The Underworld. Never will you find a more vile hive of scum and villainy. Is it a given because all who dwell within are pretty much monsters, ghouls and demons or are we just stereotyping because this is pretty much the Mewni equivalent to Hell? Hell if I know.
Anyways, while we aren't too sure who actually runs this place but have a fair idea, we do know is that the prince of this place is none other than the purple skinned, three-eyed, horned short fuse himself, Tom Lucitor, demon Ex-boyfriend of Star Butterfly, the princess of Mewni.
Things were tranquil within Castle Lucitor. The souls of the damned were shrieking, the flames of the Underworld were blazing, and Love Sentence's entire discography was blaring all throughout the Castle's speaker systems, much to the dismay of many of its demonic denizens. Indeed, life in Hell was truly...Heaven.
Tom was simply lounging around in his room, his body splayed lazily across the bed as he mindlessly flipped through channels as remote buttons clicked and the television screen flickered. 667 channels and nothing to watch. Typical.
A series of knocks on the door broke the momentum of TV noises. Tom ignored it. Absolutely enthralled by the simple act of pressing a button and peering at single frames of multiple channels than actually being drawn in by said frames then picking a channel to watch.
The knocks became bangs. Once again, the Demon Prince ignored the assaults on his door. His blank expression refusing to yield.
"Master Toooommm!" a loud voice boomed behind the door, the bangs per second becoming more frantic and rapid.
Tom finally relents, his face dropping into a scowl as he drags himself out of bed and approaches the door.
"You've gotta lotta nerve interrupting my-" the beginning of his complaint died upon his lips when his unwanted guest, a rather tall and lanky goat demon, fell upon his body. The demon prince was taken aback, but he managed to react to catch the body in time.
"G-get...off!" With almost no effort, the young demon shoved the mass of flesh and fur off of his person and the goat demon limply flopped onto the floor. A smoldering hole the size of a basketball was displayed on the center of his torso, with nothing but the black bricked floor of the castle visible through the opening.
Startled, Tom knelt before the fallen demon, worriedly inquiring as to who was responsible for this.
"H-h-he's... the go-...de-...hand..." The goat man fought hard to speak, the agony making it unbearable to even keep his eyes open. To even move. To even live.
The last of his strength must've been expelled just to run all the way to this part of the castle. To Tom's room. He remembered the dead demon as part of the Capra Demon Division that guarded the front door of Castle Lucitor. They were a fearsome and tenacious bunch. Their strength and great machetes cleaved through groups of armored knights in the past and their guard dogs were nothing short of aggressive and agile killers whose regular diets consisted of blood and the jugulars of their enemies. What could have possibly wiped them out? Tom pondered.
As if to answer his mental question, a green blast of energy flew swiftly towards the young prince, but his reflexes kept him unharmed as he summoned a shield made of fire right in front him.
"Tut tut, Tom. You know what they say about playing with fire," that smooth, insidious voice backed by a sinister charisma made the demon prince's blood go ironically cold.
Standing before Tom was the floating form of a bearded swamp green bird/kappa creature no taller than a few feet, named Ludo. His eyes were blank white, one of his arms was glowing and elongated and he wore a...potato chip bag? Regardless, it wasn't the body that alarmed Tom, it was the voice and the twisted soul behind it.
"What business do you have with House Lucitor, you damned snake?!" The prince coldly demanded, taking up a defensive fighting stance and cloaking his hands in flames.
The avian merely chuckled at his opponent's attempt at intimidation. He's lived for far too long and have seen far too much to be fazed by anything of the sort.
"The Hand," Toffee simply answered.
"What?" Tom was dumbfounded. As vague as his request sounded, he knew exactly what he wanted. He also knew that there is no way in Home he's going to give up one of two artifacts that has affected and can affect the very fabric of the Multiverse.
"The Devil Hand," the possessed bird clarified, wishing not to elaborate further or repeat himself once more. He knew the entire Lucitor family line was tasked with guarding this sacred Hand. Generations pass down the responsibility to future generations hoping to never reawaken the cataclysm that happened eons ago.
Yet the cataclysm was floating right before his very eyes. His power and size significantly diminished from his original self.
"But what about the God Hand? You can't come back without that, too y'know." Tom snapped back. He was beside himself with adrenaline and overwhelmed by the choices he's considering to make. He could try and fight back, but even in Toffee's current unfinished form, he was easily outmatched in magic experience and skill. He could make a break for the Devil Hand, but it was too risky as Tom wouldn't have time to jump through all the hoops necessary to get there. Anyways, Toffee would just catch up with him in a flash. Maybe he could-
No. No! His father and his father before him and so on made it crystal clear that the Devil Hand must not fall into anyone's hands. Especially not that abhorrent lizard. The power one would hold with such a relic would be unimaginable. Enough to topple societies, then planets, and then dimensions. In conjunction with the God Hand, both would rend the very existence of the Multiverse itself.
"Ah yes, I was getting to that right after our little exchange. I propose a deal, Prince Lucitor,"
A deal, he says! Right after he most likely left behind a bloody path of demon corpses leading up to his room? Home, no! But considering the circumstances and how unlikely the alternatives are to succeed, Tom had no choice but to cooperate for the time being.
"Oookaay..." Uncertainty and skepticism was blatant in the boy's voice. The flames were snuffed out as he dropped his hands to his side. Bargaining it is, then.
"You still have feelings for that Princess Butterfly don't you?" Toffee's voice softened, sounding more like a concerned father than the embodiment of evil.
Tom stiffened uncomfortably. He wanted to say no. He wanted to try to move on. But his heart said otherwise. All those harrowing months of anger management with Rob were all for her after all. He would love for Star to come back to him and make things work again. He wanted his bubbly, spunky, adorable, strong rebel princess back.
"That would be nice..." Tom said dreamily, losing himself in his fantastical delusions for a few moments.
"I need the help of your army to assault the Butterflies and claim that God Hand and my finger,"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, I don't think Star would approve of that at all! In fact, I'm sure she'll legit kill me if I made an attempt on her kingdom and her family."
"That's why I'm in the picture, am I not?" Toffee/Ludo slowly closed the distance between him and Tom. The young prince stiffened slightly, but relaxed when a hand gently fell upon his shoulder, offering reassurance.
"With my magic abilities and your Devil Hand, none can even come close to opposing us. Mewni and all of the Multiverse will bend to their knees under the might of Toffee and the Lucitor clan! And more importantly, the fair Star Butterfly will be in your arms once again."
"Star..." Tom wistfully uttered her name. It felt like smooth honey upon his tongue. Small green embers flickered in his pupils as Toffee/Ludo continued to rub his shoulder. He may be a formidable fighter and a feared prince, but Tom was still a teen, first and foremost. The lizard wizard's sugared speech rekindled Tom's passions like the spark of a match.
"This horrid form of mine is in no condition to use either of the Hands," Toffee explained, words laced with disappointment. "This body can barely hold together under my current power. One of the hands could cause this form to fall apart and my soul would become forever lost in the ether. However, the radiating glow of both hands present can bring me to my true form. That's why I need you, Thomas."
The demon prince remained silent. His thoughts swimming in response to all that he just heard.
"Indeed, but to reach the prized Princess, one must slay a certain...dragon." Toffee's grin deepened once more, his hand clenching Tom's shoulder a little harder. "What was his name again? Mars? Marcus? Mango?"
"Marrrrcoooo..." Tom's voice deepened. The green embers on his pupils became larger flames as his burning hatred for the Red hooded teenager reignited, swiftly disregarding the bro time they spent together in his carriage one previous day.
"Ah yes, that's it." Toffee/Ludo snapped his fingers, feigning realization. "He's been quite the obstacle to the pursuit of the object of your affections, hasn't he? Wouldn't it be a weight off everyone's shoulders if he just...disappeared? Possibly in a burning crater?"
"You have a deal!" The manipulated demon couldn't extend his hand fast enough. Toffee chuckled, extending a hand in return and the two shook on their newly established covenant.
"Exquisite. Now the Hand,"
Tom and Toffee/Ludo soon made their way towards the sacred relic. Since this is such a closely guarded secret to a select few, the Prince had to make his way deep into the furthest depths of the castle, traveling through countless doors with convoluted locking mechanisms, protective runes and barriers, and the strongest and most vile demons known to existence. The last one wasn't so hard though. With a quick "sup" Tom simply walked past some of the guards. While some objected to Tom's new friend, it wasn't anything the prince couldn't shoot down with naught but naught but a fearsome glare.
Finally, the two made it to a stone vault door that was ten times larger and taller than the both of them. Several indented lines spread throughout the door, creating a maze-like pattern that all led to the simply circular locking mechanism that lied at the very center. Tom took a hard bite of the tip of his thumb, drawing black red blood. He placed his thumb upon a small oval-shaped indent with the lines spreading away from it. The thumb-shaped crater began to glow, then the glow spread among every line at the door until it all converged at the very core. An inner circle emerged from the outer circle and the door gave way in a near deafening rumble, almost as if an earthquake was occurring all over the Underworld.
Both of them stepped into the vault. It was a very dark and desolate room, save for the blood-red spotlight that shone upon a stone pedestal. Upon the pedestal was a long, black severed left arm tattooed with spiraling lines that nearly resembled flames. At the back of the hand was a red circle.
"Alright what now?" This is the second time he's ever seen this creepy appendage. The first time was when his father was discussing his destiny and role and all that other boring stuff and brought him to this very room when he was but a mere lad. He only knew the severe ramifications of wielding such a fabled object but was never told how to utilize it. It'd be a lie if Tom said he didn't consider trying to take control of this thing, but considering how long it took him and Toffee to even get to this point, the trouble and the effort didn't seem worth it. How the Home was he supposed to use a severed-
"AAAARRRGH!" Tom's agonizing scream was so loud, Mewni above could have heard him. A sudden green flash severed his left arm, leaving behind a smoldering stump on his shoulder.
"That's what's now," the monster smiled from ear to ear, seeing his smugness and arrogance was almost as painful as having his arm being blasted off his body.
"Youuu...son of a...arrgghhh!" the one-armed boy cursed through his gritted teeth, cupping the smoking stump in his right hand.
"Oh hush, it's just a flesh wound," Toffee chided the boy for his childishness as he levitated the Hand towards the fallen, writhing demon prince.