Storm's Hand (The Owl House AU)

The new semester finally came, and once again, Sturm strolled through the halls of Hexside to get to his locker.

He knew it would be another dull day going to class and having lunch before heading over to work, but at least he heard that Luz managed to enroll at Hexside. Sturm didn't know if this was good news or bad news. On the one hand, he wasn't bothered that Luz got what she wanted, but on the other, he knew that whenever that girl showed up, something weird happened, and the Boiling Isles was already a strange place to begin with.

If Sturm wanted to graduate in one piece, he had to keep his distance from the girl.

He finally reached his locker to put some textbooks into it, but it didn't take long before he heard the school's intercom turn on, and a voice was projected from the speakers.

"Mr. Sturm, please report to Principal Bump's office."

Sturm raised his eyebrow in confusion. He hadn't done anything to warrant a visit to the principal's office, but he followed the instruction anyway. He finished his business and headed for the office without zooming over there.

Upon entering the office, he saw Amity sitting before the principal's desk.

"Have a seat, Mr. Sturm," Bump said, gesturing to the chair next to Amity.

Sturm complied and sat beside the young Blight, much to his displeasure.

"Are we in trouble?" the white-haired boy asked.

"No," Bump smiled. "As you already know, we'll be shortly visited by an inspector from the Emperor's Coven. And since you two have the highest grades in your class, I am asking you to represent the Abomination track during the inspection."

"Why, though?" asked Amity. "The tracks from our school are always represented by one student. Plus, I'm considered the best. I should make the presentation alone."

Sturm scoffed the second he heard this and didn't miss the chance to mock Amity.

"Pff. Your grades have been dropping quite a bit as of late. I should make the presentation. Wouldn't want you to embarrass the inspector now, would we?"

"You won't do any better-"

"Enough!" Bump intervened, preventing the two teenagers from butting heads. "I have a solution. You two will work together and cooperate during your presentation. Whoever shows the best performance gets the title of Top Student. Does that sound fair to you?"

Sturm and Amity looked at each other from the corner of their eyes, assessing the situation and the offer given to them. The two worked together for the first time not too long ago, and they hated every moment of that time. And just like last time, they had no option to say no.

After a moment of silence, Amity spoke up.

"Yes, Principal Bump."

Sturm nodded in agreement.

"Good. We will meet in the auditorium in one hour. Dismissed."

With that said, the two teens got up from the chairs and left the office. Once they got out, they began bickering again.

"You'll never get that badge," Amity said to him.

"We'll see about that."

An hour finally passed, and the inspector finally arrived. She was led by Principal Bump to the auditorium and took the front-row seat to see the Hexside's finest students in action. When all the students from the Abomination track gathered around and took their seats, the presentation finally began.

Sturm and Amity got on stage and tried to make their smiles look as organic as possible.

"Greetings, inspector," Sturm started, secretly hating that he had to fake smiling to make a good first impression. "On behalf of our class, we are honored to show you what our school has taught us."

"Now, without further ado, let's begin the presentation," Amity continued as she and Sturm reached out their hands and drew their spell circles, causing two rings of magic to appear on the stage's floor.

"Abomination, rise!" they said in sync.

Suddenly, two abominations rose from the rings and groaned as they stood up, only a head taller than the two teenagers.

Getting an idea of how to make things interesting, Sturm smirked and drew a spell circle with each hand before uttering a command few witches got to use.

"Abominations, combine!"

Amity was taken aback when her abomination merged with Sturm's. Together, they formed a golem nearly twice its original size.

Even though she didn't show it, Amity was shocked that Sturm managed to steal control from her, and she wanted to know how he did it, but it wasn't the right time for interrogations. She secretly looked at him, giving him an annoyed glare, but he simply smirked at her and winked.

Not wanting to be bothered or beaten, the young Blight drew another spell circle and took control of the giant abomination, making it crouch and scoop up both teenagers in each hand.

It growled and held the two up like a couple of figure skaters. Together, they posed, showing that despite the new development, they were still in sync with their creation(s).

The abomination placed the two down as Amity said, "And that concludes the presentation from the Abomination track."

She, Sturm, and the abomination bowed to the inspector, bringing the show to a close.

Principal Bump politely applauded as he sat with the inspector, with the other students from the Abomination track sitting right behind them.

"That was some real Hexside magic, huh?" Bump asked the inspector.

"Yes, this is... good!" she said as a sinister grin crept on her face. "But let's see if your students can put up more of a fight!"

She stood up and walked toward the stage before Principal Bump could have a moment to process what she said as she threw her clipboard aside.

"Yes, yes–wait, what?" Bump asked when he realized what she said.

Confused, Sturm and Amity just stood there as the inspector approached them with a look of malice, and they immediately knew something was wrong.

The inspector slammed her hands down on the stage, and the two students watched in confusion and horror as the inspector's face shifted and deformed, revealing a hideous-looking monster. It retained the hairstyle, except her skin turned pale yellow, and her green eyes became frog-like and droopy. She grew webbed ears, and her head elongated to form an abnormally wide mouth with razor-sharp teeth as her tinted glasses fell off. And the way she looked at them while licking its face, the two students knew they were in deep trouble.

"Is, uh, this part of the inspection?" Principal asked fearfully as the other students began to run out of the auditorium.

"That's not an inspector!" Sturm said anxiously.

"Abomination, fight!" Amity commanded the giant golem.

The abomination ran forward and grabbed the inspector's head, but it wasn't enough.

The inspector fully transformed. Her body turned into a massive serpentine-like creature as her clothes tore and widened, her hands became claws, and sharp scales formed on her arms. As she revealed her true form, she flung the abomination into the air before opening her mouth and swallowing it in one gulp.

Sturm and Amity gasped in shock when they saw it happen and backed away slowly in fear as the inspector slithered toward them.

"The magic at Glandus High was tasty. But I hope yours will be more filling..."

Bump quickly rushed in and got in front of his students, putting himself between the kids and the 'inspector.'

"Stay back, you two! She's an impostor!"

Principal Bump drew out a circle, ready to attack. But the 'inspector' was faster. She stretched her jaws open wide and sucked in the air like a vacuum, swallowing the principal's spell circle. But it wasn't just the circle; Bump's skin turned gray, and he collapsed to the floor as his magic was drained from his body.

The 'inspector' slithered closer to Amity. The witch shook in fear as she knew she was cornered. Her instincts kicked in, and she drew her own spell circle. But just like Bump, Amity's magic was also drained, and she fell unconscious next to the principal.

Sturm would've hopped with joy seeing what happened to Amity, but because the danger was so close, he was terrified and knew he was next.

"Well, then..." said the monster, making Sturm gasp and back away even more with sweat rolling down his face. "It seems your magic is my next meal."

Suddenly, the doors of the auditorium and King, who was wearing a tie, walked in.

"Excuse me! Could you keep it down? Mr. King's trying to mold young minds here!" he yelled, and as soon as he walked into the auditorium, he saw the giant monster looking back at him.

"I can see that I'm interrupting, so... I'm just gonna..."

King quickly screamed and ran away. Once the tiny demon was out of sight, the monster turned again to face Sturm but was surprised to see him gone.

Before the 'inspector' could look around, she felt a sudden, searing pain coursing through her body. Sturm was standing behind the monster, shooting lightning from his fingers to try and immobilize her.

But the monster swiftly turned to the source of the electricity and sucked in some of it. Reacting quickly, Sturm stopped his attack and zoomed to another spot before the creature could absorb his magic.

Sturm expected to see the monster try and attack him. But instead, she was moaning with delight and licking her lips.

"I never tasted something like this before. Your magic is... unique. It's delicious."

"Stay away from me, you freak!" Sturm shouted, trying and failing to mask his fear.

"Aww. Maybe I'll have you as an appetizer while I feast on the magic here. So let me have your energy, and I'll only eat half of your body!"

"Yikes," Sturm gulped, his fear now visible in every way.

The monster lunged and snapped her jaws at him, but Sturm leaped backwards and zoomed to the exit door. The creature rushed at Sturm, and the boy opened the door before stepping out. When the monster was close enough, Sturm slammed the door shut before the 'inspector' could go through, causing her to bump her face into it.

After that, Sturm did not waste a millisecond before hauling butt through the halls. He hadn't moved so fast in his life. Sturm didn't care where he was going, who he shoved out of the way, or if he had to run on the walls; he only cared about getting far away from the creature that wanted to consume his magic and eat him.

While making a run for it, Sturm paid no attention to his surroundings and ran into a group of students and bumped into one of them. It was Luz, Willow, and Gus. And Sturm crashed into the latter, causing the two to fall on the floor.

The girls were surprised to see Sturm out of breath and exhausted.

"Sturm?" Luz asked, watching the white-haired boy hyperventilate to catch his breath.

"What has gotten into you?!" Gus asked as he got up. Sturm got up along with Gus before he grabbed the young witch by the shoulders and yelled in his face.

"SHE'S GONNA EAT ME!"

"What are you talking about?" Willow asked, turning around and gasping upon seeing what scared Sturm so much.

She, Luz, and Gus saw the Oracle teacher running away from the monster, which was taking over most of the hallway.

The teacher stopped and cast a beam of light. However, the creature slurped the spell up like spaghetti. And with it, sucked the magic from the teacher.

Willow, Amity, and Gus screamed in horror as the teacher's body fell to the floor, drained of magic.

"Hee hee hee... More cute morsels!" the 'inspector' chuckled. Willow then stepped up, facing the monster.

"We may be cute, but we're nobody's morsels!" she said, giving the inspector a sharp glare. She drew a spell circle and slammed it into the floor, creating a plant monster with four petals and eyes on each one.

"Time for a power-up!" Gus said as he jumped across the pant's face, casting an illusion spell to give it buff and muscular arms.

"Wait, don't! That thing absorbs magic!" Sturm shouted, but it was too late.

The plant had already launched itself at the monster and was about to punch it. However, the creature caught the plant with its tail. With the spell in its grasp, the monster voraciously ate the plant. This drained Willow and Gus of their magic, and they collapsed on the floor.

Willow struggled to hold her hand up to try and draw another spell circle, but it was useless. In the state she was in, the spell circle collapsed.

"I feel... so weak."

Seeing her friends in trouble, Luz jumped in front of them and reached into her pocket.

"Eat this!"

She grabbed her notepad, tapped on the first glyph she could touch, and then threw it in the monster's mouth. The spell instantly activated, and the creature screamed in pain, spewing shredded paper everywhere.

Seeing their chance of escape, Luz grabbed Willow by the hand, and Sturm kneeled to pick up Gus.

"Where are we gonna hide?" the white-haired teen asked as he and Luz fled.

"I know a hiding place! Come with me!" Luz replied, dragging Willow by the wrist as the monster writhed in pain.

Before everything went down the toilet, Luz got sent to the detention track for messing with Oracle magic. While there, she met a group of students who discovered a secret hideout they called 'The Secret Room of Shortcuts.' After everything went seemingly great, Luz got kicked out due to a misunderstanding.

She may not have been welcome there anymore, but she had no choice. Plus, it was the only place Sturm could hide.

Luz burst into the secret room by kicking the door open.

"Guys! I need your help!" she yelled, getting the attention of Viney, Jerbo, and Barcus.

"Oh. You're back," Viney said with an unamused look.

"I'm sorry for hurting your feelings, but please listen!" Luz said, unable to support Willow's weight. The girl from the Plant track fell to the floor as Sturm walked in, carrying Gus. The red-eyed kid had never seen that room before, but he had no time to ask questions.

Viney, Jerbo, and Barcus gasped when they saw their fellow students in such a state.

"What happened to them?" Viney asked.

"Their magic has been consumed by some... monster," Sturm explained as he set Gus down.

"It's loose in the school," Luz said, walking up to a door and opening it to show the inspector draining more students' magic.

"Don't let it see us!" Viney yelled, closing the door to stay undetected. "I think that's a greater basilisk. I heard about them in a class. My cousin at St. Epiderm said she saw one, but those things should be extinct."

That's when Sturm realized something terrible.

"Wait, I saw that on the news. Glandus' students and teachers were found drained of magic this morning. It must've attacked the other schools, and now it's come for us. We need to leave while we're still whole!"

"No!" Luz interjected. "We're not leaving anyone behind! We have to do something!"

However, the detention kids were hesitant to go along.

Jerbo said, "But if Bump catches us mixing magic again..."

"...He'd kick us out of school," Viney added, looking down at the ground along with Barcus.

Seeing her new friends so afraid upset Luz. Part of her wanted to agree with Sturm and leave, but her conscience spoke louder and wouldn't permit this to continue.

"Hexoleos are out there gettin' hurt, and we're the only ones who can save them," she started. "We're troublemakers, right? So let's go out there and make some trouble!"

As Viney, Jerbo, and Barcus shared a look, Sturm looked around at the doors on the walls and tensed up when an idea popped up in his mind.

"I have a plan."

Back in the hallways of Hexside, the 'inspector' drained another student of her magic and threw her body away. It made the pain stop, but she was still not satisfied.

"Hungry! Still hungry!" the basilisk said, slithering through the halls and looking for more magic to consume.

While moving, an ice glyph was thrown in front of the monster. When the basilisk accidentally touched it, the spell activated, summoning a pillar of ice that threw the creature back a few feet.

After a moment, the basilisk got up and looked at the ice pillar before a cloaked figure jumped into view and made a dramatic presentation.

"From the humblest of beginnings, a hero will rise," the figure said, revealing itself to be Luz, but her face was obscured by the hood. "I've trained with a secret society to discover the power of mixing magic! I am–"

"Dinner!" the basilisk growled and lunged at her. Luz screamed as she dropped her cloak. She would've ended up in the creature's gullet if Sturm hadn't stepped in and taken Luz while using his inhuman speed.

The basilisk ended up slamming her body into the ice pillar. Even the shock of pain made no difference; she instantly got up and chased after the teens.

"I told you to stick to the plan. But noo, you had to make it all flashy and stuff," Sturm said in a sour tone as he ran while carrying Luz over his shoulder.

"Now's not the time for criticism!"

"Viney, now!" shouted Sturm.

The Basilisk was still in pursuit when Viney's griffin, Puddles, flew up to her and knocked the creature down, pinning her as Viney ran toward them.

"Attagirl, Puddles," she said to her griffin. "Jerbo, now!"

"On it!" Jerbo responded as he drew a spell circle.

He conjured an abomination and made it open a door on the floor as he summoned some thorny vines. The vines clung to the doorknob in the ceiling. The Inspector scratched at the griffin's front limb and pushed it aside before falling through the open door. Luz hopped in after the basilisk, sending her through the door in the floor of the Secret Room of Shortcuts.

After that, the basilisk landed on the stage in the auditorium where the attack started.

After about a second, Luz fell through the ceiling after the basilisk, landing on the creature's stomach and flipping off of it to land on the stage.

"It's all you, Barcus!" she smirked.

From behind the basilisk, Barcus barked and grabbed the creature's right hand as the monster looked around in confusion.

"Where am I?!"

Barcus dumped a purple potion onto the basilisk's palm. He squinted at it, and then his eyes began to give off a menacing glow as he yiped.

"What's he doing?! What'd he say?!" the basilisk asked, scared and confused.

"He's reading your palm, and your future looks bleak," Luz responded.

With that said, Sturm zoomed over to a rope near the rope and used a knife made of abomination slime to cut it. The rope dropped a bunch of sandbags onto the basilisk's stomach.

Suddenly, all of the magic she consumed was released as a series of floating blue orbs burst from the maw of the basilisk.

When Bump, Amity, Willow, and Gus regained their magic, they gasped and woke up as their colors returned. The same thing happened to the other students and teachers of Hexside. The remaining orbs flew off outside to return to the other schools. Soon enough, there were no more orbs, and everyone was back to normal.

Puddles got hurt when she attacked the basilisk, but her injury faded instantly thanks to Viney's healing magic. The griffin nuzzled her healer before flying off.

Suddenly, Luz squealed as she lunged at Viney to hug her.

"AH! You did it!" she beamed as Jerbo and Barcus approached the girls. Sturm stayed where he was. "You were amazing! You guys–"

"Are in so much trouble!" said Bump as he got on stage, gaining the attention of everyone in the room as he started scolding them.

"Oh, boy. Here we go," Sturm murmured, rolling his eyes as he knew the principal was about to tear the detention kids a new one.

"Leaving your homeroom, mixing magic, and—is that a secret hideout?!" Bump pointed to the trap door above, from which Willow and Gus were peeking. Seeing how angry their principal was, they ducked away from the opening.

"Yeah, it is," Luz started. "But let's think about this, Principal Bump. Why would kids in the detention track need a secret hideout?"

"I don't care to know the ins and outs of rascality," Bump said, pulling out the rule book. "Now, if the Emperor's Coven can send an actual inspector this time–"

"Okay, you need coven money. But if you have to hurt your students to get it, what's the point?" Luz asked, getting impatient with the principal. "They saved Hexside. They should be allowed to study what they wish."

"B-but–"

Bump started to have second doubts about his methods. He hugged the rule book defensively, being called out by Luz as everything became clear.

However, he needed Gus to give him one more push.

"Do the right thing, ya dingus!" the illusionist called from above.

"Alright, I'm smart enough to know when I've made a mistake," he smiled, putting the book away as he looked at the detention track students. "Which tracks would you like to be in?"

The three gasped in excitement with bright smiles. This was it. They were finally going to live out their dream, thanks to Luz.

"Healing and Beast Keeping!" Viney said.

"Plants and Abomination!" Jerbo added.

Bacrus barked, but he said Potions and Oracle.

"Then so be it," said Bump and used his magic to change the leggings and sleeves of their uniforms to reflect their new tracks. "But if any of you cause more property damage, I'm feeding you to the Choosy Hat."

Luz smiled at her fellow detention track classmates, happy to see them all finally being able to study what they wanted. Even Sturm gave an amused smirk. He wasn't anywhere near as invested as Luz about their situation, but if they got their wish, good for them.

Bump turned to the red-eyed teen, making him jump slightly in surprise.

"What about you, Mr. Sturm?" the principal asked. "Do you want to study other tracks?"

"No, thank you. I'm good," Sturm said. "But speaking of which, I need to know who gets the title of top student. Me or Amity?"

Bump thought for a moment. He was so caught up with the whole inspector and detention kids situation that he completely forgot about the small contest he set up between Sturm and Amity. While Amity was one of Bump's favorite students at the time, she began to show signs of dropping grades ever since Luz came around, and Sturm had surpassed her.

"Well, since you helped save the school and have shown a knack for advanced Abomination magic, I suppose you earned it."

Bump summoned another spell circle and conjured a Top Student badge on Sturm's cowl. The teen's red eyes widened at this, and a smile appeared on his face.

But as the principal turned to Luz to ask her what track she wanted to study, Sturm turned to Amity, who was about to leave the auditorium, and grinned.

"I've won, Blight," he thought.