At a large factory named Blight Industries, people headed into their private sale as Edric and Emira stood at the door. As some people walked in, Edric spun a spell circle putting a 'Hex Me' sign on some of their backs. The twins laughed to each other.
Inside of the factory, the people all stood in front of a dark stage as they waited for the sale to begin. A spotlight fell on two hooded figures. "Welcome, valued investors, to our annual… Blight Industries private sale!" A green haired woman said as she took off her hood.
Alador, who stands behind the woman, takes off his hood but trips and faceplants on the ground before standing up hastily. "If you're interested in reliable home security, we're here to help. And, if you've got an enemy or two... well, who are we to judge?" The crowd laughs as the woman points towards Alador.
"This is my husband, Alador Blight, the greatest abomination creator of the era. My name is Odalia, and as an oracle, I predict you'll love what we've got in store for you tonight," Odalia said as she grabbed onto her purple gem as it glowed.
"We are proud to present... the first glimpse of our crowning achievement." As Odalia and Alador step aside, Amity rises up with a blank expression on her face while an abomination wearing armor stands next to her. "The Abomaton Soldier!" The investors all clap when they see the creature.
"It will pour your tea!" Amity held up a tea cup as the Abomaton poured the tea into the overflowing cup. "Help you keep up with the latest trends!" The Abomaton gave Amity an unnecessary haircut and makeover. "And best of all, it will defend you against any unwanted visitors!" Amity faced the Abomaton in a fighting stance.
Odalia grabbed onto her necklace as she sent a telepathic message to Amity who was wearing a similar necklace. "Mama to Mittens, remember our deal: Make this look good, and we'll forgive your recent lackluster performance in school."
"Yes, mom," Amity said with a sigh. The Abomaton tired to slam its fist onto Amity but she dodged out of the way. "Wow, it's so fast and strong. Order now," Amity said in a monotone voice.
The investors all clapped as Alador yawned before the Abomaton grabbed onto Amity. "Oh no, it's undefeatable. How will I ever escape?" A picture fell out of Amity's sleeve gaining her attention. She saw that it was a picture of Grom with her and all of the real friends she'd chosen herself.
As the Abomaton was about to step on the picture, Amity gasped sharply. She created a spell circle to easily destroy the Abomaton. The crowd gasped and began to murmur as Amity grabbed the photo from the ground.
"That's awful." The crowd all began to turn to leave the factory as Odalia ran up to the stage.
"Oh, of course, w-well that was b-but a beta test. We can't wait to see you all next week when we reveal the uh... the finished product in all its glory!" Odalia said, trying to salvage the moment before turning to Amity angrily. "Amity! You just lost us a lot of money! What's with you lately?!"
She looked down and saw Amity looking at the photo of her friends longingly. "I see. Looks like our precious Mittens has been getting... distracted."
At the Owl House, Hooty smashed his head against a cauldron using it like a bell. "Light in the darkness!" Luz activated a pair of light glyphs as orbs of light floated up. "A glittering bridge of ice!" Luz activated an ice glyph as a pillar of ice rose up from the paper. "The mightiest tree in the forest!" She activated a plant glyph as vines shot out.
Luz nudged Cruz as he took out a fire glyph. "And a blistering inferno!" Cruz activated the flame glyph into the air as a fireball shot up. "You can make all these, and more, with glyph magic! Welcome to day three of Luz and Cruz's magic boot camp!" A pair of fire glyphs ignited on the ground, scaring King awake as he ran off.
Lilith cheered and clapped from a desk at their showmanship as Eda was busy carving something into her desk.
"Okay," Luz said as she pulled off a blanket covering a chalkboard. The board had all four glyphs and what their effect was. "We've covered every glyph Cruz and I've learned up until now. So today, we'll learn something new."
"Are we about to encounter a never-before-seen glyph?" Lilith asked eagerly
"Unfortunately, no. These four either came from nature or another witch's spell. I-I don't know where to find more," Luz said dejectedly
Lilith and Eda looked at each other before looking back at Luz. "In any case, today we're learning how to alter glyphs to do specific things!" Luz said as she flipped the board to show a combo of four ice glyphs.
"Glyph combos!" Eda said enthusiastically
"Not yet," Cruz said. "If we give you free rein of glyph combos without knowing the basics, who knows what you'll do with lightning or other combos."
"Why just me?!" Eda asked in protest
"Because unlike you, I'm pretty sure Lilith wouldn't go around throwing combos left and right and causing chaos. And surprisingly, Luz is more responsible."
"Hey!"
"Take it as a compliment or an insult. Up to you, hermana. Either way, we're going to work on changing the ice's shape first."
"Miss teacher, mister teacher, did I do it right?" Lilith asked as she held up an ice glyph combo.
"Yeah! That's really good!" Luz said as Lilith fist pumped. "Let's see how you're doing, Eda." She and Cruz looked at Eda and saw that she'd drawn the fire and ice glyph overlapping each other.
"Oh, no." Cruz immediately stepped back knowing where Eda's thought process was leading
"I-I don't think that's such a good—"
"Double glyph combo, go!" When she tapped on the combo, the two glyphs lit up in a flicker before shorting out as it exploded and smoke came out of the table. "Oh dang, I was hoping for more of an ice blast situation."
"Not as bad as I thought it would be," Cruz said
"I know you're impatient to get your powers back, but try to master the basics before you start experimenting," Luz said
"Ugh, you're as boring as Lily," Eda said earning a glare from Lilith
"Toot toot! The Hexside train is a-coming! Chugga-chugga!" Hooty announced as he grabbed Luz by the collar and Cruz followed closely behind
"Uh okay, uh, King's in charge while I'm gone. Bye!" Luz yelled as she was dragged away
"Try not to blow anything up while we're gone!" Cruz said as he followed after Luz
"Hahah, power!" King said happily
"Yes! Teacher's gone! Hah, I wonder what other combos I can try," Eda said as she rubbed her hands together
"Teacher said we're supposed to master the basics before—"
"Basics are so basic. Now if we want to be powerful again we're gonna have to start thinkin' outside the box!"
"If we want to be powerful again, we have to use glyphs perfectly! And we can only do that through 'memorization', 'repetition' and 'following the rules'." Lilith held up flashcards with the words she'd used for studying. Eda simply slapped the flashcards away.
"Well I'm more interested in 'experimentation', 'innovation', and uh, 'laughing at tools'! Like you! Hah!" Eda laughed as she walked away to experimentation with the glyphs.
"Ugh!" Lilith grunted to herself as she stared down at King who was busy scratching himself. After a moment, King noticed Lilith staring at him.
"Weh? Yeah, yeah. I'll deal with it. No one ever said power came with responsibility..." King grumbled to himself as he began to follow after Eda.
At Hexside, Luz and Cruz stood in front of the door psyching themselves up. "Hoo-kay. First day back after the petrification ceremony. Just be chill," Luz said as she took a deep breath
"We'll be fine. If they were going to try something, they would've done it already," Cruz said, trying to reassure her.
Luz pushed the doors open as they entered the school and looked around. As they looked around, they saw all the students acting like normal. Willow, Gus, and Skara gasped when they spotted the twins before running towards them.
"Oh my gosh!" The group all hugged as they reunited.
"Guys! You're okay!" Gus said in a noticeably deeper voice. The twins blinked in surprise at hearing him.
"Whoa, Gus! Did we, uh, miss a birthday or something?" Luz asked
"Yeah, looks like you got taller too," Cruz pointed out
"Witch puberty," Gus said with a shrug
"We can't thank you guys enough for helping us and Eda at the conformatorium."
"It's cool. I just hope it helps Eda learn my name. She keeps… calling me Goops."
"Hey, Goops," an oracle student called out as he passed by
"It's already spreading," Gus said dejectedly
"I'm sure it'll pass," Skara reassured him
"Hey, guys," Amity said as she walked up to the group
"Amity!" Luz greeted happily
"In celebration of your return, I've brought you a homemade fairy pie."
"Oh, wow! That sounds so—" Luz and Cruz looked at the pie and saw that multiple, still living, fairies were giving off muffled screams. "…Goood…"
"The ingredients are… very fresh," Amity turned away with a blush visible on her cheeks. When Cruz saw Amity blush, he hid his grin knowing that the pie was made especially for Luz.
"Come on, Luz. You know that mamá said it's bad manners to throw away food."
"You're right, thank you," Luz said with a smile as she took the pie from Amity. "You know, after everything that's happened, I'm just happy to return to some sense of normalcy."
"Why'd you have to jinx us," Cruz deadpanned
"No I didn't," Luz protested
Suddenly the PA system started up with a ruckus. "You can't just barge in here!" Bump protested as Cruz looked at Luz who gave a nervous chuckle.
"Yes, we can. We are the Parent Creature Association. Luz and Cruz Noceda, Willow Park and Augustus Porter, report to Principal Bump's office now! And you too, Amity," Odalia announced over the system
"Mom?!" Amity yelled in surprise
"Oh, no. Not Odalia," Skara said with worry. "It's never good when she gets involved like this."
In Bump's office, the five sat in front of him along with Odalia and Alador. Cruz remembered Odalia from their time inside of Willow's mind and the memory from that birthday party. From that small introduction alone, he already knew that Odalia wasn't someone he would ever get along with. Odalia's words just served to irritate him even more.
"The abomination situation, the destruction of detention, the rampage of Grom." Willow and Gus looked worried while Luz looked at her in confusion. Amity and Cruz simply glared angrily at the woman. "These are but a few of the incidents that have endangered Hexside students, including our daughter."
"So, the PCA has decided to..." Odalia looked over to Alador as he was distracted with the moving tail on Bump's head. She cleared her throat, gaining his attention.
"Oh, right." Alador turned to look at the five. "Um, these three are bad influences and must be executed."
They all gasped when they heard this. Cruz instinctively activated his gauntlet in case he needed to defend Luz and the others. "Ahem, I mean expelled," Alador corrected
"What?!" Gus and Luz yelled together
"How is Grom our fault?" Cruz protested; "It's a tradition that happens over and over again!"
"But not once has anyone let Grom escape. Thus putting our daughter in danger," Odalia argued back.
Amity glared at Odalia, her argument kept coming back to the fact that Amity was put in danger. But never once did she ever mention Edric or Emira.
"Take this as a lesson, mittens," Odalia said through her necklace. "A Blight always upholds their end of the deal." Amity gasped before backing down with a dejected look.
"Sadly, I have no choice in the matter," Bump said with a sad frown. "Luz, Cruz, Willow, Augustus, effective immediately you are no longer students of Hexside."
"No!" Luz said as she stood up. "But us, good! Amity, tell them!"
Odalia looked at Amity sternly as she looked down with a defeated expression. "Good. Now, you'll be taking double the classes to make up for lost time. Actually, I'm appalled that you're not in class right now. What are you thinking?"
"Right, sorry," Amity said sadly
As Cruz glared at Odalia, a thought crossed his mind. "Wait, Bump. What about all of the potions I've got in my lab? I've already got your permission to be making a few personal projects as well," Cruz said.
Before Bump could answer, Odalia interrupted him. "I'm sure that the potion's coven will be delighted to take them off your hands, Bump."
"…You're right. I'm sorry, Cruz. There's nothing I can do," Bump said dejectedly, causing Cruz's eyes to widen in disbelief.
Odalia snapped her fingers as three trouble guards walked in and grabbed the four expelled students.
"No, please! No! Wait! No! Amity! Amity!?" Luz and the others protested as they were dragged out of the office. Odalia placed a hand on Amity's shoulder as she looked back at her friends with a sad and pained expression as the doors shut.
Outside of Hexside Gus was freaking out. "It finally happened! Our memorable adventures caught up to us. Oh, my dad can't find out about this!" Gus said as he picked up a leaf. "I guess I'll have to start surviving off the land." Gus tried to lick the leaf but couldn't do it.
"Ah! This is impossible!" Gus said as he threw in the leaf in defeat before running off crying
"I guess this is goodbye," Willow said as she hugged a tree. "I'll water you one last time... with my tears!"
"This is bull! How does any parent have that much control over the schools?" Cruz said as he sat next to Luz who let out a groan. They then noticed Odalia and Alador walking out of the school.
"Hey!" Luz yelled, gaining Odalia's attention. "How dare you mess with my brother's or my friends' lives! What have we ever done to you?"
"Luz, was it?" Odalia turned to look at her as Alador began to chase after a butterfly. Cruz noticed Alador walking away so he began to follow him.
"Please, this isn't personal. I actually appreciate your tenacity. We're just trying to teach our daughter a valuable lesson in business."
"How does this teach anything? We're still gonna be friends with her. I'm calling applesauce on this business baloney!"
"Your human language is hard to understand, but I think I see your point," Odalia said as Alador and Cruz walked back. Alador was still being distracted by the butterfly, and Odalia decided to crush it before releasing it.
"If you're interested in talking things through, I'm sure we can come to some sort of an agreement." Odalia reached into Alador's coat pocket and retrieved a business card before handing it to Luz.
"Gus chomp!" Gus jumped up and grabbed the card out of Luz's hand using his mouth.
"Come on, Luz. We can figure this out on our own," Willow said as she put her arm around Luz's shoulder.
Gus spit the card out of his mouth. "That's right, we'll get back into Hexside or die trying!"
"No one's dying."
"Not with that attitude," Gus said as he and Willow began to walk away.
Odalia chuckled at them. "Yes, well, when that doesn't work, you know where to find us." Odalia began to push Alador as the two began to walk away leaving Luz to think.
"Don't worry about it, hermana. I've got an idea on how to deal with this," Cruz said
"But how?" Luz asked "I don't think Bump is going to change his mind unless we try and convince him ourselves. Let me try and convince him too. Willow and Gus can help me."
"Alright, Luz. Just try to not get hurt. I'm heading back inside. I managed to convince Bump to let me grab some of my more… volatile experiments and get them out of there. I'll meet you back at the Owl House." Cruz waved at Luz as he headed into the school.
As soon as he walked into the building, two trouble guards stopped in front of him.
"Trouble…"
"Oh, great."
"It's quite alright," Bump said as he walked up to them. "He's here with my permission to grab his things from the lab. I'll escort him myself." With that, the trouble demons left to search for more trouble makers.
"Thanks, Bump. I appreciate you letting me take this stuff home with me."
"Think nothing of it. Most of the potions you've created helped the students and teachers in Hexside," Bump said as the two began to walk towards the potions lab.
"The healing potions you've made help resupply the healing track and the nurse's office as well. And those sleeping potions you've made help to subdue any beast in the beast keeping track."
"It's been fun being able to make so many potions. Usually when I made stuff like that back in the human realm people would question me and say I shouldn't be doing something so dangerous. Hexside has really been helping me grow. My sister too. I've never seen her so happy in school before," Cruz said with a smile before it fell.
Bump looked at Cruz sadly as he placed a hand on his shoulder. "I do truly apologize for Odalia and her behavior towards you and the others. If there was anything I could do, truly believe, I would do it."
Cruz looked at Bump with a smile. "Thanks, Principal Bump. There aren't that many principals that would do that for us."
As the two arrived at the lab, Skara spotted them before calling out. "Cruz! Principal Bump!" The two turned as she ran up to them. "What happened with Odalia? She didn't do anything to you right?" Skara asked with clear worry
"Miss Crane. Shouldn't you be in class right now?" Bump asked
"Oh, uh, it's… a free period right now?" Skara said as she came up with a weak excuse knowing that Bump saw through it immediately. Bump simply gave a sigh before shaking his head.
"I suppose I can look the other way just this once. I was escorting mister Noceda to the potions lab so he may collect some of his experiments."
"Wait, why? Didn't you say that you could keep them here at school?" Skara asked, looking at Cruz.
"Well… normally yeah. But the only problem with that is that I got expelled," Cruz said as he scratched the back of his head.
Skara's eyes widened in surprise as she took a step back. "A-are you serious?! Does that have to do with Odalia?"
"I'm afraid it does, Odalia made it quite clear that Cruz along with Luz, Willow, and Augustus were to be expelled due to their involvement with recent events. I was left with no choice," Bump explained as the three entered the lab.
"But that's not fair at all! No one got hurt in any of the things you guys did here! This is just Odalia's way of controlling things again! My dad always told me that she was a snake when it came to business," Skara said as she clenched her fist.
Cruz looked around the lab as he began to bottle up most of his finished projects and put them inside of his bag. "Yeah, I know the type of person Odalia is. I've met plenty of people like her back in the human realm. I can deal with her the same way I dealt with them."
"Are you certain? This might be a bit more difficult for you considering who the Blight family is," Bump said with worry.
"Don't worry, Principal Bump. I've already got a plan ready to fix this. I'll be done with it by tonight. And if everything goes well, then we'll be back to cause you some trouble around the school," Cruz said with a smirk.
Bump chuckled at him. "I'm sure you will. If you'll excuse me, I need to take care of some things in my office. Miss Crane, can I trust you to watch over mister Noceda until he leaves the premises?"
"Yes, Principal Bump. I can do that," Skara said with a smile. Bump nodded to the two of them as he left.
As Cruz continued to collect his potions, Skara looked at him sadly before a thought crossed her mind. "I just had an idea. What if I talk to my grandpa?" Cruz looked at her in surprise.
"He's the head of a coven. If he talks to Principal Bump, then he could convince him to let all of you guys back into Hexside." Cruz smiled at her before shaking his head.
"I appreciate the offer, but I can't ask you to do that. Taking advantage of your grandpa's status as coven head is why he didn't want Bump to tell anyone your last name."
"But it's not fair that you got expelled for those things! No one got hurt and you and your sister saved the school from that basilisk. Shouldn't that have counted for something?"
"It's okay, Skara. Really. Like I told Bump, I've already got a way to deal with this. The others and I will be back to causing mischief here at Hexside like nothing even happened. And besides, if I can take Odalia down a peg or two it'll be pretty good payback for what she did."
Skara smiled at him with those words. "Alright, Cruz. If anyone can do this, I know you can."
"I should head home now and get started on my plan," Cruz said as he began to leave the lab.
"I'll walk you out. I told Principal Bump that I would," Skara said as she began to follow Cruz.
As they reached the doors to Hexside, they saw Luz, Gus, and Willow pace around the front.
"Ah, this is hopeless! Nothing is working!" Gus said in frustration
"What's going on?" Cruz asked
"We've been trying to get into Hexside to convince Bump to cancel the expulsion, but nothing's worked so far," Willow explained
"I've still got my plan to go through with. I'll head home first and get started on that. Luz, if you want to keep trying then go for it. But if it doesn't work, just let me take care of it, alright?"
"You've got it, hermano," Luz said as Cruz headed home.
Skara looked at them all as she looked down sadly. "I offered to help out too by asking my grandpa, but Cruz said to just leave it to him. I don't think it would hurt to ask, right?"
The three looked at each other before looking back at Skara. "It's great that you offered, but we don't want to take advantage of your grandpa's status, Skara. Like Luz and Cruz said, we can just keep trying," Willow said.
Skara smiled at the three. "Alright, if you guys are sure. Then I'll see you when this is all done with. Just let me know if there's anything I can do to help out." Skara waved to them as she walked back into Hexside.
Willow and Gus looked downcast as Luz looked at them optimistically. "Don't worry guys, as long as we stick together we'll think of something!"
A crow suddenly landed on Willow's head. "Oh, no," Willow said with clear worry
"Willow Park, did you get expelled?!" Willow's dad, Harvey Park, said over the crow phone.
Another crow phone then landed on Gus' head. "This is Perry Porter with breaking news. In light of recent events, Augustus Porter will be grounded for no less than a year," said Perry Porter as the crow grabbed Gus by the collar before it started to fly up.
"Help, Luz! Let me go! No, please, no!"
"Just one?" Harvey asked as the other crow began to drag Willow away. "Willow's grounded for three at least!"
Luz tried to grab for her friends but both of them were already too high up in the air. "No, ah! Help, Luz! Help, Luz! Save me!" Both Willow and Gus cried out for their friend but it was too late for them to be released.
From behind her, Amity passed by. As she struggled to hold multiple books, one of them fell on the floor gaining Luz's attention. As Amity and Luz lock eyes, Amity flinches as she drops another book and Luz walks up to her.
"I'm uh... I'm sorry, I was a coward in there. But my mom—"
"Hey, I get it. You're scared of her, but I'm not, and I need you to take me to her. She seemed open to talking things through." Luz knew that Cruz said he would come up with a plan, but she still needed to try and help any way she could.
"No, no, Luz, you don't have to do that," Amity protested
"Yes I do. Willow, Gus, and Cruz don't deserve this," Luz said as she picked up the books on the floor. "So, will you help me, please?" Luz asked as she handed the book to Amity with a smile.
"I... I can't," Amity said sadly as the school bell rang. "I have to go." Amity took the book from Luz before walking back into Hexside.
Luz turned around and began to walk away sadly before accidentally stepping on the business card left on the floor. As she picked it up, she noticed the address written on the back of the card.
After finding the address, Luz arrived at Blight manor. Luz grabbed a couple of flowers from the bushes next to the door before knocking on the door and it opened.
"Hello, Mrs. Blight. I—" standing at the door was an abomination butler. "Ooh."
The abomination butler led Luz into the living room as it held a tray with a tea cup and kettle on it. "Ooh, this place smells a lot better than the Owl House," Luz said as she looked around the living room.
As Luz was about to enter the basement, the abomination groaned and leaned closer to her. "And…!" Luz began to mold the abomination's face to look like a cat. However, the face quickly melted causing her to laugh a bit. "Well… I tried." Luz opened the door to the basement before stepping in.
"Hello? Mr. and Mrs. Blight?" A severed abomination hand was thrown against the wall next to Luz.
"Oh, don't mind him, dear. He's getting ready for our big demonstration tonight," Odalia said as she turned to Alador who was struggling to rip a piece of abomination apart. "It's looking good, hon!"
"I'm here to appeal to your hearts, Blights!" Luz said as she stepped forward
"That's sweet, but… let's get to the deal. We have a rather important presentation tonight showing off some new products."
"Like… abominations?" Luz asked as Alador passed by holding an abomination head.
"Something like that. Normally Amity helps us with these things, but she's busy catching up on schoolwork."
"I get it," Luz said with a frown. "I'll help you show off your weird abomination gunk if you promise to let me and my friends back into school."
Odalia smirked at Luz's phrasing in their deal. Alador looked back towards Luz as he heard what she'd said. "Actually—"
"Alador, leave this to me. We still need to finish up for the demonstration," Odalia said as she pointed towards the abomination gunk. Alador let out a sigh as he got back to work.
"Don't worry, human," Odalia said with a smile. "A Blight always upholds their end of the deal. Now, you might want to go get ready, because we have a long night ahead of us folks!"
Luz now stood nervously on the stage at Blight Industries being surrounded by abominations and weapons. "Welcome back to Blight Industries!" The crowd all cheered as Luz laughed nervously before groaning.
"So, Alador," Luz said as she looked up at him. "What would you say is the specialty of Blight Industries?"
"We make a variety of abomination-based accessories for home security," Alador explained
"Oh, that sounds pretty safe!" Luz said in relief
"But we specialize in weaponry." Alador began to walk off the stage. "You might want to duck."
"Huh?" Luz was suddenly blasted with abomination goop as it stuck her to the wall. The crowd gasped before they applauded. Luz spat out some of the abomination gunk that managed to get into her mouth.
"Yes, our sticky launcher can peacefully subdue any foe!" Odalia said as she smiled at the crowd. "And, if peaceful isn't your thing..." Odalia turned the switch on the launcher as a jet of green fire shot out of it. The crowd all cheered at the demonstration as Luz wiped away the gunk from her face. She gasped as she saw the flamethrower knowing that she might be in more danger than she originally thought.
Back at the Blight Manor, Amity walked into the living room as she took off her cowl. "Mom? I'm ready for the show tonight," Amity said as she looked around. She then noticed a note hanging before she grabbed it and read it. "Found a replacement?"
She then turned towards the abomination butler as it was dusting her. "Did anyone come to the house today?" She then noticed the butler's face and grunted as she knew exactly who had shown up.
At Willow's house, Willow sat sadly in her room. "To make sure you're getting a top-notch education, we're quitting our jobs to homeschool you," Harvey said as he placed a stack of books on Willow's desk.
"And we'll spend all our free time having fun as a family," her other dad, Gilbert Park, said as Willow slightly deflated.
"See you at first light for a test on the uh…" Harvey picked up a book from the pile. "…life cycle of a common swamp toad!" He then closed the door, when suddenly a small illusion of Gus appeared on top of the book.
"Willow! Hey, Willow!" The illusion then began to point at the window. As Willow began to walk towards the window, her dad, Gilbert, opened the door.
"Hey, Willow, uh—" he noticed the illusion before looking at Willow as she headed towards the window. He smiled before putting a finger to his mouth in a shushing gesture. He then closed the door as Willow smiled at him before turning and opening the window.
She looked down and saw Gus and Amity standing outside on the ground level. "Luz is in trouble!" Amity said with urgency
"Again," Gus said with slight annoyance
"I already let Cruz know. He said he'd meet us there," Amity said
At the Owl House, Cruz was sitting in his room as he looked on his computer as a program that he was working on had just finished. He looked at the messages he'd received on his scroll before grabbing a couple or flash drives that he'd collected when Eda still had her portal.
"I told her to let me handle this," Cruz said as he took out his staff. "I've got to hurry." Cruz jumped out of his window as he got onto his staff and flew off towards Blight Industries.
At Blight Industries, the crowd could be heard from the outside cheering. Willow, Gus, and Amity stood outside of the factory as they saw the entrance being guarded by multiple abominations.
"Okay, I can use the root system underground to tunnel our way in," Willow suggested.
"That'll take too long," Amity argued. "We should just rush the guards at the door!"
"No, no, no. I'll distract them with illusions of beautiful lady guards," Gus said
"This isn't a cartoon from the '40s, Gus! We need a better plan!" Willow argued back
"This could work!"
"We should just bust our way through!" Amity said gesturing to the factory
"You're stunting my growth as an artist! Just let me try this!"
"We are running out of time! We gotta get in now!"
"We have to help Luz now!"
"Here's an idea," Edric said gaining their attentions
The three looked over and saw Edric and Emira holding four cloaks. "Why don't you just walk through the front?" He and Emira threw them the cloaks.
"Ed! Em! You're helping?" Amity said as she smiled at her siblings
"Of course! Just... don't tell Mom," Emira said
"You guys!" Cruz called out as he landed next to them. "Where's Luz?"
"She's inside of the factory," Amity said. "We've got a way in now." She handed the cloak to him.
"Alright let's go save that reckless sister of mine," Cruz said as the four put on their cloaks. As the four turned around, their cloaks had 'Hex me' signs on them.
The twins laughed at this but the signs were quickly thrown back at Edric's face knocking him down. Amity pointed two fingers at the two before walking back to the group.
As the four walked into the factory, they saw Luz dodging multiple bolts from the crossbow that an abomination was shooting towards her. She quickly created an ice pillar in front of her before another bolt hit the pillar.
The bolt managed to shatter the ice, sending Luz back onto the ground. A large abomination fist launched Luz into air before trapping her in its grip. As she struggles to move from the fist, the abomination aims the crossbow at Luz as she grunts and closes her eyes waiting for an attack.
"Thank you, thank you," Odalia said as the abomination lowered the crossbow and left the stage. "And they said we couldn't make crossbows more fun! Next, we're very excited to show you our last product from this line."
Luz let out a sigh of relief as the abomination hand let her go. "Thank goodness, only one more to go."
"My husband has been toiling away to bring you..." Odalia stepped to the side as the ground underneath Luz began to open up. She yelped as she crawled away from the ground.
From underneath the stage, a larger Abomaton wearing armor rose up. "The Abomaton 2.0!"
The crowd gasped when they saw it. Amity gasped as she removed her hood and ran off before she began to climb up a ladder. Cruz quickly ran off trying to follow after her.
"Amity, wait!" Willow said as she stepped forward. Two abomination guards grabbed her and Gus restraining them.
"It's bigger! It's better! The Abomaton 2.0 is the perfect soldier. It won't rest until its enemy is completely eliminated!" Odalia said as the crowd oohed.
Luz let out a nervous laugh. "You're a big boy, aren't ya?" The Abomaton turned its hands into weapons as Luz let out a scarred yelp. The Abomaton began to attack her as Luz ran from it. It slammed its weapons on the stage as Luz dodged out of the way.
The Abomaton launched its arms at Luz before grabbing her leg. "Okay! It's super strong! I think the crowd gets it!" Luz said as she landed in front of Odalia.
"She has a point, Odalia," Alador said as he was determining if he should shut the product down. If he shut down the Abomaton, Odalia would no doubt be angry at him for ruining the demonstration.
"Didn't you hear me? It won't rest until its enemy is completely eliminated!" Luz looked at her in worry as the Abomaton threw her into the air. Luz screamed as she landed on a beam.
"Okay, at least it can't get me up here..." Luz said in relief… that was quickly taken away as the Abomaton landed behind her. "Luz, you fool!"
As the Abomaton was about to attack her, Luz quickly summoned ice to block its attack as she ran from it. The Abomaton broke the ice with a spike of goo as Luz picked up a piece of the shattered ice. She began to fight it using the ice like a sword.
Amity quickly climbed the ladder as she saw Luz continue to fight the Abomaton. Luz's sword was shattered as she fell back onto the beams. The Abomaton launched a weapon as she dodged it before the weapon hit a pipe letting steam into the air.
Luz continued to dodge the attacks as she summoned a vine to launch herself into the air. She swung back towards the Abomaton with a fireball in her hand. The Abomaton prepared a green energy blast in its hand. As the two collided, both magics exploded launching Luz towards the ground along with the Abomaton.
The crowd ran as the Abomaton landed and destroyed the stage. Luz was hanging in the air, safely using a vine. The vine broke as Luz landed on the ground. "Hey! I'm alive!" Luz said cheerfully before the Abomaton grabbed her leg. "Oh, no." The Abomaton turned its hand into an axe as it prepared to swing at her. "I'm dead!"
As Luz prepared for impact, the Abomaton stopped its attack abruptly as both of its arms began to glow pink before turning to mush.
"Hey!" Amity yelled from the beams above. The crowd gasped as Amity created a spell circled in her hands. "Stay away from my Luz!"
"Amity?" Luz looked up at her in confusion. Amity quickly slides down a rope as she lands in between Luz and the Abomaton.
Odalia grabbed her necklace as she started to talk to Amity. "Amity Blight, you are in so much troub—" Amity interrupted her as she grabbed her own necklace and shattered it, surprising Odalia.
"Luz, are you okay?" Amity asked as she looked back at the human.
"Uh-huh." Luz looked at her in amazement as a large blush was on her face. Luz gasped as she focused again; "Look out!"
Amity grunted as she lost control of the spell as the Abomaton began to stand up again. Amity quickly created a large spell circle and began to restrain the Abomaton as it tried to punch her. As the Abomaton continued to struggle against Amity, it began to bubble up.
"Amity! Get away from the human!" Odalia said furiously
"No. You're gonna listen to me for once," Amity said as she began to push the Abomaton back. "Luz, Cruz, Willow, and Gus are my friends! They're nice to each other, they listen to each other. They make me think about the kind of person I really want to be!"
She swung her arms down, forcing the Abomaton onto its knees. Luz quickly stood up before standing back to back with Amity. The two glanced at each other before a blush appeared on both of their faces as they looked away from each other awkwardly.
Odalia looked at her "Units Ordered" meter and saw the number going down quickly. "Ugh! What do you want?!" Odalia questioned as Alador looked at his daughter with pride.
"Let my friends back into Hexside, or else your precious investors will watch me rip this thing apart. Bit. By. Bit."
"Can you actually do that?" Luz asked in a whisper. Amity quickly shushed her. The crowd began to boo.
"Come on!"
"This is horrible!"
Odalia looked at her meter in frustration before looking at the two. "Fine! It's a deal! Just stop with the theatrics!"
Luz and Amity looked at each other and smiled. Amity dropped her spell as the Abomaton stood back up. It changed its hand into a hammer before raising it up. As it swung down, Amity grabbed Luz close as the hammer slammed down on them.
When the hammer landed, the two girls looked as if they'd been crushed with the Abomaton's hammer actually being hollow before turning into a hand again.
The duo looked at each other and smiled before pretending to be dead again. The Abomaton's eyes became dark as it shut down. The crowd cheered and applauded. "Luz!" Willow and Gus rushed towards their friends.
Back with Odalia, the "Units Ordered" meter went up high before exploding. She looked at the two furiously. "As if I'd actually let them go back! I will call every authority I know! I'll make sure they can't-"
"Odalia!" Alador called angrily to her. She turned to look at him. "You made a deal with your daughter, and a Blight always upholds their end of the deal."
The two look to see Willow and Gus help Amity and Luz up. "Besides, she's getting stronger." Alador put his hand on Odalia's shoulder. "Strong enough to become a coven head someday."
"Wise words, dear. We have to focus on what's best for the family…" She then noticed that Alador had become distracted with another butterfly. "Alador!" She groaned before facepalming.
"Luz," Odalia called as the group of four turned to look at her angrily. "As per our agreement, the first one taking priority, you along with Augustus and Willow will be allowed back into Hexside."
The group started to cheer before Amity noticed something. "Wait, what about Cruz? You didn't say anything about him."
"As per Luz's own words. She wanted to be let in along with her friends. She never mentioned anything about her brother," Odalia said with a smirk
"Hold on! That's not fair!" Luz protested
"You were the one who made the deal, young lady. You should really learn to phrase your deals more carefully." As Odalia began to walk away she noticed Cruz standing next to the Abomaton.
As Cruz looked at Odalia, she saw that his eyes seemed to glow in a way that sent a chill down her spine. He turned towards Alador who was still following the butterfly. "Alador!" Cruz yelled as the man stopped and looked at him.
"Oh, Cruz. Good you're here," Alador said as he walked towards him. "Listen, I can understand if after all that's happened here you're upset—"
"Upset doesn't begin to describe it, Alador. I'm livid. My sister was put in danger because Odalia decided that we were in her way. We made a deal, Alador. I expect you to uphold your end of the deal like I will."
"What are you talking about?" Odalia asked as she walked up to the two.
"Back at Hexside, Cruz and I made a deal while you spoke to his sister. I gave him the design to the Abomaton and had him look for any design flaws to improve on them. Along with another feature that I couldn't add to the 2.0."
"Why would you do something like that without speaking to me first?" Odalia questioned
"Because I value Cruz's input. I made that deal because I knew that he'd be the only person that could help me with this project."
"The deal was: I would find flaws in the design and improve on them as long as all four of us were let back into Hexside. One flaw improvement per person, along with another design that he wanted from me," Cruz explained as he held up four flash drives.
"But seeing that Luz, Willow, and Gus are now being let back in. We'll have to change up the deal a bit. I'll give you the design for the jet pack you wanted as long as you talk to Bump about letting me back into Hexside."
Alador nodded at him. "That seems more than fair, seeing as we ended up breaking our deal first."
"If you swear to never try anything like this again, I'll give you the flash drive to a design flaw that I noticed in the energy source."
Alador walked up to Cruz as he created a spell circle, "I swear that Blight Industries will never interfere with your's, your sister's, or your friends' education ever again." Alador put his hand through the spell circle as Cruz grabbed his hand. The two shook hands as the deal was sealed. Cruz handed two flash drives to Alador before he began to walk towards his friends.
They all looked at him in surprise. "I told you that I would handle it. Should've just waited for me like I said," Cruz told Luz as they all began to leave.
"Are you sure that was a good idea?" Luz questioned. "What if that just comes back to hurt you later on?"
"She's right," Amity added. "I wouldn't put it past my mom to try and find some loop hole with your deal."
"Don't worry, Amity. As an inventor, I always make sure to have contingencies in anything I make. That includes things I make for other people. Now let's go home, we have to get ready for school again," Cruz said with a smile.
Back at the Owl House, Luz pushed the door open as she wiped away abomination goo from her hair. "Hey, guys!" Luz said
"Hey, you two! We actually learned something new!" Eda said as the two started to walk past her.
"Sorry, can it wait 'till morning? We need to lie down," Luz said feeling exhausted
"Seriously, my brain hurts from speeding through a project," Cruz said
"Wait, Miss and Mister teacher!" Lilith called to the two. She turned to her left before turning again holding an ice sculpture of the twins as wise scholars with Lilith kneeling before them. "Do I… get extra credit?"
"Oh… my gosh!"
"Impressive," Cruz said in admiration
"I can do it too," Eda said jealously as she tapped on an ice glyph as she created an ice ball before it rolled off the table.
"Wow! Yeah! Extra credit for everyone!" Luz tossed a pair of gold stars at the sisters. Lilith catches the star and holds it up to her face gratefully as King and Eda watch the two walk away before King lets out a sneeze.
Back at Blight Industries, abominations swept the area as Alador worked on the Abomaton. "Oh, despite the spectacle, this was quite a successful sale! Excellent job on the 2.0, dear," Odalia said as Alador smiled at her
"Yes!" The Golden Guard said as he walked in flanked by two coven scouts. "Your Abomatons are quite extraordinary. Too bad no one will be receiving them."
Odalia kneeled before pulling Alador down to kneel as well. "The emperor will be buying every one of your Abomatons, and will personally fund research into making them stronger."
"Th-That's great news! We are honored to have—"
"You should be," Golden Guard quickly interrupted her. "Emperor Belos doesn't take kindly to citizens making a... private army."
As the Golden Guard left, Alador and Odalia stood up and looked at each other with worried expressions. They knew that they would be monitored more closely from now on.