1 year later.
Luz almost couldn't believe it. It had been an entire year since Boscha had been freed from the Grom symbiote, and a lot had changed.
Hunter, despite being declared cured, felt it was more safe to do the rest of the school year at home. It was certainly possible he would be graduating at home as well...but it didn't really matter to him. His friends often visited him, usually bringing school right to him.
Willow and Gus were now some of Luz's cover agents, often providing stories or excuses for her in case she ever needed to be Spider-Witch. It was never surprising if they suddenly showed up to help while Vee was guiding her.
Vee, shocking as it is, didn't have many changes to her over the year. Other than a tiny bit of jealousy due to Amity getting powers and not her, she continued her role as the support and 'Gal in The Chair'. She was even starting to see someone through a long distance relationship. Their name was Masha.
Eda had become a bit of a mentor to Luz's cause, usually building gadgets for her or helping her out...not that she needed it nowadays. After Scorn's defeat, no supervillains had really shown up. Even so, the bond between the witch and the hero had grown to teacher and student.
King and Orion were more like Luz's younger siblings now more than ever. Even if they could never meet her and Vee's mother, the whole squad knew about them, which King and Orion just saw as new playmates besides each other and Luz.
And last but not least, Amity. While she only wore the supersuit to help her girlfriend against Scorn, she decided to use it more often. While she didn't exactly have a superhero name of her own (she couldn't come up with one), that didn't matter to her. What did matter was helping people and helping her girlfriend.
Luz had declared that her life couldn't possibly get any better, even if being Spider-Witch wasn't always an easy task even without any new supervillains showing up to cause havoc...but that also brought a feeling of unease.
Whoever had created or hired most of her foes was still out there and possibly planning something big. And Luz had no idea where to even start looking for them.
"Any theories...?" Luz asked, hanging upside down.
Vee hummed as she looked at her computer. "Maybe it's...an evil gang leader who wants to create an interdimensional portal?"
Luz shook her head. "That doesn't sound right."
"What about a mutant reptile who wants to turn everyone into reptiles?"
Luz grinned. "Okay, is it bad that I'd love to fight a giant reptile?"
"No, that does sound awesome." Vee giggled before sighing. "But that's all I've got. We've got next to no evidence on who this guy is other than that he exists. Hunter didn't even really see his face when he was The Golden Goblin."
Luz sighed, hopping down from the ceiling. "It's been a year since the last supervillain, so I guess I'm just uneasy. Whenever that happens-"
"That means something big is gonna happen." Vee said. "...actually, I may have something for you. Not about the big bad, but something to reassure you!"
Luz turned. "What's that, sis?"
"All your supervillains have been transferred to a prison called The Raft! They made it specifically for the more superpowered criminals!" Vee said.
Luz chuckled. "Wait, really? How long have you known about this?"
"A few days. It's been there for longer though." Vee said. "So, Warhammer, Shockwave, Maestro, Oracle, and Snapdragon are all resting there behind bars."
Luz blinked. "Who was Shockwave again?"
"The yellow and black costume? Had gauntlets with loud blasts?" Vee asked.
"Ohhh, right! That was when I had the Grom suit!" Luz said as she had flashbacks, quickly bursting into nervous laughter. "I nearly killed him..."
Vee's eyes softened. "Luz. That was-"
"The suit. I know, I know." Luz sighed. "I should probably check on that prison though. Just to make sure everything's ship-shape."
Vee then handed Luz her earpiece. "Alright, take this."
Luz smiled. "I won't need it! It's just a quick visit!" She said before transforming into Spider-Witch. "Be back soon!"
"Wait, are you really gonna swing there? The prison's in the middle of the city's ocean." Vee said.
Spider-Witch grinned. "About that! Apparently now that I have some of my 'gylphs' under control, I can unlock an old power I totally forgot I even used!"
"That being?" Vee asked.
Spider-Witch then watched the glowing rings return to her wrists before she suddenly teleported in a bright orange flash.
Vee rubbed her eyes. "...oh."
Spider-Witch arrived moments later in the air, where The Raft was right below her. She grimaced at the overall dark and dreary sight of the prison, but let herself fall and swing around to get a look at everything.
But that's when she quickly noticed the sun was already starting to set. She must've lost track of time with most of the day.
But then, interrupting her thoughts was a loud BOOM.
Spider-Witch's eyes widened when she looked and saw that there had been a massive explosion in the prison's walls, and a familiar being started floating out of it, purple electricity shooting out of him.
The prison's guards quickly pulled their weapons on Oracle, who just lifted his hands and shocked all of them down onto the ground.
Spider-Witch gasped and started swinging over. "HEY, ORACLE!!!"
Oracle's eyes widened and he snarled as he looked over. "YOU..."
Spider-Witch's gloves started glowing a bright gold as she decked the villain across his face before landing below him.
Oracle held his face before suddenly smirking as he floated higher into the air. "He was hoping you'd show up! You want me back in that cell, you wall-crawling menace!? Come and get me!!!" He exclaimed before suddenly flying off around the prison.
"I love me a game of tag!" Spider-Witch quipped as she swung after him.
Oracle's way of flying was as if he was zapping from place to place. And he would occasionally throw bolts of lightning like he was Zeus.
Of course, as Spider-Witch expertly swung through the air, she would dodge every bolt while grabbing onto whatever she could to throw herself farther and farther into the air to get closer.
Oracle suddenly started laughing. "Keep up the chase!!! The party's just starting!!!"
"Mr. O'Brien! You're a pretty unreasonable guy, so I'll put this in a language you can get! You go back to your cell, and there won't be a headline of me kicking your butt!" Spider-Witch cried before she saw Oracle finally land on the top of the prison right beside a signal tower.
Spider-Witch landed across from him and shot out a web, which Oracle just disintegrated with his electrical energy.
"Alright, enough games. How did you guys get out?" Spider-Witch asked, getting ready to fight.
Oracle grinned. "It's an exclusive club, webhead. Can't give away secrets..."
But then suddenly, Spider-Witch's spider-sense went off.
She looked around before she was hit in the back by a glowing blue energy blast. She cried out in pain as she fell onto the ground, with a familiar cloaked figure landing behind her.
It was Maestro, but he was wearing strange boots and gauntlets. And his illusion drones were nowhere to be seen.
Spider-Witch quickly got to her feet. "Oh, it's the method actor! Great!"
"Good to see you haven't changed one bit..." Maestro snarled as his gauntlets glowed and he let out another energy blast, with Oracle also trying to fire his own blast of energy at Spider-Witch.
Spider-Witch just swung right into the air, dodging the blast. But then, her spider-sense went off again before she was suddenly hit with a sharp sting in her back. She began to fall before a armored, green hand grabbed her by her arm.
Snapdragon just cackled, her visor glowing a bright pink. "Not so strong without the black suit, now are you?"
She tossed Spider-Witch right onto the ground, watching as her stun-poison settle into the hero's body.
Spider-Witch, despite already feeling weak, forced herself to get up. "T-three against one doesn't feel fair..."
But then, a soundwave suddenly came out of nowhere and blasted Spider-Witch back to the ground.
Shockwave then climbed up onto the top, grinning wide under his mask. "Make that four..."
Finally, Spider-Witch was suddenly thrown into the air before crashing back down thanks to a large sledgehammer.
Warhammer breathed heavily as he watched Spider-Witch struggle to get back up. "Why don't you ever stay down...?"
"Remember! He said not to kill her..." Snapdragon said as she flew down beside her new teammates.
Spider-Witch groaned and stumbled as she finally got back to her feet, shakily rising her fists. "G-great idea...in fact, w-we don't have to do this at all if you don't want to...!"
Shockwave laughed. "OH, WE DEFINITELY WANT TO!"
Then, one by one, the villains took their own turn at fighting their foe. Warhammer rammed into her like a rhino, Oracle shocked her, Snapdragon would throw her around with her whips, Shockwave punched across the face, and Maestro would blast her.
Spider-Witch would continue to get up everytime despite the poison severely weakening her by the second. But eventually, the villains were kicking her down over and over until all Spider-Witch could do was crawl.
She breathed heavily, her ears ringing before she felt something new grab her wrist. She looked.
It wasn't a hand, but it was some kind of dark green tendril with large claws attached to it. The claws squeezed around her lift and lifted her high into the air before she saw three other tendrils attached to a man...at least, it had the body of a man.
He was wearing or possibly even made of the same gooey substance of his tendrils. He had golden armor on his chest with glowing blue eyes on it, alongside golden bangles on his wrists and ankles. Finally, he had a head or mask with two sets of glowing blue eyes, a pointy and almost beak-like end, and large horns similar to deer antlers.
"W...who...are...y-you...?" Spider-Witch breathed.
The man's eyes narrowed. "First and final warning."
His tendril then pulled Spider-Witch closer to him, where his mask suddenly peeled off his face to reveal...a human. His eyes were a dull blue, his hair was a dark brown, and he had a scar across his broken nose.
"Stay out of our way..." The man threatened before simply tossing Spider-Witch right into the ocean, watching the water splash around and their foe sink.
The man then looked at his teammates. "We have a job to do..."
"Of course, Belos!" Snapdragon smirked.
'Belos' had his mask form across his face again before The Sinister Six walked off to enact their plan.