Chapter 126: Heartless Whisper
Art by Crash X Fusion: Out of the darkness and into the fight.
Our heroes along with some unexpected allies battle Nicole and her Heartless; Emily, Cross, and Lindsay storm the Plant Coven; a group of survivors escape the Conformatorium.Tropes that appear in this Chapter:
- Adaptational Explanation: Canon-Owl House never showed how Katya, Amber, and Derwin escaped from the Conformatorium; it was only hinted that Darius had something to do with it. Here, a convicted coven scout helps them escape during a prison break.
- After-Action Patch-Up: Once all the Heartless are taken care of, the scouts and LOWTH tend to their respective teams' injuries.
- Ambiguous Situation: Terra knew that Belos was a Clawthorne, but the clone expresses surprise about Cross being a dragon, showing that Terra didn't know about his Dragon Ancestry despite his mother being a member of her coven. This implies that she doesn't know the Drakescales are distant cousins to the Clawthornes.
- And I Must Scream: While talking with Gus, Perry mentions that while he was being held captive by Terra's plants, he heard every conversation she had with her associates but could do nothing.
- Berserk Button: To get Lindsay to turn into Madstream and have a better chance at fighting the Terra double, Emily reminds Lindsay that Terra killed Beel. The reaction time is next to none.
- Big Damn Reunion:
- After five weeks of being Terra's prisoner, Perry is at long last reunited with Gus.
- Subverted with Emily and Tito when they meet again at the Plant Coven. Now that Tito knows what Emily did to Nina, he callously calls her out on her actions and tells her to go f*ck herself before walking away.
- Averted for Gavin and Darius, as Gavin is not happy to learn that his father was alive yet never reached out to him or Sheila. Because of this, Gavin tells Darius he should've died before leaving.
- Big "NO!": Nicole's Final Words when Luz's second Super-Scream shatters her mask and destroys her body.
- Body Double: The project Terra had Arthur and Destiny build for her was nothing more than a clone of herself made out of plant and abomination matter. She uses it to keep everyone trying to get into the Plant Coven distracted so she can escape in case they got in. The clone ends up being as powerful as her, requiring Cross and Lindsay in their alternate forms alongside Emily to fight the clone and beat it.
- Brought Down to Normal: All of the inflicted Heartless are cured by Donna and the mysterious keyblade wielder.
- The Bus Came Back:
- Webstor and Ludo make their first appearance since "The Ballad of Eda, Part 2".
- Ruby is seen again since "Shaping Up or Nothing", the aftermath of which is brought up.
- Call-Back:
- The flashbacks in "Prelude to War, Part 3" confirmed that Nicole no longer saw Boris as her son after he left home. When Boris sees Nicole reaching out to him in the Conformatorium, he says that she's not his mother before leading his friends away from her.
- As Nina heads to Calypso's room at the Healing Coven, she tells Zebra and Swan she needs to get to her family. This is a reminder that Nina has come to see the Brookes as her family now.
- When Judd helps Webstor up, Katya recognizes him from the petrification ceremony. This causes Judd to bring up how Webstor wrote Otabin.
- While fighting Luz and Eda, Nicole sends Luz flying to the slayground which is the first time she was there since the day after the Glandus War.
- Terra gave Sonya the order to mutate Bria to stick it to her parents for standing up to her at the Coven Day parade.
- Arthur and Destiny's little project for Terra is used to keep everyone distracted while she escaped from the Plant Coven unnoticed.
- The Looking Glass Ruins returns since it last appeared in "No Dancing Around", Terra planning to use it to expand the Forest of Fear somehow.
- Cassandra Truth:
- Given that Nicole is a wanted criminal who created the threat everybody had to fight off, none of the coven scouts believe her after she outs Belos as a former Clawthorne. Beocrow, however, is left wondering when he catches the looks Luz and Eda give after the fact.
- Terra honestly had nothing to do with changing the arrest records of Margo and Hamilskin Tricks, being earnestly disgusted that they were arrested and petrified because they were stealing medicine to cure their daughter of her boiling pox.
- The Cavalry: Kitsuni joins in helping the scouts, LOWTH, and Luz & Eda in stopping the Heartless. Soon, Star, Steve, and Darius come to assist them as well, defying Raine's orders to not get involved.
- Code Name: Four more members of LOWTH now have superhero names. Riley uses "Dr. Thriller", Andrew uses "Drillborg", Gavin tries out "The Abominable Claymore" (to the discomfort of Sarah and Riley), and Roxy is apparently going by "Rock Hard". Subverted for Lindsay, who hasn't locked in hers yet.
- Continuity Nod:
- The chapter opens on Amity and Alador continuing their talk from "Expect the Unexpected", as Amity informs Alador about when she faced off against Darlene.
- Amity asks an elder Blight about abominations having souls again. Unlike her grandparents, Alador considers her question instead of brushing it off.
- Due to the previous chapter's events, Cross spend the whole chapter wearing the Silver Sentry costume.
- Emily becomes flustered from seeing Lindsay in her superhero costume, which she uses in battle for the first time.
- In updating Perry on everything that's happened, Gus recalls saving Alador from his parents with the Blight siblings, Odalia, Geist, and Viney.
- Perry brings up Terra having him write a Forged Message when she captured him.
- Judd is in prison partly because he doesn't want to see his exes, Le'Belle and Meg.
- Emily confesses to killing Tabrella's douche of an ex-boyfriend while talking to Cross and Linsday.
- Venoma calls Donna/Wonder Witch the "Burlesque Savior" to push her buttons.
- Luz uses her "scream of rage" to get out of a one-sided losing battle again.
- While talking with Star, Kyle mentions that he met a guy from Mewni recently.
- Death Glare: Shot by Donna towards Venoma for using her unwanted fan name, and the snake biped returns it since she refuses to team up with LOWTH to fight their mutual enemy.
- Distracted by the Sexy: With Lindsay's hero suit, it's downplayed for Cross as he avoids staring and gets out a compliment toward her, but defied by Emily who avoids looking at her.
- Evil Is Petty: The only reason Bria was experimented on by Sonya was because Terra wanted to get back at her parents for voicing their concerns over her.
- Expy:
- Erica Padlock, Osran's aide, is based off of Padparadscha, bearing an orange complexion and the ability to predict events after they have already occurred.
- Mange, Hettie Cutburn's aide, is based off of Nurse Claiborne, being a former chef who uses body parts or ailments as ingredients for her food.
- Fast Tunneling: This had been the reason Andrew was brought into LOWTH, and now as Drillborg, he puts it to practical use as he helps trapped civilians escape from the building they can't get out of.
- Fate Worse than Death: Nicole's final fate is becoming a literal shadow of her former self, consumed by her own darkness. Luz and Eda aren't sure if she's alive or dead now, but she appears to be in the middle.
- Forced to Watch: Nicole flings Luz to the slayground and when Eda gets there, Nicole restrains her and makes her watch as she savagely assaults Luz with Eda unable to save her this time.
- The Ghost: Meg is indirectly mentioned by Judd, as avoiding her is part of the reason he's behind bars.
- Healing Shiv: The dragon-masked keyblade wielder teaches Wonder Witch how to cure the Heartless using her keyblade, and together they cure them all. Technically though, it's not so much the keyblade doing the healing as it is Donna channeling her magic into it.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Emily's finishing move against the Terra clone is to stab it in the stomach with a knife.
- Internal Reveal:
- Amity updates Alador on everything she experienced after the Brawl. She also mentions that in addition to his sword, Ghost was an heirloom of Adam.
- Blazer learns about Lilith talking to Vina and officially meets Hunter.
- Lilith, Gwendolyn, Dell, Odalia, and Blazer meet Dolly and Kadabe for the first time.
- Gus informs Perry about his finding Jenny in the Human Realm and her being in the custody of the Dragon Council.
- Raine brings Sunny to BAT headquarters and Steve lets her know why he deserted the Emperor's Coven.
- Amity officially meets Tom when she drops by the Saltstar estate to check on Boscha.
- Emily confesses to Cross and Lindsay that she murdered Duke Eadbeaton in cold blood for what he did to Tabrella.
- The BAT's meet Judd, Ludo, and Webstor for the first time.
- Much of LOWTH, especially Gavin, learn that Darius is alive.
- Nicole reveals to several coven scouts, Captain Leonte, and members of LOWTH that Belos was once a Clawthorne.
- Terra sees Cross in his dragon form and wonders how there are still dragons on the Isles. It's subverted when it turns out to not be the real Terra.
- The rest of LOWTH minus Gavin meet Star and everyone learns she's from Mewni, which leads to Kyle telling Star he met Tom.
- It's All My Fault: Luz and Eda each take responsibility for Beel's death, but Donna tells them (mostly a guilty Luz) that none of LOWTH fault them for what happened to him.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: After being on the run and working with Terra ever since she was branded a wild witch, Nicole faces her swan song trying to off Luz and Eda only for Luz to completely destroy her body with her sonic scream and leave her as nothing but a shadow of her former self.
- Last Villain Stand
- Leeroy Jenkins: This is Gavin's main pattern of attack, going up against any of the Heartless by rushing in and punching them while not listening to his teammates.
- Manly Tears: Simon sheds these over Boris and Samwitch does the same outside the Saltstar estate while cursing Belos for his actions.
- My Greatest Failure: While Emily regrets how she treated all of her friends, it's Nina she feels the most regret over between stabbing her, robbing her of the chance at having natural-born children, and ruining her chances with Donna.
- Nepotism: Pretty much the reason why Erica Padlock is Osran's aide; she's his cousin's kid.
- Non-Lethal K.O.: Luz doesn't kill Nicole when she defeats her, but from the looks of it, she's stuck between life and death since the "Scream of Rage" left her as an embodiment of darkness.
- Offscreen Teleportation:
- By the time Alador learns of the orders for Terra's arrest and goes to inform Amity about it, she's vanished from his office.
- In the time that it took for Emily, Cross, and Lindsay to get into the Plant Coven and fight the clone of Terra, the old broad gave everyone the slip and escaped to the Forearm Forest.
- Only Sane Man: Inverted towards Skara. Furious that Terra injured Calypso and is technically responsible for her and Slasher being outed as werewolves, Skara intended to go hunt the Head Witch down. Nina, Slasher, and Scabrina keep her from doing so as the coven scouts would kill her should she go after Terra in her wolf form, and they convince her to stay with them at the Healing Coven while Belos deals with Terra.
- Out of Focus:
- After talking with Alador, Amity goes to comfort Boscha at the Saltstar estate and spends the rest of the chapter there.
- Nina cuts her date with Lambi short and books it to the Healing Coven to guard the Brookes during the Heartless's attack.
- Once Luz and Eda bring Perry to the Parks' home, they instruct Willow to stay home with her fathers as the Porters catch up while they go help LOWTH deal with the Heartless.
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Emily's one-liner to the Terra clone to discredit her statement about Emily being evil like her.Emily: You may be evil...[shanks her] but I'm wicked.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: The scouts protecting Bonesborough don't trust LOWTH as they're vigilantes and vice versa, but Alburno and Captain Leonte know they have a common enemy at the moment (the Heartless), so they're better off working together. After the conflict is over, Leonte lets LOWTH go free since Terra's arrest was a higher priority.
- The Reveal:
- Alador had once been obsessed with finding the Sword of Adam.
- Terra was lying about the Thians, Boris, and the remaining BAT's being dead.
- Le'Belle offhandedly mentions that she's a member of the Bard Coven.
- Nicole was recruited into the Tarot Guild after her attack on Vitimir.
- Terra somehow learned that Belos was a Clawthorne and told Nicole about it after her recruitment.
- Emily's parents didn't get arrested for leaving the isles; they got arrested for stealing medicine. The arrest records were altered and not by Terra, despite Emily's accusations.
- Terra told Sonya to experiment on Bria as revenge against her parents and learned from Gavin that Emily had returned to the Isles and was staying with the Shystreams. She does however confess to Emily, Cross, and Lindsay that the Tarot Guild didn't tip off the EC about Hendrick and that it was anonymous.
- The project Terra had Arthur and Destiny work on was a Body Double of her made from plant and abomination matter.
- Revenge Before Reason:
- Skara becomes pissed enough at Terra for what she did to her mother that she attempts to hunt her down for what she did, only to be stopped by her family.
- Interesting inversion from Emily, who concedes to freeing the Plant Coven's prisoners over hunting down Terra after she escapes since she has no idea where she went.
- Sanity Slippage: Nicole finally goes off the deep end as she jumps into the battle overeager to kill Luz and Eda before yelling out that Belos was once a Clawthorne, which would've put an even bigger target on her back had she actually gotten out of the battle unscathed.
- Sequel Hook:
- Alador hopes to ask Ghost questions about Abra and Adam.
- With Judd's help, the BAT's, Ludo, and Webstor are about to escape the Conformatorium through the sewers, setting up future reunions aplenty.
- The identity of the masked keyblade wielder and how he knew about the Heartless attack.
- Venoma takes note of Donna being able to use her keyblade to heal Heartless.
- No one is sure whether to believe Nicole about what she knew about Belos, but Beocrow keeps it in mind after seeing Luz and Eda's reactions after the scouts brush it off.
- After the fighting is over, Lilith and Hunter arrive for Luz and Eda and tell them it's time to finish off the Inner Demon; otherwise, the Isles as they know it will come to an end.
- Shout-Out: The title is a nod to "Careless Whisperer" by the late George Michael.
- Tap on the Head: Boris knocks out Firebees by striking him in the back of the head.
- Transformation Discretion Shot: When Emily, Cross, and Lindsay reach the Plant Coven, Lindsay had donned her hero costume without anyone noticing. She admits to doing it right before she and Cross landed, as Cross wasn't aware of it despite Lindsay riding on his staff with him.
- The Un-Reveal:
- Who is the masked keyblade wielder?
- How did Terra learn Belos was a Clawthorne? And when did Gavin tell her Emily was staying with the Shystreams?
- Who did tip off the Emperor's Coven about Hendrick being covenless if not the Tarot Guild?
- Who covered up why Emily's parents were really arrested?
- Villain Reveals the Secret: Nicole ends up being the one who blows the lid on Belos being a Clawthorne just to get everyone to know why he never punishes the Clawthornes for their "crimes". Unsurprisingly, (almost) nobody believes her.
- Wham Shot:
- As Firebees prepares to burn one of the guards alive, someone hits him on the head and knocks him out. Lo and behold it's Boris, and he's with Katya, Amber, Derwin, Levi, and Goonla!
- As Donna fights the Hot Rod Heartless/Squeaky-Toed Jack, she's saved by a keyblade wielder wearing a dragon mask.
- The chapter ends on where Terra fled to... the Looking Glass Ruins.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Instead of being glad that Darius is alive, Gavin lashes out at him for not telling him sooner and tells him he should've died before abandoning the fight.
- What You Are in the Dark: Nicole has become so consumed by revenge, she has fallen to her own inner darkness to the point of creating Heartless. When Luz uses her Super-Scream on Nicole to keep her from killing her, Nicole's body is destroyed and she is left a Living Shadow with a primal mindset, unable to recognize the Clawthornes.
- You Remind Me of X: After hearing that part of Judd's reasons for being locked up is so that he can avoid his exes, Boris and Derwin note that he's like Eda and Raine in that regard.
- Zombie Apocalypse: Beocrow describes the Heartless situation as this.
