Authors note: So here is my next chapter that took me quite a while to write. It has promising action finally, some good ole killing time with a few things here and there at the beginning. My longest chapter yet, but prepare for the next chapter… You will soon know why. Enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 7: Lair of Evil

O-O-O

When Marco skidded to a stop, he was already out of the woods and stood in front of a massive structure that he could not believe was there. Hett managed to quickly catch up to his apprentice, about to scold the padawan once more but stopped to see the same structure. Janna finally managed to reach the two Jedi, panting heavily and stood next to them, not noticing the structure at first glance.

"Marco… just tell me… when you're about… to run off." Janna remarked, slowly eyeing what the Jedi stared at. "What's the big... rush?"

Before the trio stood an ancient castle, appearing thousands of years old with crumbling walls and black stone, poles of the skulls of various creatures were stuck around as displays, with countless more skeletal remains of creatures littered around the dead and dry wasteland surrounding the area, with the occasional dead plant or tree in the way.

Torn flags wave silently with the cold wind blowing, giving off the feeling of death and decay, but also a sudden chill that sent shivers among the group as they stared up at the middle of the castle, seeing a tall spire tower with a blue stained glass window overlooking the land.

This place was evil, and even those without the force can feel it.

"She's in there." Marco stated, still mesmerized by the structure. "I can feel her."

"I do not sense any life in there." Hett responded. "Only the cold."

"Master." Marco turned to his doubtful master with a pleading look. "We have come so far, why turn back now? I know she's in there."

"Then we should get moving soon." Hett agreed with his padawan, taking the front as his apprentice and his Mandalorian friend followed close behind.

The group walked along the cracked cobblestone path, passing through the dead ground of skeletons and got a closer look at the remains. Many were various shapes and forms of creatures unrecognizable to most, closer looks showing that they had also worn now rusted armor and various medieval weapons. Alongside the creatures were more familiar humanoid skeletons, their style of armor and weapons appearing more Mewman.

"There was a great battle here." Hett commented. "I have only heard stories and saw records of the civil war that occurred thousands of years ago, but this must be one of the sites of battlefields lost in time."

Marco could only stare in shock at the skeletons before responding.

"… Horrifying."

The trio walked in silence which only added to the atmosphere of death, getting a better look of the castle up close. The main wall gate was already wide open, a massive hole between the doors from a battering ram, with the very ram itself not far off at the side, decorations of spikes and more torn banners along the castle watch towers, statues of gargoyles hanging above the gates and walls half crumbled. The most unusual feature however were the large torches lit with blue fire next to the battered gate, yet there was nothing alive to be seen at the castle.

"I don't like this." Janna said softly, keeping her hands on the triggers of her blaster pistols.

"I agree… It's too quiet." Hett concurred, trying to sense his environment.

The strangest part of this castle is that there was nothing to sense. It was something out of a horror show, but Hett could not use the force to sense anything was around, nor could Marco aside from Star.

But his instincts couldn't help but say they were being watched.

As the trio entered the gates into the castle courtyard, a vast area of ruined decorations and more skeletal remains of fallen warriors, they stopped in place when they heard echoic skittering of stone. The group looked around the walls above them, seeing nothing but the dead, no living at all.

"Do you sense anything, Marco?" Hett asked, unable to get a good read on the castle. "I cannot sense a thing in this cursed place."

"Besides Star, no." Marco answered morbidly. "It almost feels like something is preventing us from doing so."

Janna however held her suspicions high. She knew that the Bando Gora had ways to trick or even conceal their presence to Jedi until the time was right to strike, there was no way that whatever noise she had heard before was some pest. This had to be an ambush, and they were falling right for it.

Unaware of their presence, black figures crawled silently above the walls, blending in perfectly with the cast shadows of the night as they set positions just above the walls. Their glowing red eyes spotted Marco moving past the group ahead, and the figures looked at another group of their comrades hiding behind an old fountain and nodded. One of the figures pointed a spear at Marco, the cover of darkness providing the best spot to aim at the unsuspecting Jedi.

"We should just go already." Marco gave up, frustrated at slowing down. "The sooner we move, the better-

Blaster fire rang out, the bolts whizzing just past Marco's head to hit the dark figure just ten feet away from him.

The padawan quickly unsheathed his lightsaber, seeing that the dark figure had just released a burst of red mist before collapsing on the ground dead. Marco thanked Janna for the save, but quickly found himself in trouble with about nine more of the figures sprinting towards him.

"Bando Gora!" Janna shouted, her blasters now aimed at the dozen strong cultists jumping down from behind her and Hett.

Janna and Hett were forced to split up, the majority of the Bando Gora cultists surrounded Hett while Janna fled back with three on her tail. Janna managed to blast two of the cultists with her blaster pistols to their heads, but failed to notice the skeletal body of a Mewman knight and tripped over the large armor. The cultist behind her pounced on the downed Mandalorian, trying to swipe at her face with his sharp claws and ended up knocking away her blaster pistols.

While Janna engaged in a struggle, Hett already had his two lightsabers out, prompting the cultists to surround him in a tight circle just an arm's reach away. The black figures hissed menacingly, showing how far gone they truly were from people to monsters, before Hett decided to force push the three in front away from him. The other six screeched as they charged, but Hett easily slashed through the cultists in an arc of green light, severing their bodies and unleashed a burst of red mist from their mortal wounds to signal their deaths.

Marco meanwhile was overwhelmed by the cultists, he had managed to slash two cultists while backing up, but the other eight quickly charged and proved unexpectedly tough for the boy. Reflexes took over when the claws were stuck out, and Marco sliced and diced away the several arms of the cultists, receiving screeches of pain as red mist leaked from the wounds. One of the cultists was lucky however, managing to slash Marco's right arm from the side before being cut in half.

Fresh blood may have dripped from the padawan, but the cultists had none to speak of, only the red mist was inside them. Marco was ten pounced from behind by a pair of cultists who sneaked behind the boy, knocking the boy down and were about to pierce their claws through the boy. A green light saber managed to reach the cultists, just noticing the green flash reach their necks and behead them both in a single sweep. The other Bando Gora cultists could only screech as Hett slashed them apart one by one, sending limbs flying and clouded him in red mist.

Janna still struggled with her last attacker, grappling his wrists while trying to kick him away. A few good kicks to the chest knocked the cultist off her, giving her the chance to pick up the nearest weapon, an old lance from the dead knight, and held it up towards the cultist who pounced once more. The cultist had more unfortunate luck, jumping right through the lance and impaled his chest on the sharp end, a burst of red mist conforming his death before Janna tossed the lance aside; corpse still attached

"Janna!" Marco exclaimed, running towards the girl.

"I got-

Marco then forced pushed the girl to the ground, a green fireball just missing her from behind as she was knocked back to the ground once more.

While Janna wasn't going to be happy with that, Marco had to deal with the new intruder first, Hett rushing to his side as the pair of Jedi faced a horn skulled figure with two dozen more cultists on his side, now wielding the various weapons of fallen warriors, spears and swords alike.

"You!" Marco shouted, recognizing the figure from his staff and appearance. "What have you done to her?"

The figure gave a seething look with his blue eyes before speaking in his deathly tone.

"She is ours now." The figure pointed his staff at the boy. "Our master will help our queen with ascension, and this galaxy will fall under her rule!"

Marco gripped his lightsaber tightly, trying not to let his anger take hold while Janna got up and found her blaster pistols. The only thing that kept the other cultists back was their captain that Janna saw, recognizing the ranked member by his horned skull.

"Oh boy." Janna pointed her blaster pistols right at the large group, expecting the worst.

"TEAR THEM THROUGH!"

The captain shouted out his order, letting his underlings charge at the trio while blasting another green fireball at Marco, who leaped out of the way to avoid the explosion of fire from the ground he just stood on moments ago.

The first dozen cultists charged with spears in front, hoping to skewer the Jedi while the other dozen behind slashed with swords. Janna managed to take down two spearman with some well-placed headshots, before dodging a third spear mere inches from her face, rolling to the side to fire two blaster bolts at her target's chest.

She was just about to aim at the forth spear before her blasters were knocked away by the spearman, much to her frustration.

"Seriously? Again?"

Janna dodged each strike, the cultist obviously not trained for such combat when he kept jabbing at Janna, only to miss each time. Janna then moved up and knocked the spear tip away from her front, before taking out a hidden virboblade from her bottom sleeve and jabbed it on the cultist's eye, getting a screech of pain before shoving the blade through his head.

Marco and Hett had to deal with the other spears, with Hett slashing off the old metal tips at the wooden necks before quickly closing in on his opponents, slashing and hacking them in rapid succession. Brutal display of aggression, but channeling such aggression through the force while remaining calm was a specialty Hett employed numerous times and usually worked, even managing to make it work with crowds of attackers.

Hett's padawan was more cautious however, engaging in large sweeping arcs when confronted with his share of foes, easily driving off aggressive attackers while taking out a few of his own. Marco then followed his master's combat style when presented with the opportunity to strike, charging his dazed foes by slashing the spears off, before doing the same to their bodies.

As clouds of red mist burst around the Jedi, they leaned behind their backs, side by side as they were surrounded by the cultist swordsmen. The Bando Gora captain launched another fireball like an artillery strike, launching the fireball as it descended below the Jedi.

Marco held his free hand upward to block the shot, making the fireball burst around the Jedi and spread its flames around the cultists, who seemed to be unfazed by the flames around them. They screeched before charging, both Jedi managing to slice off the blades of the old swords before moving in for sweeping kills, rapidly slicing the burning bodies of cultists in a colorful display of finesse and flash.

All that was left was the Bando Gora captain, and he chuckled while tapping his staff on the ground to summon his green mist.

Janna managed to open fire, prompting the horn skull cultist to disappear in the green mist before the bolts could even hit him, phasing through the green mist that engulfed him. The mist emerged behind Janna, with the captain swinging his staff under the girl to knock her down, but not before getting a kick to the gut.

The Jedi rushed to the Mandalorian, but the captain waved his staff to unleash a stronger wave of fire towards the Jedi, prompting both to hold out their hands to use the force to disperse the flames around them, scorching the dead ground with green fire.

Janna got up quickly, engaging in one on one combat with the captain, swift punches and kicks being delivered to the cultist with impact, but no effects. The captain laughed off the pain before he sent a burst of flame at her face, more of a distraction than an attack and coiled one of his arms around the girl, proceeding to chock her while holding hiss staff towards the Jedi. Janna began to gasp, taking out her vibroblade once more to stick it through the captain's eye.

The cultist threw Janna to the ground, giving Marco the chance to throw his saber.

The captain was about to let loose hellfire on Janna, until a blue saber was impaled through his chest. It took a few seconds to grasp the fact that a lightsaber had pierce his chest, dropping his staff and knelt, while blue mist leaked from his stabbed eye and chest, and even began to cough some out.

"Serves you right." Janna panted, rubbing her eyes while Marco went over to check up on her.

"Are you alright?" Marco asked with panicked concern, checking the girl's eyes. "Don't tell me he burned your eyes off."

"Jeez, Marco. I can still see the cutie in front." Janna assured.

Marco just rolled his own eyes at the flirt, helping up his fried while they walked over to Hett, who stared at the captain in the intact eye.

"Where is the princess?" Hett asked coldly, getting a cough out of the captain.

"You… will not *kaff* stop us… You will all… die." The captain grinned, his strength fading quickly. "Our queen… is… the one."

The Bando Gora captain succumbed to his wounds, a burst of blue mist clouded around Hett before dispersing just as it emerged. His body crumpled to the ground, the lightsaber through his chest taken out by Marco, both Jedi putting away their lightsabers while Janna got her blaster pistols back once more.

"There's a lot more than that." Janna warned, knowing full well they just got a taste of the Bando Gora.

"Then we must move quickly." Hett nodded to Marco, who led the way further inside the castle.

"She's inside here." Marco could sense the girl's fear, only ever increasing.

The trio met up at the gate inside, with both Jedi synchronizing their hand movements while Janna watched from behind as look out for surprise attacks. The Jedi thrusted their open palms forward, creating a magnified force blast that burst the doors wide open to a long hallway of Bando Gora cultists on the other side, screeching and ready to tear apart their intruders.

The trio got their weapons ready, prepared to fight through the stronghold as Marco spoke up.

"I'm almost there, Star… Don't worry."

O-O-O

The ritual was almost complete.

Vosh'rava had finished his usual speech and sermon to the cult crowd before him, looking down at the princess with his usual devilish grin. He was so close to achieving true power, all he needed to do was the incantation he had used many times before, and the galaxy would be his to destroy once and for all.

Then… He could feel it.

The intruders from outside had survived, Vosh'rava knew they had somehow found his castle but never thought they would get through the guards. What worried his mad mind the most was the power from one of them. He sensed that there were three, but one in particular caught his senses off guard, a power that just as immense as Star… The High priest would focus on it after the ritual, hoping the guards would take care of the threat before he did himself.

Vosh'rava began to chant in the ancient tongue of the Sith, guaranteeing to drain every single bit of life force the girl had, who could only struggle in vain at the sound of his words. This spell was the only true way to drain everything from a living being, and the last thing he needed was some intruders to ruin it all.

"Sau visita sh'jatau tave th'raiskus iv tave Sith! Tegu nun vykti tave natura iv sis ikuny mazo anas nu valia darytis wo!"

Purple mist began to emerge from Star, pouring out from her eyes and mouth and felt the very life within her begin to fade. Star stopped struggling, her body only lifted when Vosh'rava moved his hands up and down in a pattern to force the life out of her.

"Tegu ji midwan dziu sulig ji xuolis ir dotacij nun zh'ae ty'k! Nu xuontai tave qy'sik dabar tegu nun vykti natura!"

Star began to fade from life, her very essence filling a cloud of purple mist above her body into Vosh'rava's hands, seeing him taste her life and chant even louder at the ecstasy of such power.

"Tegu nun vykti! Tegu nun gauti! Tegu nun buti ardyti!"

Before the final words could be uttered with victory in his grasp, the gate doors burst wide open, Bando Gora cultists flung from outside across the vast room and spooked the crowd. Vosh'rava was still focused on the girl, draining the life out of her while the trio of rescuers from the gates barged in at the scene, getting menacing stares and hisses from the cultist crowd.

It was then when Marco saw Star, his eyes widening in shock at the horrid sight of the ritual.

"STAR!" Marco shouted off the top of his lungs, sprinting towards Vosh'rava with the force.

"Marco, wait!"

Marco did not pay any attention to his master's cries, jumping up in the air to avoid the flurry of sharp claws of cultists that would have swarmed him. The padawan looked down as he descended, quickly falling towards Vosh'rava in an effort to strike him down from above in one fell swoop as he cried out.

"LET HER GO!"

Vosh'rava unleased a stream of lighting from his fingertips, anger clear in his eyes as he unleashed his rage through the force. Marco did not have time to block the attack, lighting coursing through his veins as he reached the ground by Star, who was gasping for life until the purple mist retreated back into her body.

"You foolish boy!" Vosh'rava raved angrily, continuing his stream of lightning while Marco screamed out of pain and agony. "I was so close! The power of death was by my fingertips, and you ruined it all! Now you will suffer!"

Marco's screams filled the room, now a victim to Vosh'rava while Hett and Janna fought through the Bando Gora to try to reach him, just barely holding out against the vast numbers swarming the two. Star turned her head to see the boy in pain, the mad Sith showing no mercy or remorse to the only true friend she made.

Her fear was gone now… replaced by anger.

"MARCO!"

Star struggled from her chains, her anger and fear of Marco's death motivating her to escape her chained torment. She could feel the rage only grow stronger, something Vosh'rava could sense greatly with his connection to the dark side. By the time the mad priest turned to the girl, she had used all of her strength to rip herself free from her chains, the anger giving her immense strength she normally wouldn't have on her side.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

Star pushed her free hands towards Vosh'rava, sending the Sith flying across the room to hit a stone pillar, dazing him as he fell to the ground in pain. Marco grunted as he got up slowly, the whole room silent and in awe at the sight of Star and what she did, even the cultists stopped fighting to see their beloved queen attack their High priest.

Marco was offered a hand up by Star, looking at the princess in shock at what just happened.

"Star?" Marco couldn't believe what he saw his friend do, taking her hand to get up.

Marco was quickly wrapped around a tight embrace, shocking the boy but he gladly returned the hug, feeling just as fearful for Star as she was.

"Marco." Star held her friend tightly and spoke softly. "Are you okay?"

"Well, I almost turned into toast but I'm still alive." Marco made a wisecrack, getting a smile out of the girl.

"You really are a wild man." Star let go of Marco, the padawan was able to stand by himself despite the shock, using the force to slowly replenish his body.

Vosh'rava got up, seeing that the Bando Gora relented their attacks and were staring at Star and Marco from above, taking good note of their embrace and joy around each other. The High priest was not pleased by this display. Hett noticed the Sith from afar, sensing his dark powers that Vosh'rava sensed back, knowing that he would be pursued soon.

"My fellow followers! The Jedi dare to interrupt our queen's ascension! Kill the intruders now!" Vosh'rava ordered, fleeing back to a flight of stairs while the cultists charged.

Hett knew he had to kill this dark being now, recognizing the dark being as a Sith lord, cold and strong with the dark side. He had to kill him here and now, or else the Bando Gora would overwhelm everyone in the castle and complete his devious plan.

"Marco! Janna! Get Star out of here." Hett ordered, seeing the Sith run up the stairs. "I will take care of the leader."

"But master-

Hett used the force to lift the three children up, quickly levitating them back to the ground away from the swarm of Bando Gora and to the front gates below.

"No time! Go!"

Hett force jumped away from the crowd to the flight of stairs, pursing after Vosh'rava to finish this once and for all. Little did he know, dividing the group was exactly the plan he had set in motion. Marco looked back at Janna, and the girl could tell that Marco was not going to leave his master behind, and Star could already feel that he was going to stay here.

"Damn it, Marco." Janna complained, pulling out her blaster pistols at the horde of Bando Gora. "Why am I doing this?"

Star knew that there were too many, the horrifying figures of the Bando Gora would easily kill her best friend and his Mandalorian companion. Her rescuers gripped their weapons tightly, knowing that they would be torn to pieces if she didn't do something... And then, a light bulb went off in her head.

"Marco… Do you trust me?"

Marco gave a confused glance before replying. "Of course I do."

Star nodded, waling in front to shield Marco and Janna as she held out a hand. "I have an idea."

"Uh… What is she doing?" Janna asked, unsure what the girl was up to.

"I take it back! I don't trust you, now get behind me!" Maroc said in a panicked voice.

"Marco." Star said firmly. "Let me help… please."

Marco wanted to just run off with the girl now, but against his better judgement, he nodded and stood close behind her.

"I hope you know what you're doing."

Star nodded in agreement.

"Me too."

O-O-O

Hett moved as fast as he could up the flight of stairs, trying not to lose his balance while running so fast or to fall through the crumbling steps. An occasional cultist stood in his way, but he easily slashed through without any trouble since most were preoccupied downstairs.

He hoped Marco took care of himself.

A lot of his rash nature to dive headfirst into danger of what he cared about rubbed off on the boy, despite being cautious and talks all about how to avoid danger. Marco would make a better Jedi than him in certain aspects, so he hoped that should he fall here, and he had a feeling he might, that Marco would manage to beat this Sith and end the terror on Mewni, while being able to accept to let go.

Because as far as Hett went, he felt he wouldn't have done the same.

The Jedi master reached the top of the stairs, now in a short hallway that led to a pair of large black doors well furnished. Hett force pushed the doors wide open, walking inside to get ambushed by two Bando Gora captains with staffs. He blocked the balls of fire with the force, before bringing the captains forward with his force grip and threw them across the room.

The room itself was the true throne room of the castle, a fancy red rug adorned the ground than led to a short stone staircase, and the end of the room had its most notable feature of blue stained glass that shone the moonlight inside. This was clearly the spire from earlier, the highest point of the castle that overlooked the lands below, and just in front of the glass was Vosh'rava himself, staring out at the dead lands.

"You are not the one I wanted here." Vosh'rava said in his cold voice, his back facing Hett. "But you still stand out from your little friends. I know your little secret."

Hett unsheathed his lightsabers, making the Sith chuckle at the sound.

"You do not know anything me, Sith." Hett replied, saying the word 'Sith' with disgust.

Vosh'rava turned around to see the Jedi master, amused by the sight. He brought the downed captains in his grip, his hands forcing them back and brought them to the ground beneath his sides.

"Underestimating my power has gotten many Jedi killed." Vosh'rava held his hands towards the faces of his captains. "Let me show you what fate I have given to Jedi."

Vosh'rava began to drain the life out of the captains, they gasped for air as the blue mist within them flowed out of their bodies and into their leader. It did not take long for the captains to drop dead, their power now belonging to their High priest out of a display for power.

"I am almighty. And you... nothing."

"You're just a monster." Hett heightened his stance, unafraid of his opponent's powers. "Every monster can be slain, and your tale will end here, slain by a knight."

Vosh'rava grinned at the Jedi, and out of his sleeve came a lightsaber of ancient design. Red light emerged from the hilt, and the Sith turned the blade vertically, only for another streak of red to emerge from the other hilt.

"Come then… Let us end the story."

O-O-O

P.S.- Cliffhanger! Like a true Sith! Don't worry guys, the next chapter will end this once and for all, and it will be all lightsaber action from there… It will be awesome.

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or Star vs. The Forces of Evil