ears. The two girls were too fast for him. "You won't get away with this!" he declared after stopping to catch his breath. "Even though you already got away… for everyone else to see. Terrific…"

Outside, Eda and Angel were hiding behind another building. The two managed to catch their breath and then burst into laughter. "Oh my god, we actually got away with this! This is so thrilling!" Angel shouted.

"Yeah, I know!" Eda wiped a tear away as she laughed. Passing by was a young brown haired boy with glasses. He was with his mother and his eyes widened when he saw Eda's pointed ears.

"No way…" he said in shock. He pointed at Eda. "Are you a Martian?"

"Now Jacob, what did I say about pointing at other people?" the mother asked while taking Jacob with her away from the girls, not paying attention to Eda's ears.

Angel was confused by what Jacob had said, but then she looked at Eda and her eyes widened when she noticed her ears. "Eda…"

"What?" Eda asked. "Is there something on my-" She realized her cloth was gone and her ears were exposed. "Oh no…" she muttered, looking like she was about to panic. Angel tried to reach out to her, but Eda stepped away.

"Eda, wait-" Angel said before Eda started running away. "Eda!"

Eda slowly opened her eyes, feeling much calmer. She heard a heartbeat and saw Raine sleeping next to her. "Gah!" Eda fell back, realizing that she had been asleep on Raine for a few hours.

Raine woke up and saw Eda. "Oh, um… sorry, I guess I dozed off."

"No, it's fine, I dozed off as well," Eda responded, rubbing her arm awkwardly. "Um, thanks Rainestorm, for hearing me out and letting me stay."

Raine smiled in response. "Don't mention it, Eda," they said while looking a little shy.

"Well, I should get back home," Eda said as she started walking over to the door. "And Raine… when this is all over with… maybe… if you want… you can come over for dinner at the Owl House if you'd like."

"I… I would be honored," Raine replied, though once Eda turned away their smile faltered.

"Well, better head out!" Eda declared, only to find Amber waiting outside. "Weh! How long were you standing there!?"

"Oh, Lilith said to tell you that she already left since she didn't want to disturb you and Raine during your time together," Amber explained, while Eda hid her blush while grumbling about Lilith. Amber continued. "So… any chance you're looking for another kid?" she asked with hopeful eyes.

"Aren't you a little too old for that?" Eda asked as she walked past. "Anyway, gotta head home."

"Bye, Mama Eda!" Amber waved to Eda.

"Luz? Come on, I got something to show you."

Amity was sporting a pink jacket over a black top resembling her old dress, a purple skirt with a gray belt, red leggings, purple boots and an eclipse necklace around her neck. As she brought Luz out of the house, Luz's eyes widened in shock. "Oh my Titan…"

In front of Luz was a purple motorbike made out of Abomination goo, red Abomination eyes appearing on different parts of the bike.

"It's… how…?" Luz questioned while Amity held up a book on motor travel.

"Gus lent me a book about human vehicles," Amity responded. "Just thought you wouldn't need a staff when you could have an awesome motorbike ride with your girlfriend."

Luz gave her a hug, followed by a kiss on the cheek. "You are the coolest girlfriend ever!" Luz shouted, making Amity blush.

"Come on, let's ride," Amity told her, using her Abomination goop to form helmets for the two.

The two road through Bonesborough, the denizens being left to wonder what kind of contraption Amity had made.

"Whoa, I want one of those!" said one kid.

Luz hung onto Amity from behind as they rode out of town and to the spot with the Grom Tree, where they got off and sat down together.

"Almost time for the Gland Prix," Luz commented.

"Yeah," Amity replied as she handed Luz a pixie pie.

"Thanks," Luz responded as she ate it while Amity ate one of her own. "You know, you could probably start a whole business making Abomi-vehicles."

"Maybe, but then we might have the same pollution problems that the human world faces," Amity replied. "Learned that from Gus's book too."

Luz nodded, something on her mind. "You think… Boscha might show up at the Gland Prix?"

"I… doubt it. She never liked any sport that wasn't grudgby," Amity said with a sigh. "And I… don't know if I'm ready to talk to her, though at the same time we should figure out a way to help her."

"Even if we don't owe her, she shouldn't be stuck in Glandus," Luz agreed. "If mom still had her magic, she would probably wipe the school off the map herself." She chuckled before looking at Amity. "There will be Glandus students at the Gland Prix, so you and King need to be careful."

"I know," Amity replied. "Do you remember that Purple Rain song back in Grom? From the t-shirt you gave me when I first stayed over?" Luz nodded and Amity continued. "I think I now get the meaning of the song."

"Really?" Luz asked her.

"Yeah, after listening to it again I get what this Prince guy is saying," Amity commented. "That… no matter how hard times may get, after the rain there's a ray of hope. I'd like to laugh at a purple rain someday."

Luz looked at her girlfriend and smiled as she hung her arm around her. "Yeah, me too, probably when the doves cry."

"...I don't get it, but I'd like that too," Amity admitted while placing her head onto Luz's shoulder.

Soon the Gland Prix was getting ready to begin. The bleachers were filled with spectators while the students from the top three schools of the Boiling Isles prepared themselves for the race. Luz, Amity and King were amongst them.

"Alright, looks like you're up against some heavy competition, Ams," Luz said while rubbing Amity's shoulders. "Including our fellow Hexselios."

"Yeah, and today, they're our enemies!" King declared.

"In a friendly competition," Amity pointed out. "And Luz, the shoulder rubs…"

"Oh, should I stop?" Luz asked her.

"No, I like them. Thank you," Amity told her with a smile.

"You're welcome," Luz said as she finished and gave Amity a good luck kiss.

"Amity Blight," said a female voice.

Both the girls and King frowned as they turned toward the person who had called out Amity. There stood Emily Tricks and Stella Northstar, the latter being the one who had spoken. Emily was holding her staff, which had a flying monkey Palisman. "It's nice to finally meet our competition. Emily Tricks, and this is my girlfriend Stella Northstar."

"My name is Amity Goodfellow these days," Amity told her and Emily feigned surprise.

"Oh, my apologies," Emily responded. "How could I forget that you disowned the Blights for whatever reason." Her gaze went over to Luz. "And you must be the Owl Lady's daughter, Luz Clawthorne, it's nice to see you again." She raised her hand up to Luz, who looked confused.

"Again?" she asked. "We've never met."

"Hmm, yes," Emily admitted. "I suppose you wouldn't remember…"

Luz then noticed her golden sleeves and her eyes widened, remembering what Brucy had told her about someone from Glandus in a golden uniform. "You… you're the Glandus student with the golden sleeves… you trashed my house!"

"What!?" Amity asked, glaring at Emily.

Stella looked away while Emily shrugged. "Even if I did, what proof do you have? And who'd believe a couple of wild witches, or care if the Owl Lady's house was trashed? The Emperor's Coven and a lot in the Boiling Isles doesn't exactly have a high opinion of her. Especially those… not so good rumors around her being a-"

"Finish that sentence, and I will kick you-"

"Kick my ass? Just as you said you would do to the Emperor?" Emily chimed mockingly. "How is that going along by the way? I will admit, you two are a cute couple. And your exploits are impressive, which will make my victory more impressive as well."

"Don't be intimidated Luz, she's just afraid that we'll beat her!" King declared.

"Oh, and you must be her little pet, such a cutie you are." Emily knelt down and tapped King's nose.

"I'm not a pet! I am a Clawthorne and I am going to win this race!" King declared. "I am especially not going to let a nasty booger witch like you win! Hehehe, get it, cause you're green as a booger!"

Emily rolled her eyes, stood back up, and wrapped her arm around Stella. "Come Stella, we've wasted enough of our time with these wild witches," she said while leading Stella away.

"Yes, Emily," Stella responds while adjusting her glasses.

"I don't think I like that witch," Luz commented while Amity nodded in agreement.

"There's no way we're losing to her, right King?" Amity asked.

"We're going to weh this witch!" King declared.

Among the other students was Felicia Fox, who was hoping to get some footage from her vlog after her mother had dragged her here. She spotted some of her old friends from St. Epiderm and she smiled. "Hey guys-" But before she could go over to them, her arm was grabbed.

"Come here, Felicia, I need you to help me present the Gland Prix," Felicity told her daughter.

"But mom, I want to go talk to my-"

"Look, Perry decided to bail out for some reason so I get to present instead," Felicity Fox explained. "And you know the viewers love it when they see me with my kid, it always boosts ratings! Come on, it'll be like when we used to do those cooking shows."

"I… guess…" Felicia said while looking down.

Elsewhere, Principal Bump was meeting with his fellow principals. Besides McScream representing Glandus was the St. Epiderm principal, a woman with light red skin, horns, brown hair, gray eyes, and a green scarf.

"Hey, looks like the Triad of Knowledge is all here! Nice to see ya, Principal Bump, and Headmistress Midday!" McScream declared.

"And you are…?" Bump questioned.

"Mephistopheles McScream! You know, famous actor from Titanwood?" he asked them, trying to get some recognition.

"Sorry, I don't watch movies that much," Midday admitted.

"What happened to Principal Acne?" Bump questioned.

"Oh uh, he's… taking a long vacation, so I took over Glandus for him," he answered as Bump gave him a suspicious look.

Up on the bleachers were the elite top students of Glandus. Cain, Nina, and Tito were sitting together while Goregon, Weaselton, Kadabe, and Ruth were directly below them.

"Look at all these future losers," Tito said while eating his popcorn. "Especially those St. Epiderm fools. I mean, who'd want to attend school at the Knee? Right Nina?" he asked. When he didn't get an answer, he turned to Nina and saw her fixating on one particular St. Epiderm student. "Oh, are you having those weird fantasies about that Donna Masterskull again?"

This got Nina to snap out of her daydream. "What? No!" she said, while looking at a St. Epiderm girl who has moonlight glowing skin, long platinum hair with a black bow with wings, blue eyes, and a St. Epiderm uniform with blue sleeves and leggings. "I just… admire that she is bold enough to participate in the Gland Prix against Emily."

"Oh please, you were just thinking about kidnapping her again, weren't you?" Tito asked and Nina said nothing in response, her face red. "Kitten, why don't you just ask her out like a normal witch? Have you even tried?"

"I left a dead bird on her front porch as a gift…" Nina admitted, which caused Tito to give her a deadpan look. "What?" The two then noticed Cain getting up. "Cain? Where are you going?"

"Saw my brother." Cain pointed to Simon, who stood by the side of the bleachers, glaring up at his older brother.

"Alright, but we ain't saving your seat when Stella joins us," Tito said as he continued to eat his popcorn before coughing up a small ear. "Ugh, forgot the ears."

Cain and Simon went behind the bleachers to talk. "You got something to be able to say, little brother?" Cain asked.

Simon gave him a narrow look. "Yeah, it's been a while since I last saw you," he said. "Since you started attending Glandus, you hardly called and you are barely around anymore."

"I'm just busy," Cain told him. "Sorry if I'm unable to-"

"Unable to come to Beck's shows or unable to help me and dad?" Simon listed off. "Or how you were unable to help Boscha when you let your friends pummel her?"

Cain was hiding his emotions behind his helmet mask, so Simon couldn't see his reaction. "I did call you that time, didn't-"

"She had claw marks on her, Cain!" Simon shouted angrily while grabbing his brother's collar.

"Hey, chill, you know that we're not supposed to fight… yet," Cain told him calmly.

"Why did you not help her!?" Simon demanded. "Have you become that full of yourself since you started attending Glandus? If mom were alive to see you now…"

"Don't you dare bring her up!" Cain smacked Simon's hand away, glaring at him through his helmet. "Look Simon, what happened to Boscha could've been prevented if she did what she was told. She knew how things work in the Boiling Isles, but she just couldn't play along."

Simon looked disgusted. "Play along? Boscha's family, and are you saying that she doesn't matter to you in what happens to her!?"

"I didn't say that," Cain retorted.

"Hey, hey, what are you two knuckleheads fighting over about?" asked a familiar voice. The two brothers turned around and saw Boris walking up to them.

"Cousin Boris!" Simon and Cain said simultaneously, sounding excited.

"It's been a long time since we last saw you," Simon stated.

"What have you been up to these days?" Cain asked him. "And why are you here at the Gland Prix?"

Boris looked at the brothers, remembering when he lived with his cousins… and their mother. He hesitated for a moment. "Oh, you know, I've been doing my own thing. Running my own tattoo shop," he said. "I was just in the neighborhood and… well, I just wanted to see you brick for brains again." He wanted to tell them what he knew, what he found out from Perry about their mother… but after overhearing their augment, he decided this wasn't the right moment. He faked a smile. "When you see them, give my regards to Uncle Samwitch and Beckers for me."

Luz spotted Eda and Lilith near the bleachers and waved at them. "Mom! Aunt Lily! You two made it!" she said as she, Amity and King walked over. Luz gave the two a hug. Unknown to them, Emily spotted them while she was getting ready and she glared at Eda.

"Yeah, of course we would see you before the race," Eda said as she hugged Luz and King.

"Though something came up, so we're only here to tell you good luck," Lilith admitted.

"Yeah, sorry that we can't stay to watch the race," Eda told them, patting King's head. "But hey, show these posers what the Bad Girl Coven's all about."

"We will, mom!" King declared, which tugged Eda's heartstrings.

"Yeah, we understand," Amity replied while holding up Owlbert. "And thanks for lending me Owlbert, mom."

"No problem, kid-" Eda and Amity paused. So did Lilith, Luz and King.

"Um… I mean, Eda! Yeah, um, sorry, it must've slipped-" Amity's face was red with embarrassment.

"No, no, it's cool," Eda assured her. "Just caught me off guard, that's all."

"Welcome, everyone, to the Gland Prix!" Felicity Fox called out with her microphone while Felicia boredly summoned her spirits for flare. "All contestants please report to the finish line!"

"But hey, go get'em, you two," Eda said, nudging Amity while patting King's head.

As she and Lilith started to leave, Luz stopped them. "Hey, is everything all right?" she asked, slightly suspicious. "What are you two exactly doing?"

Eda and Lilith gave each other looks before Eda responded. "Don't worry about us, go cheer on your girlfriend and brother."

"We'll tell you about it later," Lilith promised. "Let us know how it went!"

"Alright…" Luz said as she was about to turn around, until she saw Boris walking out from behind the bleachers. "Boris?" she asked, noticing him following her mom and aunt away from the Gland Prix.

Despite her suspicion, Luz went to sit on the bleachers. Above her was a woman with lighter dark skin, long black braided hair, dark blue eyes, and a purple button shirt with blue bell bottom pants and black heel boots. She was on the crow. "Where are you? The race is about to begin and I told your son that you would be here to cheer him on!" she shouted at the person on the other end. "Don't you sass me! I don't care if something came up, this was the least you could have done for him! I don't know why you are asking me if I have my shiv with me." She pulled out her shiv and looked at it with a slightly murderous gleam in her eyes.

Luz sweated nervously as she scooted away from the woman. She looked up at the screen, which was showing off the various racers.

"Contestants will fly down the right arm to the Cubital Valley!" Felicity explained. "They'll have to use speed, cunningness, and magic to race to the checkpoint and back to the finish line! The winners will get their names etched on the Cup of Ephemeral Glory!'' She nudged her daughter to hold up the ugly trophy.

"All victory is fleeting!" the Cup of Ephemeral Glory groaned, sounding in pain.

"And, an on-camera interview, seen by everyone watching across the Isles!"

Amity noticed that among the racers was Gavin with an anteater Palisman. She was surprised to see him after the Galderstone incident, but before she could think about it too much she noticed that Emily was flickering her fingers like a match and looking at them.

"Doesn't she know she can't use magic before the race?" King asked.

"I have a bad feeling, but we can't focus on her," Amity told him as she prepared for the race.

"On your marks, get set…" Felicity held the microphone towards the Cup, who screamed in agony.

"AAAAAAHHHH!"

And the race was off.

Elsewhere in the Boiling Isles, an Emperor's Coven prison transport was coming down the road until a hooded woman got in the way.

"Please… care to give a couple of snails to a poor old woman?" she asked.

"Uh, listen lady, can you get off the road," the guard told her before getting hit from the side, causing him to pass out and fall off the cart.

The woman unhooded, revealing herself to be Lilith. "Alright, now!"

The group led by Tres popped out from the woods, going over to the transport and opening it. Inside were a bunch of captured wild witches.

"Come on, you're free," Tres said as the witches got out of the transport.

"Oh, thank the Titan you all came to save us!" spoke one wild witch.

"Yeah, thank you so much heroes!" another replied with less enthusiasm.

"Hey, it's no problem," one of the rebels said, but a confused Lilith went over to the wild witch who hadn't sounded very convincing.

"Oh hey, it's Lilith!" the witch said very nervously. "Man, I feel safer already!"

Lilith narrowed her eyes. "You don't sound like it…"

"Um..." the wild witch said nervously.

"Cut!" shouted a voice.

The wild witch disappeared along with the other wild witches, showing Serventine and other coven scouts in their place, surrounding Lilith and her group. Among the scouts was Adrian Graye. "Serventine, what was that?" he asked in frustration. "Your performance wasn't convincing in the slightest!" He groaned and looked at the rebels. "You know what, forget the script, we'll just have to improvise instead..."

Eda and Boris had met up with the rest of the BATTs near a broken bridge in the woods.

"Hope you brought something for the raid, Perry," Eda said to him.

"Oh don't worry, Eda, I came prepared with my ultimate weapon!" Perry held up a kazoo. Eda didn't look impressed.

"Why not just sit this one through…" Eda told him while Amber, Derwin, Katya, and Levi jumped across the gap in the bridge. Eda was about to jump as well, but she was stopped by Raine.

"Wait… something isn't right," Raine told her.

"Why'd you stop?" Katya asked as she looked back before she, Amber, Derwin, and Levi were engulfed by Abomination goop. "AAAH!" they cried out.

"Hide!" Raine shouted as they, Eda, Perry and Boris scattered, finding somewhere to hide just before Darius showed up with Eberwolf.

"That feels better," Darius said as he seemed to teleport in with his Abomination slime.

Boris and Raine were hiding together behind a boulder, while Eda and Perry were hiding together behind a bush. "Dear Titan, it was a trap. What do we do?" Perry asked.

"Perry, listen to me closely," Eda told him. "I need you to run."

"What?" Perry asked in confusion. "But Eda, I-"

"I'm telling you to run, Perry. Last thing I want is for Gus's father to end up in jail. So please… run and don't look back," Eda told him while giving him an invisibility glyph. "Hold your breath while using this. I'll buy you some time"

Perry wanted to protest, but he knew he couldn't argue with Eda. "Alright," he nodded as he took the glyph, held his breath, and he ran off while invisible.

"This place is disgusting," Darius said while turning to his prisoners. "The sooner we get this over with, the better." He snapped his fingers, teleporting the four BATTs members away with his slime.

The four BATTs were dropped into a cell in the now reconstructed Conformatorium. Katya stood up and ran over to the bars.

"Not again!" Katya cried out. "My dad's gonna kill me for sure…"

"The rest of you, come out wherever you are, and I don't have to get nasty!" Darius called out. Eberwolf's head rose up, hearing a noise as they saw Eda's shadow darting away into the trees. Eberwolf gave chase while Darius followed, hearing Eda's mocking laughter.

They followed Eda's footsteps and laughter until it came to a stop, Darius shifting into his Abomination form. "Got you!" he said as lunged forward, only to find nobody there. Only then did he notice some fire glyphs placed on a tree, connected to some soot line. "Oh poison apple-"

BOOM!

Darius shielded himself and Eberwolf from the blast, though Darius did receive some splinters. "AAGH! You will pay for that!" he shouted while Eberwolf got up after the small explosion. Neither of them noticed Eda hiding in the tree above them.

From their hiding place, Boris was whispering to Raine. "That was Darius and Eberwolf," Boris said as he pulled out his keyboard guitar. "If I can take them out, it'll sure to put a stain in Belo's plans-"

WHACK!

Boris fell down, hit in the back of the head by a rock. A shadow loomed over him…

Eda watched as Eberwolf sniffed around while Darius was pulling the splinters out of him. She smirked, but when she saw someone dragging Boris's body to the two. When she got a look at who it was, she gasped.

Darius and Eberwolf noticed them. "Well, took you long enough. Any idea where the others are?" Darius asked.

"No, they must've escaped," replied Raine, who was the one who knocked out Boris.

"Off to the Conformatorium with him," Darius said as he teleported the unconscious Boris away, "I know it must be hard, they did trust you after all, but you did the right thing."

Raine had a look of guilt. "I had no choice, sacrifices needed to be made…"

Eda was shocked by what she was witnessing. 'Raine...what are you doing!?' she asked herself as she watched Darius patting Raine on the shoulder. "Nononononono…"

As her emotions got the best of her, Eda jumped out of the tree. "RAAAINNEE!" She collided with Raine, causing Darius and Eberwolf to step back in shock when they saw Eda on top of Raine. She grabbed them by the collar. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?"

At the harbor Goonla, the vampires, and Rick's rebel group were waiting with Barack and his crew for Raine.

"Everything seems to be in order," Barack said to Goonla.

"Ay, tis is," Goonla nodded.

"Captain!" shout Seaweed, the first mate, from the post. "It's that Shawm guy again!"

Goonla sighed. "Let me handle this," he said as Barack and the others hid themselves from view.

Goonla walked to the side of the ship and saw Shawm with some coven scouts, including the Captain who wore a golden helmet with a blue plume. "What is the meaning of this?" Goonla demanded.

"I told you that I would be back," Shawm said as he dug something from his coat. "I respect your principles, but the Emperor has grown impatient. So we'll be taking your Fishing Coven by force… along with the rest of your rebellion."

Goonla's eyes widened as Admiral Barack stuck his head out. "IT'S A TRAP!"

Witch Rick and the other rebels came out with their weapons drawn and their spell circles up. "Yeah, didn't see that coming!" Witch Rick states sarcastically, as if he expected this to happen. "But hey, we outnumber your scouts!"

"You think it's just us?" asked the Captain, as Kikimora showed up with an Abomaton, which made a beeping sound.

This summoned the other Coven Heads, who revealed themselves on top of the nearby buildings.

One was a gray skinned witch with long swampy white hair and a black top hat. They had yellow eyes with scarlet pupils, a dark-yellow face mask, a black gown with a brown chest on their back, and bandages wrapped around their arms and hind-legs. They appeared to have the Potions sigil around their red trims.

Another was a buff, blue robed witch with a white helmet-mask with circular horns with blue caps. They had pale white skin with a purple lower lip, a light blue visor, white gloves and belt, and a yellow emblem with the Healing Coven sigil and a blue ribbon under it.

Another was a short, but brawn dark-skinned man with dark gray eyebrows, gray eyes, and a gray mustache and beard. He wore a dark gray tunic with brown sleeves and trousers, tools around his belt, a dark cloak, and dark boots. He also had the Construction sigil on his belt.

Lastly was a purple skinned, hunchbacked witch with a white mustache tied to their back connected with a white paw sticking out. They wore a dark purple cloak with a purple robe and had white hair that looked like claws, dark blue eyes with teal iris, and four arms with two holding a crystal ball and one carrying around a book.

"The Coven Heads!" the vampire leader shouted as she extended her claws.

"Desperate times calls for desperate measures," Shawm said as he brought out a power glyph and slapped it on the back of his neck. His body suddenly burst as his top clothes got ripped and he became stacked, growing two-times taller and beefier. He flexed in front of the rebels. "So either give up your wild witch ways, or we'll have to make you!"

"Attack formation!" Barack raised his sword up as his sailors aimed their spell circles to shoot at the scouts, while the scouts took cover and did the same. It ended up becoming a shoot out between them. Witch Rick held up his modified wand to shoot at some scouts while Boiling Isles Bird Person threw explosive potions at them. Meanwhile, Goonla and Shawm had ended up fighting against each other.

The Healing Head made their way into the battle, causing the scouts to halt. Drawing a spell circle, they blasted a white beam at the vampires and Goonla's crew. The crewmates fell asleep, along with some of the vampires. But the leader, Lady Clawdea, was still up and she charged at them. Unfortunately, a potion hit her and created a cloud that caused her to cough violently.

"Dammit! Garlic!" she cried as she couldn't stand the smell.

"Come on, let's get out of here!" Witch Rick said as he, Boiling Isles Bird Person and Boiling Isles Squanchy tried to make their escape. The Construction Head jumped down in front of them, stomping on the ground and raising pillars and walls to block the exits.

"It's like they're squanching our every move!" Boiling Isles Squanchy commented.

"That's because of their Oracle Head!" Boiling Isles Bird Person pointed at the Oracle Head, who was using their crystal ball and telepathically communicating with the others.

"I got this!" Witch Rick aimed his wand, but it was blasted from his hand. "AAAH!" he shouted as he glared at the Coven Captain holding her staff.

"Captain Wolffe, let me handle this one!" Kikimora insisted as she used her Abomaton to target Witch Rick, turning its hand into a gatling.

"Kiki, wait!" Wolffe shouted, but Witch Rick held his hand up, shooting an arrow into the Abomaton's hand. Ice encased the Abomaton, causing Kikimora to fall out, though Wolffe caught her before she hit the ground. "Have you not read why he's wanted!? He's a wild witch known to have modified himself!" She looked back at Witch Rick's group, who had just knocked aside the Construction Head. "Fire!"

Boiling Isles Bird Person saw the scouts aiming their spells at them, so he pushed Witch Rick and BI-Squanchy out of the way. "Get down!" he shouted, taking the blasts that pierced him through.

"Boiling Isles Bird Person, NOOOOO!" Witch Rick cried out in shock and horror. "You bastards!" He threw several potions at the scouts, creating explosions.

"Run, Rick!" Squanchy shouted, placing a power glyph on himself and growing large. He charged the scouts. "Go and run!" Witch Rick briefly hesitated, then turned around to shoot through the blockade wall and make himself an exit.

"He's getting away!" Kikimora pointed out.

"No," Wolffe declared. "He won't run for long, since we were told exactly where he would go…"

"Emily has eliminated two of her opponents and is now in 8th! Amity has flown past Fubak to get 4th! Gavin, Louis and Donna are up ahead!"

From the bleachers Luz cheered for Amity and King. "Come on, you two! You got this!"

"Would you keep it down?" cried out an old gray-haired man to Luz. "We're trying to listen to the commentary!"

"Oh, sorry," Luz apologized.

"Nah, don't be," the other old man with a white mustache responded. "Honestly, we just came to see which of these bird brains will crash first!"

"Too bad there aren't any glass windows for them to fly into!"

"AW-HOHOHOHOHO!" the two laughed as Luz looked at them oddly.

"Why did I have to sit near the weirdos?" Luz asked herself.

"Hey, it takes one to know one!" the old men hollered in laughter.

Two racers of Hexside and St. Epiderm were flying neck to neck before Emily made a quick pass by them. She used her hand to spark flame spells at them, making them shield their eyes.

"Emily is now ahead to 6th!" Felicity declared. "She's following up on Amity, while Gavin, Louis, and Donna are up ahead!"

Amity and King saw Emily behind them. Amity drew a spell circle to create an illusion of an Abomination serpent to scare her and the other racers. One racer fell for it as he toppled over, but Emily saw past the illusion and went up next to Amity.

"Is that the best you got, ex-Blight?" Emily asked mockingly.

"We're not gonna lose to you!" Amity told her while King stuck his tongue at the Glandus self-proclaimed queen.

"And it looks like-"

"The two top queens of each schools are neck and neck!" McScream interrupted Felicity's commentary, taking over. "Who's gonna win against one another? Personally, Amity doesn't stand a chance- hey! What are you doing!? Do you know who I am!?" McScream demanded while security came to escort him away.

"Sorry about that folks," Felicity resumed. "Some has-been tried to take over but there's only one commentator around here!"

Emily created a spell circle that shot out ice shards towards Amity and King. The Goodfellow steered away from the shards while King held on. "What the hell!?" Amity shouted at her, but realized that she was about to be off course. But Amity raised her hand up to sling abomi-goop at the goal post, pulling her back into the race while resuming her position next to Emily.

"If that's how you want to play," Amity said as she used her abomi-sling to strike at Emily, who teleported away and caused Amity to miss. She appeared on the other side of where Amity and King are.

"You know, I seem to recall that you were Lilith's apprentice," Emily mentioned. "You had it all under the Blight's name, but you gave it all up for some wild witches… I could never understand that… and your parents must've been very disappointed." She dodged a flame shot at her by Amity, who glared at her.

"Don't you ever stop talking?" Amity asked. Emily was getting on her nerves.

"Afraid of the truth? I heard that you disowned your family name… but perhaps it was because your parents had already disowned you. I wouldn't blame them after what you pulled at the petrification ceremony, you obviously cared more about some criminals than your real family anyway!" Emily spoke coolly while a vine shot at her which she instantly dodged. The vine was caused by King using a glyph.

"Don't listen to her!" King told Amity. "Focus on the race!"

"I know," Amity said as she was about to get close to Gavin.

Gavin looked behind him and saw Amity gaining. But then he saw Emily and that she was looking at him. He nodded and suddenly started spinning around. "Whooaaa!" he shouted as he ended up crashing into the Illusion Hexsidian girl with pink skin, green eyes, and an open jaw with teeth and purple tongue sticking over her right eye, and tail, causing her to fall out of the race with him.

"And it looks like Gavin and Louis are down! Now the race for first is between Amity, Emily, and Donna!" Felicity announced.

Gus, Mattholomule, Eileen and Bo were watching the race from Eileen's house. They had come there to cheer her up.

"Did… that look like he fell… on purpose?" Gus asked, turning to Mattholomule.

"Yeah," Mattholomule responded, seeing Emily on the Crystal Ball. "And I think I know why."

Back at the Owl House, Camila was watching the race on the crystal ball. She looked worried for Amity.

"I brought popcorn!" Hooty shouted as he returned from the kitchen and coughed out a bowl of popcorn. "Here you go!"

Camila took one look at the popcorn that had been inside Hooty's mouth and she put on a polite smile. "Uh, no thank you," she told him. "I'm good."

Donna saw who was behind her as she rode on her alicorn staff. "Sorry about this," she said as she drew a spell circle with a key, causing a flash of light followed by fireworks shooting out towards them. The fireworks took the form of dragons that flew towards Amity, King and Emily. Amity shielded herself and King while Emily dodged the attack. Celine, who was behind them, wasn't so lucky as she got hit by the firework dragons.

"AIEEE!" Celine cried out as she fell into a tree.

"You could've blinded us, you know!" King called out.

"Sorry!" Donna apologized. "Just winning the race!"

King turned to Amity. "What's with the key she was using?"

"It must be like the wands, it helps channel her magic," Amity explained before Owlbert's eyes glowed bright as King stumbled.

"Weh!" he cried, almost falling only for Amity to catch him. "What are you doing?"

"It's not me…" Amity said as she felt the staff moving on its own. "I think it's Owlbert!" she said as she and King hung on.

Luz noticed that the staff is moving on its own. Owlbert began to fly away, out of the race. This caused the audience to wonder what was going on.

"Well this is unusual, it appears that Amity has abandoned the race!" Felicity said before she saw Luz spread her wings out and fly out of the bleachers. "Um… enjoy the race!" She turned to her daughter. "Felicia, send your ghosts after them."

Felicia looked up at Luz and sighed as she summoned her camera ghost from her crystal ball.

"Wow! Looks like your top student couldn't handle the race, huh Principal Chump?" McScream commented mockingly, though Bump was more concerned for Amity and Luz, not paying any attention to McScream. "Hey, I'm talking to you!"

"Something's not right," Bump said, completely ignoring the Glandus principal.

"Yeah! You are not paying attention to me!" McScream shouted in anger.

Lady Clawdea crashed into a wall after getting beaten by the Construction Head. The other vampires were completely knocked out by the Potions and Healing Head, while more Abomatons had arrived to apprehend Squanchy and Goonla's crew.

Barack aimed his spell circle at the Oracle Head, while Sporky tried to warn him "Sporky, Sporky!"

"Not now, Sporky, I got this-" But Barack heard and felt an explosion, causing him and Sporky to topple over. A potion was thrown into the ship by the Potions Head, causing the boat to sink.

Lady Clawdea saw this and stood back up. Before she could save Barack, however, the Healing Coven Head appeared in front of her. She extended her nails into claws. "Get out of my way, you Coven Dog!" she cried out before feeling something going through her neck. Her eyes widened as her head was separated from the rest of her body, which collapsed onto the ground. As the body turned to dust, the Construction Head stood over her with an axe.

"Lady Clawdea!" one of the vampires cried out as the Oracle Head approached them. "You bastards!" But the Oracle Head just used their crystal ball to shoot out a sea of purple flames, consuming the vampires. "AAAAHHH!" they all screamed. While some escaped the flames, they too fell to the Construction Head's axe.

Goonla, who was fighting Shawm, crashed into some boxes but quickly got up. "I won't lose to you!" He swung his mechanical fist at Shawm, who just dodged it, grabbed the arm, and pulled it out, causing Goonla to scream. "AAAAAHHH!"

"I'm sorry about this, but orders are orders," Shawm said as he palm struck Goonla, creating a shockwave that shattered the boxes around them.

"Captain!" Seaweed cried as he aimed a spell at Shawm, only to get taken out by a coven scout, who shot him through the head with a blast of magic. Seaweed fell off the harbor, sending him to a scalding watery grave.

Graye and his coven scouts had surrounded Lilith, Tres and their rebel group.

"My, my, if it isn't former head Lilith." Graye smirked at her as he suddenly disappeared and reappeared next to her. "Heard a lot of not so good things about you." Lilith swung her staff at him, but he was an illusion. "How you used some kid to spy on the Owl Lady…"

"Shut up!" Lilith shouted, holding her glyphs. The scouts drew their circles, aiming them.

"Fight back!" Tres shouted as the rebels drew spell circles to fight off the scouts. A fight broke out, with the rebels being taken out one by one. Lilith froze one scout with an ice glyph, then kicked another who was trying to get her from behind.

"Keep a look out for Graye!" Lilith told them.

"It must be hard without magic," Graye said while appearing on a tree branch. "The great Lilith, once admired, once desired, now disgraced and about to be expired!" he declared as Lilith shot a beam at him with her staff, only for him to disappear.

Lilith glared as Graye kept mocking her and making clones of himself. "And what are you doing now? Associating with criminals? Oh how the mighty have fall-" Lilith uses a plant glyph to shoot out a vine whip, swinging it at the illusions until it was wrapped around the real Graye. "-en." He was pulled back and Lilith punched him in the face. "OW! You wrench!" he cried out, his nose bleeding from the punch.

"I've been wanting to do that for years." Lilith smirked before hearing an explosion. Turning around, she saw the other rebels being taken out and contained by some Abomatons.

"Like them?" Graye asked as he swiped at Lilith's feet, causing her to fall. He managed to get out from the vine bonds as he flipped back. "Alador made some useful contraptions to assist in capturing your little merry band of rebels!"

"Sir," groaned a coven scout as he crawled toward Graye. He looked… drained as he fell unconscious. He wasn't the only one, since there were several other scouts who were groaning on the ground and looking much weaker.

"What in the world-" Graye was then blasted back by Lilith's staff. He saw Tres making an escape and she ran after him, wasting no time in escaping as well.

"They got dirt all over me!" Graye cried out as he got up and saw that Lilith and Tres were gone. "Dammit!" he shouted before noticing that the other rebels had been contained. "At least we got some compensation."

"Sir, we just got a report from the harbor. Lady Clawdea, Bird Person, and many other rebels were taken out," spoke the captain reporting to Graye. "We also got word on the capture of Admiral Barack, Captain Goonla, and others. The only one who escaped is- that's what he calls himself, Witch Rick."

"Really? He calls himself Witch Rick?" Graye questioned.

"I know, it's like calling me 'Dog Benny' for some reason," the captain said.

"Irrelevant," Graye said before turning to the other scouts. "Good work, everyone. The Emperor would be pleased. Though, it is best that we leave none uncaptured." He pointed to a few of the scouts. "Jan, Brady, search the area up north and south. Gracy, Kelly, go east and west." He then glanced at the restrained rebels and noticed one of them had spots on her face. "Now what do we have here…"

Far from them, Lilith had managed to catch up to Tres. She tried to stop him. "Tres, we have to-"

SWAT!

Lilith was swatted by Tres, causing her to fall back. "Tres, what are you…" Lilith looked up and saw his anger towards her.

"You sold us out!" Tres accused.

"What!?" Lilith asked. "No, I-I didn't!"

"Sure, you didn't," Tres sarcastically said, his eyes blinking vertically. "As the former head of the Emperor's Coven, you'd probably do anything to get your position back!" He then started to transform. Lilith's eyes widened as Tres revealed himself to be a light-brown Basilisk with brown hair.

"You're… a Basilisk…" Lilith realized.

"I doubt you remember me, but I did!" Tres shouted as he towered over Lilith. "And I remember the promise I made to you!"

But Lilith did remember…

Coven Head Lilith walked alongside some coven alchemists. They were now in a lab where they were overseeing the Basilisk revival program. "How is the process coming along?" Lilith asked one of the alchemists, who held up a clipboard.

"Thanks to Hieron Labs agreeing to help the project in exchange for funding, we've successfully revived Number Six," the alchemist explained. "Number Two has proven to be the most powerful one. Numbers One and Three are still the same. Number Four… perished. Number Five still refuses to do as she's told."

Lilith saw the testing through a window, where Tres was being tased and poked at by the alchemists. "STOP! GET AWAY FROM ME!" Tres shouted, while bound to the table was Number Five, also known as Vee. She spotted Lilith, tears falling from her eyes as she whimpered. The one who had it the worst was the Greater Basilisk, aka Number Two, who was screaming in pain.

Lilith looked uncomfortable about this, but she chose to not say anything, just looking away as Tres was tortured.

Tres saw Lilith and gave her a hateful glare. "You could have stopped this! But you didn't! I will kill you and everyone else in your Coven! You hear me?" He then got tased again.

"Quiet, you!" one alchemist spoke while tasing him.

"Let's move along," Lilith said, wanting to get away from here.

"Take a good long look at me," Tres hissed at her. "Just like you did when you let us getting tortured, probed, and experimented on! You did nothing to put a stop to this! I promised to kill you and your coven." He pulled out a dagger. "And I'm ready to fulfill my promise."

Witch Rick had managed to make it back to his home, but he was too late. It was surrounded by coven scouts and his family was in the front yard.

"Search the house," ordered the coven captain.

"Hey, you can't search our home like this!" shouted a blonde witch woman in cuffs. "We know our rights!"

"Yeah, and harboring a criminal gets you none," the captain responded sarcastically.

"He's got a point, Beth-"

"Shut up, Jerry!" Beth shouted at her husband. She turned to her son Morty and her daughter Summer. "Don't worry, kids, everything's going to be alright."

"Alright? Mom we-we're going to get petrified!" Morty panicked.

"Relax, Grandpa Rick will get us out of this one, he always does," Summer said while flipping off some scouts.

"Yeah, after he got us in this mess…" Jerry muttered.

Witch Rick hid behind a tree, reprimanding himself for letting his family get captured. He could probably take out the coven scouts right now, but there was no guarantee that his family wouldn't get caught in the crossfire. He sighed, knowing what he had to do.

Eda was still on top of Raine, grabbing them by the collar while Darius and Eberwolf was about to move on her. But Raine gestured to them to stop.

"Let me handle this," Raine told the two. "Eda, you must understand-"

"Understand what?!" Eda shouted at them. "You just sold your friends and allies! What is your deal!?"

"My 'deal' is that I'm doing this for the Day of Unity, under the orders of Belos," Raine told her.

"What?" Eda asked in disbelief. "Raine, what are you talking-"

"I'm sorry, Eda, but the truth is… I'm a sleeper agent," Raine told her. "Belos chose me to round up any potential threats to the Day of Unity, anyone with rebellious intentions who could cause trouble for him." They groaned, feeling another migraine.

"So all this time… no, I don't believe this!" Eda denied. "You helped me and my family at the petrification ceremony. None of this make sense!"

"The Emperor wanted me to lead the BATTs to help you escape because the Fae was his real target," Raine told her. "Eda, I do care for you and your family, and Belos does as well, he wishes you to be a part of his family!"

"He wants to use Luz as a weapon!" Eda shouted. "You said it yourself! Think about what you're saying!"

"Belos wants to help Luz, Eda!" Raine countered. "Can't you see, Eda, what Belos is doing is for the protection of the Isles from our enemies!" Eda dropped Raine and got off of them.

"No… nonono, this isn't right…" Eda denied, backing away.

"Eda, please understand-"

"Understand what?" Eda asked while glaring at Raine. "That what you just did goes against everything I thought I knew about you!"

Darius spoke up. "Look Eda, if you-"

"SHUT UP, DARIUS!" Eda shouted at Darius, startling him. She looked like she was having a panic attack. "No, no I can't… with you… are you going to turn me in as well?" she asked while holding her head.

"No, I'm going to ask you to join us," Raine told her, reaching out to her.

"I'M NOT GOING ANYWHERE WITH YOU!" Eda shouted.

"Eda-"

SLASH!

"AAAH!" Raine screamed, holding their arm after Eda slashed them with her hand, which had turned into a talon.

Raine fell, causing Darius and Eberwolf to go to them. "Raine!" Darius shouted. "Are you alright?"

"It's… nothing…" Raine winced, holding their bleeding arm.

Eda realized what she had done, while her left eye had turned black. "Raine, I-" Eberwolf got in front of Raine, the Beast Head growling at her.

Darius sighed. "Looks like we have to finish this," he said while turning to Eda, turning into an Abomination.

Eda got ready to defend herself, but then ice shards hit the ground, separating Eda from the Heads. Landing in front of Eda was Luz in her cambion form, while Amity and King landed with Owlbert behind the Heads.

"Kids?" Eda asked in confusion.

"Owlbert sensed you were in distress!" Luz explained. "Now run, mom!" Luz told her.

"We'll handle them!" Amity declared.

"Kids, don't-"

"Just go, mom!" King declared while holding onto Owlbert.

Eda realized they won't take no for an answer while looking at her hand. It was stained with blood. She then looked up at Raine, who was holding their arm… and their eyes glowed with a green tint.

Eda ran away, Raine getting up to follow her.

"Raine, wait!" Darius tried to reach out to the Bard Head, only to get flames shot at him by Amity. "Amity… I'm not going to fight you-" He dodged a purple spear thrown at him by Amity.

"Well you're just gonna have to!" Amity declared as she formed her Abomi-suit. She jumped up and fired abomi-spikes out of her arms at Darius, who shielded himself from the attack.

Lilith was on her feet, backing away while Tres confronted her. "Please, wait I'm sorry-!"

"It's too late for that!" Tres said as he saw Lilith pull out the rest of her glyphs. "And I doubt your party tricks will work in your favor!"

Lilith looked at the glyphs and lifted them. However, rather than activate them, she threw them away along with her staff. This surprised the Basilisk.

"You're right," she admitted. "I knew what was happening in the Basilisk Revival Program and I knew it was wrong, but I didn't do anything to put a stop to it." She slowly fell to her knees, looking at the ground in shame. "I took part in so many atrocities, all in the name of the Emperor. The overharvesting of Palistrom wood, the petrification of wild witches, and the abuse that you and the other Basilisks suffered. I was selfish and I put my needs over everyone else's… my sister, my niece, my goddaughter, and anyone else who has suffered because of me. I am sorry, but that won't make what happened to you okay. It won't make what I did okay. And I don't want to hurt you anymore than I already have. So please… just get it over with it. I don't… deserve your forgiveness. If you wish to take revenge on me… make it quick."

Tres looked down on Lilith, remembering how she watched while he and the Basilisks suffered. She did nothing and he wanted to kill her. And it would be so easy, especially since she wasn't defending herself. Unless this was some trick… but somehow he didn't think so.

Yet Tres found himself hesitating. After a few moments, he threw his dagger aside. He looked down at her, still angry but at the same time… he couldn't go through with it. "You're not worth it," he snarled, using his tail to pick up her staff and throw it at her. "Just go away." He then slithered away, Lilith looking up to watch him disappear.

Lilith stood back up in silence before using her staff to fly away.

Eberwolf and Luz faced each other, Eberwolf changing into their more beastly form. They grew more teeth as their claws extended, their eyes more feral as they glowed.

"I guess the Beast-Keepers don't have a dental plan," Luz commented as she extended her claws, Eberwolf jumping up over Luz and King. Eberwolf was about to pounce on King, but Luz drop kicked Eber away from him. Eberwolf got back up and glared at Luz who drew a spell circle to shoot light beams at them. Eber dodged the beams instantly, sprinting towards Luz who was forced to back away from them. Luz flew up to a large tree while Eber chased after her, trying to swipe their claws at her but she dodged them.

Luz flew over to another branch, keeping her guard up. Strangely, she couldn't hear Eberwolf anymore and she looked around at her surroundings, trying to find them.

Suddenly, Eberwolf's shriek yell caught Luz's attention as she looked up, seeing Eberwolf fall down toward her. They landed but Luz uses her wings to push them back. Eber stuck to the tree while glaring at Luz who glared back with her fist up. "Is that all you got, you furry little gremlin!?" she shouted.

Eberwolf drew a spell circle, summoning a large rat worm with scars and a black spiky collar. It launched toward Luz.

"Me and my big mouth," Luz muttered as the rat worm crashed into her, knocking them both out of the tree.

Meanwhile, Amity formed swords from her Abomi-suit as she charged at Darius. Darius summoned his Abomination, which appeared to have one green eye covered as it had a bun. It charges at Amity who dodges its fists. Amity formed a large spike ball to punch her way through Darius's Abomination, but it grew bigger and grabbed onto her. It pinned Amity down, while Darius stood by watching.

"Just give up, Amity," Darius told her. "I am not going to fight a child."

"Good," Amity responded as her eyes glowed pink, summoning abomi-spikes to knock the Abomination off of her. She got up on her knees, bringing out talons from her Abomi-suit. "Now I can show you at my worst." She charged at the Abomination, swiping at it with her claws. But the Abomination refused to fall and it tried to grab her, only for Amity to vanish.

"What?!" Darius was surprised by this. Looking around, he noticed a fireball coming toward him and he used his cape to block it, seeing that Amity was somehow behind him. "Alright… no choice then." He had his Abomination come to him and it fused with him. Amity backed away as she saw Darius grow into a much larger Abomination, covering the bridge and surrounding her from all sides with goop. "Just give up… you may not be a Blight, but you are still Alador's daughter. So I will give you one last chance."

Amity looked at the larger version of Darius, who was so big that he was all around her. Her Abomi-suit vanished and she shook slightly, knowing that there was no way she could take him. Backing away, she started to remember her past attacks and confrontations, memories flooding in that caused her to hyperventilate while the walls around her closed in. "No, no, nonono!" She shut her eyes and when she opened them again, they were glowing pink. Her hair stood up and turned into Abomination goop while she lifted her arms, causing Darius to feel something in his Abomination form.

"GAH!" he grunted, falling onto his knees. The Abomination goop pulled away from Amity and began to swirl around him. He tried to move, but found himself unable to. He could feel his Abomination form disrupting. He didn't know how this was possible, but he knew who was responsible. "Amity… stop… please!" he cried as something fell from his mass and fell on the ground. Darius winced in pain.

Amity's shadow spotted what had landed on the ground and grabbed it, seeing that it was a picture. Shocked, it knew that it had to stop Amity, so it grabbed on Amity's leg and pulled hard, causing her to fall on her knee.

"Gah! What-" Amity looked down and saw that the picture was at her feet. She gasped and her eyes stopped glowing as she stopped what she was doing to Darius, returning him to his normal form. The Coven Head gasped as well, looking up to Amity who backed away. She looked horrified. She ran away, leaving Darius to recover.

Amity spotted King with Owlbert, who had just finished setting something up. "Amity! You're okay!" he said to her.

"Where's Luz and Eda?" Amity asked him, only to hear a roar.

They saw Luz flying into the ground, the rat worm and Eberwolf chasing after them. The rat worm roared and Luz groaned.

"Hop on, let's go!" King shouted as Amity hopped on the staff with him. They flew while Amity grabbed Luz with her Abomination rope. King led the staff toward a tree with a light glyph on it that was connected to some rope on the other trees with other light glyphs. "Cover your eyes!"

Eber tries to pursue, but then flashes of light burst from the trees, blinding both Eber and their rat worm.

Eda ran as fast as she could. She was hyperventilating again.

'No, no, no, not this again!' Eda thought, rushing through the woods. A zap of lightning struck a tree next to her, causing her to look back. She saw Raine still pursuing her while holding their violin.

"Eda, I said stop!" Raine shouted, but Eda kept running. They noticed one of the wings popping out of Eda's back and their eyes widened when they realized Eda's curse was acting up.

"RAAWWRR!" Eda roared and she held her head as it ached, tears streaming down her face as memories started to flash. "No… I-RAARR!" Half of her face was the Owl Beast's.

"Eda, calm down!"

Raine saw this and held up their violin. "Eda, calm down!" they said as they played the violin, shooting out magic sheets that wrapped around Eda to stop her. "Eda, listen! I'm sorry, but it was the only way!"

"Stop! AAAAAAHHH!"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Eda shouted as she struggled with her binds. She turned to Raine, but in their place she saw Angel with half of her face clawed off and her arm missing. Eda's eyes widened.

"Ede…" Angel spat out weakly.

A young Eda looked down at her own hands. They were covered in blood that wasn't hers. "No… I didn't mean to!"

"MOM!"

Back in reality, Eda looked up and saw Owlbert in front of her. "Owl… bert," she said while King rustled through Eda's hair and got out her elixir.

"Drink this, quick!" King told her. Eda's only normal hand received the elixir and she quickly drank it. The Owl Beast started to recede and she saw Luz and Amity with King. Raine was just standing there, looking conflicted. And Eda saw that tint in their eyes again.

"Mom, are you alright?" Luz asked her.

"What's going on? Raine, why is Eda like this?" Amity asked Raine, who turned away.

"Raine," Eda finally spoke, standing back up thanks to Owlbert supporting her. "Listen to me, Raine. I know what's going on… you're being brainwashed."

Raine looked at Eda in confusion. "What are you talking about, Eda?"

"Think this over, Raine. You claimed that this whole time you were a sleeper agent meant to round up rebels but I don't buy it," Eda told them, "Hunter, or the Golden Guard, bugged our home the day after the petrification ceremony. And I know it wasn't you because he bugged Blight Manor as well. That was how Belos discovered that you were rebelling against him. He must have done something to you after that session."

"Wait, sleeper agent? Brainwashing?" Luz asked in confusion.

"Raine… you're not on Belos's side, are you?" King questioned.

"Look, you guys have to… ugh!" Raine grabbed their head. "These… migraines! My tea… when did I…!" Raine's eyes widened as their eyes flashed green.

"Here, little sprout," Terra said as she held out her tea. "Drink this, and it'll be all better…"

Raine's eyes widened and they fell onto their knees while holding their head. "GAAAH!"

"Whoa, Raine, are you alright?" Luz asked them.

"I… don't… know!" Raine said. Eda started to reach out to them, but hesitated.

"Raine? Raine!"

Eda stopped when she heard the voice of Darius. He and Eberwolf were coming their way. Raine looked up to Eda and the kids. Luz and Amity prepared to fight, but Raine stood back up.

"You all should go," Raine told them.

"What?" Luz asked them. "But Raine-"

"I don't know what's going on with my mind right now," Raine said. "But what I do know is that it's been messed with." They rubbed their forehead and turned to Eda. "Despite all of this… brainwashing business, even if I am a sleeper agent, I still care about you, Eda. And it hurts me to see you hurt like this… I'm so sorry, for what I've done, to you and the BATTs." They turn around. "I'll keep them busy, but you all need to leave."

"What about you?" Eda asked them.

"I'll be fine," Raine told her. "Whatever Belos has in store for me, I'll be ready."

"What!? We are not abandoning you-" Luz felt Eda's hand grabbing hers, pulling her toward her staff while grabbing Amity.

"Let's go!" Eda wastes no time as Owlbert got everyone out of the forest, making their escape while leaving Raine behind.

Raine looked up at Eda one last time before Darius and Eberwolf made it over to them.

"Raine!" Darius called to them. "What happened? Your arm-"

"It'll be fine, Darius," Raine responded, turning to them. "But… I don't think I feel good right now."

Darius sighed. "Come on, let's get you-" He felt Eberwolf tugging his cape, "What is it?" Eberwolf was pointing to their ears. Darius heard it as well. "What's that noise? Are there more?"

"What are you…" Raine's ears picked it up too. "Someone's coming…"

The three turned to the source of the noise as it came into view. Eberwolf's eyes widened in shock, while Darius opened his mouth to scream.

"Eda? Eda!"

Angel was running through the forest, following a trail of popcorn that must have fallen from her hair. "Eda, where are…" The trail led to the old house. "Of course."

Inside Eda was laying in a fetal position, tears streaming from her eyes as she failed to stop herself from hyperventilating. 'I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die,' her mind said on repeat.

"Eda?"

The orange-haired Clawthorne was startled and she looked up to see Angel at the open window, climbing in. Eda immediately backed away out of fear.

"Hey, it's okay," Angel said, holding up a candy bar. "I came with a peace offering."

Eda slowly calmed down, though she kept her ears covered with her hands while Angel slowly approached her. Angel handed her the candy bar, which Eda accepted after a moment of hesitation, with one shoulder covering her ear. "You're… not going to turn me in?"

"Turn you in? Why, because you snuck me in to see a movie we didn't pay for?" Angel asked, which made Eda snort despite herself.

"Snirk-hihihihi, but seriously, you're not weirded out with these?" Eda pointed to her ears.

"You uh, got a… special condition with those ears? Unless you're a runaway elf," Angel said as she sat beside Eda.

"Nah, elves are just buff and super intense dudes," Eda corrected, while looking awkward. "I-I'm actually… a-a witch." she confessed, demonstrating her magic in front of Angel by doing a circle spell and summoning a spark of fire..

"Witches are real?" Angel asked in awe. "So cool!"

This surprised Eda. "You think being a witch is cool? I thought you'd fear me."

"Just because I live in Connecticut, which had witch hunts and trials long before Massachusetts did, doesn't mean I think you're scary, Eda. I mean, I always wondered what it would be like to meet a witch or a werewolf or a talking frog." She smiled. "But now I have so many questions! Like, where did you come from? What do witches eat? Do you have to sell your soul to learn magic? How do you celebrate Halloween?"

"One at a time," Eda halted Angel's excitement. "I came from a place called the Boiling Isles, which is in the Demon Realm and is populated by witches, demons, griffins, goblins, giraffes, and other creatures."

"Wait, giraffes?" Angel questioned.

"Let's just say they were a true horror show before we kicked them out," Eda told her. "But you're… taking this really well."

"Oh, I'm still surprised," Angel said while looking down on her knees. "But honestly… it makes me feel like I am a little less alone, that I am not the only weird one… no offense."

Eda looked at Angel in concern. "Does this have anything to do with the um… 'freak outs' everyone keeps mentioning?"

Angel nodded. "My um… 'freak outs' are because of something… I think the term was called borderline personality disorder."

Eda was confused. "I'm sorry, is that… some kind of curse?"

"Well… not exactly. I wish it was that simple. It is characterized by unstable moods, behaviors, and relationships. My 'freak outs' happen during my severe emotional swings and they often cause me to… explode. Everyone wanted me to be this perfect little angel who never did anything wrong and I was once… but not anymore. And now everyone looks at me like… like there is something wrong with me. The Gates siblings especially like to make fun of me for it. They act as if I'm possessed and the reverend even once tried to get my mom to put me through an exorcism." She hugged her knees tightly. "I… I just want to get out of this town. Away from the Gates family and away from my parents." She looked up and saw that Eda was crying. "Hey, are you okay?"

Eda sniffed as she wiped away her tears. "I-I'm sorry. It's just…" She calmed down. "It's just… I know how you feel. I have something kinda like that, which is the reason why I ran away from home. I sometimes go all panicky and I don't know what's going on with my life anymore… I don't know what I want anymore."

Angel looked to Eda and rubbed the back of her hair, thinking to herself. "What if… you take me to the Boiling Isles?"

Eda perked up. "What? But… why would-"

"Look Ede, you've seen how I'm treated around here. My mom is an ass, the whole town already thinks I'm a heathen… I want to get out of this town and explore the world anyway." She stood up, offering her hand to Eda. "And maybe your world could give me something, Eda."

Eda looked up at Angel. "I don't know-"

"Please, Eda!" Angel insisted. "Promise me that you'll take me there."

Eda pulled out her key and looked at it before looking back at Angel. "Alright," she said as she stood up and shook Angel's hand. "I promise and you have my word as a Clawthorne."

Angel smiled as they shook hands. "Thank you, Eda. I'm so grateful that I met you."

"Yeah, me too," Eda admitted.

Unknown to the two, outside of the old house someone was listening to their conversation. It was Abigail Gates, who narrowed her eyes. She then slowly began to walk away from the house before breaking into a run when she was far enough.

At the Porter residence, Perry had managed to make it home. 'I hope Eda and Raine made it out alright,' he thought to himself.

Once he was inside, he sighed in relief. As the door closed behind him, he heard footsteps. "Gus?" he asked, wondering if Gus made it home. "Gus, are you in here?" When he got no response, he went up to his son's room. It was empty.

But then he felt a hand on his shoulder, followed by a vine wrapped around his neck.

"Perry Porter," Terra Snapdragon whispered from behind, causing Perry to gasp before the vines covered his mouth. "So nice to finally meet you…"

Flying over to the harbor, the Owl House family managed to find Lilith.

"Lily, are you alright? Where are the-" Eda saw Lilith silently raise her finger up, pointing in the direction she was looking in. Eda gasped. "Oh no…"

The tavern of the Fishing Coven and Goonla's ship were in ruins, while there were dozens of bodies that had been burnt to a crisp. Some Coven tape was wrapped around the area, but that didn't stop them from entering. Eda saw a hat on the ground, which she recognized was from her ex, Clawdea. She picked up the hat, looking down at it sadly. Amity looked horrified as she saw the damage done to Goonla's ship, but then she remembered something and sprinted into the tavern.

"Amity, wait!" Eda called out, but Amity didn't stop.

Amity ran to the floorboards that covered the entrance to the basement. She tried to pull them away and Luz went to help, using her claws to rip open the floorboard. When they look down, they see the only thing in there was the egg with Levi's sister. Amity used her Abomination muck to grab the egg and pull it close to her. "I-It's okay, I got you," she told the egg, holding it in her arms. Luz patted her back in comfort, while Eda, Lilith and King looked at each other with worry.

"What… what happened?" King asked her.

Eda sighed, having to admit defeat. "We lost…"

Graye and his scouts entered the area where Darius, Raine and Eberwolf were supposed to have captured the BATTs. "Alright, we haven't heard from Darius so we-" He paused after stepping on something, a purple puddle with some kind of dark red flakes in it. "What the… ugh?!" he cried in disgust. He looked around and realized that a battle had taken place here. Trees were knocked over with claw marks on them, purple and red splattered stains were everywhere. The only one there was Eberwolf, who was in a fetal position and looked unresponsive. "What… the… fuck!?"

One coven scout spotted a picture on the ground and picked it up. "Dear Titan," he said. The picture showed a younger Darius, a lighter dark-skinned woman with long black braided hair and dark blue eyes, and a baby with dark blue eyes and a tapered chin.

"What happened here!?" Graye demanded.

"Raine isn't anywhere around here, sir," one scout informed Graye. "Eberwolf is catatonic and Darius… is around…"

"What do you mean?" Graye asked, looking pale as if he already knew the answer.

"There are bits of him all over the place," the scout answered, gesturing to the stains around them. All of it were parts of Darius…

At Geist's bar, Witch Rick was having one last shot while looking at a photo of him with Bird Person and Squanchy.

"Wow, it's been a while since seeing you here, Sanchez," spoke Geist, who was cleaning some glasses. "What's the occasion?"

"My best friend just died," Witch Rick responded.

"Oh… I'm sorry about that," Geist said with sympathy. "You have my condolences."

"It's fine, we both know what we're getting into," Witch Rick said, turning to see Edric and Emira serving food. "Those your kids?"

"Yeah, my niece and nephew are staying here for the time being. They insist on working around here, and I mean, it's not like anyone around here would object to free child labor," he joked while Witch Rick placed his shot down.

"Hey, is that Summer's grandpa?" Edric pointed to him.

"He looks… messy," Emira whispered to her brother.

Suddenly, several coven scouts along with the Potions Head and Captain Wolffe flooded into the bar, drawing everyone's attention and making them nervous.

"We are here for Witch Rick Sanchez," Captain Wolffe announced, only for Witch Rick to raise his hands up.

"I'm over here," he told them, with his hands up in the air, surprising Geist and the Blight twins. "Just remember our deal or else…"

"Emperor Belos agreed to pardon your family in exchange for you," Wolffe nodded.

"Good," Witch Rick said as a scout cuffed his wrists, another cuffed his ankles, and a third muzzled him as he was escorted out of the bar. "Oh and Geist, put my drink on Jerry's tab," he told Geist while being led outside, where more coven scouts and several Abomatons were waiting for him.

"Um, Uncle G… what's going on?" Edric asked.

Geists rubbed the back of his head. "I… I'm not sure…"

Hunter needed more answers, which is why he returned to the dungeon beneath the castle… only for the cells where Ludo and Webstor should be are empty.

"What the…" Hunter whispered as a shadow loomed over him.

"Hunter," spoke Belos, which startled Hunter.

"U-Uncle!" Hunter gasped while turning around. "What… where's the… two prisoners here?"

"Ludo and Webstor have been placed in the newly reconstructed Conformatorium. This time with extra security," Belos explained.

"But… why didn't you tell me about this? Why didn't you tell me about Ludo!?" Hunter demanded and Belos placed his hand on his nephew's shoulder.

"Because I didn't want you to be even more troubled about the vision you saw," Belos answered, "That vision had already taken a toll on you, so I was worried what effect hearing Ludo's story would have on you. I was going to tell you about him, just when you are ready." He sighed. "But I am sorry for keeping this from you. I hope you understand."

"I… understand, uncle," Hunter replied, looking at the floor. "So it is true then? Ludo saw those creatures from the vision?"

Belos nodded. "I believe so," he confirmed. "Ludo came from a place called Mewni, which I have actually been to before. If it is gone…" He sadly shook his head. "There's… something else." Belos knelt down and removed his mask, looking his nephew directly in the eyes. "And I wanted you to hear it from me. Head Witch Graye reported that… Darius… is dead."

Hunter's eyes widened in shock, he felt as if he had been slammed into a wall. "No… no, no, he… he can't…" Belos embraced the boy as Hunter started hyperventilating.

"I'm sorry, Hunter," Belos apologized. "I know how much he meant to you."

Witch Rick had his mugshot taken by the camera demon. After going through the process, he was escorted to his cell in silence, passing by the cells with the BATTs, Goonla, and Webstor.

"You were just as much trouble to catch as the Owl Lady," Warden Wrath said as Rick was chained to the wall of his cell. "This time, we have a lot of extra security." He then left Rick alone in his cell.

"Hey," Eyepatch said from the cell next to Rick's. "What are you in for?"

Witch Rick had only one reply. "Everything."

Boscha decided to visit brother's tattoo shop, only to find it closed. "Huh? Isn't it supposed to open today?" she asked, looking through the window and seeing nobody inside. "Boris? Boris!" She knocked on the door. No answer. "Where is he?"

Gus returned home after hanging out at Eileen's place. He made a note to ask Luz and Amity about the race later, but that was for another day.

"Huh?" he asked as he spotted a note on the door. He grabbed it and read it. "'On an assignment right that came up at the last second.' Huh, wonder what that's all about?" He shrugged and continued to read. "'Stay at the Parks for a while until then, be back soon with a souvenir.' Well, guess there's nothing to worry about."

In Vanz's shop, Vanz Ator was just finishing up with a window display. Summer hadn't shown up for work today and Katya still wasn't back. He hoped they were both okay. That was when he heard a voice.

"Hello? Hello? Can anyone hear me? Hello?"

His eyes widened when he recognized that voice and he hurried to the back of his shop. The voice was coming from the tarp covered Magic Mirror. He was about to pull the tarp off, but he hesitated. He still remembered why he never used it anymore.

"GAH!" the vampire screamed, stepping back as he saw something in the Magic Mirror that he had never seen in it before… his reflection. After all, vampires didn't have reflections. Freaked out by this, he quickly covered the Magic Mirror with a tarp.

After a moment of hesitation, Vanz pulled the tarp off and saw the face of whoever was trying to reach out to him.

"Finally!" spoke the pale girl in the mirror. She had long red hair with bangs covering her right eye, orange eyes, fangs, pointed ears, and jagged yellow-orange horns. A small orange flame constantly burned over her head. She looked disheveled and her yellow-orange ball gown was dirty. "Oh thank the gods I got a signal out!" she said in relief. "Wait, is that you, Vanz?"

"Hekapoo…" Vanz recognized, shocked to see the scissors forger.

"You have to help us, it was hard enough getting a signal out while hiding from them!" Hekapoo shouted. "You have to tell-" But then the signal was cut off and Vanz saw nothing but static.

"No, wait!" Vanz held onto the mirror. "Magic Mirror, bring her back! Bring her back!" He started shaking the mirror.

"Stop shaking me, you fool," spoke a different voice as a thunderclap sounded, forcing Vanz to back away. The face of the Slave of the Magic Mirror appeared. Though once she had been known as Grimhilde… the Evil Queen.

"You have to bring her back!" Vanz ordered. "Hekapoo-"

"I do not take orders from you any longer, Merchant," the Slave said to the vampire. "While you let me collect dust, I found myself a new… partner."

"Partner?" Vanz questioned. "What do you mean by that?"

"Bloody Mary."

Vanz's eyes widened when she spoke that name. He backed away.

"Bloody Mary…"

"No, wait, you're not supposed to-"

"BLOODY MARY!"

Much to his horror, his reflection appeared in the Mirror… and it was smiling at him.

A second later, Vanz was screaming.

"Vanz?" Hekapoo asked. "Are you there, Vanz? Hello?" She sighed in irritation. "Dammit, we lost the signal!"

Hekapoo was currently in the ruins of a building. In front of her was a mirror connected to various bits of tech that had been strung together from whatever they could find. This was what had been used to boost their signal.

She turned to her partner, a man in Mewman armor. His face was hidden by his helmet. "What do we do now?" she asked him.

"We will try again," he told her. "We will try again as many times as we have to. But we have to move now. They will be on us soon."

Hekapoo nodded. She knew he was right. "Yes, they will…"

Opening their eyes, Raine gasped. They looked at their surroundings and realized they were in a cave filled with gunk and bones. It looked like a Slitherbeast had lived here once. "Where… where am I?" they asked, finding themselves stuck to the wall. They then heard whispers and they spotted someone in the shadows of the cave, muttering to themselves.

The figure noticed Raine. "Oh, you're awake," he said as he stepped out of the shadows, already changing into… the Inner Demon. "Welcome. Yeah, I know. This place isn't ideal. It wasn't my first choice, but it works for my purposes."

"Who… who are you?" Raine asked, having a bad feeling about this guy.

"Call me the Inner Demon," he introduced himself. "Let's just say that I have taken you in for leverage. Insurance against the Clawthornes."

Raine was surprised. "You're the Inner Demon I've been hearing about…"

"That I am, Whispers," the Inner Demon said. "And the Clawthornes have been a thorn in my side. They've been an inconvenience to me in the past. So taking you as hostage could help me in the future if they get in the way of my plans."

"Plans? What do you plan to do?" Raine demanded to know.

"Oh like I'm telling you," the Inner Demon told them. "I will admit that adults aren't as easy prey as children. But I can already sense it in you. The regret, the guilt, the pain. I will feed on it slowly while we enjoy our time together." He smiled. "And I am so looking forward to it…"

The Owl House family flew back home in silence. Once they returned home, they were greeted by Hooty and Camila.

"Hey guys! That was some race, huh?" Hooty asked, before noticing the looks on his family's faces. "Um… are you guys alright?"

"Yeah, we were cheering you on and then you left the race," Camila said in concern as Eda and Lilith sat on the couch, slumping in defeat. "What happened?"

"A lot happened, Mami," Luz said as she watched Amity carrying the egg away. "After we left the race."

"Well, if you want we can still watch the interview with the winner," Hooty said as the CB was still on.

"And now we are live with the winner of the Gland Prix race!" Felicity Fox declared. "Give it up for the Glandus Queen herself, Emily Tricks!"

"Thank you, Felicity," Emily said as she held her staff while in the interview. "This is such a huge honor."

Luz rolled her eyes with a groan. "So she won, big deal," she said as she took a drink out of the fridge. "I'm going to my room."

"So what can you tell me about yourself, Ms. Tricks?" Felicity asked.

"Well, I came from humble beginnings. My parents struggled to provide for me and I had to learn to take care of myself a lot of the time, but we got by… until the Boiling Zits incident."

Luz paused and turned back around to the CB where Eda, Lilith, Hooty, Camila and King were watching. Eda and King turned to Luz with the same concerned expression.

"Oh… you were one of the victims of this incident?"

"Yeah, I was there when it happened," Emily admitted. "I think I was only eight at the time and I saw that a mob had gathered at the slayground. I was curious, so I went to check out what the commotion was… and what I saw was a human girl younger than me getting beaten by the mob."

Camila gasped, realizing what this girl meant.

"And then Owl Lady showed up to protect her," Emily continued, while Felicity looked nervous while interviewing her. "After that incident, I suffered from the Boiling Zits curse for a month. That was when my parents abandoned me and left me to suffer… turns out they were wild witches."

Willow and Gus, who were watching the interview in Willow's home, were shocked by what Emily was revealing.

"I have no idea why the Emperor's Coven omitted any mention of the human that the Owl Lady kept," Emily continued. "But I could care less." She looked into the camera. "I hope you Hexsidians are watching this…"

Mattholomule was watching the interview with a look of fear.