Recap / Luz Clawthorne Two Worlds One Family Chapter 66

Chapter 106: Highway to Mel

Art by Crash X Fusion: Time to take that bitch down.

The witches and deities make their stand against Mel, who's released the prisoners of Tartarus, and it culminates in new abilites and revelations being utilized.

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Tropes that appear in this Chapter:

• Accidental Murder: As Trini is giving her another severe beating as she talks down on her for believing she's a cambion, Luz unlocks the same scream power as King's, killing the cambion-succubus in the process.
• Accidental Truth: Eda states that Belos eliminated the were-dragons because they allegedly practiced wild magic. While Lindsay knows that Cross has been doing that after the last chapter, everyone else is in the dark.
• Adaptation Species Change: With her yellow eyes and the use of her Super-Scream power, it's very heavily implied that Luz may be evolving into a Titan since she's not really a cambion.
• Amazon Chaser: Emily is left stunned and unable to look away from witnessing Lindsay transforming into Madstream, even blushing while maintaining focus on her.
• Ambiguous Gender: The Baron was referred to by he/him pronouns while using his previous host body, but while possessing Lilith, he tells the witches to use they/them pronouns.
• Anti-Climax: Mel throws Emily through the air to finish her off and restrains Cross so he can't save her... and then Lindsay catches the illusionist in midair.
  Mel: Fuck! Such a cop-out!
• An Arm and a Leg: During their duel, Amity uses the Sword of Adam to cut off the arm Mel's using to hold the keyblade. Since she's a goddess, it later grows back.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: The moment Mel is eaten by Cronus, Hades and Persephone go ballistic and take on animal forms to punish Cronus by dismembering him until he's in pieces to rescue their daughter. Doesn't stop them from chewing her out for everything she's done, though.
• Battle Couple: While not an actual couple, Cross and Lindsay kickstart the No-Holds-Barred Beatdown on Mel once they take their alternate forms.
• Battle-Interrupting Shout: Once Lindsay hears from King about Mel's pets, she stops the battle between Cross and Mel by pointing at the goddess and shouting "YOU!"
• Berserk Button:
  • Amity presses Mel's by talking about Aurore and Jour, and it irritates Mel to the point of attacking Amity in a way that leads to the half-fae cutting her arm off.
  • Learning about Mel's mistreatment of her kidnapped pets irks Lindsay greatly, and it results in her hulking out and beating Mel into a corner.
• Bilingual Bonus: When brushing off Luz's Death Glare over not releasing Lilith from his control, the Baron calls her "jeune fille", which translates from French to English as "young lady".
• Blade Lock: Like before back in "Helluva Dad", Amity and Mel perform this again using the same weapons.
• Body Horror: Luz's sonic scream shreds Trini to pieces with her skin peeling off, muscles and organs liquefying, heart exploding, leaving behind nothing but her clothes.
• Break the Cutie: Luz unintentionally kills Trini and it leaves her shell-shocked enough to warrant Maya taking control. Learning how it ended up being a Fate Worse than Death doesn't do her any favors.
• Bridal Carry: Lindsay performs this with Emily, carrying her after saving her from falling only to hit the ground due to her wings giving out.
• The Bus Came Back: Thanatos, who was previously seen in "Changes", reappears as one of the deities Ani brings in as backup at Tartarus.
• Call-Back:
  • The Baron temporarily claims Lilith's body (his last one having been destroyed by Puck) to remind Luz about the deal she made to save Lilith in "Shaping Up or Nothing".
  • After hearing about Mel and Aurore's past friendship, Amity brings up Aurore attacking her in "Northwest Party Crashers". This slip-up is what leads to Boscha learning about Puck stranding her friends and Eve on Earth.
  • Upon making contact with the keyblade, Amity has the same visions about the Exorcists that Delara was shown in "Prelude to War: Part 3".
  • Luz recalls Jack being the one to tell her she was a cambion in "Back to Hexside" when she tells him that's not what she's become.
• The Cameo: Jafar appears as a spirit back when Hades vents to him about Persephone bossing him around.
• Cassandra Truth: Hunter, Amity, and the Clawthornes highly doubt Baron Samedi when he says that Lilith gave up her soul to him, something that actually is true.
• The Cavalry: Needing reinforcements for anyone Mel releases from Tartarus, most of all Cronus, Ani returns to Olympus for back-up. He ends up bringing Poseidon, Macaria, Thanatos, and Zeus, who brings Hades after saving him from the River Styx.
• Color Contrast: Cross and Mel fall into the Green/Purple Contrast, especially since their dragon forms have these as their main colors.
  • Mel, the Purple, is a Goddess Of Evil capable of great power but is easy to anger, her dragon form towers over everyone in their battle, and she relies on her strength and dirty tactics to overwhelm the witches.
  • Cross, the Green, is mortal, keeps a level head, is able to out-maneuver Mel thanks to his smaller form, and he's more adaptable and manages to land several hits on the goddess.
• Composite Character: Macaria, Hercules and Meg's firstborn daughter and Hades and Persephone's adopted daughter, combines two Greek myths of the same name; one the daughter of Hercules sacrificed to Persephone, and one the daughter of Hades and the goddess of blessed death.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Typhon and Echidna, the Parents of all Monsters, and Hecate, ex-Goddess of the Underworld, all of whom were villains in Hercules: The Animated Series, are shown to be prisoners of Tartarus.
    • Herc brings up both instances of Hecate taking over the Underworld, which are why Hades banished her to Tartarus.
  • Puck sending Amity, Willow, Gus, and Eve to Earth and attacking Boscha while possessed by the Inner Demon are brought up when Boscha questions why he's helping the witches after everything he's done.
  • Luz notes that her troublemaking in the Isles has greatly decreased.
• Curb-Stomp Battle:
  • Trini beats Luz down in their fight once she gets pissed enough, not letting up as she talks down to her. Luz only pulls out a win by using her newly-achieved sonic scream to kill the cambion-succubus.
  • At first, Mel keeps the witchlings on the ropes after they come to Amity's aid: even with Cross, Emily, Lindsay and the Holder brothers' arrival, she overwhelms them. It's only when Cross and Lindsay take their alternate forms that the odds shift in their favor and once she shifts out of her dragon form, the group, joined by the Clawthornes, finally take her down.
  • Cronus alone puts all the already exhausted gods and deities except for Hercules, his sons, Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon out of commission. Despite getting a power boost from eating Mel, it just ticks off Hades and Persephone into taking their own Super Forms and ripping him limb from limb.
• Devour the Dragon: Inverted. Mel released Cronus expecting him to be her Dragon, but he double-crosses and eats her to regain his strength, prompting his dismemberment at her parents' hands.
• Didn't See That Coming: The rescue team is blown away when they witness Cross taking his dragon form and Lindsay turning into Madstream while fighting Mel.
• Dreaming of Things to Come: Once she touches the keyblade when trying to pick it up, Amity gets the same visions of the Exorcists laying waste to the Boiling Isles as Belos had shown Hunter, with someone (Papa Titan) telling her to stop either whoever's leading the robots or Belos.
• Easily Forgiven:
  • Amity, Willow, and Gus don't hold any resentment towards Puck for stranding them in the Human Realm since it led to their meeting their human friends plus Luz meeting her godfamily and gaining access to Earth again, and that he wasn't himself at the time.
  • Subverted with Boscha, who refuses to talk to Puck after everything he's done to her, and Emily with Eda, the illusionist not even acknowledging the Owl Lady when she walks up to express her relief that she's okay.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Mel is completely flabbergasted when the witchlings decide against abandoning Emily for an easy out to go home; none of them want to give her the satisfaction of getting out of being punished for her actions against them, much less letting someone suffer in order to escape. The Baron gleefully points out how the witchlings have shown more maturity in a few seconds than Mel has in her entire immortal life.
• Evil Is Not a Toy: Once beaten by Luz's group, Mel comes to Cronus for assistance. Cronus devours her to regain some strength after being weakened fighting the gods.
• Eye Color Change:
  • Before using her sound scream power on Trini, Luz's eyes turn yellow.
  • As Lindsay gets angry at Mel for her mistreatment of animals, her eye turns red.
• Eye Scream:
  • Averted once as while Cross freezes Mel's eyes, it doesn't do any damage and merely blinds her for a moment.
  • Played straight later when Ani throws his spear right into Cetus' eye.
• Fate Worse than Death: When a helldemon dies, they become part of whatever environment they perished in. For Trini, she's now part of the Underworld's environment, which Luz sees as Trini's personal Hell.
• Flashback B-Plot: As Hades sinks further into the River Styx, flashbacks of when he last got out and had to adjust to working for Persephone after she became the ruler of the Underworld is shown.
• Flipping the Bird: Luz does it to Mel and calls her a "thot" when she and Trini catch up to the mortals, tired of her Evil Gloating.
• Friend-or-Idol Decision: To claim victory over the witches, Mel gives them an offer: leave Emily in the Underworld and she'll let them go home. Not wanting to give her the satisfaction of escaping unpunished, everyone (not just Cross & Lindsay) refuses to take the deal since it'd make them no better than Mel.
• The Gadfly: After seeing Laura's goodbye hug for King, Luz notes that her brother's finally showing off his "Clawthorne Charm", much to his embarrassment and her amusement.
• The Ghost: Dinoysus/Bacchus, the God of wine, partying and merriment, is mentioned by Alex, and the Baron notes attending a party of his once.
• Graceful Loser: D-Josh thanks Edric for wishing him luck in finding his mother once all the chaos is done, parting on neutral terms before Edric returns home.
• Gratuitous French: Baron Samedi uses a lot of French words throughout the chapter, likely a nod to Dr. Facilier hailing from New Orleans, where French culture is part of its history.
• Growing Muscles Sequence: Lindsay goes through this. See the following trope.
• Hulking Out: Lindsay's Beast Transformation is namedropped as such by Luz, and it takes everyone by surprise as Madstream completely curb-stomps Mel on her own.
• Immediate Sequel: This chapter picks up right where "Way Down to Mel's Town" left off, with the Baron greeting Luz right after possessing Lilith's body.
• Internal Reveal:
  • Everyone in Luz's group meets the Baron. Everyone (sans Cross, Lindsay, and Lilith) finds out about her deal with Baron Samedi, and they also learn about Lilith's soul debt to him. The former two do learn about it while everyone talks after the battles end.
    • The Baron also informs them about his connections to Nicole.
  • Persephone informs Luz's group about Cups' history with Hades.
  • Emily guesses that Cross and Lindsay came with the Clawthornes to the Underworld after Pain and Panic tell all three of them how Luz got her Underworld token from Hades.
  • Edric finds out that if he ate the Underworld food, he'll be stuck there for eternity.
  • Edric tells everyone about Mel's history with Aurore and Jour, which leads into them telling Boscha about Amity, Willow, Gus, and Eve being stranded in the Human Realm and creating a cover story.
  • Zeus passes on a message from Morpheus to Team Hell-and-Back telling them that Skara, Nina, and LOWTH successfully rescued Donna and were returned home.
  • Puck is properly introduced to Boscha (who ignores him), Gus, and Willow.
  • The Holder Brothers accidentally reveal that Hades (through Pain and Panic) shot them with BB Pellets to Persephone.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: After spending the last two arcs stirring up trouble for the Boiling Isles, including outing Amity as a Fae and kidnapping Emily and the boys on top of trying to unleash several Titans on the mortal realms, Mel takes a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown from Team Hell-and-Back and is Swallowed Whole by Cronus, later being scolded by her parents who decide to start doing damage control with her, much to her displeasure.
  • To a lesser extent, D-Josh has been captured and will now be brought before the Order to face punishment for aiding Mel, which may lead to him no longer being a free genie.
• Karmic Death: Trini caused a lot of problems following Mel's orders, be it manipulating Lilith and Odalia into having an affair or nearly beating Luz to death twice. So of course, it's deserving that Luz takes her down once and for all, although she comes to regret it seeing as she completely obliterates Trini's body with her latest ability.
• Karmic Jackpot: For helping the gods and deities keep the prisoners of Tartarus from escaping and because they need to do damage control with Mel, Hades and Persephone appoint Hecate the temporary ruler of the Underworld for the time being.
• Killed Off for Real: To Sam's shock, the Baron is capable of killing shadows and destroys Mel's shadow so she won't have anymore allies fighting for her.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Baron Samedi tells Boscha that he has met Nicole, but Luz interrupts him to demand he give Lilith her body back before he can say anymore.
• Luminescent Blush: Lindsay blushes after ending up on top of Emily after their crash landing, and Emily sports one herself while seeing Lindsay turn into Madstream.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Luz is horrified at taking Trini's life and desperately goes to great lengths to avoid talking about it.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Gus and Hunter's actions after they join the fight against Mel (Gus subjecting their opponent to Mind Rape only for Hunter to teleport him to safety to avoid being crushed) comes from their fight against Belos in "King's Tide".
  • In an unintentional case, Cross' dragon form having a green color scheme references how Jake's dragon form was green during the pre-production of American Dragon: Jake Long before it was changed to red.
• Never Grew Up: According to Macaria, Mel's stunted growth due to her Fae ancestry led to her never maturing despite apparently being centuries old. It becomes very clear when she can't fathom the witchlings saving Emily instead of leaving her in the Underworld.
• New Powers as the Plot Demands: Luz doesn't stand a chance against Trini as she begins talking down on her, and it leads to her unlocking the same sonic scream that King has, which peels Trini's body apart layer by layer.
• Noodle Incident:
  • The first time Hades got out of the River Styx, he expresses that he didn't fall into the Lithe this time.
  • Hades once tried to say no to Baron Samedi once before, and it resulted in a hangover.
• No One Gets Left Behind: The witchlings' answer to Mel's Friend-or-Idol Decision: they refuse to leave Emily behind because they refuse to let her suffer, they refuse to be no better than Mel by letting her get away with even a single one of her misdeeds by doing this.
• No-Sell:
  • Boscha has the idea of using a fire spell on Mel, who's a dragon with fireproof scales.
  • Luz keeps shooting Death Glares at Baron Samedi so they'll release Lilith from their control; obviously that has no effect on them.
• One-Steve Limit: Puck lampshades having met another Jack right before he learned Anu Bist changed his name to Jack since they last saw each other.
• One-Winged Angel
• Our Dragons Are Different: Unlike the other dragons we've previously seen, Cross stands out in that being part-dragon allows him to use his magic while in said form. In addition, his fire is shown to be as cold as ice, freezing whatever it comes into contact with.
• Pie in the Face: As their way of attacking Mel, the Holder brothers each slam a pie into her face: Eda later questions where they got them.
• Please Get Off Me: When Emily and Lindsay fall to the ground after the latter saves the former from falling to her death, Lindsay falls on top of Emily and proceeds to get up while blushing.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Lindsay's eye turns red and shrinks, the first sign of her getting angry and turning into Madstream.
• The Reveal:
  • Cups died once before and tricked Hades into reviving him, explaining how he got his soul debt.
  • Hades had to work for Persephone after he returned from the River Styx as it was his only option since he was banned from Olympus for his failed conquest. He ended up revealing to her that he never wanted to rule the Underworld, which is how they started to get along.
  • Edric didn't eat the food he was left with.
  • Cross turns out to be a were-dragon. According to Eda, Belos had wiped the rest of them out for supposedly being practitioners of Wild Magic.
  • Lindsay has a Super Form called Madstream, which Edric deduces is a new level of Beast Transformation.
  • Mel's powers amplify what mortals are already feeling.
• Revenge Before Reason: Luz and Eda are unwilling to let the gods take care of Mel because of everything she did to them until Hunter and Gus point out they rescued their friends and are exhausted from fighting Mel's monsters, which gets them to concede.
• Sequel Hook: Hecate is now running the Underworld while Hades and Persephone take care of Mel's messes, and and the Order will make sure she and D-Josh are punished properly. The Boiling Isles witches return home to deal with the fallout of Amity being exposed as a Fae as a Love Triangle between Cross, Lindsay, and Emily seems to be foreshadowed, all while Luz is left questioning her identity again, dealing with the guilt of actually killing someone, and upholding her end of her deal with the Baron before the Day of Unity.
• Ship Tease:
  • As thanks for saving her and giving her hope in getting home, Laura hugs King goodbye which gets him a bit of teasing from Luz.
  • Lindsay offers Emily residency with her family when they get home, blushes after landing on top of her, and holds her hand when they leave the tunnels after defeating Mel. Emily also blushes when she sees Lindsay's Super Mode.
• Shout-Out:
  • The chapter title is based on the AC/DC song, "Highway to Hell".
  • The Holder Brothers were chained to a wall with an old man that can only scream.
  • Pain and Panic trying to guess Luz's name, one of them being Laverne & Shirley as a mention.
  • Lindsay blows up at Mel for her animal cruelty in a similar manner to how the Ethical Bug realized Jack Horner was an irredeemable monster.
    • Her transformation might also bring to mind her basis' Flutterhulk transformation in the episode, "Power Ponies". There's also the fact that she struggles to fly using her wings.
  • Pain and Panic cheer for Madstream beating Mel, the latter tells them to stay out of it, then they unenthusiastically cheer for the goddess just like Genie did before.
  • Madstream repeatedly slamming Mel to the ground brings Hulk's beatdown to Loki in mind.
• Spoof Aesop: What's the lesson Edric takes away from his experience with Mel? Never speed date.
• Super Mode:
  • Madstream, Lindsay's beast form, causes her to grow into a muscular Kaiju-like form granting her Super-Strength that enables her to punch hard and pick up Mel in her dragon form with ease.
  • To take care of Cronus and get Mel back, Hades and Persephone take the forms of a flaming dog and a deer which deal him damage with their attacks and leads to his dismemberment.
• Super-Scream: Luz lets one go on Trini that kills her on the spot, and she compares it to King's given how she said "Weh!" when executing it.
• Tears of Joy: Hunter lets these fall when embracing Lilith once the Baron releases her soul, and so does Amity while embracing Puck.
• Twitchy Eye: Mel has this reaction once Amity announces that she knows about Aurore and Jour.
• The Un-Reveal: While everyone discovers Luz made a deal with Baron Samedi to save Lilith's soul, we still don't learn whose soul she has to collect in her place.
• Voice of the Legion: Luz and Maya end up speaking in unison when they desperately try to keep Eda and King from going to find Trini's remains after they kill her.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: Mel resorts to her dragon form in order to finish off Amity while Cross has no choice but to change into his to save Emily from being crushed by Mel. It's subverted for Lindsay when she turns into Madstream due to her anger.
• We Used to Be Friends: After everthing Mel's done, the Holder brothers end their friendship with her and Edric officially breaks up with her. As for D-Josh, Ed leaves on neutral terms with both him before going home and he's taken to the Order for his crimes.
• Wham Episode: Mel is defeated so now she and D-Josh will be facing punishment for their crimes, Amity reclaims the Sword of Adam along with Donna's keyblade which shows her a vision of the Exorcists, Luz kills Trini which leaves her guilty, Cross turns out to be a witch-dragon hybrid and Lindsay turns out to have a powerful Super Form, the deities and other magical beings detain all the Tartarus prisoners with Hades and Persephone dismembering Cronus and naming Hecate their temporary replacement as ruler of the Underworld while they deal with Mel, Puck is given forgiveness from Amity, Gus, and Willow, and the Baron warns Luz to honor their deal before the Day of Unity to save Lilith's soul before the Boiling Isles witches return home.
• Wham Line:
  • Luz's answer and counterattack to Mel punching her face repeatedly and demanding to know what she really is is a big, fat "WEH!"
  • "As if we'll accept that!" Said by Boscha when she refuses to take Mel's offer to leave Emily in the Underworld. Given how Boscha has repeatedly stated she doesn't want Emily to return to the Isles, it shows how much she doesn't want to turn out like Mel or let her win.
• Wham Shot:
  • As Trini beats Luz down, Luz's eyes turn yellow and she lets out a Sonic Scream that kills Trini by peeling her body apart.
  • Cross, in order to save Emily from being crushed by Mel, produces green flames before flying up and punching Mel, taking the form of a green dragon.
  • Hearing about Mel's animal abuse makes Lindsay so angry, she grows horns, bat wings and her eye turns red. When she takes a hit from Mel, she undergoes a Beast Transformation that makes her a hell of a brawler that pushes Mel back.
• What the Hell Are You?: Asked by Trini when demanding Luz to answer what she truly is a moment before her Karmic Death. At this point, even Luz is left wondering what she could possibly be now.
• What Were You Thinking?:
  • Mel's anger towards Trini for telling Edric they manipulated Lilith and Odalia has the hallmarks of this.
  • After saving Mel from Cronus, Hades and Persephone start grilling her on her actions by asking "What in all that's here [Hell] were you thinking!?"
• Yank the Dog's Chain: Hecate is rewarded with ruling the Underworld in the interim while Hades and Persephone handle punishing Mel... with supervision, of course.

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