4. Chapter 43: Unemployment Filing

It was a clear day in the town of Bonesborough. Leaving the local library was a tearful Amity, who covered her head with a hood in an attempt to not draw attention to herself while she caught up with the awaiting Clawthornes. She passed by a statue of Belos that she couldn't help but glare at hatefully before she met up with the family that took her in.

Eda and Luz were turning in their latest bounties. The family had been trying out bounty hunting over the last few days, though most of their bounties had turned out to be little short guys.

Luz noticed that Amity was in tears. "Hey, are you alright?" she whispered.

Amity shook her head. "I… got fired," she whispered back.

Luz was shocked. "What? But, they can't… they can't fire you, Ams."

"Malphas didn't want to, but he said that because of complaints from concerned parents he had no choice but to let me go," Amity replied, wiping her tears.

"I'm… I'm sorry, Ams," Luz replied, feeling guilty. "It's my fault that you lost your job."

"No, I made my choice," Amity told her. "I'm just still learning to live with the consequences." She sighed, wanting to change the subject. "I forgot to ask, but did you hear back from Bill again last night?"

Luz nodded. "Yeah, according to him Dipper and the others are trying to take it easy after they had to deal with a horde of zombies that Mabel raised and they fought some shape-shifter in a bunker. But they're doing okay."

"Here's your payment." the red pig demon in charge of the bounty stand told Eda as he gave her a single snail.

"What!?" Eda shouted. "A single snail for all of that!?"

"Oh, sorry, my mistake," the red pig demon said before snapping the snail in half.

Appalled, Eda started to cause a scene. "You can't do this to me! Do you know who the hell I am!?"

"Yeah, Eda the Owl Lady, but what are you going to do about it? We all know you don't have your magic anymore," the red pig pointed out.

"Why you little…" Eda drew a spell circle, only for it to break down.

"This is awkward," whispered one egg demon to his wife as they watched.

"Ooooh, that's not…" the centaur with the face on his chest winced.

"Ha! She has no magic, she's completely useless now!" cried out a random old man.

"Shut up, Old Man," Eda shot back. "I shouldn't have to take this! For years I was the most powerful witch in the Boiling Isles!" She pulled down one of her bounty posters. "I deserve respect!" In response a trash man grabbed the poster out of her hand and threw it in his bag before walking away, causing nearby citizens to heckle Eda more.

"Calm down, mom, you shouldn't have to care what they think," Luz said as she patted her mom's shoulder, before turning at the red pig. "Look, these bounties should cover fifty thousand snails at least, can't we work something out?"

"And what are you-" The red pig stopped when he recognized Luz and realized who she was. "O-Oh, my mistake. Here, have the cash from the register, all of it!" He brought out his cash register and handed it to Luz.

"Um, that's not necessary-"

"And here's the deed to my stand!" the red pig demon added as he handed her the deed before leaving his booth and running away in a panic.

"Wow," King said, walking alongside Lilith. "Looks like Luz is the breadwinner of the family."

Lilith noticed that nearby some posters for the Emperor's Coven with her picture on them were being burned and replaced by new posters with a picture of the Golden Guard on them. She glared at them and she was not the only one.

"The Golden Guard," Luz seethed her teeth, having not forgotten what he did to Lilith and her mom. Her hands tightened into fists and her eyes flashed blue. "Damn that bastard and the Emperor…"

"Calm down, Luz," Eda told her daughter. "I honestly shouldn't have caused a scene, since we are already drawing too much attention to ourselves. Let's just go."

"Yeah, plus we already got the cash register and the deed to this stand," King pointed out while Luz looked down at the money and the deed.

"Eh, we'll keep the money but leave the deed," Luz states while returning the deed to the stand. "Now let's see if we can afford groceries this week."

"Are you sure we should leave it out in the open like that?" Lilith asked, referring to the deed.

"Hmm, you're right," Eda said while picking up a rock and placing it on top of the deed. "There, now no one will get it." She then counted up the money they 'earned' from the register. "Okay, this should cover groceries for a week, though no more than that."

"No wonder that guy was being cheap," Luz noted, before turning to Lilith. "Didn't the Emperor's Coven pay you while you were with them?"

"Yes," Lilith replied. "But my card's been canceled which means I can't go to the bank. Basically, I'm broke."

"There's no way that I could ask for money from my parents," Amity said, lowering her head. "I already caused them enough trouble."

Everyone was silent after that, trying to think of solutions to their future financial problems. Their silence was interrupted by the cry of a child.

"Who wants a million snails!?"

Luz and the others turned to see two young witchling boys handing out fliers to the crowd. "Please, help find our dog!" pleaded a blonde boy.

"We can't handle losing hiiiim!" his chubby redheaded brother cried.

"Hey, hey, what's with all the crying?" Luz asked, going up to the boys.

"W-W-We lost our dog a-a-a-and he could be gone forever!" the blonde witch boy stammered while in tears

"Please, help us find our dog, Spot!" the redhead witch boy said, holding up a seal emblem from his shirt. "Our dad's very wealthy, we'll give you like a million snails if you get our dog back!"

"Hey, hey, calm down!" Luz told the two children, kneeling down and grabbing a flier from them. "What kind of dog is he?"

"He… he's big, onyx, not hard to miss." the redhead boy answered and Luz patted his head.

"Don't worry, I promise to find your dog," Luz reassures the two kids. "So just wipe your tears away, cause I'll make sure to bring him to you by sundown!"

"R-Really?" the redhead asked, wiping his nose.

"Yep, because fortunately for you the greatest witch of two worlds is on the job," Luz declared and the two kids looked at her in awe.

"Wow, thank you, lady, for helping us!" the blonde boy said as he grabbed his brother. "Come on, let's go tell dad that someone's gonna find Spot!"

"Yippie!" his brother cheered as they ran along.

"Wow, that was nice of you," Amity commented.

"I don't like to see kids cry," Luz said with a shrug. "So I am happy to help them out, especially since it comes with the bonus of being paid for it."

"And a million snails for a dog? Sounds simple enough," Eda commented.

Amity was about to respond, but then her attention got drawn to a board where witches could put up their 'help wanted' ads. Amity noticed one ad in particular and she went over to it.

"Hey, you alright?" Luz asked when she saw Amity staring at the board.

"Found something you're interested in?" King asked as well.

"Yeah, this," Amity answered, pointing to an ad on the board.

Help Wanted:

Fishing and Trade Boat Looking for New Crewmen

Offering Fair Pay in Exchange for Hard Work

From the Thians and Son Fishing Boat of the Fishing Coven

"Thians… hey, isn't that…" Luz realized before seeing Amity's guilt-ridden face. "Oh…"

"What?" King asked as he saw Luz comfort Amity. "What is it?"

"This ad is for the boat belonging to Levi's family," Amity answered. "The Fishing Coven is one of the minor covens recognized by the system. Levi had to drop out of Hexside to work at his dad's boat after he got mugged… all because I was too scared to report my own."

"Amity, what happened to you isn't your fault," Luz told her. "And besides, those muggers were already dealt with, right?"

"Yeah… they're locked away," Amity said with unease. "But I wasn't their only victim." She looked at the ad again, then turned to Luz. "I'm going to see if Levi's dad needs any extra hands to help out on his boat."

"Wait, are you actually going to the seafood business?" Luz asked her, surprised.

"I'm still sad that I lost my job at the library, but I want to not just help you guys out, but to help Levi and his family. It's the least that I can do," Amity explained.

Luz nodded. "Alright, it's your call, Ams," she said before walking over to Eda. "Hey mom! Amity wants to work at this fishing job with a friend from Hexside, mind if we drop her off?"

"Sure, just remember to keep a low profile," Eda reminded.

"Fishing job?" Lilith asked, turning to her goddaughter. "Amity, are you sure you want to do that? Working on a fishing vessel isn't exactly easy stuff."

"I know, but a friend who used to come to Hexside could really use the help," Amity responded.

"Levi used to go to Hexside, but he was eventually forced to drop out and work with his father's fishing company full time," Luz explained, her mother and aunt giving sympathetic looks.

"Dang, I feel bad for your friend already," Eda commented. "Alright, we'll drop you off but one of us will have to keep you company since your mom probably wouldn't want me to leave you alone without supervision for so long."

"That's why King will volunteer to watch out for Amity," Luz suggested.

"Weh?" King asked, looking at Luz who knelt down to his level.

"Listen, King, I'm going to be busy finding that dog for those kids, so can you be Amity's bodyguard for the day?" she asked him. "I'll make it worth your while…"

"Let me have extra leftovers for a week and you got a deal!" King said and the two shook on it.

Over at the harbor of Bonesborough was a dark green fishing boat getting ready to head out. Among the crew was Levi, who was preparing the trip when he heard a familiar voice.

"Hey, Levi."

The fish biped demon turned to see Amity and King. "Amity? This is a surprise! I never thought I would find you in a place like this, no offense."

"None taken," Amity responded.

"Are you alright though?" he quickly asked. "I heard about what happened and I am sorry…"

"Yeah, it was a wild week," Amity admitted. "But I'm doing better."

"She lives with her ex-girlfriend now," King brought up.

"Um… yeah, this is King, he's Luz's… I'm gonna say brother," Amity introduced.

"Oh um, nice to meet you," Levi said to the small demon. "So… what brings you two here?"

Amity sighed. "I saw the help wanted ad and after everything that happened to you I figured that the least I could do was help your family out."

"You… want to help out on the boat?" Levi asked and Amity nodded. "Well, we are short on staff." He turned to the boat. "Hey dad! A friend from school is here and she wants to help!"

A brawny fishman came into view and stepped off the goat, surprising Amity and King with his large build. He resembled a humanoid fish with fins for ears, a swamp colored beard, azula skin, and deep black and yellow eyes. He wore a black cap and a blue large jacket fitting his build, a red and white striped shirt, and blue pants. He had webbed feet and his left arm appeared to have been replaced by a mechanical prosthetic. He would have looked very intimidating if not for the strap-on baby carrier he wore to carry his egg.

Amity gulped. "H-Hello, my name is Amity-"

"I know who you are, Blight," he said to her. "Are you really willing to work on my ship? I thought something like that would be below someone of your upper class."

"I'm willing to do whatever I can to help you and your son, sir," Amity managed to answer.

"...Very well," he said after a moment of silence, his expression unreadable. "I could use the extra hands anyway. You can call me Captain Goonla Thians. Welcome aboard on the S.S. Julia."

Meanwhile, Luz was on her own venture. She checked the flier that she had been given. "Okay, Luz, you got your supplies and glyph cards, time to earn some quick cash," she said to herself, carrying a strap bag while noticing the scales on her arm growing. "Not like I'm gonna need my cambion form for this. I just have to catch a dog, how much trouble can that be?"

She went into the woods outside of Bonesborough, where most lost pets in the Boiling Isles would end up. She didn't have to wait long before she noticed a very large footprint… and a path of crushed trees.

"What the hell happened here?" Luz asked as she decided to follow the path. She came to a stop when she saw a large ring object on the ground in front of her. "What is that?" she asked as she moved forward to get a closer look and feel the surface of the object. "Wait a minute…" She looked around and saw something connected to the ring. It was a large, circular tag and as Luz read the name on the tag her eyes widened. "Spot…"

Nearby, something growled.

A few seconds later she felt a vibration that reminded her of a Titanquake. By the time that the vibrations stopped, Luz was already pretty tense. She held up her glyph cards in case she would need them and was holding her breath as she slowly backed away into a tree trunk.

But as she pressed her back against the tree trunk, she felt it move. And she realized that it didn't feel like wood either… it felt like fur. Looking up, Luz realized that she was underneath a large pitbull-like dog with three heads. His piercing red eyes glared at Luz, and the dog bared his sharp yellow fangs.

"Cerberus," Luz whispered. The jaws of three heads snapped at her, but she quickly dodged the large dog's teeth. "GAH! That is not a regular dog!" she cried out as she started to run, her eyes turning blue while her scales spread.

As the boat set out, Amity came out of the changing room wearing a magenta tunic, a purple bandanna, black and violet striped pants, and black boots. Going back onto the deck, she noticed her fellow crewmen. The boat had a small crew and some of them were taking barrels below.

"What do you think these barrels are for?" King asked her.

"Supplies I guess, but let's focus on our tasks instead of theirs," Amity replied, not noticing a few of the crewmen looking at her in suspicion.

Goonla was staring out at sea when Amity confronted him. "I'm ready for work, sir. What's my first job?"

Goonla responded by handing her a mop and bucket. "Swab the deck," he responded. "I'll be in my quarters, when I come out I expect these floors to be clean." He then walked away.

"Don't mind him," Levi said to Amity. "Things have just been pretty hard lately, with all the smaller businesses being bought up. If he's tough on you, it's not personal. He's just stressed and not much for small talk."

Amity shrugged and started to mop. "Well, it's no problem. Want to help, Ki-"

She realized that King was not next to her anymore and she looked around until she saw King just sitting on the railing with other bird demons, eating crackers.

"You got this, Amity!" King said, giving a thumbs up.

"I can see you're going to be really useful," Amity grumbled as she began mopping.

The Blight girl proceeded to do a series of tasks around the boat. While she swapped the deck, several crewmen dropped their food and drinks right in front of her. She narrowed her eyes at them, but didn't let it interrupt her.

Her next task was to scrape the barnacles off the side of the boat. She lowered herself over the side with her Abomination goop, using her tools to scrape off the barnacles while they tried to bite her.

Next Amity was put on boiler duty. A crewman offered her shovel for the coal, but Amity turned it down and instead used her own fire magic to heat up the boiler.

Amity also helped the crewmen pull out nets full of yellow fish demons that looked like macaroni.

"Alright, listen up!" Goonla announced afterward. "We're about to meet up with a ship from another island in the Boiling Seas to do a trade off, so we need to get those barrels ready!"

"From another island?" Amity asked curiously to a crewman with seaweed locks, who scoffed at her.

"It ain't none of your business, rich girl, so keep your nose out of where it doesn't belong," he warned her before walking away.

"Okay… rude," Amity said, turning to see Levi checking the knots for the lifeboats. She headed over to him. "Hey, need any help?"

"No, I got this," Levi told her. "But I appreciate the offer. You've already done a lot to help us out today and I really have to thank you for it."

Amity nodded, but lowered her head. "Well… it was the least I could do, I thought it wasn't fair that you have to drop out of Hexside… and… I'm sorry about the mugging…"

"Amity, it's no big deal before," Levi tried to tell her.

"It is a big deal," Amity insisted, feeling more guilty. "I didn't tell you before, but… I… I was mugged."

"R-really?" Levi asked in shock. "W-When did it happen?"

Amity sighed. "Before you were mugged," she told him. "I was cornered in an alleyway one evening, a knife to my throat. They took just some things but they could've done worse to me. I was too scared to tell anyone, too scared of what other people would think of me. And even after they got caught… that feeling of powerlessness didn't go away."

"I… sorry that happened to you, Amity. I know how you feel," Levi replied, rubbing the scar on his arm which Amity took notice of.

"What happened to you is my fault, Levi." Amity confessed. "If I hadn't been too scared, too cowardly to not report my mugging… then maybe those muggers wouldn't have gotten you too, a-and you would've been able to stay at Hexside…"

Levi looked away, watching the sea. He was silent for a few moments. "Honestly, I can't blame you for what happened to me, Amity. And I'm just glad that my muggers got brought to justice, especially the one with blue hair."

Amity's head tilted in confusion "Wait, blue hair?"

"Shipwreck!" the lookout cried out before Levi could answer. "We got a shipwreck coming up!"

The two teens quickly ran to the front of the ship along with Goonla and the rest of the crew, who were all looking in the direction the lookout was pointing in. "By Davy Jones' Locker…" Goonla muttered, seeing the shipwreck that was in their path.

"What… what happened to the ship?" Amity asked as one crewman walked over to the captain.

"Sir, you may want to take a closer look," he said as he handed the telescope to Goonla, who was able to get a closer look at the wreckage they were approaching.

"Oh no… that's the ship we were supposed to meet for the trade off!" Goonla yelled, surprising Amity and Levi. He turned to his crew. "Check the wreckage, there may be survivors!"

"In the Boiling Seas?" someone asked. "Unlikely."

The boat moved closer to the wreckage to look for any survivors, the steam around them becoming thicker. King was starting to sweat as he saw something through the steam. "Hey, there's something out there," he pointed, drawing everyone's attention.

"Could it be a Silkedonus?" Levi asked.

"The Silkedonus hasn't been seen for weeks," Goonla answered, using his telescope to look at the shape in the steam. He realized what it was and he lowered the telescope in horror. "And this was not the work of a Silkedonus… it was the work of another ship!"

"You mean-" Levi started to ask.

"PIRATES!" Goonla shouted, turning to order his crew. "Get this ship turned around now!"

"Pirates!?" Amity repeated. She started to head for the boiler to help the ship go faster, but Goonla grabbed her.

"Levi, take your friend and sister below deck!" he told his son.

"A-Are you sure, dad? Amity-"

"Just do it!" Goonla insisted as Amity saw something being fired toward the boat.

"Look out!" Amity warned, using her Abomination goo to push Levi and Goonla out of the way as a large hook flew past them and attached itself to the boat's railing. Another hook followed it, striking the deck. The hooks were connected to chains that stopped the fishing boat dead as the approaching ship reeled itself in, emerging from the steam.

The large metal ship was painted red and black and was armed to the teeth with cannons while flying a black skull and crossbones flag.

"Come on," Levi said as he led Amity, and King below deck, carrying the egg of his unhatched sister as well.

After the pirate ship reeled itself in, the crew of the fishing vessel watched in dread as pirates flew over and around them on staffs, cackling laughter as they landed on their captured prey.

"Two boats in one day!" a fishman pirate shouted. "Lucky us!"

"Unlucky you!" another pirate shouted as he kicked the lookout down from the crow's nest.

A scorpion pirate frightened the crew of the fishing boat with a sneer. "Especially once you meet our captain…"

A gangplank was put down between the two sea-faring vessels. As the fishermen and Captain Goonla were held at sword point, the captain was forced to watch more pirates coming onto his boat. Two in particular stood out.

The first was a diminutive, portly gentleman with an odd, hourglass-shaped head. He had shoulder-length, white hair and thick, black eyebrows. His eyes were black and close-set. His nose was round, large and pink, and the rest of his skin was slightly pink as well. In terms of attire, he wore what seemed to be very simple, brown sandals, a short-sleeved shirt with alternating blue and white horizontal stripes, and blue shorts. He also wore half-moon glasses and a red stocking cap with a red pom-pom ornament on top.

The second was a thin man with long black hair, a large hooked nose, a thin black handlebar mustache that angled upward sharply, and a large chin. He wore a frilly white cravat underneath a red coat with gold lining and red cuffs. He also wore an orange sash over his right shoulder that held his sword scabbard at his left hip. He wore rose pants and white knee-high socks, as well as black boots with a pink circle decorating each one. There was a hook on his left-hand, but what Goonla focused on more than anything else… were the ears of both men.

"Who are you?" Goonla asked and the second man pulled out a rapier, holding it up to Goonla's throat.

Amity, who was looking up from underneath the floorboard, gasped as she recognized the pirate captain. "It can't be…."

"Your worst nightmare," the pirate captain told Goonla. "For you and your crew are at the mercy of… Captain James Hook!"

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shiiiiiit!"

Luz was running as fast as she could. On her heels was the large, demotic Cerberus that kept trying to take a bite out of her. "Why does this keep happening to meeee!?" she cried out.

At a park, there was a high-class gathering for rich witches. "Ah yes, there's nothing like a good public tea party to show off our wealth to the commoners, hohoho!" a rich witch man laughed until Luz ran past them.

"AAAAAH run away!" Luz screamed and the other rich witches looked at her in confusion until Spot the Cerberus ran out of the woods and through the tea party. This caused the guests to scream as well and run dive out of the way while the gigantic three-headed dog ruined their tea sets and continued to chase after Luz.

With the tea party ruined, the rich witch groaned. "Ooh fiddlesticks!"

In a neighborhood, a young demon boy just sighed while looking out the window, "Man, it sure is boring today. I wish something interesting would happen." A moment later he saw a screaming Luz and Cerberus run past him. "Whoa!" he said in amazement, believing that his wish came true. "If I could wish for that… I wish I had a billion snails!" he declared, but after a moment, nothing. "Aw…"

In another forest, Viney and Emira were meeting up with each other. "Hey, come here often?" Emira teased in a flirtatious tone.

Viney blushed as she looked away shyly. "You know you told me to come here…"

Before Emira could respond, Luz ran past them. When the two teenage witchlings saw the giant Cerberus dog chasing Luz, their eyes widened and their jaws dropped.

"Coming through!" Luz shouted.

"Um… was that Luz being chased by a Cerberus?" Viney asked and Emira nodded. "Should we do something?"

"I… I think she can handle this one," Emira replied.

Luz was starting to run out of steam. 'Crap, I can't keep this up for much longer,' she thought before noticing her blackened scale arms. 'Since when did this happen!? I've been so busy running that I didn't realize that I transformed… wait! I only transform when I get in these kinds of stressful situations. If I learn how to control this form more… maybe…'

She concentrated, thinking of her wings and of flying. 'Come on, fly dammit!' she thought. 'I need to fly… for my family's sake!' That seemed to do the trick as her wings came out of her back and she started to get off the ground. "Finally! I think I'm getting the hang of this!"

The Cerberus almost took a bite out of Luz, but she dodged it and flew around the large three-headed dog while avoiding more bites.

'Hmm, maybe I should use the same trick on Barcus when we had to get our plague shots,' Luz thought, while avoiding three sets of jaws trying to bite her. She stuck her tongue out, but that left her exposed to a swipe from the dog's huge tail, causing her to crash into some trees. "Crap!" she shouted. "Okay, Cujo, that's it! You want me? Come and get me!" She pulled out and used a fire glyph, which hit the Cerberus but didn't seem to hurt him. It just made him angrier. Luz quickly flew away, leading the Cerberus toward a certain destination: Lake Lacuna, where young witchlings used to take their swimming lessons. But it was now an unpopular spot due to the garbage around, since it had become a dump. The sight of the litter caused the Cerberus to stop in his tracks. At the sight of a large amount of water and so much trash, the behemoth three-headed dog couldn't help but stop for a rest. He started to drink up the lake water while Luz hid behind a pile of trash.

"That takes care of that," Luz comments, watching the Cerberus drink from the lake while his other heads ate the nearby trash. Luz grinned and snuck over to the Cerberus, flying underneath him and starting to rub his belly.

In response, the Cerberus shot up and then laid down with his belly exposed so that Luz could rub it. "Who likes belly rubs? Yes you do, cause you're a good… three-headed Cerberus," Luz commented.

Captain Hook stood in front of the tied up crew, Goonla glaring up at the human pirate.

"Such a fine vessel you have here," Hook complimented, using his hook to twirl his mustache. "Very… quaint."

"We're just a fishing boat, anything of value is in my quarters, you can take it just don't hurt my crew," Goonla told Hook.

"Oh, we will take it but that is not what I am interested in," Hook informed his prisoner. "You see, I am after bigger fish."

"Oh my Titan…" Amity, who was below deck, said in a whisper. "It really is…"

"Amity, why are you talking about?" King asked her. "Who's this pompous-"

"Captain Hook," Amity whispered.

"Who?" King asked.

"Captain Hook, a pirate from a book I once read," Amity answered, still looking shocked. "He is the archnemesis of Peter Pan, who cut off his hand and fed it to a crocodile, leading Hook to swear vengeance on him. But how did he get-"

"What's going on out there?" asked a voice.

"Weh?" King asked. "What was that?"

Amity heard some muffled noises nearby and realized they were coming from the barrels that the crew had brought down here. "Hello?" she asked, but got no response.

King decided to take a peek through a hole in the side of a barrel. "Amity, there are people inside of these barrels."

"Wait, what!?" Amity asked just as Levi popped up after having made sure that his baby sister was safe.

"Amity, what are you doing?" Levi asked and she turned to him.

"Are there people in these barrels, Levi?" Amity demanded to know, causing the fish boy to pause.

"Whaaaat? No, no there aren't any-" Amity pulled the lid of a barrel off, revealing a witch inside. "O-Oh… I have no idea… okay, yeah, there is. But it's not what you think!"

Captain Hook paced back and forth. "You see, I ended up in this realm while on the hunt for someone who wronged me. Someone who-"

Tick-tock-tick-tock.

Hook froze in place, twitching. The sound came from a techno-organic clock resting on a crate. Once Hook identified the source of the noise, he brought out his pistol and caused the clock to explode. This startled both crews.

"C-C-Captain! Are you alright?" asked his loyal first make, Smee.

"I'm fine, Smee," Hook replied, wiping some sweat away. "I'm fine…"

"Okay, you deserve the truth," Levi admitted. "The thing is, my dad knew that there were many witches and demons that couldn't stand living under the coven system. Most refused to join, labeling them wild witches. So my dad started this operation where he smuggles these wild witches out of the Boiling Isles before the Emperor's Coven can find them. This way they can start new lives away from Belos. I know it's risky, but you have to understand-"

"I understand, Levi, and I agree with what you're doing," Amity told him. "I used to believe in the coven system, but now I see it and Belos for what they both really are…"

Levi blinked. "Wow, I didn't really expect you to be on board with this. No pun intended."

"I'm not the same Little Miss Perfect you used to know," Amity said while looking over at the witches peeking out of their barrels. "I think I have an idea, but we will need a distraction…"

"Alright, listen up!" Hook announced as he stood before the captured crewmen. "I consider myself an honorable man of my word, so I promise to spare this ship and its crew. All I ask in return is information about the whereabouts of someone who goes by the name Peter Pan!" Hook sneered as he said the name, his veins popping. But Goonla and his crew just looked confused. "If you have nothing to give, then… well, my crew will take everything of value and sink this ship with all hands on board." He gave a sinister grin. "So what's it going to be?"

"We have no idea who this Peter Pan is," Goonla insisted and the rest of the crew voiced their agreement.

"In that case, how unfortunate… for you," Hook said before turning to his crew. "Throw them into the scolding seas!"

The pirates cheered and prepared to do as their captain said when…

"Wait!" a voice shouted.

Everyone stopped and Hook turned to see Amity, who had come onto the deck.

"I know Peter Pan," she said. "I know about you and the Lost Boys and Neverland."

"Really?" Hook mused as he stepped toward the girl, checking her eyes for any signs of deceit. "I'm not surprised, children always had this fondness for Peter. So tell me young miss, where is Peter Pan?"

Amity mustered up as much confidence as she could. "If I tell you, will you leave us be?"

"Yes, yes, just get on with it!" Hook demands.

"Dead," Amity told him and Hook's expression changed. "Peter was killed in front of me while trying to save me."

Hook stared at her in silence for a few moments before shaking his head. "No… no I don't believe you! If that boy is dead, then I need to see the body!"

"There was no body, he was stabbed in the heart and he turned to dust," she explained to him, only for Hook to start backing her into a corner.

"No, I have believed him to be dead several times before, but he always found a way to come back and haunt me further!" Hook said while threatening her with his hook. "This is some kind of trick, isn't it? He put you up to this! I refuse to believe that my revenge has been denied!"

Amity tried her best not to flinch, keeping her gourd of Abomination goo ready. "But what if it's true? What if is he dead? What if someone else got to kill him before you could?"

Hook laughed, sending a chill down Amity's spine. "If I never got the chance to wring that shitty boy's neck myself, then I'll have to settle for destroying everything that he holds dear! And according to your claim, that includes you!"

Hook was about to strike, but Amity brought out her Abomination goo to block his hook with her newly formed sword.

"Ah, is it a duel you want?" Hook asked with a grin. "Then it's a duel you'll get! Smee, my blade!"

"H-h-here it is, Captain!" Smee said as he handed Hook his rapier.

"Y-You know, I am heiress to the Blight fortune. If you promise to spare this crew, I can make it worth your while," Amity offered, keeping her purple sword up.

Hook just laughed. "I don't care about what you have, I just want one thing!" He started to sing. "My dear little witchling, you're really misleading, I don't give a damn about your rank!" he declared. "The snails in your sack, well it isn't worth jack, I should make you fools go walk the plank! Your riches would fill other pirates with glee, but none of those pirates are me!"

"They're not he!" the witch pirates sang together.

"Sing a yo ho, keep your jewels divine!" Hook sang along with his crew. "Yo ho and your manners refined! 'Cause even more precious than rum in a stein, is revenge, revenge, revenge and it's gonna be mine!" He swung at Amity, forcing her to block his blade with hers.

"Revenge, revenge, revenge!" his crew sang.

"Is going to be mine!" Hook declared as Amity struggled to push back.

"Listen Hook, your revenge is meaningless if the one you're after is dead!" Amity said while defending herself.

Hook sneered. "Enough with the jokes, young lady, or I might not hold back!" he spat before continuing to sing. "I've savaged and pillaged and pilfered each village, my conquests I'm justly proud of!"

"He's proud of!" his crew sang.

"Each town that I plunder, I leave torn asunder." Hook swung his rapier. "A pirate's life is one to love!"

"Lots to love!" the trio of pirates with rock-star hairstyles sang behind Hook.

"And yet he made me feel less than a man, I won't rest 'til I skin me that Pan!"

"Gonna skin me that Pan!"

"Sing a yo ho! You can beg, plead and whine! But yo ho, you are wasting your time!" Hook told Amity as he casually deflected her counterattacks. "That boy took my hand, wanna tear out his spine! Revenge, revenge, revenge is gonna be mine!" He had Amity on the run now, the rest of his crew watching with grins on their faces as he chased the young girl down.

"Revenge, revenge, revenge is going to be mine!" Hook and his crew sang.

"Are you that obsessed over revenge? Over Peter cutting off your hand?" Amity asked.

"I'm afraid he did more than that," Hook answered, shivering slightly as he remembered his humiliation at the hands of Peter Pan and his Lost Boys as well as his trauma from being pursued by a certain crocodile. "Once I sailed toward a horizon."

"Horizon!"

Hook looked peaceful for a moment. "Where I might find happiness waiting." He then became more deranged. "Until that Pan destroyed my life and filled me with hate unabating!" He slashed at Amity angrily, but she managed to dodge his rapier. "Some say-"

"Let it go!"

"But I say-"

"Hell no!"

"I know I'm on the right path!" Hook insisted. "Soon that devil will feel-"

"He will feel!"

"The fire of this pirate's wrath!" he declared while bringing down his sword at Amity once more.

"Feel the fire of his, feel the fire of his-"

"Wait!" Amity said, causing Hook to pause for a moment. "I just want to know… how did you even get here?"

"You're not the one who should be asking," Hook replied. "Peter can find me if he wants to know what happened to Neverland and his precious Tinker Bell!"

"Neverland? What do you mea-" Amity asked but she was interrupted by Hook taking another swipe at her, which she managed to deflect.

"I could have you tell him yourself," Hook considered. "But I think it would send a better message if he has to fish your cooked corpse from the Boiling Seas!" As Amity tried to put more distance between herself and Hook, the pirate continued to sing with his crew. "Sing a yo ho, I'll slaughter the swine! Yo ho, must be fate's design! At last, our tales will again intertwine, revenge revenge, revenge is gonna be mine!"

"Revenge, revenge, revenge!"

"Oh it's gonna be, oh it's gonna be," Hook sang as he fought Amity.

"Revenge, revenge, revenge!"

"Oh, it's going to be mine!" Hook followed Amity as she tried to swing away from him by rope.

"Revenge, revenge, revenge, it's gonna be"

"Oh it's gonna be," Hook sang as he aimed his rapier at Amity's side, only just missing. "Oh it's gonna be-"

"Revenge, revenge, revenge!"

Hook knocked Amity to the ground and seemed ready to finish her off. "Oh it's gonna be mine!"

"Yaaarg!" one pirate screamed as a large vine emerged from the deck and grabbed him.

This caused Hook to turn his attention away from Amity. "What the-!?" He then saw two of his crew being levitated into the air and into each other, knocking them out. "What's going on here!?"

"I-I'm not sure, Captain! It's a strange phenomenon!" Smee replied, holding his own staff.

"Grab your staffs and get in the air, it'll give us an aerial advantage!" Hook ordered his men, who got onto their staffs. But then a blue beam of light shot one of them down and into the boiling waters, followed by another. Hook was too focused on them that he didn't see Amity turn her Abomination goo into a bat, which she then used to hit him in the side. He yelled in pain and fell to the floor.

Levi threw open the hatch to below the deck. "Attack!" he shouted as the wild witches revealed themselves, ambushing the pirates. Goonla and his crew were quickly freed so they could join the battle.

"Fight back! Fight back!" Hook ordered before he felt something bite him. "YAOW!" He jumped up and saw that King was the one who bit him. "Get it off! Get it off of me!"

"I'll get that vermin off of you, Captain!" Smee tried to hit King with his staff, but the little demon got out of the way and the staff instead struck Hook on the rear end.

"YAAAAH! What do you think you're doing, Smee!?" Hook demanded as King appeared on his head. Smee swung his staff, but once again hit Hook instead of King. "SMEEE!"

"I-I-I'm sorry Captain, it's that gosh-darn vermin!" Smee claimed as King darted away while Hook started to look for Amity.

"Now where is that blasted girl?" Hook asked before his ears picked up a sound.

Tick-tock-tick-tock-tick-tock.

"W-What is that ticking noise? Better not be another clock-" Hook turned around and gasped when he saw a familiar crocodile in front of him. "No… no, no, I slayed you!" Hook backed away, his rapier shaking in his hand. Smee was shaking as well.

"YAAAAAAAHHH!" Hook and Smee both cried out in horror, Hook passing out in Smee's arms.

"Captain? Captain!" Smee shouted, holding his captain protectively. "Oh dear…"

The crocodile vanished, revealed to just be an illusion created by Amity. She ran to find King and they both found themselves surrounded by pirates. Amity prepared her Abomination sword, while King stood by her side ready to fight.

But before the pirates could make their move, Goonla's mechanical fist punched one in the face. Then another pirate went down to Goonla's fist as the captain jumped in, grabbing a third pirate and throwing him into the others.

"Are you alright?" Goonla asked Amity.

"Y-Yes, sir!" Amity confirmed.

"Captain!" the lookout of the Jolly Roger II, Hook's ship, shouted.

Hook had just recovered from his faint, Smee tending to him when he heard the lookout. "Ye-yeah?"

"Loooook!" the lookout screamed, pointing to another ship coming out of the steam. It was highly armed and bore the seal of the Emperor's Coven. It was heading toward them at full speed.

"This is not good," Goonla muttered.

"Retreat!" Hook declared, his pirate crew quickly flying back to their ship or running across the gangplank, taking their wounded with them. Hook and Smee followed their men, Hook shooting a glare back at Amity.

"Yeah, you better run from the King of Demons! We showed him, huh Amity?" King asked as Amity petted him.

"We sure did, King." Amity replied.

"Amity Blight…" Hook muttered as the gangplank was pulled back along with the hooks and chains that had been attached to the fishing boat. "Alright, let's get out of here, men!" he shouted before turning to look at Amity one last time and shake his hook at her. "This isn't over, Amity Blight! You hear me? We will meet again!" The ship was then fired upon by the ship from the Emperor's Coven, forcing Hook to shout and duck while the Jolly Roger II began its escape.

"We need to get out of here too!" Goonla declared as he took the helm, steering his boat away from both of the larger ships.

From the decks of the Emperor's Coven ship, the Golden Guard spotted the fleeing fishing boat. To his surprise, he recognized Amity on it.

"Sir, should we pursue that boat?" asked one of the coven guards.

"No, let them go," the Golden Guard responded. "They are not who we are here for. Let's focus on the pirates."

Before the Emperor's Coven ship was swallowed up by the stream as it pursued the Jolly Roger II, Amity saw the distant figure of the Golden Guard and glared at him angrily. She wanted to fight him, but knew this was not the time. Instead she sighed as she sat down on the deck, looking relieved.

"Man, that was one heck of a swashbuckling adventure, huh Amity?" King asked her.

Amity smiled while petting him. "Yeah, that's enough excitement for one day I think."

Soon the S.S. Julia managed to meet up with another boat, where the wild witches were safely traded off to another captain who shook hands with Goonla while Amity watched with Levi.

"Thanks for helping us out, Amity," Levi said. "I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't been here."

Amity shrugged. "If it means flipping off the system, I'm all for it."

"Sorry that we didn't tell you about the wild witches," Levi apologized. "I wasn't sure what you would think about becoming an accomplice to witch smuggling…"

"It's fine, I'm pretty much already a fugitive anyway," Amity responded with a sighs. "Like I told you before, this has been a wild week. I can't go back home, two of my friends are forbidden from talking to me, I lost my job at the library… things have been very rough. But I have learned that even when something bad happens, good can still come from it." She saw a wild witch family on the other boat, the child waved at her so she waved back. "I don't regret doing the right thing, I just regret not doing it sooner."

"Ha!" King laughed while eating some crackers. "I knew we would make you a real rebel sooner or later!"

Amity smiled. "I guess you're right, King." She then watched the other boat sail away until it eventually vanished over the horizon. She hoped that wherever those wild witches ended up, they would be okay. As for her, the sun would soon set and she was about ready to head home…

After Luz managed to calm Cerberus down, she changed out of her cambion form and led the three-headed dog to the Rib where the two kids were waiting for her.

"Look, there's Spot!" the blonde cheered in joy.

Spot growled when he saw the two boys, frightening them.

"Hey, hey, calm down," Luz told him. "They're your owners."

"Oh how can we repay you-" the redheaded boy started to say.

"Stop right there," Luz said, sounding a bit angry. "You two really shouldn't have left out the important detail that your dog was an overgrown Cerberus. I mean, I know you two are kids, but you should still know better!" She sighed. "Anyway, I did fulfill my end of the bargain, so I expect to be paid."

"Right… about that…" the blonde boy said nervously.

"Okay, the dog here doesn't really belong to us, not exactly," the redhead explained.

"What?" Luz asked.

"You see, our boss wanted us to bring Spot back but we didn't want to become his chew toys, so we decided to get someone else to do the job for us…" the redhead admitted, causing Luz to pop a vein at she gave him and the blonde piercing glares.

"You little brats!" Luz barked at them, the blonde and redhead holding onto each other. "I can't believe this! Who is this boss of yours?"

"That would be me."

Luz turned around to see someone petting Spot. He was a blue-gray humanoid with flaming blue hair, wearing a black robe and a smoky base. He had yellow eyes and sharp teeth. From his expression, he wasn't pleased with his minion and how they needed to get a mortal to do their dirty work. He raised his hand, offering it for Luz to shake.

"The name's Hades, lord of the dead. Hi, how are you doing?"

Luz didn't shake his head and instead looked unimpressed by him. "Meh."

"Just meh?" Hades asked, surprised. "You do realize that you are in the presence of a god, right?"

Luz shrugged. "You're not the first I've met. Tell Eris that Luz said hi, by the way."

Hades just looked at her for a second before shaking his head. "Ugh, kids these days. They can never be pleased." He turned to the kids, noticing them trying to sneak away. "Pain! Panic! Get back here!" The kids froze and started to transform into imps. The redhead changed into a fat purple-red imp with little horns and sharp teeth, while the blonde changed into a thin green-blue imp with long horns and straight teeth,

"Ah, that explains it," Luz commented.

"We're sorry we deceived you!" the red imp, Pain, cried pathetically.

"And we're sorry for losing Spot!" cried the blue imp, Panic.

"We're not worthy!" they both said.

Hades pinched the bridge of his nose. "You see what I have to deal with?" he asked Luz before scolding his minions. "I send you two to give Spot a walk in the mortal realms so he could stretch his legs and get some fresh air instead of being cooped up in the Underworld all the time. A simple enough task, but somehow you two lose him and you couldn't even get him back yourselves!" He turned back to Luz while Pain and Panic cowered. "Look kid, you shouldn't have been tricked into this but you have still the gratitude of the ruler of the Underworld and that's-"

"Technically sir, you are co-ruler…" Panic pointed out and Hades his eyes in frustration.

"Thank you for pointing that out, Panic," Hades said sarcastically. "Like it isn't enough that my wife is with my mother-in-law this time of year, which means that I am stuck with-" He stopped, getting an idea. "So you two didn't want to become a chewing toy for Spot, huh? Well, how about I give you over to my ex's kid so you can be her playthings for a while?"

Pain and Panic gulped. "Not the kid. Anything but the kid…"

"Yeah, yeah, so where's my pay?" Luz demanded with her hand up.

"Oh, your pay," Hades said as he dug his hand into his pocket. "Hang on, let me get something for you… here." He flipped a coin for Luz to catch. "I would keep that close if I were you. Thanks again, but I gotta get Spot and these two screw-ups back to the Underworld. I'll keep an eye on you though. You might be useful to me in the future." He then swirled into a vortex that sucked in Spot, Pain, and Panic, the latter two hollering before the black vortex disappeared.

Luz looked at the coin and then exclaimed in disgust. "This… this isn't even a snail!" she cried out, shaking her fist. "This is just some token! You cheapskate!"

Elsewhere in the Boiling Isles, Eda stepped into an alleyway with her staff in hand.

"Eda the Owl Lady," said a voice behind her.

Eda sighed and turned around to face a coven guard.

"I am here to have you under arrest," the coven guard told her.

"You son of a witch," Eda said, before she and the guard clasped hands together in a shake. "Put it there, Larry!"

"Hehe, you too, Eda!" Larry laughed. He offered her some apple blood, which she accepted. "So how are things now that you lost your magic and you're not the most wanted witch in the Boiling Isles anymore?"

"It's tough," Eda admitted. "I still have ways to make money, like delivering potions and selling whatever human junk I have left laying around. But it's not enough. I'm gonna need new ways of making money, so I was wondering if you knew anyone hiring powerless witches?"

"Well, no," Larry answered. "But I do know a way for you to make money. The Emperor's Coven pays generously for any information that can go to help keep the streets safe. Maybe you can be an anonymous informant."

"Help the Emperor's Coven?" Eda asked, unsure.

"More like you're helping out Bonesborough while the Emperor's Coven rewards you without realizing it," Larry explained. "If you hear or see anything that might be of interest to the Emperor's Coven, bring that information to me. I would then bring it to my superiors, they protect the community, and we can split the finder's fee. How does that sound?"

Eda considered it. "Yeah, I think you have a deal," she decided and the two shook hands. "Since even without my magic I should have no trouble catching up on all the hot gossip that goes around the Isles."

"That's great," Larry nodded. "We could especially use any leads related to a recent string of disappearances."

Eda raised an eyebrow. "Disappearances?"

"You know about the recent muggings?" he asked and she nodded. "Well, we thought those were dying down. But now instead of people getting mugged, they're just straight up being snatched off the streets in broad daylight…"

Later that evening, Luz met up with Amity and King outside of the Owl House. All three looked tired.

"So how was your day?" Amity asked Luz, carrying her earnings for the day.

"Oh you know, I got chased by a giant three-headed dog and met the co-ruler of the Underworld," Luz answered. "You?"

"Helped a smuggling operation and fought pirates," Amity replied.

"I bit the captain," King added.

"I definitely want to hear more, but not at the moment," Luz admitted. "Right now, I just want some rest and relaxation." She opened the door, only for her, Amity, and King to walk in on Lilith treating Hooty's bee stings.

"I'm sorry for sending you away before," Lilith was apologizing. "Its hard for me to ask for help."

"It's okay," Hooty told her. "I'm sorry for being all nosy-nosy. But hey, Lulu, every friendship comes with its ups and downs. Right, best friend?"

Lilith looked away. "I'm not commenting on that…" She smiled. "…Hootsifer."

Hooty gasped. "A nickname?" He laughed. "Hoot!"

Lilith suddenly noticed that the girls and King were there. "Oh, you're back. Eda is still out, she said she was exploring some other solutions for our financial problems."

"Um, what is going on here?" Luz asked, confused.

"We're friends!" Hooty declared.

"When did this happen?!" Amity asked, just as confused.

"Ugh, this is going to be a thing now, isn't it?" King groaned.

In the nearby woods, two individuals were meeting.

"Did you get what I wanted from the Owl House?" the Baron asked.

"Yeah, yeah, right here," Puck's shadow replied, handing over a case. "Got it while everyone was either out or busy earlier today."

"Thank you," the Baron said, taking the case and opening it. "Just what I need." He smiled as he pulled out the contents of the case: Camila Noceda's glasses.

Back in Bonesborough, a black gloved hand was putting up posters around the town. They read:

Pleasure Island

The Perfect Parade For Young Witchlings

Coming Soon

The Coachman chuckled to himself and moved on, putting up more posters that would surely invite the children of the Boiling Isles to their doom…