Let's Break Something, Kid

At the Bonesborough night market, Cruz stood in the center of the arena as he was surrounded by four witches. His latest match to keep the championship had turned into a four versus one match.

Cruz quickly drew a spell circle as he slammed his hands onto the ground causing multiple vines to shoot out all around him.

The witches tried to dodge the vines but Cruz took the opportunity to teleport behind and punched them into the wall. Cruz looked at his opponents and saw that they were all unconscious.

"And the winner and still champion… The Mechanical Witch!" Jim announced as the crowd cheered.

As Cruz climbed out of the arena, Alastair and Finn grabbed him as they patted Cruz's back.

"That was great!" Alastair said. "I didn't think you'd be able to handle all of them!"

"He's right! I thought when you agreed on the four-on-one match that was going to be it for your championship," Finn said as the three headed towards one of the stands.

"It was more of a gamble if I could win," Cruz said as the three grabbed a drink. "Most of the matches were getting too easy. I needed the challenge."

Alastair and Finn laughed when they heard Cruz's reason. "So you're saying you were getting bored," Finn said

"Just about," Cruz answered.

What Cruz didn't notice was that a trio of witches wearing brown cloaks was watching him closely. They had watched his matches from the beginning and were now waiting for him to be alone.

"Since the matches are done, I'll head home," Cruz said as Gizmo climbed onto his head.

"Yeah, that's a good idea. It'll be a while before we can have another match. They're closing down the Fight Club for a while," Alastair said

"Wait. Why are they closing it down?"

"Well, since The Day of Unity is getting closer, the Covens are focusing more on recruiting and cracking down on Wild Witches," Finn explained

"He's right. It's getting harder and harder for Wild Witches to get by nowadays. Finn and I are planning to join the Construction Coven," Alastair said. "Since our magic is more suited to that, we figured working with Mason would be good."

"It seems like things are changing pretty quickly," Cruz said.

"You should think about what Coven to join after you graduate," Alastair said. "Maybe the Construction Coven with us. Your gadgets would help out a lot of people."

Cruz smiled at the two as he took his mask off. "I'll think about it. I was offered a job at a potions company so I've got some stuff to think about. I'll see you two around," Cruz said as he waved at them before walking off.

"Take care, Cruz!" Finn called out

"Don't be a stranger!" Alastair said

As Cruz was walking towards the city limits Gizmo barked at him.

"Yeah, I know, Giz. We'll stop by the little shop to pick up your favorite snack. That little old lady should be opening up around now," Cruz said before he heard a can rattling behind him.

Cruz stopped as he turned towards the sound with a frown. When he didn't see anyone he looked around as he scanned the area.

"Come on out. I know you're hiding," Cruz called out as one of the cloaked witches stepped out next to the stand in front of Cruz. From behind him, the shorter cloaked figure held onto the stand as they stood on its side.

"Did you come here because you saw all the snails I'd gotten from my match?" Cruz wondered as he cautiously watched between the two cloaked figures as they stayed eerily silent.

"Just so you know, you're not the first people to want to mug me," Cruz said as he pumped his arms back, activating his gauntlets. "It's not going to end the way you want it to."

The witch in front of him traced a spell circle as they summoned a large abomination. The abomination seemed to tower over Cruz as its head was a familiar shape.

"Fine then. I warned you," Cruz said as Gizmo turned into a staff. As the abomination lumbered towards Cruz, he spun the staff as a blue spell circle formed in front of him.

Cruz slammed the staff down as the abomination reached him, freezing it solid before shattering it with a punch. The cloaked witch flinched in surprise as their abomination shattered to pieces.

From behind him, Cruz heard the smaller witch growling. He turned to see them launch themselves at him.

Cruz quickly spun the staff as he created a shield spell to block them as they bounced off of the shield.

The smaller witch spun a small orange spell circle as they got down on all fours and their hands turned into claws with fangs poking out from the front of their hood.

Cruz's eyes widened when he saw the spell as he realized he'd only seen one person use that spell before.

As the smaller witch charged at Cruz, he quickly brought up the shield to block them again. As they flipped in the air, Cruz brought down the shield before shooting his hand out and grabbing the small witch by the arm.

They quickly corrected themselves as they clung onto Cruz's arm and they forced him to drop his staff.

"Get off of me!" Cruz yelled as he quickly spun a spell circle and shot a jolt of electricity at them. As they were stunned from the electricity, Cruz quickly took the opportunity to kick them, sending them crashing into the nearby stand.

Cruz felt abomination goo wrap around himself as his arms and legs were brought together as they stood him upright.

Cruz looked back and saw the taller witch controlling the abomination goo as they started walking closer to Cruz.

The smaller witch had dragged themselves out from the stand as they started walking towards Cruz as well. Cruz looked down and saw Gizmo being held down by abomination goo as the Palisman tried to free himself.

"Stay back," Cruz said with a growl as the witches stood in front of him. "I said. Stay. Back!"

Cruz yelled as he unleashed a sonic roar throwing the two witches into a pile of crates as the abomination goo let him and Gizmo go.

Gizmo quickly climbed up Cruz's arm as he caught his breath before the two witches climbed out of the crates.

The taller witch had turned their hand into a scythe before someone spoke up from the alleyway.

"That's enough, you two. You're able to see how good he is."

From the alleyway, the third cloaked witch walked out as they took off their hood. Standing there was Raine wearing their BATs uniform.

"Raine?" Cruz said in confusion. "You're behind this?"

"I'm sorry, Cruz. I didn't want to involve you but my… associates said that you were the best person for the job," Raine explained.

"For what—" Cruz blinked as he looked at them in shock. "Wait, you called me Cruz. You know who I am?"

"Yes, I still remember you. Ever since I got captured, Tera has been giving me a drink to try and make me more loyal. But I've managed to counteract the effects using a special trick I know," Raine explained.

"Are you talking about that whistle technique that you showed Eda when you two met?"

"She told you about that?"

"She told me and Luz about it earlier today. But why pretend not to remember her?"

"I can't involved her in this. I don't want to put her in danger."

"Involved in what?"

Rained looked around as they made sure no one was listening. "It has to do with The Day of Unity. But we should speak somewhere more private. My companions and I will guide you."

"You mean Darius and Eberwolf?" Cruz said as Raine flinched in surprise.

"How did you know?"

"The giant abomination had Darius' signature look for a face, Eberwolf used that beast spell on himself and at the end there, Darius turned his arm into a scythe. You've gotta work on being subtle next time you want to keep yourselves hidden," Cruz pointed out as Gizmo seemed to laugh at them.

With a sigh, Darius took off his hood as Eberwolf did the same.

"Just so you know, no one has suspected anything until you. And another thing, I was taking it easy on you just then," Darius argued.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night knowing you got beat by a fourteen year old," Cruz said with a chuckle. "Oh, and it was two versus one just now."

"Listen here, kid," Darius began before he was interrupted by Raine

"Darius. You're acting less mature than a teenager." Darius huffed as he turned away as Eberwolf laughed at him.

"If we're going to keep talking shouldn't it be somewhere where no one will hear us?" Cruz wondered

"He has a point, Raine," Darius said. "You're not the best when it comes to being subtle."

"I can be subtle when I need to be," Raine argued.

"Says the person who was acting like a rebel in the middle of Bonesborough," Cruz pointed out.

"Fair enough. Alright, I know where we can go," Raine said as they began to lead Cruz away with Darius and Eberwolf following.

Raine led Cruz into a cave that had multiple plans and notes lines all over the wall.

"New hideout?" Cruz asked

"The last one was found after I was captured," Raine explained. "This one is more secured."

"So what did you want from me? I doubt you would've stoped me if it wasn't important."

"We need your help. The other BATs are still locked up. They're being held in the Conformatorium."

"Wait, if they're in the Conformatorium why do you need my help? You're all Coven Heads. Can't you just get them out yourselves?"

"If we did that then we'd risk getting caught by Belos or someone else and then he'd know that we're planning a rebellion," Darius said. "We need someone who can break them out without it being traced back to us."

"And that's where I come in," Cruz said as the three nodded. Cruz sighed had placed his bag on the table behind him before he began to rummage through it.

"Luckily for you I was actually looking for an opportunity to bust into the Conformatorium. I wanted to see if I could fine anything on Belos in there," Cruz said as he pulled out potions before putting them back in.

"Why are you looking for information on Belos?" Darius asked

"A rebellion like yours needs support. And the best way to get support is to have information to deface the person you're trying to overthrow. Only problem is, the biggest support Belos has for his Coven system is that the people believe he can talk to the Titan."

"And you think he can't?" Raine asked

"I know he can't."

"How are you so sure about that?"

"I've talked to the Titan once. Back when I almost died. He seemed pretty alright with Wild Magic. Didn't even mention anything about having Belos talk for him either. That's how I know he's lying."

"You've spoken to the Titan?!" Darius asked in disbelief. "If that's true then we can gather support by saying that another witch can speak to the Titan."

"Only problem with your plan is that I can't speak to the Titan. I only talked to him once and that was it. Nothing since then," Cruz said as he looked away.

He knew that the biggest thing he could reveal would be that there was a living Titan. But he also knew that telling anyone that information would just put King in constant danger. He could never do that to his brother.

"And besides, Belos had years of credibility over anyone else. Don't know why he has that credibility but he has it. I would need a lot of evidence against him to make it work. Like say years worth of things he's done against the Isles and against the people too."

"So there goes that plan," Raine said with a sigh. "Still we need something to deal with The Day of Unity as well."

Cruz looked at the table and saw the note that Darius had gotten about the draining spell.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. It's a draining spell?! Belos is planning mass genocide? Why would he do something like that?" Cruz wondered in horror

"We don't know," Darius said

"The only thing we do know is that the draining spell will work on the eclipse. We don't know what he's planning after that. Only that he's planning something to do with the Human Realm."

Cruz looked over the notes and saw that apparently Belos had managed to reconstruct the portal. He then noticed the note on needing all nine types of magic.

"Why not just get rid of your sigils? You can cover up the missing sigil using a concealment stone."

"The only problem with that little plan is that it's impossible to remove your sigil. You can only replace it with another sigil," Darius explained

Cruz thought about it for a moment before he remembered something that Luz had told him a few months ago.

"What about the branding gloves?" Cruz asked as the three looked at him in confusion. "Those branding gloves that some Covens use. They can brand someone with any sigil, right? Well how about seeing if the glove has any clue on how to remove the sigil."

"That might work. But we'd need time, and unfortunately we don't have too much of that," Raine pointed out

"Could still get started on it. It might get done before The Day of Unity," Cruz said. "But for now we should focus on the immediate problem."

"We have the blueprints for the floor where you'll find the BATs in the Conformatorium," Raine said as they handed Cruz a map.

Cruz looked at the map and saw one of the cells was marked with an X. "I'm guessing that this is where they are?" Cruz said

"That's right. We've mapped out a path for you to take," Darius explained. "This will be the quickest path to them and back out. With any luck, you won't run into anyone too dangerous."

"Then let's go," Cruz said as he put the map into his bag. "The sooner we go, the sooner we rescue them."

"Like we already told you, you'll need to do this alone so that it doesn't get traced back to us," Raine warned.

"I can handle it. And besides, I won't be going in alone," Cruz said as they walked out of the hideout

"We can't involve more people in this," Darius said

"We won't. I've got some trained back up," Cruz said as he whistled.

The three Coven Heads looked confused before they heard a clicking sound above them.

When they looked up, they saw three J-Units looking down at them from the top of the trees.

"Oh great! It's these things again!" Darius said as he turned his arm into a scythe and Eberwolf used his beast spell.

"Calm down," Cruz said as whistled towards the J-Units. As they climbed down from the tree, the J-Units all bowed to him.

"You see. They're harmless."

"Are you telling me that you made these things?" Darius asked

"More like found them and reprogrammed them. But yeah, I'm the one that gave them their orders."

"Those things have been giving me nothing but a headache. Belos ordered me to find a way to control those things but it's been impossible. I don't understand how I can't control those things. They act like an abomination."

"Well… they're more like a combination of abomination magic and construction magic. That's probably why you can't control them. Just like when you fought them the first time."

"Is that how you knew about my spell?" Darius questioned. "Because that thing fought us?"

"Well the fight did give me a lot of data. But I had a second one watching and recording the fight from up on the trees. My favorite part was the J-Unit slamming you against the tree," Cruz said with a snicker as Eberwolf laughed at Darius.

"It's not like you did any better, mutt. That thing blew you away with some wind."

"Oh, neat. The glyph worked. Didn't know how it was going to react but I'm glad it worked out well," Cruz said with a smile as he turned to the J-Units.

"Listen up, you three. I'm going to be breaking into the Conformatorium. Your job is to support me once I'm inside. We're going to be rescuing a few individuals. Once we have them, we are going to escape as quickly as possible."

"If you encounter any guards or scouts, knock them out. Do not kill them. That is an absolute order. Do not kill any of the guards or scouts. Simply knock them out."

The three J-Units nodded as they received their orders.

"Why give them that order?" Raine asked

"Because I don't want to kill anyone. It'll be a last resort if I have to kill someone."

"Aren't you limiting their capabilities if you set them that way?" Darius asked

"You saw how capable they are even with that limitation," Cruz said with a smirk

Darius let out a sigh. "Fine. Let's just get this over with," Darius said as they all headed towards the Conformatorium.

Near the Conformatorium, Cruz and the Coven heads stood on a hill as they looked down towards the prison.

"You can see the point where you'll enter from here," Raine said as they pointed towards a wall.

Cruz pulled down his mask and looked towards the wall. He'd mad multiple changes to the mask since he'd started the Fight club.

The biggest change was that the lenses at the eyes now acted the same way that his goggles did, giving him the same vision that he was used to.

"Looks like that area isn't too guarded. I can see just about four guards. Shouldn't be too hard to handle them," Cruz said

"Remember. In and out. As quick as you can," Raine said. "We'll be waiting for you here. If it looks like you're in too much danger, make sure you escape. We'll figure out another way to break them out."

Raine paused for a moment before looking back at Cruz. "Are you sure about not wanting to take your Palisman with you?"

"Don't worry about it. It'll be better if Gizmo doesn't go with me. I don't want something to happen to him just in case. And besides, I can handle a few guards," Cruz said as he and the J-Units headed towards the Conformatorium.

As they watched Cruz head towards the prison, Raine couldn't help but feel worried.

"He'll be fine, Raine," Darius said

"I know. But I just can't help but worry for him. If something goes wrong, we won't be able to help him. And what if he runs into him?"

"If the kid runs into him, then he'll be fine. His magic is strong and from what Eberwolf told me, his kick is strong too."

"Still… I can't help but worry."

Down at the Conformatorium, Cruz snuck towards the wall as he avoided the light of the guards from the outside. When he got to the wall, Cruz activated his mask and saw that on the other side there was no one standing guard.

"Alright, looks like it's empty from this side. Shouldn't be an issue to get in with this," Cruz said as he took out a pair of bright green bottles.

As he threw the bottles onto the wall, the liquid hissed as the stone began to melt away opening up a hole.

As Cruz and the J-Units snuck in, he looked around and saw that the hall was empty.

"Looks like we're in the clear," Cruz said as he turned to look at the J-Units.

"Spread out and knock out any guards you see. Make sure you stick close by in case I need some back up."

The J-Units nodded as they headed out into the Conformatorium.

"Hey! Who're you?!" A guard yelled as Cruz turned to him with a smirk.

"Here's where the fun begins," Cruz said as his finger lit up with a spell circle.

As Cruz followed the map, he'd trapped and knocked out all of the guards that he'd run into by trapping them and hitting them with a sleeping pellet.

"So far so good!" Cruz said happily when he suddenly heard a clanking sound behind him.

As he turned he saw a large demon with a plague doctor's mask with two large metal gauntlets on his hands.

"Huh. Guess you replaced Wrath."

"That's right," the demon said. "I'm nothing like that idiot. My name is—"

The demon was cut off as he was encased in ice that stuck to the ceiling. As he was struggling to break free, Cruz threw a sleep pellet at him, knocking him out.

"Yeah, I don't have time to waste on you. Although, you did go down just as fast as Wrath did," Cruz said with a smirk.

"Sneak attack!" Cruz quickly turned to see a guard running at him with a spear.

He instinctively struck out his hand as multiple vines shot out and wrapped around the guard before he threw a sleeping pellet at him.

As the guard fell asleep, Cruz looked down at his hand in confusion.

"How'd I do that? I didn't even have time to draw a spell circle. Is this another Titan thing?" Cruz clenched his hand before turning towards his goal.

"No time right now. I've gotta get them and get out," Cruz said as he ran past the new Warden.

In their cell, Derwin, and Katya were watching Amber with worry when they heard footsteps approaching.

"Oh, great," Katya said. "Looks like the new warden is back."

"Better him than our doctor," Derwin said with a grimace.

As the footsteps got closer, the two BATs got ready for anything the Warden might have for them.

As they braced themselves, Cruz slid to a stop in front of their cell.

"I found you!" Cruz said happily.

"Wait… Cruz?" Derwin asked in confusion as Cruz lifted his mask.

"Yep! I'm here to bust you guys out of here!"

"How did you get in?" Katya asked

"Through a wall. I knocked out all the guards that were on the way here."

"You have to get out of here," Katya said in a panic. "The new warden is more ruthless than Wrath was."

"Oh I know. I ran into him a little while ago. He's stuck to the ceiling right now." Derwin and Katya looked at Cruz in surprise.

"Wait! You beat him? How?" Derwin asked in shock

"It wasn't that hard. He was rambling so I froze him. Now step back. Im busting down the door."

"Wait," Derwin said. "The door is tougher than you'd think. If you break it down using your gauntlets then the guard will hear it."

"Don't worry. I've got a plan," Cruz said as he held up another one of the acidic potions.

"What's that?" Katya asked

"Just trust me, this stuff will open the door up in no time," Cruz said before he noticed Amber lying on the ground.

"What's wrong with her?"

"She was forced to drink a blabber serum. They've got all kinds of info from when we were planning the rebellion. Including on Raine," Derwin said.

Cruz frowned as he knew what kind of effects blabber serum could have over a prolonged time.

"We have to get her out of here now. I can make something to counteract the blabber serum. As soon as you're free, we'll burn down the office with any info they might have. I've got plenty of memory wiping potions with me," Cruz said as he held up a potion bottle.

"It'll put them to sleep and wipe away a whole days worth of memories."

"You've got to hurry. They'll be back soon," Katya said

Cruz nodded as he took out the acid potion. He poured out the potion onto the bars as the metal started to melt away. As the bars hissed, Cruz drew a blue spell circle as ice covered the bars before they shattered.

"Now let's go," Cruz said as Katya and Derwin grabbed Amber as they dragged her out of the cell.

As Cruz was about to join them, out of the corner of his eye he caught a sight that shocked him.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Cruz said as the BATs turned to look at him.

"What's wrong?" Katya asked

"Look," Cruz said as he pointed at the cell across from them.

Inside of it was a yellow and maroon colored pair of basilisks with white spots on their bodies.

They looked larger than Vee or Nero but still smaller than the Greater Basilisk that attacked Hexside. The two basilisks looked at Cruz with fear as he approached them.

"You'd better stay back!" The yellow basilisk said. "We'll… we'll drain all your magic," she said with a hiss.

Cruz looked at them with concern knowing that they were acting that way because of what Belos had put them through.

"Do you want out of here?" Cruz asked surprising the two basilisks.

"Why would you do that?" The yellow basilisk asked

"Because I owe it to a pair of basilisks to help you. But first, tell me. What numbers are you two?"

"I'm number four," the yellow basilisk said. "But my name is Ivy."

"And in number three," the maroon basilisk said. "My real name is Tres."

"I met Vee and Nero. They were the ones who told me about what had happened to you," Cruz said as Tres and Ivy's eyes widened.

"Are they okay?" Ivy asked

"Where are they?" Tres said quickly.

"They're fine," Cruz reassured the two. "They're in the Human Realm right now. They're staying with my mom."

"How do we know we can trust you," Ivy said after a short pause.

Cruz thought for a moment before he remembered something that Nero had mentioned.

"Cinnamon." Tres and Ivy looked at each other before looking back at Cruz.

"That's…" Ivy began

"It's the keyword that Nero mentioned to me. He said it was a way for you to identify yourselves."

"So they're alive," Tres said. "And they're safe in the Human Realm."

"That's right," Cruz said. "I can't take you to the Human Realm right now, but I can take you out of here and find somewhere safe for you. I swear I won't let you end up here ever again. I owe it to Vee and Nero."

Tres and Ivy looked at each other before nodding and looking back at Cruz.

"Alright. You've got a deal," Tres said

"Great. Now stand back," Cruz said as he took out a bottle of his acid potion.

He repeated the process as he freed Tres and Ivy as they slithered out of the cage.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Katya asked

"I'm positive," Cruz said. "I don't know everything they've been through, but Belos has made the basilisks suffer far too much. I'm not leaving them here for another day."

"Unfortunately, none of you are going anywhere," a raspy voice said.

As they all turned to the voice, they saw a demon with sickly greenish gray skin, a long pointed nose, white hair.

The demon was wearing a large black pilgrim hat with a black robe and bandages on his lanky arms. He held a brown box on his back while his mouth was covered with a yellow cloth.

"Oh great, I missed one," Cruz said with annoyance.

"Cruz, if you have any smoke potions. Use them. Now," Derwin said with a panic surprising Cruz.

"What's wrong?"

"That's Vitimir," Katya said. "He's the Head of the Potions Coven."

"He's been running experiments on us since we were first brought back," Tres said

"Him and the other lady," Ivy said as they began to shake.

"What other lady?" Cruz asked

"They're referring to me," a female witch said as she stepped next to Vitimir.

The witch stood a head taller than Vitimir wearing a blue robe with the Healing Coven sigil on the front. She was wearing a large white hood that seemed to have two large shaved horns while her eyes were covered by a blue cloth.

"I'm guessing that's the doctor," Cruz said as he stood in front of the others defensively.

"It's Hettie Cutburn. She's the Head of the Healing Coven," Katya said.

"The two of them have been in charge of getting information out of us since we got here," Derwin explained

"It's the same for us. She's been in charge of experimenting on us for so long," Ivy said as she trembled.

"You experimented on them?" Cruz asked with a low growl

"Of course," Hettie said with a smirk. "Belos gave us the opportunity to see how basilisks react to all kinds of potions and I was given the chance to study how much pain they could endure."

"Did you know that basilisks have a low passive effect to heal themselves?" Vitimir said giddily. "If you give them a little boost then their ability to regenerate increases."

"That's why they make perfect test subjects," Hettie added with a twisted delight.

The air in the room seemed to chill as Cruz took off his mask before dropping it onto the floor.

"Are you sure you don't want to keep the mask on," Hettie asked. "You might be able to keep your identity hidden a bit longer."

"You don't get it. I want you to see my face. You two make me sick. You experimented on innocent creatures and get some sick enjoyment out of it."

Cruz pumped his arms back as his gauntlets activated. "I'm going to make you regret every action you've made that led to this point!"

Cruz rushed at the two Coven Heads as Hettie smirked at him. As Cruz got closer, she created a shield in front of her using her magic.

When Cruz made contact, the shield held for a second before shattering, surprising the Healing Head.

Cruz followed up his punch with another one blasting her towards the wall.

From behind him, Vitimir lowered his mask to show his jagged teeth as he opened his mouth. From his mouth, a green smoke began to spill out.

Cruz quickly spun a white spell circle as a gust of wind began to form in front of him, blowing the gas back towards Vitimir.

Vitimir quickly stepped back from the corrosive acid before Cruz teleported to his left side.

Before he could form a spell circle, Cruz punched Vitimir and sent him flying with a blast.

From behind him, the others all stared at Cruz in awe as they saw him overpower two Coven Heads as if they were ordinary witches.

"Let's go," Cruz said as he turned to the others.

As they were about to move, vines shot out and grabbed all of them except for Cruz.

"What's going on?!" Katya said in shock.

The ground shook as a large Venus flytrap rose up. As it opened up, in the center stood Tera Snapdragon.

"I can't believe you two are actually struggling with a child," Tera said as Hettie and Vitimir stood up.

Cruz looked between the tree Coven Heads with a glare. "He simply took us by surprise," Hettie said as she and Vitimir dusted themselves off.

"Brat blew away my gas," Vitimir said in irritation.

"Oh what's the matter, Vitimir," Tera said mockingly. "Are you mad because he proved you're useless in a fight?"

"Be quiet, Terra. He took me by surprise, that's all."

Cruz turned to look at the trapped group. As he tried to sneak closer to him, a vine shot out and tried to grab him.

As he jumped back to avoid it, Cruz looked towards Tera with irritation when he saw her smirk.

"Oh I'm afraid I can't let you set them free. It wouldn't look good if three Coven Heads couldn't keep a few prisoners in here."

Cruz looked at the Coven Head before looking back at his trapped companions. He sighed knowing that he didn't have any other choice now.

"You think I don't have a plan for this?" Cruz asked with a smirk

Hettie and Vitimir looked at him in confusion as Tera laughed.

"And what exactly are you planning to do here? You're outnumbered and outclassed."

Cruz chuckled as he looked up at Tera with a smirk. "Who said I was outnumbered." Cruz snapped his finger as above the Coven Heads the J-Units began to rattle.

When they looked up, the three units all jumped down as they changed their hands into a hammer.

One of the J-Units jumped towards the BATs and changed its hand into an axe and cut them free.

Cruz reached into his jacket before pulling out the vial filled with blue liquid he'd almost drank when he tried to protect the Emerald Entrails.

"This is either going to work perfectly… or it's going to kill me. It's a gamble really," Cruz said as his companions looked at him in concern.

Cruz grabbed the cork on the bottle before popping it off. "Alright. Bottoms up." Cruz lifted the bottle before downing the entire thing.

For a few seconds nothing happened. Suddenly, Cruz started to quietly laugh.

The three Coven Heads all turned to him as he looked up at them with a wicked smile.

"Let's start the fun!" Cruz yelled as he rushed at Tera.

Tera quickly shot multiple vines at Cruz. Before they could touch him, Cruz teleported into the air before teleporting again on top on Tera's Venus flytrap.

"He teleporting differently now," Tera said. "It's the same way that the Golden Guard teleports."

On top of the plant, Cruz looked down at Tera as he started to giggle. As Tera shot out a vine, Cruz struck out his hand as a shield popped up and stopped the vine.

'Did he just use a spell with no spell circle?!'

"What's wrong?" Cruz asked as he made a blue spell circle before grabbing onto the vine. "Are you scared?" The vine that Cruz had grabbed onto began to freeze.

Tera quickly lowered herself onto the ground as the rest of the Venus flytrap was frozen solid and shattered.

"Did his magic get stronger? What did he drink?" Vitimir asked as he breathed more corrosive acid. The J-Unit he was fighting activated the wind glyph on its palm to blow it away.

"You mean you don't know?" Hettie asked as she blocked another J-Unit's hammer before using her scalpel to slice its arm's tendon

"I've never seen anything like it before. I'd need to study it to see what it can do. Try to capture him alive, we have to extract any info out of him we can."

"I'd love to, but these stupid things are making it nearly impossible to get close to him. And it looks like he's faster too."

The two Coven Heads looked over and saw that Cruz was easily dodging and blocking all of Tera's vines.

"What did that potion do to him?" Hettie wondered. "It's like he's a completely different person now."

She suddenly jumped back as the J-Unit almost smashed her to the ground using its hammer.

"What's the matter Tera?" Cruz asked as he froze another one of her vines. "Is that all you've got? I know a fifteen year old who can fight better than you can!"

"You insolent brat!" Tera yelled as she shot multiple vines at him.

"Whoops! Too slow!" Cruz mocked as he continued to teleport and avoid Tera's attacks.

As Cruz landed between all three of the Coven Heads he smiled wickedly before letting loose a loud whistle.

"Don't interfere! I can handle the three of them!" Cruz said as the J-Units all backed away and landed next to his companions.

"You really think that you can actually handle us?" Vitimir asked

"You're getting cocky, boy!" Hettie said with irritation

"Vitimir! Knock him out with a sleeping potion! I'll restrain him with my vines," Tera ordered

"Don't order me around, Tera!" Vitimir yelled as he summoned a bottle of sleeping nettle potion.

As he threw the bottle, Cruz grinned before teleporting high into the air and grabbing onto a light on the ceiling.

"You three are holding your heads far too high," Cruz said as he traced a spell circle and a gold ring appeared above them. "Now. Bow!"

As Cruz swung his arm down, the three Coven Heads were slammed onto the ground as it started to crack.

"What… is this?!" Tera yelled as she struggled to try and stand up. "His magic… it's too… strong."

"This magic," Hettie said as she tried to stand but got pushed back down. "It's so familiar. It reminds me… of Belos."

"Now I think we've wasted enough time with you," Cruz said as let go of the light. "Time to say goodnight!"

As Cruz was falling, his eyes began to glow before he let out a large roar and slammed the Coven Heads down even further, knocking them out and releasing the spell.

As Cruz landed on the ground, he laughed before he started swaying.

As he was about to fall onto the ground, one of the J-Units grabbed him and held him up.

"Thank you," Cruz said before looking back at the unconscious Coven Heads.

"I need to hit them with the memory potion," Cruz said as he stood up straight and took out three bottles of the memory potion.

After he threw it at them, Cruz turned back and saw everyone staring at him.

"Are you okay?" Derwin asked with concern

"I'm fine," Cruz reassured him

"You just took on and beat three Coven Heads!" Katya said

"Yes I did," Cruz said. "We should probably get out of here before they wake up."

The four nodded as they all followed Cruz and the J-Units out of the Conformatorium.

As the group approached the hill, they saw Darius pop out of the ground next to Raine using his abomination teleportation.

"Is that… Darius?" Katya asked

"It is," Cruz said. "Don't worry, he's on our side."

"Who are those three?" Ivy asked

"They're Coven Heads. Don't worry, they won't hurt you. I promise I'll take you somewhere safe."

Ivy and Tres nodded as the Coven Heads noticed them.

"Stand back, you four!" Darius said as he transformed his arm into a scythe. "There's a pair of basilisks with you!"

As Ivy and Tres looked scared, Cruz stood in front of them defensively.

"You're not touching them! They're harmless. I'm taking them somewhere safe."

"Are you insane?! They're dangerous!" Darius argued

"Touch them and I'll show you how dangerous I am," Cruz said as his eyes began to glow. "I just fought three Coven Heads at the same time. You really think you'll be a challenge?"

Raine looked at him in surprise before looking back to their students.

"What's he talking about? And what happened to Amber?"

"It's a long story," Derwin said. "But can we please talk somewhere else? Amber needs some medical attention. She was forced to drink blabber serum."

"Yeah, they know anything she knew before they got captured. So Eda and me helping you out is probably out to them," Cruz said. "It sucks I couldn't steal a branding glove or burn their offices down."

"I took care of that," Darius said as he tossed a branding glove to Cruz.

"Were you in there while I was fighting? What happened to not being able to help out?!"

"I didn't watch anything," Darius said. "I snuck in quickly to the Warden's office and destroyed it. Along with stealing that glove for you. Show some gratitude, kid."

"I wanna punch you, but we have other things to do right now. So Mr. Goop, teleport us to the new base."

"Don't give me orders," Darius said with a scowl.

"I fought three Coven Heads! My patience is thin and my irritation is high!"

"Just do it, Darius," Raine said. "I agree with him. They've all been through far too much already."

"Are we taking the basilisks too?"

"Don't see any other choice. Cruz won't abandon them and we owe him that much at least. And besides, Eber agrees with me."

Darius looked down to see Eberwolf giving him a smirk.

"I hate that face so much," Darius said before sighing. "Fine. Get closer together."

As the group all came together, Darius surrounded them in abomination goo. As the goo dissipated, they saw that they were in the cave that was acting like their new base.

"Good, now get Amber to a bed so she can get some rest and I can give her some medicine," Cruz said before he felt Gizmo jump onto his head.

"Aww, Giz. I missed you too," Cruz said as he grabbed Gizmo and started scratching his head. "I've gotta get some medicine made for Amber and then we'll head on home."

As Cruz began to pull out supplies from his bag, Derwin heard something from the outside and looked back at the others with concern.

"Uh, guys. We've got a problem," Derwin said as they all looked at him

"Don't tell me we were followed," Katya said

"That impossible," Darius said. "We teleported here and I know for a fact no one was nearby."

"It's not that. I can hear the Owl Lady nearby," Derwin said as Raine began to panic.

"That's not good. Not good at all. She thinks I'm brainwashed and that Darius is on Belos' side."

"That's not the worst part," Cruz said as he looked at his scroll and saw he had lots of missed calls and messages from her.

"She's probably going to kill me for being out so late. I've gotta go out there and explain the situation," Cruz said before he felt Raine grab his hand.

"Don't tell her anything about my involvement. Remember, I don't want her involved in this."

"I promise not to involve her if I won't die," Cruz said as he took back his hand. "I promise nothing beyond that."

As Cruz left the cave, Darius looked back at Raine. "You know he's going to tell her if she tries to ground him, right?"

"I really hope not."

Outside of the cave, as Cruz stepped out, he looked around before Eda landed directly in front of him.

"Where. Have. You. Been?!" Eda asked with a panic and slight anger.

"Hoh boy. Lying will definitely get me grounded. I should probably just start with saying that I'm alright," Cruz said as Gizmo nodded in agreeance.

"Talk. Now."

"Right, right, right. So I… broke into the Conformatorium."

Eda looked at him in shock before sighing. "Why? Why would you risk yourself like that?"

"I needed to break Derwin, Katya and Amber out of there. I couldn't just leave them in there."

Eda stared at him before narrowing her eyes. "You wouldn't have known where they were. Someone helped you, didn't they?"

Cruz looked at Gizmo as he nodded his head, telling his partner to tell her everything.

"If I don't tell you… what'll happen?"

"You'll be on Hooty cleaning duty for the rest of your life and you won't be touching your lab for the next month."

"You make a compelling argument!" Cruz said before looking back at the cave. "I'm gonna tell her everything! So you might as well come out before I name drop you!"

"Who are you—" Eda looked back at the cave before seeing Raine step out.

She looked at Raine in shock before looking back between them and Cruz.

"Raine? What are you doing here? Did you drag my son into the jail break?"

"Your… son?"

"Oh… uh, yeah. Cruz and Luz are both my kids now. Just like King. The three of them had me adopt them."

"I'm glad," Raine said after a short pause. "I'm sorry for dragging your son into this."

"Why did you have him help?" Eda asked. "You're a Coven Head. You could've busted them out of the Conformatorium yourself."

"That's what I said," Cruz said as Eda looked back at him

"You're not off the hook. You're out way too late."

"Dang it!" Cruz said as Gizmo tried to comfort him.

"If I did that, then it would've been suspicious. And besides my colleague recommended that we recruit Cruz."

"Your colleague? Someone from the Emperor's Coven?"

"No, Eda. He's not from the Emperor's Coven. And I'm not working for Belos either. I needed to pretend I was loyal to him so that we could work in secret."

"Who is it?" Eda asked

"I can't tell you right now. But when the time is right I'll—"

"It's Darius and Eberwolf," Cruz said with annoyance as Eda and Raine looked at him in shock.

"Hey! If I'm in trouble, I'm dragging all of you with me. I ain't going down alone here!"

Eda laughed as Raine facepalmed.

"Might not have my blood, but he's a Clawthorne through and through!"

Raine sighed before looking back at Eda. "Yes, Darius and Eber are helping me out. We've been trying to stop Belos' plans. But you don't have to be involved."

"Wrong!" Eda said. "If you're involving my kid then this involves me too. Why didn't you tell me back at the parade?"

"Is it so hard to believe… that I wanted to keep you safe?" Raine said rubbing the back their head.

As Cruz watched Eda and Raine share a sweet moment, he suddenly felt a pain shoot out from his heart.

Cruz fell to the floor as he clutched his chest and the two witches ran up to him in concern.

"Cruz! What's wrong?!" Eda asked in concern

"My body… it feels… like it's on fire," Cruz said as he could feel pain shooting out through out his body.

"We have to take him to a healer!" Raine said. "Is there one you know nearby?"

"No. The one I took him to before isn't open yet. And I don't know any other that might help."

"My… bag," Cruz said as he handed his bag to Eda. "Pull out… the hat."

Eda nodded as she reached into his bag before pulling out the Healing Hat.

"The Healing Hat?! It was stolen months ago. You've had it this whole time?"

"More like Cruz has had it," Eda said as she put the hat on Cruz's head. "He's been using it to heal up his injuries this whole time. I'm not sure why but the hat only works on him and King."

As the Healing Hat lit up, steam started rising from Cruz's body as his pain started to disappear.

Cruz stood back up as he took off the hat before sighing in relief.

"I should've expected some side effects from drinking that potion. Guess that's what happens when I drink too much of it," Cruz said before he noticed Eda and Raine staring at him in surprise

"What's wrong?"

"Cruz… your eyes," Eda said in a hushed tone. "They've… changed."

Cruz was surprised before he took out his scroll and turned the camera to look at himself.

While his eye's colors hadn't changed, his sclera had become pitch black. He then noticed something with his hands.

"It's not just my eyes, look," Cruz said as he showed his hands to the witches.

His fingers now looked like bone. His hand still felt normal, Cruz knew for a fact that his flesh hadn't melted away.

"Whatever was in that potion must've changed something in your blood," Raine reasoned. "What exactly was in that potion?"

Cruz looked away from the two witches not knowing how he should explain it to them.

"Cruz…" Eda said with concern. "What was in that potion?"

"It was… Fool's blood."

Eda looked at Cruz in shock as she grabbed onto his shoulders.

"You drank blood?! Why would you do something like that?!"

"It was kind of a last resort," Cruz said as he scratched the back of his head. "The fight in there was way too much, even for me."

Eda let Cruz go as she knew that he was going to keep being reckless. "Fine, I can accept that explanation. Now come on. Let's go home. King and Luz are worried about."

"Before we go. We have to stop by somewhere real quick," Cruz said

"Stop by where?"

"I promised to take a couple of people somewhere safe," Cruz said as he went back into the cave.

"He made a promise?" Eda questioned

"Trust me, you'll have to see it to believe it," Raine said as Cruz walked out of the cave with Ivy and Tres following cloak behind him.

"Basilisks?"

"Yep! Ivy, Tres, this is the Owl Lady, Eda Clawthorne. These are Ivy and Tres. They're a couple of basilisks that were in the Conformatorium. They also know Vee and Nero. So I'm taking them somewhere safe so that Belos can't get to them ever again."

"Where are you planning to take them?" Eda asked

"The Bat Queen's forest. They should be safe there."

"Are you sure we will be?" Ivy asked

"She's right. We've heard all sorts of rumors about the Bat Queen," Tres said

"Don't you two worry about it," Eda said as Owlbert turned into a staff. "B.Q. is really nice as long as you don't try anything with her or her wards."

Gizmo turned into a staff as Cruz climbed on. "You should probably transform into a form that's easier to fly on a staff with."

"Oh right," Ivy said as she and Tres began to transform.

Ivy turned into a teenage witch around sixteen years old with light brown hair and a pale yellow highlight.

While Tres turned into a teenager the same age as Cruz with maroon hair with lighter maroon tips. They had both changed their clothes to match the BATs outfits.

"Does this work?" Tres asked

"Perfect," Cruz said as he turned to Raine.

"We're heading out now. But make sure someone goes to the Owl House to pick up Amber's medicine. I'll be making it as soon as possible. So hurry."

"Shouldn't you be making that first?" Raine asked

"I had some with me already. I've always been overly prepared for situations. But it's not going to be enough. I'll be making more, so send someone to pick it up before tomorrow," Cruz said as he climbed onto his staff and Tres climbed on as well.

Ivy climbed onto Eda's staff as they took off into the air towards the Bat Queen's forest.

In her forest, the Bat Queen was watching over her children and her wards when she heard someone approaching.

"Who goes there?" The Bat Queen said angrily

"Sorry. It's just me," Cruz said as he and Eda stepped out from behind a tree.

"Ah, the Owl Lady and her son. What can I do for you?"

"I was hoping you could do me a favor Bat Queen," Cruz said

"A favor?"

"Now don't freak out, they're harmless," Cruz said as he turned to the trees. "Come out. It's safe, I promise."

From behind the trees, Ivy and Tres slithered out in their original forms.

"Basilisks?"

"Can you do me a favor and let them stay here? I promise they won't cause trouble for you or your wards."

The Bat Queen stared at Ivy and Tres causing them to shrink in fear.

"It would be no issue for me," the Bat Queen said. "However, what will you do about their need to feed on magic? They cannot take any of the magic from any of the Palismen."

"I've got a solution for that already," Cruz said as he took out a bottle filled with his blood.

"This bottle is filled with liquid of pure magic. Just pour a bit of it onto something and it should give you plenty of magic to eat," Cruz said as he handed the bottle to Ivy.

As they opened the bottle, Ivy and Tres sniffed the bottle as their eyes widened.

"This is so much magic!" Ivy yelled in surprise

"I know you said it was pure magic but this is crazy!" Tres yelled

"I hope it helps you out," Cruz said

"It'll be more than enough," Ivy said happily.

"Now then you two. Go and find a place to rest. You have been through enough," the Bat Queen said.

"Thank you, Bat Queen," Ivy said as she and Tres slithered off to find a stop to get some sleep.

"We should head on home too," Eda said as Owlbert and Gizmo turned into staffs.

"Before you go," the Bat Queen said. "I would like a word with your son."

"With Cruz? Why?" Eda asked

"It is in regard to something he had asked me before."

"What is it?" Cruz asked

"I believe this would be better spoken in private."

"Anything you say to him, you can say to me," Eda protested

"It's okay, Eda," Cruz said. "I think I know what she wants to tell me. It'll only take a second."

"Alright, but I'll be around," Eda said as she walked back towards the trees.

"So what did you want to tell me, Bat Queen?"

"You had asked me before what you are. I didn't know at the time, but a bit of my memory came back."

"Your memory came back?"

"Just a small fragment. A name of my bond. My partner. You are the same species. A hybrid. The blood flowing in you is a mixture of the human blood you were born with, and the Titan blood that now flows through you."

Cruz closed his eyes for a few seconds before opening them with a smile. "Thank you, Bat Queen. I appreciate you telling me this."

"There's something else you must know," the Bat Queen said. "When you first turned into a hybrid, it is most likely you were mostly human. But now… I don't know what has happened to you, but you must know that you are losing your humanity. You are slowing becoming a full blooded Titan."

Cruz looked down at his new bony fingers as he clenched his fist. "I figured that drinking more Titan's blood would have consequences for me."

The Bat Queen nodded. "If you continue to do as you have, then you will for certain no longer be a human."

"Thank you, Bat Queen. I'll take what you said in mind. It looks like King and I are the only two Titans left now."

"The Owl Lady's other son?"

Cruz nodded. "He and I share the same blood. We've accepted what that means for us."

"I see. In that case, I wish you and your brother to be well. Do not worry for the basilisks. I will make sure they are well guarded."

"Thank you, Bat Queen. I hope you stay safe. Belos is increasing his activities. So please stay alert."

"I will, young Titan."

Cruz walked back towards Eda before the two flew off heading back to the Owl House.