Reclamation
For the Mewman people, life was fraught with hardship. With the war efforts, the current reigning monarch, a prince called Lunaro, ordered taxes to be raised, every available man and strong lad to bear arms and declared martial law. It all started when he got his hands on that new spellbook and wand. At first, he performed miracles with it, feeding the poor and re-homing the displaced that had resulted from a string of natural disasters. Over time, however, his priorities changed. The reasons why were unclear, but rumours had begun to spread that the magical objects that had once empowered him to heal his kingdom were slowly starting to corrupt him.
As the days went by, Lunaro became increasingly obsessed with power, and keeping it all for himself, seeing himself as supreme ruler of Mewni. He even changed his name to Jack to further cement the idea that he had done away with his 'weaker self'. And so, he waged war with the various monster species, many of which were vastly ill-equipped to oppose him. They made great slave labour, but many monsters refused to simply bow down and accept defeat. The majority that remained turned to one monster kingdom for help, the realm of Septarsis, home of a monster species some considered invincible, with good reason. Septarians had the natural ability to recover from even the most grievous of injuries, regenerating entire limbs at will and their physical strength was un-matched. For the most part, they were quite peaceful, content only to watch. But when word reached their ears of an impending attack, they took up arms in defence of their homes.
The war council of Septarsis was in a meeting, discussing their available options.
"Is this intelligence accurate? Has the Mewman leadership really found a way to disable our healing capabilities?" one councillor asked.
"We have an inside source that says the reigning prince has developed a spell that can do exactly that" another one confirmed.
"This is all speculation. We don't know for certain. Who is this source?" the first councillor inquired.
"Someone who wants to see this war end as much as you do" came a voice from inside that no-one had heard before. Just then, a small figure in a robe appeared on the centre of the table. He looked like a genie, but no-one could tell.
"Just who are you supposed to be?" a third councillor probed.
"My name is Glossaryck. I keep order in the universe" Glossaryck introduced.
"Not doing a very good job of that, are you?" the lead councillor mocked.
"The Mewmans don't want this attack any more than you do. I came here to ask for your patience while we settle the matter of our wayward prince internally" Glossaryck pleaded.
"If the Mewmans never wanted this war to begin with, why didn't they do something sooner?" the lead councillor interrogated.
"These plans take time. Patience never was your strong suit, was it, King Seth?" Glossaryck countered. Seth mulled things over with his war council. While he was eager for blood, he had to think about his people. If the possibility existed, no matter how remote, that the Mewman prince developed a spell capable of killing his people, he had to save as many Septarians as he could. If that meant waiting, so be it, but he wouldn't sit by and do nothing but hope the problem goes away. He came to a decision.
"You have until tomorrow morning to unseat your prince. Fail to do so, and it will be war" Seth reasoned.
"Your terms are accepted, Your Highness" Glossaryck conceded and left for the Mewman castle, where the next phase of his plan would take place. He reunited with his Mewman allies to discuss what to do next.
"How did it go?" Glossaryck's Mewman co-conspirator, Thoral, asked.
"I have managed to convince King Seth to hold off attacking us, but he will only wait so long before he takes action on his own" Glossaryck informed.
"Then we must do this now, or not at all" Thoral's counterpart, Layi, responded.
"Exactly. You all know your parts. Now go, your prince is expecting you" Glossaryck ushered, and they all split up. At the Royal War Council, Prince Jack's loyal advisors were briefing him on the preparations for the attack on Septarsis.
"Even if we attack the lizards, their regeneration abilities make any attack infeasible" Thoral briefed.
"I wouldn't worry about that. My old friend has given me the means to put their 'super-healing' on hold. We should have no trouble bringing the lizards into line" Jack informed. He gripped his wand tightly as he said this. If the entity was true to his word, Mewni would soon be all his. He had found the spell in the Book of Avalon, which was a gift, along with his wand, from the creature.
"After you disable their healing, we should surround them on all sides. That way, we have the element of surprise" Layi added.
"I have men waiting for word. Come the morning, I will cast the spell on all of Septarsis" Jack said.
"Even without their healing, Septarians are still formidable fighters behind their peaceful nature. Seth, in particular, will defend his home until the end. He will not surrender without a fight" Thoral warned.
"Then a fight there will be" Jack concluded.
"Forgive me, but I have to ask. This entity you got the wand and book from. Do you really know anything about him?" Layi inquired. Jack paused at this. Despite the generous gifts he received and what he did with them, he had to admit that he still did not know anything about his benefactor. Still, a deal was a deal.
"All I know is he threw me a bone. One day, he will collect on that debt, and I intend to be ready when he does. I owe him that much" Jack answered. This answer only un-nerved Layi even more and impressed upon her the urgency of what she and Thoral were about to do. There was no more hesitation, this had to be done. Layi wished Prince Jack goodnight and went to her chambers. Once Jack retired to his chambers, he put the wand down on his bedside cabinet and read more of the Book of Avalon, memorising the incantation for the spell one last time before drifting off to sleep.
Elsewhere in the castle, Thoral, Layi and Glossaryck were ready to enact their plan. It took weeks of observing and memorising Jack's daily routine, but at last, his sleep patterns and the guards' patrol patterns left a gap wide enough to slip through un-noticed. Thoral slipped through to Jack's chamber door, gradually edged it open and creeped through. There, he saw the wand, sitting there on the bedside cabinet, along with the Book of Avalon. He took both items and got out of there as fast as he came in. Once Thoral snuck out of the castle, Layi and Glossaryck were there waiting for him.
"What kept you?" Layi whispered.
"Sorry, just barely got out before shift change. Please, make it quick, though. I think one of the guards caught a glimpse of me" Thoral explained in a hushed tone. Layi had conjured an interdimensional portal, a gift only a handful of Mewmans possessed and took the Book to a dimension she thought no-one would think to look. From her recon, she found out that the dimension was called Earth. It had a hierarchal structure similar to Mewni, but she would place the Book on an island far off all of the planet's mainland continents and entrust it in the care of the natives. Layi had just gone through to the other side when the wand reacted on its own. It fired a single beam into the window of Jaack's chambers. It had also conjured a portal right in front of it, to a dimension neither Thoral nor Glossaryck recognised. The wand had vanished to the other side and the portal closed.
"That was unexpected, but not unwelcome. Now for the next phase" Glossaryck mused and gave a signal for the revolution to begin. Glossaryck had been fanning the flames of revolt from the shadows for some time and, now that the wand and book were gone, now was the time. The castle guards were over-run, not that they put up much of a fight to begin with. Turns out the Mewman military were not fond of attacking invincible enemies either, considered it a suicide mission.
Meanwhile, in Jack's chambers, he was having a most unusual dream. He was in the forward camp, preparing for the final assault, when all of a sudden, everyone bar Jack disappeared. When he went outside to investigate, up in the sky, was him, the entity,though these days, Jack called him by the name he discovered during his research, the one he dare not utter in the waking world.
"Bill Cipher. What do you want? Everything's going as planned. I'll settle whatever debt you want" Jack greeted.
"Yeah, about that. There's been a change of plan. See, your loyal advisors aren't as loyal as you thought they were. They took your things while you were here with me and seized control of your kingdom. Talk about bad leadership" Bill taunted. Jack did not know what to make of this revelation. Suddenly, all his hopes for a united Mewni under his rule were up in flames.
"I can make this right. I just need another book and wand. Give me another chance, please!" Jack begged.
"I told you when I gave you those that I could only make one of each. Now you've gone and lost them a price must be paid. How does being my plaything in the Nightmare Realm sound?" Bill replied.
"What?! No, please. Anything but that!" Jack exclaimed, but Bill was not having it. Jack awoke to find the sound of a revolt in his castle, but that was the least of his problems. A portal leading to the Nightmare Realm had opened and Jack was pulled through, never to be seen again. The revolters just missed their leader by seconds and within minutes of the successful coup, a truce was formally called between Mewmans and monsters. King Seth, surprised at this outcome, was true to his word and withdrew his troops from the front to resume a peaceful stance.
"You can come out of the shadows now, my princess. All has been dealt with" Glossaryck assured, and a girl just about Jack's age emerged from the darkness. She seemed slightly younger than the prince, but the reason why she wore a dark coat became obvious immediately. Thoral and Layi recognised her as the prince's younger sister, Sunflare. With Jack gone, she was now Queen of Mewni.
"Now that the war is over, I will focus on fixing what my wayward brother has broken, but I will need help" Sunflare announced.
"I have the perfect solution, my liege" Glossaryck said and he did some magic to conjure up four beings. One took the form of a bipedal goat. "This one will focus on healing the sick and injured left behind in your brother's wake and helping the Mewman people to understand the impermeance of existence. He will be called Lekmet" Glossaryck explained. Lekmet made the noise of a goat in acknowledgement.
"Pleasure" Sunflare replied. Another form appeared, this time, a fire pixie. She was able to produce a pair of scissors from a flame she had conjured and bequeathed them to Sunflare.
"This is Hekapoo. She will enable all Mewmans to travel across the dimensions of the multiverse. But, she will bar access to the dimension where Layi has hidden the book to all but the royal family" Glossaryck outlined.
"Should I also search for the wand as well? Don't want anyone finding that" Hekapoo inquired.
"Leave nothing to chance. Find that wand and return it here" Sunflare ordered and Hekapoo left to carry out her search. Glossaryck then conjured what seemed like a nebulous cloud with a skull at the centre.
"This one is called Omnitraxus Prime. His role will be to maintain and safeguard the multiverse. Should the wand be found, he will contain it within a pocket dimension, since we cannot destroy it ourselves" Glossaryck summarised.
"With the wielder vanishing off the face of Mewni, it's all we can do" Omnitraxus explained.
"That's fine. What about the last of your creations?" Sunflare inquired.
"Ah, yes. That one will serve the group, which I call the Magic High Commission, as the muscle of the team on Mewni, sealing away any and all evils, both here and in other dimensions. Behold" Glossaryck answered, and he conjured up a being that looked like a walking, talking crystal-headed being with one eye and snakes for hands.
"If that brother of yours comes back here again" Rhombulus ranted.
"Enough, Rhombulus. I doubt he's coming back" Glossaryck dismissed.
"You've done splendidly, Glossaryck. I look forward to working with your High Commission in the days to come" Sunflare complimented.
"One last thing, Your Highness. I wanted to give you this" Glossaryck added and he produced a wand, not an evil-looking wand, like the one Jack had, but a gentler, regal wand. "Take care of it. I can only make one" Glossaryck instructed.
"I will. Thank you. I like the symbol on it, too" Sunflare assured. The symbol on the wand was in the form of a butterfly, the Mewman symbol of healing and renewal.
"I hope so, because every royal lineage needs a symbolic name, and I thought that 'Butterfly' would make a fitting family name for the new line" Glossaryck reasoned.
"So be it. From this day forth, I shall hereby be known as Queen Sunflare Butterfly" Sunflare declared. She said as much during her coronation, starting a new royal line of Mewni, the Butterfly family.
1000 years later
Captain Albert, Carl and Major Monogram were in the vault of Excalibur HQ, prepping the interdimensional transport device Albert got from Phineas to take them to the dimension that sent the distress call. Albert had read the reports he got from Carl about the 2nd dimension Doofenshmirtz's incursion into this world, but they lacked any specifics. From what he gathered, it was formally a dystopian future that had, until recently, seen a brutal dictator in power. From the sounds of the distress call originating from the 2nd dimension, it seems as if that same dictator is making a bid to reclaim his throne.
"Now remember, this is just a recon mission. We are only going to determine whether or not this alternate Doofenshmirtz really has gotten a hold of Bill's wand. If we can confirm that, I will have no trouble convincing Major Smith to send a detachment to retrieve the wand" Albert reminded.
"Retrieve it, not destroy it?" Major Monogram asked.
"Wands can only be truly destroyed by their wielders, and I don't see that maniac willingly destroying the wand" Albert answered.
"All that aside, how do you plan to solve the issue of returning here without going through all those other dimensions first?" Carl inquired.
"Easy, this device comes with a quantum tunnel generator. Think of it as a shortcut to this realm, and a tether rope keeping us attached to it" Albert explained.
"That defies all known laws of quantum physics" Carl stated.
"It was designed by Bill, after all. Who knows how much evil genius is inside his mind" Albert said.
"While I'm gone, you're in charge of O.W.C.A. Carl. Try to keep the agency in one piece" Monogram instructed.
"Same to you, Kilstone" Albert added. The device was switched on, and Albert and Monogram ventured forth. When they arrived on the other side of the portal, things were already looking bleak.
"This is giving me serious Cipher War flashbacks" Major Monogram remarked. It was easy to come to this conclusion, since the area looked ruined and devoid of hope.
"If you ever wanted to know what Wierdmageddon was like in its early stages, this was it" Albert added. There was no time to discuss their surroundings in more detail, as Monogram heard something in the distance. After finding a good hiding spot, Albert and Monogram observed a familiar sight. It was Isabella, though obviously not the one they know. She, along with her many female companions were this dimension's version of the Fireside Girls. They seemed to be taking cover a lot, as it was hard to keep sight of them. Still, Albert made out that they came from the sewers and ventured out for some reason or other.
"Think we should follow them?" Albert asked.
"Can't see any other potential leads around here" Monogram agreed, and they followed them, keeping a short distance so as not to get spotted. They made it back down the sewers when they were pounced on by the very girls they were following. In seconds, the two men found themselves tied up and brought to what looked like a small resistance cell. Once they stopped, Isabella turned to them.
"So, whatcha doin' here?" Isabella probed in a menacing tone.
"We mean you no harm. We're just on a recon mission" Albert explained.
"What is going on here?" came a voice both of them were familiar with. Soon enough, Candace emerged from the shadows. "Untie these two men now" Candace ordered.
"But boss, they followed us down here. They could be compromised" Isabella protested.
"Let me check" Candace said, and she looked deep into the eyes of Albert and Monogram. "They're clean, let them go" Candace concluded. The Firestorm Girls untied Albert and Monogram. "Sorry about that. Ever since this all went down, the Firestorm Girls have been a little over-zealous when it comes to security" Candace apologised.
"If I were in their position, I would've done the same" Albert assured.
"You were the one that sent the distress call" Monogram realised.
"Yes, we had hoped to reach out to the other dimension Phineas and Ferb, but I doubt even they can help with all this craziness" Candace confirmed.
"Can you fill us in on what's been happening?" Albert probed.
"Sit yourselves down, gentlemen. I hope you like long stories" Candace gestured.
In his castle, Doofenshmirtz was admiring his new find. During his exile, he had never dreamed he would find an artefact of great power. Yet, here it was, in his possession, what he deemed to be power incarnate. He had successfully retaken his Tri-State Area, but his ambitions stretched further than that. Once he had control of this world, he would go after the other one. His wife, Charlene, entered the room.
"I have to admit, I had my doubts when you dug that thing up, but now I can see the future, and it has Doofenshmirtz written all over it" Charlene observed.
"Have we made any progress with the dimensional portal?" Doofenshmirtz asked.
"Work has stalled somewhat. It seems the resistance has been busy liberating our prisoners and sabotaging our work" Charlene answered.
"Double the shifts and make an example of any resistance fighter we capture, no matter their rank. Make them see that I am not to be trifled with" Doofenshmirtz instructed.
"I'll see to it" Charlene acknowledged, and she left the room to carry out the instructions. Heinz and Charlene's daughter, Vanessa, was watching from the corner. Since her dad had reclaimed his throne, she had been growing increasingly worried about her parents. Charlene wasn't as happy as she used to be, and she had also noticed that her dad's behaviour was growing erratic by the day. At times, he would often talk to his new wand and, on occasion, she swore that he was changing physically as well, looking more and more pale as time went by. More times than one, she contemplated asking the resistance for help, but that would mean betraying her family. Could she really go that far?
Author's note: OK, I have been away a good long while, haven't I? Between Christmas and birthday celebrations, some issues with finding employment and finishing Kingdom Hearts 3 without having it spoilt for me, I have had no time to come up with a plot for this story. Even its title I had to outsource to another party. But I wanted to start this story before I started some locum work I've come into, so here you are. Hope you enjoy, because I have zero idea where this is going. The usual disclaimers, I own nothing, Phineas and Ferb belong to Dan and Swampy, SVTFOE belongs to Daron Nefcy, Gravity Falls belongs to Alex Hirsch, and Disney owns them all. Enjoy. Title for this story was Galaxina-the-Seedrian's idea.