Summary: Blights on the world I say
Odalia really, really hated children. Between their disobedience, their inability to count as labor on the workforce, and their lack of interest in buying abominations, there was very little point to having them exist.
That notion even extended to her own children somewhat. Edric and Emira were trouble makers, but they were also mere illusionists, so they didn't have much worth to begin with. She could never hate her precious little mittens, as long as she upheld the family standard and succeeded with every step that she took and every breath she breathed.
A standard her youngest child seems to have forgotten about lately. Her grades within the last month were abysmal. A-'s for over half her assignments and even a B+ on her last essay! Clearly she needed a reminder on what was important in life. But their last showcase tester for their products had the gall to die before the show, so they needed a step in. And here she was willing to be nice enough to forgive Mittens for their lack of focus if they showed off the strength of the Abomotron.
And just to protect a single worthless photo, they decided to break their deal and destroy the work. Alador didn't even comment, merely walking away while holding a piece of the broken creature.
So now here she was trying to fix the problem. "And who can we expect to join in on this week's bake sale?" By bringing it up to the Parent Creature Association. "Remember, you need at least three events per year to remain on board, and the Blights are the only ones to commit to five."
"Oooh, come on Shalisha, we have to participate with this one! You know I've been getting better in the kitchen, we just gotta do this one, please oh please oh please oh please!" A short witch with magenta hair and glasses shook who Odalia considered an ..'old acquaintance', so to speak.
"Fine, but only if you do all the baking." The closest thing Oladia had to a genuine rival rolled her three eyes. "It's already going to be busy with Vitimir's recent obsession into paperwork." What a blow hard, thinking they were so successful just because they worked closely with a coven head. Odalia managed to take her industry far without needing a handout.
"And that concludes this month's basics." The teacher nodded. "Now, does anyone have any concerns they'd like to raise about their children?"
"I have one." Oladia raised her hand, ignoring the confused eyes turning to her. She's never raised much of a fuss before, because there was never a need … until now. "I believe that a few students have become detrimental to this school."
The teacher heading the meeting raised an eyebrow. "I beg your pardon?"
"Oh, I believe I've spoken quite clearly." She answered back, standing up. "Like many of you that stand before me today, I am an alumni of Hexide, and proud of it. Why, it was this very school that gave me my drive and determination to pursue business, just as much as it's done for those of you with less important and less successful companies."
"Does this conversation have a point or is this just an excuse to hear yourself talk?" Shalisha rolled those three eyes of her's, clearly envious of Oldalia's success.
"What I'm saying is that this school has been under various attacks, and has caused suffering and strife to our students. As both parents and former students, We can't let this stand any longer." She turned to her husband, who was studying a jarred insect. "Mhm." She got his attention.
"Right." He shook his head. If the man didn't work best when isolated, she'd place an Oracle necklace on him just like her little Mittens. "Within the span of two months, Hexide has gone through a series of incidents that have either caused large property damage or student/faculty casualty. The abomination incident, in which a student was caught cheating by stowing in outside help and never reprimanded for it, leading to the front entrance blowing up. Following afterwards was the detention incident, in which the whole detention room was blown up. Following that being the Basilisk incident, in which a long thought to be dead creature was dealt with by the students, and so on and so forth."
"Hexide is a place of education and hard work, where the gifted strive and the mediocre fall in line in their feeble place in society." Oldalia continued on. "All it takes is just a few rotten apples to ruin the bundle. We all know that we all would've been better off without Edalyn Clawthorne ruining our school. She caused death, destruction, the locker room incident ." Majority of the room shuddered.
"I don't see the big deal." The red headed witch shrugged. "It wasn't that bad."
"Eden, dear, we did it with Oldalia."
"And?" Odalia didn't know whether or not to be offended or disgusted, so she would just bury the seething rage and continue on with her point.
"My point is that Hexide is a place where greatness is crafted, not a social dwelling for the delinquent and criminal." She pounded her fists on the table. "That is why I propose for the immediate expulsion of the human Luz, Gus Porter, Willow Park and especially Lucifer Clawthorne."
"Wait, the criminal Lucifer Clawthorne!?" A moon headed parent shouted. "The same one that destroyed plenty of Emperor Coven scouts? THAT Devil in Witch skin is attending this school?!" He argued. "Principal Bump, what in titan's name were you thinking!?"!?"
"I was thinking that if there's a child out there that wishes to learn and expand their knowledge, that they have a place at my school." The man said without flinching. "Neither of Edalyn's children expressed any malicious intent on the school, so I continued their enrollment."
"Neither!? You let TWO of that crazy broad's children into this school?!" Another parent rightfully argued.
"This is precisely my point." Odalia made sure to keep the fire of fear and worry active. "One of them is already at the top of the most wanted list in the boiling isles and the other one, the human, clearly demonstrated she'll side with the boy. These rotten eggs need to be thrown out immediately."
"It's funny you say criminal like it's a bad thing." … She turned her angry eyes to Shalisha. "The fact that he survived as much as he has with a bounty that high proves his skill more than anything else."
Oh, she wanted to play, did she? "You'd defend such a troublesome and dangerous threat to the students?"
"If my daughter is to be believed, he fights most of these problems. If anything it speaks more to the incompetence of Bump."
"Heh, let's not go too far ladies and say something we'll regret…" The man nervously spoke.
"You'd willingly let all of our children risk being around a devil?" Oladia continued. "Creatures that are widely known to be untamed, unruly, and consume the little Palistrum wood we have?"
"None of our children have a palisman to consume." The woman casually waved off. "And besides, if he played sports, imagine how high it would make our victory streak against Glandus?"
"Oh, that would be a good point, if he did play grudgeby. Instead he uses mixed magic, something the Emperor would clearly not be pleased with, and causes a whirlwind of destruction whenever he strums a lute, or may I remind you of how completely obliterated the gymnasium was after Grom?"
"It's obliterated every year though." One parent questioned. "I thought ours was a meteor strike."
"No, that was just Eda messing with a flame punch." Shadila grabbed the red haired girl's hair. "Ow, ow, ow, sorry dear."
"None of this is actually disproving any of my points. If we're to give our students, we must eliminate the undesirables." Oldalia kept going. "Or I just might have to pull my mittens out of Hexide, and with that, all the funding we provide."
There was a wince in the principal. "It's still not my say mam, it's a majority rule …. All in favor of expelling bright and nobel students trying to learn?"
"If it gets that crazy devil child out of the school, then sign me up!" Hands were being raised as it was overwhelmingly clear what the outcome would be.
The principal sighed. "Motion carried." Bureaucracy, something Oldalia always enjoyed having a talent for.
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"What do you think they're calling us in for?" Amity heard Luz question as they walked down the hall. "Do you think they're going to reward us for all the good things we've done?"
"Pfft, I doubt it. If that was the case, they'd be throwing us a parade every other week with how many incidents keep popping up." Lucci laughed.
"Not to mention how many times we're the cause for those incidents, so that probably evens out the scale of good and bad." Willow added on.
"Maybe they just want questions?" Gus suggested. "I know Bump was investigating the source of the school coming to life."
"Speaking of, you guys still have that crystal devil in a bubble?" Willow asked
"Surprisingly, yeah." Lucci mentioned. "I guess this one is a weird mutant that needs a body to infect, so floating inside my bubble must have trapped it or something."
Amity wished that she could just join in on the conversation, she wished this was just a normal day where she could just enjoy the company of her friends, both the old ones she's regained and the new ones she made
But she knew why they were called …and she was terrified, and angry, and every part of the girl wanted to throw up. But she couldn't, because 'Blights must be perfect'. "I'm sorry." Amity muttered as she made her way to the door. "I'm pretty sure I'm still too weak to help."
"What are you talking about? You helped plenty during the incident?" Luz asked her, oblivious to the situation and still in the previous conversation.
She turned to that adorable face for what could possibly be the last time. "I … wasn't able to hold up my end of the bargain … now my mom's in school asking for you guys …"
"I know I don't say this often, because I have morals." Lucci responded with a serious look. "But your mother is one of the very, very few people on my kill list if it comes down to it." Oh, if only murder could solve their problems now. Her mom would just come back as a ghost thanks to oracle magic.
"My my, such crash and savage language. Not very appropriate for a school setting." That voice, that grafting and dreaded voice made her freeze as her friends came face to face with her parents, sitting right beside principal bump, who shared an equally dreadful face.
"And a parent complaining about other children sadly is." Lucci countered right back. "I mean, it's almost like you'd try and get rid of us just because we're 'low class' or 'alley scum'. " He spoke, using her mom's voice.
"Like I'll take offense to the truth." The woman rolled her eyes. "And I have a copyright for use of my voice. That'll be two hundred snails."
"In case you haven't noticed, criminal." The boy gestured to himself. "I'm not giving you half a snail."
"Then it's a good thing that said criminal will be expelled." And there it was.
"…What?" Luz asked, dumbfounded.
"Alador." The woman turned to dad, who as usual, wasn't paying attention to anything, even the woman ruining her life. "Alador." They growled again.
"Hmm? Right." Dad coughed. "You have been nothing but trouble, and a danger to our daughter's study. So all four of you will be carried out of school, and refused entry." Of course, because why couldn't she have any happiness during school?
"All of us…no…no, no my dads are glowing to kill me!" Willow freaked out.
"What reasons do you have to want to expel us!?" Luz exclaimed.
"Do I really need to go into detail for that puny little human brain of yours?" The complete bitch dared to insult Luz. "The abomination incident, the detention incident, Grom, the food fights, the school possession incident, need I go on?"
"We saved the school for about half those incidents you sorry little-!" Lucci was barely being held down by Willow from jumping out and attacking the woman.
"Not to mention this little scoundrel is on wanted posters everywhere and is clearly the worst influence on our poor little mittens." The woman smirked sickeningly as if Lucci was a dog about to be put down. "Personally I plan on calling the Golden Guard and reporting to him about your mere presence in this facility."
"Time for talk is over!" Lucci formed a razor disk. "Now is the time for action!"
"Lucci stop!" Amity got in the way. "You can't fight them, believe me, it's a no win situation…you don't know what your getting into."
"And you shouldn't waste your time talking to these miscreants, you have grades to improve." Her mom accused her.
"But you called me-" The woman placed a hand on her Oracle stone, and every muscle memory of her body tensed, slumping in resignation. "..Yes…yes maam." She had no choice but to comply as she headed out the door.
Everyone looked at the sight in disgust, most notably Luz, glaring at her mom with a gaze that could set the school on fire if it was able to. "I don't get or like your whole deal, but whatever your trying to get out of this, it's not going to happen."
"It already is, dear." With a snap of her fingers, the trouble sniffers walked into the room, grabbing the children.
"Don't you think for a second I won't-" Lucci's rant was cut off with a sleep spell.
"Wow, that happens way more than it should." Willow commented as she was dragged out of the room. "Now I see why you're afraid of them."
"Amity, don't worry, we'll figure this out!" Luz shouted bravely. "Don't give up hope!" If only Amity could be that naively optimistic. Anything was better than experiencing the hell that was the Blight house.
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TRANSITION
Bump waited by the front door, looking out for the obvious first attempt. There was always one of those whenever he was forced to expel a student. It was heartbreaking everytime.
Expulsion was the extreme nuclear option. Doing it to any student, no matter the reason, always made the principal feel too much like Faust, giving up hope on bright minds before they have the chance to bloom.
And this time it wasn't even his own choice, it was one nasty woman that made everyone hysterical for no reason. Sure, thanks to Blight Industries, Hexide could function as an independent enough school to work without constant Emperor supervision, but this time it almost didn't feel worth it.
Bump pulled out a crossbow, idly shooting as the trio of Luz, Willow, and Agustus tried to sneak in through the window. "Ahhh! I thought it was expulsion, not execution!" The human painikd as they fell off the wall.
"They stopped executing students around two hundred years ago, but they're still capable of doing it!" Willow shouted as they hit the ground.
TRANSITION
He idly listened to the teachers as he walked, already keeping his eye out for the second attempt. They were determined little buggers, so they'd probably go for five … or whenever their parents grabbed them.
"Hey, has anyone noticed how quiet the classes have been?" Professor Catscratch itched the back of his wolf-like ears.
"Yes, I haven't heard a single explosion all day." Professor Scabington noted.
"It's the loss of those four trouble makers." Professor Homunculus scoffed. "Good riddance I say."
"You're just salty because Park is a better student for me." Professor Growen commented. "Unlike you, I can nurture natural talent and growth…such a shame, she was the only one that could grow a full grown tree in the classroom."
"A definite shame …" Bumps admitted, turning to Professor Earworm. "Wouldn't you say so, Noceda?" Like the bard teacher would ever be quiet.
"Ah.." It responded as the illusion teacher undid the image. "Gus, it didn't work. They saw right through it.." The girl sighed.
"I really need to work on sounds. How does Lucci do it so naturally?" The boy complained.
"Natural talent…..pure raw talent…..one that comes only once in a lifetime…" The real Earworm sighed. "It just isn't the same without the chairs flying all over the place."
"Well since they're trespassing …" Homunculus created a massive abomination. "Violence is allowed!"
"Retreating right now!" Willow created a massive plant below them, and launched herself and her friends away. Such pure talent was now going completely unguided and unnurtured.
TRANSITION
He waited in his office. Right now they were probably in the bargaining stage, attempting to bribe him. How he wished he could have done more, maybe set up a side school for criminals, or a class for redemption.
Edaylyn's son acted nothing like a crystal devil … although the fact Shalisha defended him sent off a lot more red flags than it should have, especially when she threw Bump under the carriage. The mother of Hexide's star Grudgeby player usually had their own motive for every single action she did, she often had a habit of grabbing and discarding 'assets' during her time at school.
Even if the boy was dangerous, that could hardly be said about the other three. Willow Park had bad grades, sure, but was from the beginning of the year when she was in a class that didn't suit her skillset. Ignoring that, she was one of Hexide's brightest in terms of Plant magic. Augustus Porter was a straight A student all around, with scores high enough to let him skip two grades, the only notable blemish on his record being the detention incident.
Bump turned to the basket being raised next to his window. A broken abomination supported by vines in the shape of a kitten. With a reluctant sigh he cut the rope holding it up, letting the basket drop to the ground. "Oh come on, who doesn't like cats!?" Came the voice of Luz Noceda, the most dedicated student he's had in the last ten years. In spite of everything thrown her way, notably a lack of a bile sack, she managed to come up with such fascinating and creative ways to do magic.
"Maybe we should've gone with something edible instead of semi horrifying." Augustus groaned.
"Last time I tried to cook something it made three birds die from the smell, our options are limited!"
TRANSITION
Bump stared at the students that had crashed their flying contraption into a tree. "... Why did you build this if none of you knew how to navigate in the air?" He questioned.
"We're covering all our bases. We tried scaling it, walking in, bribery, an aerial attempt was just what was next on the list." Luz took out a list. "It's better than giving up and doing nothing."
"You do realize that even if you manage to sneak in, the teachers have all been given permission to use any force necessary to kick you right back out." Bump explained. "Going back in doesn't automatically undo the expulsion."
"… Oh come on!" The girl shouted.
Bump sighed. "I'm truly sorry, my hands are tied. After Oldalia brought up Lucifer being a in school to the PCA, they all went onto her side, refusing to leave him around their children."
"That's crazy, I've known Lucci for years, he just found out about being a crystal devil, heck, he's on good terms with the Bat Queen, and she hates those creatures more than anybody!" Willow exclaimed.
He sighed. "Truly, these are dark times." Bump walked away, lamenting once more his inability to help a single child.
"Come one, maybe if we tunnel our way in…"
"Security is monitoring the secret entrances and tunnels." He explained to them as he walked inside, having no choice but to accept his failure as a principal. Life was going to be so much more boring without those troublemakers around.
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Seeing as how every attempt to get back in had failed, and the foreknowledge that there was no plan for what to do afterwards when she got back inside, Willow decided to do the one thing she always did when she was depressed. "Goodbye my precious." Hug the nearest tree and let the floodgates open. "I'll water you one last time….WITH MY TEARS!"
"Come on, we can't give up, we still have options!" Luz tried to be the optimistic one. How she could do so in such dreary circumstances was always going to baffle her. "I have an invisibility glyph, I just got to figure out how to make it last long and-"
"Luz, we haven't even considered the detention sniffers." Gus pointed out. "They'll find us no matter where we hide." The boy sighed. "I'll miss you, statue of a griffon on the foot of the stairs."
"Griffon….. That's it! I'll just get Lucci, bring out Glyphon and blast our way back inside! We'll beat up everybody that tries to take us out, and they'll have no choice BUT to take us back!" The girl's optimism was through the roof. "Wait, where is he?"
"Right here." The boy raised his hand, laying down on the ground as he wrote in a notebook. "And we still haven't worked on how I fuse, so the answer is no."
"It's better than nothing. You haven't even tried to help us sneak back in." Luz agreed back
"I was letting you all do it the wrong way. Because Luz should get the hysterical crazy energy out before we get really serious." Lucci deadpanned. "I already have a plan to get us in."
"Really?" Willow asked, surprised. "You actually want to go back to school?"
"Yes, because one, Bard class is fun. Two, I regained two of my friends here. And three, Boscha is here, and I'm finally on good terms with her, so yeah, I'm going back." Lucci explained.
"Well two out of three isn't bad in terms of good motivations." Willow nodded.
"Come on man, spit it out." Gus shook in place. "We need to do this before my dad finds out and grounds me." Same for her.
"Operation, drop in." Lucci gave the same cocky grin he always had. "Step one, Gus creates a distraction. Step two, Luz blinds the two adult Blights. Step three, Willow makes a plant to keep them in place. Step four, I come in with two razor disks aimed right at their necks and-"
"We are not decapitating them!" Luz shouted.
"…. Alright, operation burning house is a little more complicated, but it'll get the job done." Lucci snapped his fingers. "Step one, find a mountain's worth of felt, step two, taming a swarm of firebees…."
"Lucci, I want to kill those bastards more than anyone, believe me." Willow agreed with her friend's murderous intentions. They ruined a great friendship for ten years and crushed Willow's heart into hundreds of pieces that she was sure she STILL hadn't fully recovered from. "But you're doing it too loudly, what we should be doing is attacking them when they're alone, burying them alive, and then tossing them into the boiling sea after two weeks."
The boy hummed. "I have been working on bubbles to stop sleeping spells, maybe I can do something to cut off their ability to breathe …"
"Would you two stop it!" Luz shouted. "We aren't killing them."
Lucci stared blankly at her. "Luz, taking them out will solve so many of our problems down the line."
"Lucci, they're jerks, not genocidal maniacs."
"Still doesn't mean the world's not better off if they weren't around." Willow grumbled. "And you saw how afraid Amity was of her mom, you can't tell me getting rid of them wouldn't be doing her a favor."
"Isn't everyone afraid of their parents?" … There was an uncomfortable silence at the genuine question.
"I…guess, but my dad's are usually not strict…" Willow thought about it.
"My dad's basically a bigger me…still wouldn't want to mess with him."
"You live with me, that already answers your question." Lucci rolled his eyes. "What do you want us to do then? Like or not, the Blights have all the power here because of money, and unless we instantly become millionaires, we'll never come close to beating them."
"Then we'll just talk with them." The girl said instantly.
"Luz, I don't have their hate streak, and even I think that's a terrible idea." Gus spoke bluntly. "They own one of the most influential companies on the boiling isles. They're rich enough to have an audience with Emperor Belos. They don't talk to people like us."
Luz noticed them walk by. "Well it won't hurt to try." She made her way over. "Excus-"
"No." Mrs Blight proved it would hurt to try, by using a ghost hand to shove Luz harshly away as the girl hit the ground.
Shink
Lucci sent a saw into the ground that just barely missed the woman's leg. "Look here, Blight, going after me is one thing, I understand that and I accept the bed I've made. But when you go after everyone else I care about everyone else, that's when we have a problem."
The woman stared at him, before rolling her eyes. "Why should I care about the lives and words of some worthless human and a mangey criminal?"
"Because this 'mangey criminal' …" Lucci growled, as horns grew on his head. "Survived Petrification, the Golden Guard, and the Rainbow Devil, so you can imagine that the list of things I'm actually afraid is very, very short, which means I'm not afraid of you, your company, or whatever consequences come my way by attacking you."
The woman impassively stared at the child, before pulling out a card. "If you're truly serious about a conversation, come to my workplace, and we could set up a deal." She tossed it onto Luz. "Until then, I will make you suffer if you corrupt my Mittens any more than you have." The woman turned to her husband. "Alador, stop messing with that creature, we're leaving!"
"But it has a witch's face in the wings..." The man tried to comment, before the woman crushed it in her hands. "Fine." The two adults left.
"Wow….I had almost forgotten just how much I hated them as a kid." Willow muttered.
"I still can't believe that was Amity's dad." Gus mentioned. "Guy doesn't look like he's even in the same room most of the time."
"An abusive parent and an oblivious parent, what a lovely combination." Lucci growled. "Come on Luz, hand me the card."
"What?" The girl blinked. "No, you're not going, I am."
"Luz, if you go alone, you're just going to accept whatever they have, and you're going to end up in a situation we'll have to drag you out of again." Lucci pointed out.
"And if you go, you'll either lose your cool control and snap against Amity's parents, or get trapped because the mom called the Golden Guard beforehand, who only wants you." The human countered.
"Guys, guys, how about we all just go together, watch each other's back and all?" Gus brought up. "We hear them out, and have enough firepower to counter whatever she might throw." A crow flew on top of his head. "... Aw nuts."
"Agustus Porter! What is this I hear about you being expelled!?" The voice on the crow shouted.
"No, dad, we're working it out, I can explain!" Her younger friend yelled as the crow began to lift him up in the air.
"Don't worry guess, we'll fix…" Willow tried to assure, only for another crow to land on her head. "Noooooo!"
" Willow Park, you are in so much trouble, young lady!" It shouted as she began to fly off.
"Don't worry guys!" Luz's voice shouted. "I'll fix this, I'll fix everything!"
" This is Perry Porter with breaking news. Augustus Porter shall be grounded for no less than a year."
"That's getting it off easy. Willow's grounded for three at least!"
"It's times like this that it pays to have such an irresponsible parent." Lucci commented. "Well, guess I'm heading off alone."
"No, you're not heading off alone, I am!" Luz argued.
"No, I am!"
"I am!"
"I am!"
Willow should probably start on her will and testament.
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After extensive arguing back and forth, Lucci and Luz decided that there was only one, clear way to decide who goes … rock paper scissors. "COME ON!" She shouted. "How have we tied for the last forty rounds!?"
"I don't know, but we might want to wrap this up." Lucci groaned. "If someone plays one hundred games without a definite winner, a black hole opens and swallows us whole."
"And here I thought that was just a creepypasta." A creepy what now? "It seems that there's only one other clear way to decide this …" Luz reached into her pocket, spinning around before pulling out two closed knuckles. "Where's the snail?"
"In your hoody." He rolled his eyes.
"What?" She pulled it out. "Beginners luck. Try to find it now.."
"In your sock." He huffed.
"...Keep forgetting you're a scammer." She grabbed it from her shoe
"Oh please." He snatched the coin, twirling around. "Where did I put it?"
"In your hair."
"No, it's in your hair."
"HOW!?" She reached up and grabbed it.
"Because I'm awesome, now if you excuse me." He walked to the front door, looking at an abomination that stood guard. "I'm here to see Mrs Blight."
"Okay, I can't stop you from going, but I'm not going to let you do this alone." The girl ran up behind him. "You said we need to always trust each other, so trust me to have your back."
He groaned. "Fine, fine." It's not like Lucci could stop her anyway. They followed the abomination through the hall, looking at every picture … every unhappy frown and forced smile on every child's face. "Yeesh, this makes the conformitorium feel like a five star lodge. No wonder Amity always looked so miserable walking out of here."
"Wait, didn't you used to come here before?"
"One or twice, and it was always in the backyard. Amity never invited us inside, and I can see why." He grimaced as they walked down to a basement.
From there they saw Mr Blight … working. Lucci never saw Abomination muck being created before, and he didn't regret it. He watched as the man tore apart a corpse and squeezed the parts together as they slowly became a familiar purple mud. "Adjusting the compatibility with gold, use the nerve clusters to allow for a better energy transfer. Muscle fibers should be perfectly set along the exoskeleton …"
"I know magic isn't exactly pretty sometimes, but that gives Frankenstein a run for its money." Luz gagged.
"I never messed with abomination magic because the bubbles make it explode, now I can say I'm fine never learning it." Lucci winced.
The man immediately stopped his work, turning to Lucci like he was a pet project. "Did you mention exploding bubbles? Like the ones at the parade?" He walked over and gave Lucci very vivid memories of Vitimir with that disturbingly analytical look.
"Yeah, it's just something that happens when they come in contact with abomination goo-could you not pick at my hair?" He backed the man off with his shield, which only seemed to get the man more curious. "I came to talk, not to get dissected."
"You'd be surprised just how synonymous those two words can be in the business world." From the corner of the room, the head horrible of the Blight house made herself known, casually drinking a cup of tea like she had no worry or care in the world. "Don't mind Alador, his mind is constantly racing for new ideas. It's only taken an entire day to completely repurpose our previous line of Abomotron's to the next stage."
"Speaking of, I'm not entirely sold on the 2.0." The man responded. "Are you sure we can't call the previous ones betas?"
"No. We've already promised our customers something better than the previous model to make up for our lackluster showcase last time, which actually brings us to our current predicament." The woman smirked. "You two have come to make some sort of appeal or heartfelt effort at changing our minds on the expulsion, correct?" That indicated Amity's Mom had a heart to begin with.
Luz instantly placed a hand on his mouth before he could retort. "Yes ma'am." The girl nodded. "We'll do whatever it takes."
"Eager and desperate, exactly what we need." This was going to end horribly. "You see, we were originally going to forgive Mitten's lackluster performance in school-"
"Isn't she a straight A student?" Lucci asked as he pulled Luz's hand off.
"A+, but she's been slipping into A- and a B+. Seriously, how does she expect to make it to the Emperor's Coven without perfection?"
"Most parents would kill to have their kids' grades reach B+." Luz muttered
"Most parents are settlers, something I believe you two are quite well experienced in." The woman rolled her eyes. Luz once more had to hold Lucci back before he jumped and strangled the woman. "The point is we would have forgiven her if she did our normal deal, but, let's just say she got distracted emotionally, and blew the whole thing for us."
"She has gotten stronger. Before she wasn't capable of even scratching the abominations before." Mr. Blight spoke up, actually sounding like he was invested in his kid and not productivity.
"Originally we would've just had her do tonight's expo.." Amity's mom completely disregarded what her husband had said. "... But with her trying to catch up on school work, I'm afraid that's just less than ideal now." The twisted woman kept talking down to them. "But if we were to have a replacement, notably the most wanted child on the boiling isles, to 'test' our products on, then I believe we can all come to an agreement."
Lucci raised a hand to stop Luz from instantly saying yes, before turning to Mr Blight. "And what do your 'products' entail?"
"Blight Industries offers a variety of security systems." … Alright, not too bad. He was a criminal, he knew his way around security. "We specialize in weapon based defenses."
"Ah, there's the twist I was waiting for." Lucci sighed, knowing there wasn't a chance of this ending easy. "So basically you just want to hit me with everything you got in front of a large crowd to make a whole lot of money without me fighting back?"
"If you want to say it without any subtlety or sugar coating, then yes." The woman nodded.
"And you'll let us back into Hexide when it's all said and done, right?" Luz asked.
"Of course, a Blight always keeps their end of the deal." The woman nodded with a smile that looked like it belonged on a viper ready to devour a whole centaur.
"Lucci, this is everything we need! I told you we could talk this out civilly." Luz nudged him in the shoulder.
"You're not the one who's going to get blasted for 2+ hours in front of a live audience." Lucci deadpanned.
"Who said you're taking this alone?" She asked. "It's a tag team, right?" Tag team … hmm … oh, maybe a certain 'tiger' should make a show? "And no, we're not bringing Tiger Millionaire into this."
"Oh come on, let me have a little fun with it." He groaned
"Tiger Millionaire is a lawyer, he can't be seen testing weapons." He knew she was just using it as an excuse to not dress up, but it was a good one …
"Unless he had a brother." He thought closely, smirking. "From the other side of the isles, separated from birth, Tiger Philanthropist shall make his first appearance!"
"Is that really the best you can come up with?"
"How is this any different than the cosplaying you like to do and look up on your phoon?" He asked her. "Counter me in any way, and I'll drop it completely."
"... If I do this, you can't make fun of my costume."
"Cross my heart, I'd never make fun of my partner." He grinned. "Blight, you have a deal."
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Eden rubbed her hands nervously as she sat in the hooded crowd. According to her daughter, the girl she always complained about, some 'human', was finally expelled. And after she and Shalisha tried so hard to help. And poor Boscha couldn't even enjoy it because the boy she liked got expelled too! Nobody could be happy like this! Especially when Shalisha brought everyone to witness tonight's Blight Industries expo, even though her wife couldn't stand Odalia in the slightest and just wanted to keep tabs on the competition.
Eden didn't understand why Shalisha got so worked up over it. The Blight's made Abominations, and they made Potions, why couldn't it just stop right there? They got along so well during their years at Hexide, at least until the locker room incident, which she still couldn't understand why everyone got so uncomfortable over it. Love was meant to be expressed and explored in every way imaginable. At least until people ran away and treated her like trash … she was lucky her wife stuck around with someone like her.
"Witches and Demons of the Boiling Isles." Oladia greeted. "Tonight we have a very special expo, with the latest of the line in abominations for the world to see. Let's give it up for Blight Industry, where innovation grows with profit!" There was clapping. "Now to demonstrate these product's effectiveness are our two volunteers …" The woman sighed with exhaustion. "Tiger Philanthropist, and the Honey Badget."
Two people, one's that were clearly children, walked onto the stage. The boy had pink fur all over him with a white collared shirt, a blue tie with a money symbol on it, and brown suspenders with eyes and ears that were clearly cat shaped. The girl of the duo looked like she was wearing a costume unlike the boy, her face painted black as she wore a coat of white fur along her back, arms, and legs.
"Surprised she managed to hire someone so young." Eden muttered.
"Not any younger than our child labor." Her wife scoffed, looking at their daughter, whose eyes were narrowed on the stage. "Something wrong?"
"I don't know… those two look really familiar… the badger looks annoying and the tiger makes me feel weird."
Eden narrowed her own eyes at the two. "Hmm … they do look pretty strange for demons, but who are we to judge?"
"We can judge if they don't survive the first onslaught." Shalisha muttered.
"Firearms are all the rage these days, there's just something so simple and satisfying about aiming and blasting down your foe with a simple press of a trigger." Odalia went on to show off her products, aiming a gun and blasting out a goo that stuck the girl to a wall. "This little beauty is perfect for enemy subduing in peaceful and non peaceful ways." She flipped a switch, making it blast out green fire she aimed at the boy.
"That was chosen on purpose!" The boy argued as he took the flames head on.
"He's durable." Her wife noted. "Barely a singe on his clothes."
"Of course sometimes you don't have time to point and shoot during a house invasion, so in a pinch, the A-bombinations are more than capable of knocking the enemy out with a single explosion." Her wife's rival gleefully rolled about five or six little purple orbs at the boy's feet."
"This is why it sucks to have fast healing." The boy groaned as he was sent up in the air in a fiery blaze.
"Alright, tag in!" The girl shouted, freeing herself and jumping down. "Come on Blight, the Honey Badget can take it!"
"Having a pest problem such as a jackalope infestation or a swarm of flesh eating scarabs? Then look no further than our heat seeking needle launcher, guarantee to pin the little nuisances in your life helplessly to the ground." Odalia flipped a switch as a barrage of thin purple needles came raining down on the girl.
"Ow, ow, ow, this costume is only thick enough for half!" The girl shouted as she was pelted with needle after needle.
"This is the oddest sense of catharthis I've ever felt." Her daughter muttered.
"Of course, for bigger threats such as your rabid griffons and slitherbeasts, you can never go wrong with a cannon blasting at five hundred snorse power." Oldalia lit a fuse and aimed at the girl once more.
"Not on my wat-oooof!" The tiger fellow got in the way and took the brunt of the blow, sending him deep into the stage. "Ow…I think a rib or two got dislodged on that one."
"Don't worry Lu-Tiger Philanthropist, there was only two more objects on display, she'll run out of weapons soon." The girl rubbed her fellow demon's back.
"Now if you want to simply incapacitate your enemy, there's always the tazerworm net, designed to zap any foe right into blissful and tied up unconsciousness." The woman tossed a net onto them.
"Me and my big mouth!" The girl raised her hands up defensively as she was cocked in the gooey net. "Huh…doesn't feel too bad.."
Zzzzzzt
The smell of burnt skin and hair soon filled the audience as the badger girl fell down. "Mommy, why does my face smell like chicken?" The girl said in a droopy daze.
"Here's something really fun if you want to get close and personal." The woman held up a gauntlet. "The blaster fist." An abomination fist hit the boy, sending him into the wall.
"If this is what taking the high road gets me, then I'm going for the low road from here on out!" The boy winced.
"And now, we come upon the final product to rest, one I am sure all will be invested in, and prove that Blight Industries, is without a doubt, the most productive company on the Boiling Isles."
"I swear she only does these showcase purely to feed her ego alone." Shalisha rolled her eyes. "Eden, how close are we to crafting the instant annihilation potion?"
"About another few months." She winced. "I'm sorry I can't keep up with the speed you need." It was always like this, always behind, she wasn't talented like everyone else, why did they want her around?
"Titan Damn it. If we could find the right catalyst, it would speed up our productivity by decades." Like that would fall into their laps … at least Eden wasn't being blamed.
"Behold!" The woman shouted, showing off a giant abomination covered in golden armor. "The Abomatron 2.0!" There was some mild clapping. "And here to explain the details, my partner, Alador."
The man walked onto the stage, coughing. "While artificial magic is too costly to mass produce, I found a workaround in a self-sustaining artificial abomination magic generator located in the core." He tapped the creature. "It will last for half a year without even needing abomination magic to maintain." Wow, impressive. "Meanwhile the abomatron itself has been augmented with various armaments and features to ensure it'll follow the order without restraint."
"Oh boy, for a second I thought they were going easy on us. Nice to know they really can pack a punch." The tiger boy groaned as the abomination walked towards them, feeling their hands into a mace and a sword respectively.
"The abomatron is a tireless, restless, resilient soldier that once given a command, will stop at nothing to complete its goal." The woman explained cheerfully. "So for intruders, it will never stop until its target is completely and utterly destroyed."
"Good, glad that we can get wailed on this lovely contraption before getting on with our day." The audience chuckled a bit at the Baget's joke.
"Oh, didn't you hear me?" She asked. " Completely … and utterly destroyed. " There was a snap of the finger. "Target the two of them. Leave not a trace behind."
The device smacked the tiger boy in the face with the mace, a trail of blood left in wake as he was thrown into the backstage.
" Lucci!" The Badget yelled as the abomination swung at her. "Hey, what the big ide-hey!" The girl barely rolled out of the way as the sword was swung at their head.
"Lucci!?" Boscha shouted with shock.
"That Crystal Devil?" An audience member asked. "… Nah, looks completely different."
"Yes, I have no idea how you could confuse the two." Shalisha agreed with a nod.
"What the hell happened to the 'a Blight keeps up their end of the deal' crap!?" The Tiger shouted as he leapt from the wall, getting struck in the back as he tried to collide with the contraption.
"The deal remains. Your corpses will be more than welcome at Hexide."
"You are a terrible person!" The girl shouted as she tried to pick her partner up.
"Yes, but I'll live to see the sun rise." The woman smirked. "Watch as the Abomatron obliterates these two with ease and persistence never before seen in an abomination!"
"Lucci, we could really use a shield right about now!" The girl pulled her partner along.
"O-Oka-ack!" He coughed blood. "Body's still trying…to heal…so exhausted from the demo.."
"You've taken tougher, come on!" Well … this was turning out just like the PCA meeting, bad for everyone.
========================================================================
Luz pressed onto a glyph, launching the two of them up into the air and onto the rafters to catch a breath. "Okay, I'll distract him. You stay here and rest." Alright, she had one invisibility glyph, three ice, five plants, four fire, three light, and one abomination glyph. Maybe if she stuck it on she could get the thing to malfunction or something. "Again, I really thought you would've lasted longer than this. Your stamina is shot, dude."
"Sorry! Sorry, Sorry! I haven't exactly been one hundred percent since that golden hack attacked me, my healing factor is still a bit burnt out from being stretched to the limit." The boy groaned. "If you ever learn a healing glyph, just start slapping it on me and see if it gets me back in top gear."
"A test fest combo, that I will be looking forward to." She winked at him and stood up. "Of all the times for me to leave my sword at home." They heard a thud, turning to the Abomatron standing next to them, slowly turning its body with an ax raised. "Oh give it a rest!" She tackled the creature, using a Fire glyph to propel them both off the raft.
Luz used a plant glyph and treated the vine like a spiderman web, slowly lowering herself as the abomination thing crashed. "I'm your main focus, big guy!" Just give Lucci time to heal, then he can bubble this guy and force it to explode. Easy Peasy, she was great at stalling.
The abomination stayed silent as it extended its arms, swinging from the ceiling in a similar fashion. "The Abomaton, in spite of its bulky size, is adaptable to environments of all kinds. It has the perfect level of agility, speed, and strength for just about every situation." The bright woman explained smugly, still acting like it was all just about making money.
"How about it adapts to this?!" Luz used a light glyph, blinding the creature, before swinging forward and tossing an ice one onto the side of its body, freezing half of it solid as it snapped under its own weight, once more falling to the ground. "Two for two!"
"Impressive, for a scoundrel. But this wouldn't be the 2.0 model if it fell that easily." Odalia snapped her fingers again as the ice melted, the goo instantly beginning to reform itself back up. "We don't use cheap materials, it's guaranteed to never break for those of a more clumsy and careless nature. Absolutely idiot proof as clearly seen here."
"Wow, how impressive. Truly, you are a master at creating artifacts." Luz deadpanned. Alright, her best options were either waiting for Lucci to heal and get a definite win, or slap the abomination glyph into it and see what the hell happens.
She mulled over her options…her entire time surviving in the boiling isles practically hinged on taking risks, what was one more to the pile? "How about I give you a taste of your own medicine!?" She shoved her abomination glyph into its mushy body.
The creature's body paused, as if it was contemplating something … before it began leaking abomination goo, stumbling around like it was drunk. "It appears she somehow generated enough muck to interfere with the base structure." The male Blight noted.
"Haha! Score one for the human girl!" She'll master the nine magics and then some eventually. Today would be her first step on that noble quest. "Now let's put you one ice!" She sent an ice barrage at the creature, hoping either to freeze it in place or ram it into a wall.
The machination, still moving like it was drunk, shifted both its arms into axes and began twirling around in a purple blur like it was some sort of Tasmanian Devil and shredded through the ice. "Oh come on! Being drunk shouldn't make you more dangerous!"
But apparently, that was her luck, as she had to avoid an out of control and spinning machine that tried to turn her into mince meat. Alright, plan A was out the window. Plan B of stalling till Lucci got in gear was a go. She used her last ice glyph on the ground, causing it to freeze over as the crazy thing slid into- through a wall and into another area. "Lucci! Are you good to go?! I don't know how long that's going to hold it!"
"Just about, I'll just get down from..AHHH!" The abomination had crumbled the walls, and thus, the support of the rise Lucci was resting on, making him crash into the ground, with tons of metal landing on top of him. "... Oooow…I really… really hate….. corporations." He moaned as he tried to get out from underneath the rubble.
"Get up, get up, get up, get up!" She screamed, running to him and trying to pry him free as the Abomination got out from the wall it crashed in, and heading right toward them with a giant hammer that was about to smash them both into paste. She reached down for a glyph, but was too quick as it began to fall.
And suddenly, familiar green hair was in her face, and with a hand raised, the abomination was stopped. "Stay away from my friend….and stay away from MY LUZ!" …Luz had no idea how to take those words into proper context, so she would just mentally confirm to herself how hot that was and hide her blush from plain sight.
"Mittens!" Oladia shouted. "What have I said about-"
Amity responded by holding out the stone on her neck and crushing it hard enough to turn the stone to dust. The girl raised both of her hands, spell circles extending largely as she pushed back, the abomatron boiling and bubbling as it was forced to move backwards. "AAAGGG!!!" Her friend screamed with a primal intensity that messed with Luz's insides.
"I always knew… you had… the backbone….." Lucci grinned. "Glad to see you… you finally… realized the obvious."
"Amity Blight, what do you think your…!"
"I'm thinking I'm finally taking control of my own life for once, so no, YOU have to listen to what I have to say!" Amity shouted as the arms of the machine grew limp. "Luz, Lucci, Willow, and Gus are my friends! The ones I chose for myself, the ones that actually care about me! So either you let them go back to school, or I have Lucci bubble this scrap heap and blow it up in front of all your investors."
"I actually don't have the-"
"Lucci, I thought you of all people would recognize a bluff." Luz whispered as she nudged him in the chest.
Odalia looked panicked, especially with all the booing in the crowd. Guess having your product being stopped by a single kid was a bad sign of quality. "..Fine! Just stop the theatrics!"
Amity grinned, letting go of the magic and grabbing the two of them tightly as the hammer came down. "Play dead." She whispered. A little hard to do when you're squeezing tightly … not that Luz was weirded out, no, not at all.
"Bleeegh.." Lucci instantly complied as he stuck his tongue out and closed his eyes. One second, two seconds, three….
The abomatron reeled back its hands and stopped glowing, which meant it actually thought they were dead. "YAAAAAAY! Dead children!" The crowd began chewing.
"Now I can get them to stop invading my lawn!"
"I can clear out the candy store so much easier now!"
Luz turned to Amity. "Thanks for-" The only response she got from the Blight was the girl dragging the both of them to the entrance, next to Willow and Gus. "Oh guys, you're not gonna believe it but-ow!"
"What were you thinking?" Amity demanded as she flicked Luz's head. "Trying to bargain with my parents!? I could have told you killing them would have been easier."
"I told you so, Luz!" Lucci shouted. "Willow was onboard, Amity's cool with it, and I was prepared to. You didn't even let me decapitate them, the least lethal thing I could've done."
"I'm just going to ignore the need to explain why that's wrong and just say I'm sorry, okay?" Luz rubbed her arms. "I just wanted to get you guys back into school. They only expelled the rest of you because of me."
"Hey, we chose to be troublemakers because we wanted to be one, not because you made us." Willow argued.
"And Amity's mom always hated me and pretty much everyone else for existing, not your fault in the slightest." Lucci added in. "Some people are just too rotten to deal with normally. That's why you have to stick with the unrotten ones as much as possible." He turned to Amity. "And be grateful it isn't an inherited trait."
"I'm as grateful as you are, man." Said girl sighed. "You okay Luz?" They asked, staring at her with sparkling and concerned eyes.
"Uh…yeah! Yeah! Totally! Totally!" Luz backed away, feeling unnatural warmth flowing through her body. "Lets just head home now and get some sleep. We got school tomorrow, thankfully."
"Is your mom really going to uphold that deal?" Lucci asked Amity.
"She has to. A Blight always keeps their end of a bargain, after all." The cute-SMART, girl chuckled….it was such an adorable chuckle.
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Alador looked down at the bloodstains on the gold plating of the Abomatron(he refused the 2.0, number naming schemes are garbage). "So he caused the explosions …" Abominations were based around death and decay. To give a corpse enough energy to detonate … fascinating. He picked up the piece, slowly walking back to his ranting wife.
"Ugggh! I can't believe it! Mittens almost completely ruined the show with her weakness! I knew those miscreants would cause us nothing but trouble! As if I'll actually let them back…"
Alador gently, but firmly, placed a hand on her shoulder. "Over sixteen years of mastering my craft, taking in the best materials, and working around the sheer advancement of atomization … and she took it out within seconds." He looked Oladia in the eye. "And you're saying they're making her weak?"
"...I suppose that's a fair point, but still..!"
"She's grown stronger, much stronger than she was two months ago. If she keeps it up at this rate, she'll be strong enough to be a Coven head." If she wasn't planning on joining the Emperor's Coven of course … it definitely would take Darius down a peg or two.
"Hmmm." His wife thought for a second, before shrugging with a small smile. "It is best to think about our family's future after all. And we did manage to sell every Abomatron tonight. So I suppose I can excuse one or two acts of delinquent behavior." The only time Odalia gave any concern about their family was when it was business related. Sure, it left little inbetween actually talking to his children, but as long as they had a bright and successful future, it would be worth it.
"I do think you'll have to double check those orders." They both turned to see … the Golden Guard, flanked with two scouts.
"Oh." His wife bowed. "I take it the Emperor was pleased with our work?"
"He was … which is why he will be your exclusive buyer." The guard said sternly. "No one else will be receiving your abominations, citizens creating their own private army, something Belos takes lightly."
"No, no, we would never think of organizing anything of that nature…" Odalia worriedly reassured.
"Good, good …" The man nodded. "Now a different note about that fighter … Lucifer Clawthorne."
"You mean the Tiger guy people confused for him?" One of the Coven Scouts asked.
"...I will ignore that bout of idiocy just this once." The Golden Guard threatened. "I noticed you actually employed him. And without informing any Coven Scouts either."
"Well….my thought was that the little devil would die by the end of the night….wearing him down with our products and having the Abomatron finish him off…" Odalia explained, and Alador wasn't sure how to feel about that. On one hand, Amity's growth was partially in thanks to the boy, but on the other hand, the corpse of a half crystal devil was too good of an opportunity to pass up.
"Understandable." The man nodded. "Well don't worry your pretty little heads about it, I'll go track him down myself." He began walking away, only to pause. "Oh, and one more thing … if your daughter tries to defend him like she did here … I will hold her in contempt against the law."
It took a lot of self control to not try and not squeeze the life out of the Emperor Coven's head. That was a threat against his daughter, his children, something Alador would never stand for in the slightest. "If it comes down to it, I beg of you to bring her to me." Oldalia answered. "I'll be sure to enact the punishment necessary to get her head straight if it comes to it."
"Duly noted." The guard began walking off. "And we'll be seeing much more of each other in the future. Expect to see funding for future abominations shortly…. Blight industries works exclusively for the Emperor now."
The boy walked away, leaving the two of them in silence. "He threatened Amity." He responded with restrained rage.
"Not without good reason." Odalia began walking off. "I believe we should get the next line of Abominations ready. We don't want to keep the Emperor waiting." She was so quick to go back to business mode even when their family's life was at stake. Sometimes Alador wondered if she even knew she had a family half the time.
He sighed, and turned back to the vial of blood he collected. If anything good came out tonight, he may have found something knew to experiment on….but he would refuse to call the next line of Abominations 3.0.