"Sorry if it's not that good," Star sighed as she put the needle aside to hold up the purple cape she'd just sewn and examine the poorly done stitches she'd left on it, "My mom never taught- I, I never learned how to do it properly."

"It's fine," Rasticore told her without even looking away from his current task – rebuilding his metal arm – as he took the cape from her hand and threw it over his shoulder in one quick move, his spikes probably punching a couple new holes in it.

"Oh," Star bit her lip, "Ok, then. I'm glad. You're welcome." She said, only then realizing he hadn't thanked her. She looked down and mentally slapped herself, slightly embarrassed, as an awkward silence took over them.

Well, awkward for Star. Rasticore barely seemed to acknowledge the girl was there at all.

"Your new arm looks almost ready," She smiled, trying to strike up a conversation.

"That's because it is." He told her, eyes never once looking away from his gear.

"Oh," She exclaimed, smile fading, "That's," she cleaned her throat and looked to the side, "That's good."

"Yeah," Rasticore muttered as he straightened himself up and held up the arm he'd just finished, analyzing it for a few seconds before he attached it to his shoulder stump and Star leaned forward in curiosity to observe him.

The arm remained limp for a moment, loosely hanging on Rasticore's side. But soon enough his fingers began moving, then his fist clenched and unclenched a couple times before Rasticore regained full mobility again and he moved it around to test it.

"Now that's what I'm talking about," He smiled, flexing his metal arm.

Star smiled again, but it soon faded away when Marco opened the door and entered the room with a concerned expression.

"Star," He called, "there you a- AH," He stopped midsentence and jumped back with a scream, startled at the lizard figure standing close to his friend. He'd witnessed all of Rasticore's regrowth over the past few days, but he still couldn't get used to his presence there.

Rasticore folded his arms and leaned against the wall as he let out a low chuckle – Marco's scared reactions to him never failed to amuse him. Marco rolled his eyes and straightened himself up to regain his composure, cheeks warming up ever so slightly.

"Star," He called again, ignoring the lizard, "The guys and I need to talk to you."

"Oh, ok," Star said with a sigh, standing up from the table where she sat and not looking forward to see what she would have to do now as the acting queen, the title she bore and came to loathe. Still, she forced a smile and looked up at her septarian guest, "I'll be right back, ok?"

"Princess," As Star turned around to walk away, Rasticore landed a hand on her shoulder and turned her attention back to him, "You don't have to."

Star blinked in confusion as Rasticore put on his cape around his neck and sighed, "I am very thankful you found my arm and helped me grow back to my normal state, but now that I'm better, I must go."

"What?" Star exclaimed.

"Awh, so soon?" Marco quipped, "That's a shame. Well, the door's over there, you know your way, it was a pleasure but next time just send a card, bye," He said quickly with a smile as he attempted to pull Star out of the room by her arm, but she shook herself out of his grip.

"Meteora's still out there," She told Rasticore, "It's really not safe for anyone. You can stay here until everything is fine; you should stay here."

"Star…" Marco mumbled through his clenched teeth, "If he wants to go, we should just let him. I'm sure that he knows how to take care of himself, he'll be fine."

"The weak earthling is right, princess," Rasticore said with a nod towards Marco.

"See?" Marco smiled before turning to Rasticore with wide eyes, "Wait- what did he just call me?"

"Well, I still think you should stay…" Star told him, "But if you really want to go, you're free to. And if you need help in the future, you'll be welcome here." She did a reverence to the lizard as her mother would have done, although she wasn't nearly as gracious as the previous queen.

Rasticore rolled his eyes and shook his head, but in the end, he bowed back to her. It was the least he could do, he supposed.

"Thank you," He said and turned away from Star, and her face lit up with a smile.

"You're welcome!" She responded, rightfully so this time around.

Star and Marco stood still and watched him walk across the room until he reached the door and left the castle, closing the door and disappearing of their sight.

"Ugh, finally," Marco said with a shiver as they started to walk toward the room where their friends were waiting for them, "Having him here gave me the creeps. I kept expecting him to eat us or something like that."

Star blew raspberries, "He wouldn't harm us, Marco, he has no reason to. He only wanted to get us before because he worked for Heinous- Meteora, remember?"

"Yeah, still, remind me why you helped him anyway? Even if he's not with her anymore, he still attacked us. More than once. He's done nothing to deserve our help, let alone our trust. I'm telling you, I have a bad feeling about that guy."

"Oh, let go, would you? I couldn't just leave him in the forest with Heinous attacking, he was just an arm! She's the realenemy of ours. Rasticore is not a threat." She said, starting to walk faster, "Besides, everyone deserves a second chance. He's not a monster."

Star stopped in her tracks for a moment and took a hand to her chin, thoughtful, "Well, that he is, but you know what I mean," She waved her hand as to dismiss the topic, "He's not evil. Not on his own, at least."

Marco sighed and shook his head, "You sure?"

"Yeah, and it's not like there's anyone besides Heinous who'd want him to work for them, right?"

"Yeah," Marco allowed himself to smile in relief, "I suppose not."

Night had fallen over Mewni, the moon shone bright on the forest bellow but it did little to nothing to chase away the darkness. Hidden among the thick and tall trees, miles away from the castle, Rasticore rested alone as he looked up to the starry sky.

It had been a long day of walking for him, and now that he was finally able to be alone with his thoughts, he realized that that was the first time in a very long time that he didn't know what to do next.

Being a soldier meant following orders – you do everything your captain tells you to, no questions asked, all orders followed; and that was the only reality he'd ever come to know. Well, Heinous wasn't a captain, but he still followed her blindly as though she was one. That was Rasticore, loyal to the one he served.

But that also meant he relied on others to know his next move. He had never really had to make a choice, he never even had the option to. While to many that might sound like being trapped, Rasticore found comfort in that lifestyle – because it meant he was never lost. Always a track to follow, always a goal in mind.

Until now.

Rasticore took a deep breath and rested his back against the trunk of a tree behind him as he thought of what he could do next.

Maybe he could go back to the castle and tell Star he wanted to help them fight Heinous, but he shivered at the thought once he remembered how powerful she'd gotten. No, he'd just managed to restore himself, he didn't want to be ripped apart again, thank you very much.

But if not that, then what should he do? All he knew was being a soldier, but there was nobody to follow and no war to fight now. Not only bored, he also felt pointless. He had nothing and no one, what should be his goal now?

Rasticore let out a long breath and smoothed his hand over his face, pinching the bridge of his muzzle as he shook his head.

"What do I do now?" He looked up with a hopeless look, maybe hoping the stars would provide him an answer, but they only twinkled in silence.

Until the silence was broken by a voice that seemed to come from the forest.

"Well, I have something for you to do."

Rasticore jumped up and grabbed his chainsaw, holding it in front of him; his frills popping open. The voice sent shivers down his spine, first because it startled him since he thought he was alone, then because he realized it seemed eerily familiar, but it wasn't- it couldn't be…

He shook his head to come back to reality and looked around as he carefully gave a few steps back, trying to find the source of the voice, but all he saw was trees and darkness.

"Who's there?" He asked, hand flying to the cord of the chainsaw in case he needed to turn it on.

"Wow, is that how you welcome an old friend?" The voice echoed, once more making Rasticore shiver.

"Old friend?" He raised an eyebrow and gave a step back and lowering his chainsaw down, his frills closing down. There was someone he knew who had a voice like that, but that was- "Who's there?"

A few moments of silence passed before a few bushes rustled and some steps could be heard, getting closer and closer. Rasticore held his breath when a dark, man-like silhouette appeared behind some trees, approaching him.

It was when it came out of the bushes and stepped onto the moonlight – the silhouette becoming clear and revealing itself to be not a man, but another lizard; with grey scales and silky hair combed back.

"Hey, there, Rast," Toffee smiled, "Did you miss me?"

Rasticore's heart started beating so fast and hard that he felt like it might try to escape his ribcage. His jaw hung open wide and his body shook as he questioned what he saw right in front of him. It was Toffee, no doubt about it - his hair was slightly longer than the last time he'd seen him and his right arm was heavily wrapped in bandages, but aside from that, he looked the same as ever.

"T- Toffee?" Rasticore finally managed to sputter out after what felt like an eternity of silence. He gave a step forward to approach the other lizard and his foot hit something hard on the ground – his chainsaw, which he hadn't even realized he'd dropped after the shock he found himself in.

Rasticore shook his head and walked around the chainsaw as he reached out for Toffee, slowly getting closer and closer to him.

Toffee let out a small laugh and opened his arms, "Long time no see, hum? What about a hug, big guy?"

After much hesitation and internal questioning of his own sanity, Rasticore finally reached Toffee and touched his face – he could feel him. He was real. It was no illusion, no dream, no magic trick. Toffee was dead, but he was standing there in front of him.

Somehow, reality had betrayed itself.

Toffee leaned into the touch – that, despite being metallic, felt warm against his cheek – and smiled up at Rasticore who looked at him in awe.

"It is you," Rasticore breathed out, taking his hand off Toffee's face and giving a step back, "You're… You're alive?"

Toffee nodded, "As alive as I've ever been. In fact, I was looking for you-" He started to tell Rasticore, but was interrupted when the green septarian punched him in the face, so hard that he flew back and fell on the ground with a loud thud and a groan of pain; a small cloud of dirt rising up from the ground when he fell.

"What the…?" Toffee propped himself up on his elbows and looked up at Rasticore, confusion on his face.

He stood with his hands clenched into fists, growling lowly as his breath became faster and erratic and he looked down at Toffee with anger-filled eyes.

"Rast…?"

"I waited so long to do that… I thought I'd never have a chance," Rasticore answered with a sly smile, quickly taking his cape off and throwing it aside in case Toffee lunged at him and he needed to be agile, "Good thing I was wrong, hum?"

Unlike what he expected, however, the former general merely stood up from the ground – with more effort than what it should have taken him, Rasticore noticed – as he held onto his muzzle and rubbed it as he groaned in pain.

"Rude," Toffee shook his head in disapproval, then he suddenly had what looked like sadness, albeit somewhat forced, in his eyes, "What did I ever do to you?"

Rasticore's jaw opened wide once more as he shook his head in disbelief. Looking around, completely appalled, he clenched his teeth and growled lowly, "What have you- Are you kidding me?"

Toffee looked up in thought and then sighed, "Well, I know I've done a few things that were less than kind to you-"

"Try life-ruining," Rasticore interrupted him, "You lied to me, you abandoned me, you took everything away from me!" He said, voice growing louder and angrier with each word said.

"Rasticore," Toffee gave a step back, fearing how the soldier might act when blinded by his anger, "You know I just did what had to be done. I never meant to harm you, it was just an unfortunate consequence of my acts."

"Unfortunate consequence?" Rasticore shook his head, "Is that how you call this?" He said as he removed his metal arm and held it out, its metallic surface glimmering under the moonlight. He didn't realize it, but his eyes started shining with unshed tears as his sentence brought back the painful memories he so hard tried to avoid for so many years.

Toffee hissed and looked aside.

"Bitter." Toffee said in a low whisper before looking up at Rasticore with a shrug, "I thought maybe you'd be over it by now?"

Rasticore sighed and lowered his head with a sigh. He knew Toffee had no shame, but apparently, he also lacked any self-awareness whatsoever.

"Oh, definitely," He said as he put his arm back in place and quickly wiped his eyes, hoping Toffee hadn't seen his tears, "Much like you got over your finger, didn't you?" Rasticore let out a breathless laugh, "But congratulations, you got it back! I couldn't even do that."

Toffee looked down at his hand, and for the first time since he was punched, he let go of his muzzle.

"Yes, I grew it back. But in doing so, I lost something even more important."

"What?" Rasticore frowned, tilting his head in confusion when something started running down Toffee's muzzle. At first, he thought it was blood, but even if Toffee had bled from his punch, that would have been healed by now.

Right?

Only then did Rasticore notice it was not blood, but something dark, almost black; a thick goo that ran down Toffee's nostrils in a small waterfall. And as that went on, Toffee reached for his bandaged arm and started unwrapping the copious amount of bandage that covered it. Once it was removed, it revealed a cut on his arm, not big in size, but it still leaked rather large amounts of that same goo.

Rasticore had dismembered animals alive before and seen the horrors of war practically unfazed, but that sight almost made him gag.

"What is that?" Rasticore asked, gulping to force his lunch to go back down.

Toffee sighed and bit his lip, for a moment tasting the goo that had run down to his mouth, "I'm afraid that Star's spell left me more than wounded," He said as he started to wrap the bandages again, "It took me so long to regenerate, so long to recover my physical form… And when I did, it was different. I am different," He sighed.

"Well I see that," Rasticore nodded although he did not fully understand, "But hum, how different, exactly?"

"Well, for one, I can't heal myself like I used to," He pointed to his still dripping muzzle, "Any cut, wound, bruise… Any harm done to me will remain like that until my body heals it on its own accord."

"At least you heal eventually," Rasticore said, once again raising his metal hand and tilting his head so that the gem on his missing eye was in better view.

Toffee apparently chose to ignore that remark as he just kept on talking, "But more disturbingly… I don't bleed anymore. I don't even think I have blood anymore. I have become this… This goo, this mess, this thing." He shivered as he said it, wiping the dark mush on his muzzle and looking at it on his hand, "That spell left me more than wounded, Rasticore. I'm cursed."

When Toffee looked at Rasticore, the latter thought he saw tears forming in the corner of Toffee's eyes. He felt a hint of guilt for punching him in that moment. Don't get him wrong, Toffee definitely deserved it; but punching someone so weakened as he was felt like cowardice.

"I, uh, I'm sorry that happened to you," Rasticore said, himself not knowing to what extent that statement was true, "But it's a miracle you're even alive. I didn't even believe it when I saw you. So maybe just be glad for that? You know, since there's nothing that can be done. Yeah." He had no idea what to say, so he just blabbered on what came to his mind. A part of him wanted to comfort Toffee. Because as much as he wanted to deny it, he could never truly despise the only one he ever lo-

Rasticore's train of thought was interrupted when Toffee smiled eerily at him as opposed to the sad reaction he expected him to have.

"But you see, Rast, that's the thing – there is a way," He straightened himself up like the fake lawyer he was, going into a better posture as he tried to convince someone, "And that is why I was looking for you. I need you, Rasticore."

Funny how in the past, those words were everything that Rasticore wanted to hear. But now, they just made Rasticore's eyes widen as he gave several steps back, shaking his head, "Oh, no, no, no, no!" He said as he crossed his arms, "I am not going to do anything for you, count me out!"

"Not for me, but with me!" Toffee pleaded, hands clenched tight, with an expression that might have been pitiful but was made creepy by the goo running down his nostrils.

"Uh, sure…" Rasticore nodded, skeptical, "And what exactly do you need me to do with you, Toffee?"

Toffee smiled creepily, "Well, it should come as no surprise that I seek revenge once more… They need to pay, they took something from me, again," He ran his fingers over the bandaged arm, "But to put myself in harm's way when I'm so weakened would be certain death. I'm in no shape to fight her… or anyone," He sighed.

"So, you want me to kill Star for you?" Rasticore raised an eyebrow and shook his head, "I'm sorry but-"

"Pft, please," Toffee raised a hand and interrupted him, "Revenge is not satisfying if it's not done by one's own hands. Which is why I need to get my old shape back; I need my blood, my regeneration, everything back. Everything that she took away from me." He finished his sentence in a low growl, looking down.

Rasticore nodded, "Understandable. But you still haven't told me what you'd need me for."

"Getting there, big guy," Toffee started walking towards Rasticore, "As you can imagine, the magic that, heh, 'killed' me was very, very powerful. To revert it, you'd need equally powerful magic. Magic so powerful that it was banned and locked away… and hidden."

"I see…" Rasticore said, walking backwards to get away from Toffee, "Hidden where?"

Toffee held his breath and stopped walking, "Somewhere in the castle. And that's why I need you. It's going to take some time to find it, and I'm their best-known enemy, I can't risk going in there and getting caught, especially not now that everyone is alert. I need a bodyguard."

"Oh," Rasticore nodded and faked a smile, "So, you want me to take care of you while you go into the castle and search for a spell that could be hidden literally anywhere, and if we're caught we might be vaporized by the princess who, by the way, helped me earlier today. Yeah, how about no," His mouth turned into a thin line.

Toffee tilted his head, "Come on, Rast, please? I really need your help." He said, hoping that would work again like it worked so many years before.

"Oh yeah, like in the past when every single time I worked with you I lost something that I can never get back?" He raised his arm once again and sighed, "Yeah, no, sorry Toffee. There might have been a time I'd listen to you no matter what, but… Those days are over."

Rasticore's cheeks suddenly went red when he thought of the days he mentioned, but he shook his head to get rid of those thoughts.

"I won't stand in your way if you desire to seek revenge on the royal family," His voice became a low whisper, "even though Star is not that bad when you get to know her," And he raised it again, "but I won't help you either. Goodbye, Toffee."

Toffee put his hands on his back and watched in silence as he watched Rasticore pick up his cape and his chainsaw from the ground and turn his back on him.

"You didn't let me finish," Toffee said when Rasticore turned away, and Rasticore turned his head to look back at him, "Of course I don't expect you to do it for free. I'd be willing to pay you a high price for your services."

"I'm sorry," He said and lowered his head, "There's nothing worth being with you again."

And with that, Rasticore began walking away.

"Not even re-growing your arm?"

Rasticore stopped in his tracks and dropped his chainsaw, quickly turning around to face Toffee again. Toffee smirked, knowing he'd gotten to Rasticore exactly how he'd planned to.

"What did you say?"

"Like I told you," Toffee continued, "The magic I need to heal myself is extremely powerful. And if it can revert the effects of Star's magic on me, it would be able to revert it on you as well." He smiled wider, "You'd have your arm and your eye again!"

Rasticore's heart started beating faster as he bit his lip and laid a hand on his gem, "But it wasn't Star's magic that took it away from me, Toffee… You know that."

"Oh, I do, I do know that, Rast," Toffee pouted and walked towards Rasticore. Rasticore walked backwards so that the distance between them remained the same, but he backed himself into a tree, "Which is why I know it could heal you. Star's magic is much more powerful than mine was when we had our little accident…"

"When you attacked me and harmed me beyond repair and didn't even care," Rasticore corrected him, once again trying to back away from Toffee, but the tree kept him in place.

"But if that magic can undo Star's spell, which was much more powerful than mine, then it's no doubt it'll be able to revert mine too," Toffee grabbed Rasticore's metal hand and raised it with his own, his touch making Rasticore shiver, "And you'd be whole again. We both would," Toffee said as he smiled up at Rasticore, holding his hand with both of his and softly squeezing it.

Rasticore's eyes went left and right as he thought of what Toffee had said. Every single cell of his body told him not to trust Toffee – not again, not when every single other time had ended up so badly. But his heart was beating fast in his chest, the possibility of getting his arm and his eye back, everything he'd wanted for so long…

"You're… You're sure you can revert it?" He asked with a sad frown, moving his metal fingers.

"My dear," Toffee laid a hand on his chest, "You have my word."

Rasticore took a deep breath and held up a finger, "I will help you get the spell. You will heal me. And after that, we go separate ways – I won't help you with your revenge or anything else. I don't want to be involved in anything else after that. And I'm only doing this for my arm and my eye, not for you. Because honestly, I couldn't care less."

Toffee smiled and nodded, "Understood. That's all I want. So, deal?" He said as he held out his hand.

Boy, I will regret this later, Rasticore thought to himself as he took Toffee's hand and shook it.

"Deal."