Authors note: So here is the final duel, for reals this time. It took me awhile to make this, but I hope it was worth it, since when this chapter ends, things will go beyond Mewni soon. Not a lot to say here except I hope you enjoy the chapter.
Chapter 9: Two Beings of One
O-O-O
Star was the first to sprint, quickly followed by Marco as the two engaged in the duel against their mad priest. Vosh'rava blocked the sabers from hitting his with his saber staff, each blade locking with his opponents, while he used a free hand to force push the pair away from him.
"Impressive strength." Vosh'rava commented, feeling the power from the impact of the sabers. "I will make sure to put it to good use."
Vosh'rava extended his hand, rising it to lift several detached limbs and bodies of the cultists. He thrusts his hand forward, throwing the black husks toward the direction of the force sensitives, only for them to dodge the smaller parts while the bodies were sliced once more. No blood or mist came out, simply empty as the bodies fell to the ground once again.
The Mad Sith charged at the pair himself, his overconfidence leading him and clashed with the two.
Every slash made contact with sabers, red streaks switching their rapid attacks from blue to green, testing both Star and Marco for their defense, to exploit a weakness while draining their power little by little. Even now the pair began to feel a little dazed, the constant blocks and counters that seemed to do little to stop the onslaught of Vosh'rava.
A few powerful swings at Marco told that the human could only handle so many strong attacks before being overwhelmed, too cautious and defensive for a Jedi's own good. A quick jab at Star and the dodge in response showed she was better at offense rather than defense, but fast attacks one on one will catch her off guard, especially from one skilled with a saber staff. Together, the pair were powerful, but divided their weakness could be exploited should one know them.
Vosh'rava rolled to the right, letting the pair attack him while moving backwards into the throne room, just touching the blue flames that engulfed the rug and stull burned with fury. The two force sensitives advanced onward, with Star leading the offensive with her aggressive while Marco provided counters for assistance.
Something about these two clicked.
They could sense it with each other, how well they worked despite this being their first duel together, and yet they could keep up with their moves quite well. Though it needed work, since Star was more eager to fight Vosh'rava head on with Marco cautiously following along.
What still confused Marco was how well Star could fight, despite seeing her pick up a lightsaber with the force for the first time, she knew how to handle it properly without slicing off her hand. But that question will be saved for later, now they have to defeat this Sith, and the last thing Marco needed to do was ask questions.
In a display of raging wonder, the blue flames began to part once more as Vosh'rava stepped back into them, using the force to allow access to even go as far as let his opponents through as well. The duel raged inside the flames, the scorching heat of fire surrounded the duelists while light clashed, sparks igniting from the blades in a beautiful flurry of power.
Vosh'rava fought the Jedi and princess left and right, Star on his right side and Marco on the left, alternating between the two with his double blades. He fights on two fronts against powerful youths, but these youths have yet to master their strengths, and he could sense them already getting weak.
"You tire, children." Vosh'rava taunted. "Is it the heat of the flames, or the power of death overcoming you?"
Star responded in kind. "Do you always talk like a creep?"
The insult meant nothing to Vosh'rava, since he responded back with a wide slash fueled by the force. The girl ducked from the slash, the force from the attack blowing back some flames from behind, until settling back to normal and raged onward.
Vosh'rava then leaped up in the air, forcing the flames to close on the pair below. Luckily, Star and Marco managed to jump after him before the blue fire closed in on them, narrowly avoiding the blaze that would have charred them black. Lightsabers clashed in midair, with Vosh'rava using a cheap tactic his opponents did not expect; channeling his force lightning through his saber staff. The pair of friends felt the surge of pain throughout their bodies, letting out cries of pain while Vosh'rava force pushed Marco and Star towards the flames.
Thinking fast despite the electric currents still streaming through them, Star and Marco force pushed each other away from the flames, but also ended up sending themselves on opposite sides of the room. Star and Marco rolled along the floor, quickly getting up to try and reach the other, knowing that divided they would not fight as well.
Out of the flames came Vosh'rava towards Marco, picking the weaker of the two as he charged towards the boy, already weakened from the previous attacks when he tried saving Star. Vosh'rava assaulted Marco relentlessly, taking every advantage at breaking through the cautious defenses that were unable to withstand the constant strikes, and ended up knocking away Marco's lightsaber from his hands. The boy was then shocked once more by the Mad Sith, sending Marco to fall on his back to the stone floor as he screamed in pain.
"I tire of your life; it must end." Vosh'rava grew bored of this fight, and lifted his saber up to strike down the boy in cold blood.
Star could sense the panic and dread from Marco across the flames, and a flame of her own burned inside her, knowing that if she did not act now her friend would be gone forever. She sprinted towards the flames and jumped through them, the force protecting her from burns and caught the Mad Sith off guard, who turned his back to brace himself for the downward slash incoming.
Blue light slashed through the middle of the saber staff hilt, along with leaving a burned scar along the middle of Vosh'rava's already scarred face. The mad Sith had little time to react to Marco quickly force pushing him towards the flames, sending him into the fiery blaze with screams of agony followed shorty.
Marco was quickly helped up by Star, and the pair turned their attention to the burning figure in the blue blaze to hear the silence of screams. All they saw now was Vosh'rava's menacing figure standing still and turned to the pair to lift his hands up. The blue flames followed shortly after, the charred remains of the rug lifting the mad priest above the throne room who waved his hands around a serpentine pattern, moving the blue flames like a striking cobra.
Soon after, the flames were moving like a snake, slithering and crawling along the floors while Vosh'rava stood above the 'head' of his strange mount, and began to let out an echoic cackle that bounced across the room.
"YOU COME HERE… TO DIE!"
Star and Marco looked at each other with worry, then with assurance and determination, nodding to signal what they had to do now… stand their ground.
Marco brought back his blue saber to his hand, but then used to force to bring back the perfectly split saberstaff hilts to him and Star, who grabbed one of each with their other free hand, and activated the red streak still intact. The pair faced the flaming serpent and its rider, lightsabers of both dark and light in their hands, an action that did not go unnoticed.
The surviving Bando Gora with Janna watched the whole fight play out, and when they saw the pair wield the lightsabers in their hands, it made the cultists bow at the sight. Janna simply cocked her head at the display, confused as to what was going on.
"What the hell are they doing?" Janna asked the captain patching her wound, who was also tempted to bow if not for Janna's wound.
"The prophecy is true." The captain muttered, staring off at the sight of Marco and Star. "They are the one… both are one."
Flames from the 'head' of the serpent started to unleash its barrage of fireballs towards Star and Marco, acting as if it were roaring at the two. The pair split up, dashing across the room to avoid the fireballs bursting on the ground they just stood on, while Vosh'rava directed his hands to both sides to unleash more fireballs, trying to incinerate both of his pests at once.
Every dodge mattered in their sprint, the force guiding Star and Marco to dodge and weave from the impending fireballs, flips and leaps that sent these fireballs across the room to spread more fire across the already charred room. When Star and Marco reached each other after running a half circle to the other side of the room, the flaming serpent let out a bloodcurdling screech of whooshing flames; close listeners would be able to hear Vosh'rava's screams of fury.
The flaming serpent then let out a more steady stream of blue fire towards the pair, akin to mythical creatures of old against ancient warriors of fairytales. Together as one, Star and Marco combined their force push to disperse the stream of flames away, only earning yet another furious screech from the flaming serpent that raised its 'body' up high and prepared to strike. Star and Marco didn't need the force to know what was going to happen next, simply giving each other a quick glance for what happens next.
Like a flash of lightning the flaming serpent lashed out at the pair below it, opening a gaping maw of crackling flames to consume its prey in fire, letting out its inhumane screech as it attacked. Star and Marco leaped up in the air, avoiding the maw that crashed into the wall of cobblestone, while the force lifted the pair above the figure of Vosh'rava and prepared to strike down to finish the fight.
With a spinning motion of his hands, Vosh'rava coiled the serpent's body in a spiral of inferno around his opponents, trapping all three in a flaming vortex as Vosh'rava zoomed up and above the spiral, passing through the flames without concern. With his hands clapping together in the air, the spiral began to close in on Star and Marco, constricting them in the blue blaze as Vosh'rava laughed like a madman while landing by the end of the room by the large window.
Vosh'rava cackled with glee when he stood up properly, his revealing skin charred from the flames, his long red robes charred and scorched with some parts still burning, his face revealing parts of bone and peeling black skin that dissolved into ash floating across the air.
The flaming spiral then began to move erratically around the room, like a raging twister that set the room further ablaze, beyond Vosh'rava's control which set back the Mad Sith. He tried to use all of his power to close the flames completely and create the fiery implosion to finish off his foes like he planned, but he did not think he could lose control of his own powers. That's when the flaming twister exploded in the middle of the room, scattering blue flame across the room and out of the explosion came the Jedi and the princess he thought dead, unscathed from the fire and landed next to his sides.
Vosh'rava let out another rage filled scream as he unleashed force lightning on his foes, but for some reason could not feel his own hands. That's when he saw that they were sliced clean off, and by the time he could scream, he was cut silent when red sabers impaled him through his chest. A gasp was all that could be released, the blue flames once raging around the room now dispersed, the Mad Sith looking down at his chest with a shock of disbelief; then looking up to see the unblinking faces of his victims… his killers.
"No..." Vosh'rava gasped out, feeling whatever life left in him burn out while red mist started to exhume from his body. "My death… is here… but not my… legacy."
All Star could respond with is muttering contempt.
"Just die already."
Next thing Marco knew, Star used everything she had in her to unleash a powerful force blast towards Vosh'rava, sending the mad Sith flying across the throne room and his withering body crashing through the window. Vosh'rava fell from the spire, his body dissolving in red mist in the air, until nothing but bones landed below and dissolved into ash, the red robes floating down to cover the ground.
Star panted and fell on her knees, Marco placing his hands around her shoulders to help her stand up and comfort her. All the princess could do was wrap her arms around his body as she dropped Hett's lightsaber, the Jedi padawan doing the same and wrapped his arms around her and stood together in a warm embrace.
"It's over." Marco comforted the girl, trying to sooth the now weak friend.
The Bando Gora entered the room, crowding below the pair who released each other from their embrace and looked down on the cultists. The cultists bowed before Star and Marco, scrambling to their knees as a Bando Gora captain shouted out to the crowd, the same one who helped Janna up next to Star and Marco.
"Hail!"
The captain bowed right below Star and Marco, his hands out wide to show the two off to the crowd who responded with feverous cheers.
"All hail the Ones! The Two of One! Our rightful Queen and King of the Bando Gora!"
The cult began to chant, praising their new leaders as they bowed up and down before the pair, while Janna looked at the whole scene in shock and awe.
"I can't believe this." Marco commented first. "They think we're-
"Their masters." Star finished, just as surprised as the Jedi.
The only sound that could be heard from the room was the constant 'hail' from the cultists, the shattered window behind them still shining the moonlight on the pair who stood above as Gods to the Bando Gora.
The Ones… Two of One.
O-O-O
"Master… Master?"
The words echoed in Hett's mind, his vision blinking with darkness until the voice became clearer.
"Master? Wake up."
Hett's eyes shot wide open, his vision regained and his thoughts disorientated, seeing that one arm was along around Marco's shoulder, the other on Star's. Hett stopped himself in his tracks, letting go of the two and stood himself up.
"I'm fine, young one." Hett said groggily, wiping his eyes. "I needed the rest anyways."
Marco smiled at his master's joke. "Good to know, master."
Hett looked around his surrounding to see he was outside the castle courtyard again, but his shock on his face was evident from the figures surrounding him. He recognized Star and Marco next to him and Janna as well, but was huddled close by a Bando Gora captain and several cultists around the area.
The Jedi reached for his lightsabers from his waist, only to find them not present and shocked the pair next to him.
"Wait, master!" Marco exclaimed. "It's not what you think!"
Hett gave his padawan an unconvinced look, until Star stepped in the conversation.
"It's fine, master uh, Hett!" Star assured confidently with a hint of worry. "These guys won't try to main and murder us anymore… maaaaaybe."
"She's right." Janna commented, holding her wounded shoulder now bandaged up. "I still can't believe it, but they won't kill us."
Hett took another look around the courtyard, surprise still evident on his face as he saw the Bando Gora act complacent to the group.
"I… don't understand." Hett rubbed his head, and soon asked another question with worry. "What about the Sith?"
"Dead." Replied Star with hidden malice at the mention of such a being. "Marco and I beat him. That freak won't cause any more trouble."
Hett eyed the girl and then his apprentice.
"Together?"
"Yes, master." Marco responded, unable to hide his excitement. "You should have seen Star, she was amazing!"
Star couldn't help but smile with Marco and began to express the same enthusiasm.
"You should have seen both of us! We actually beat a Sith lord together… A Sith lord! It was all like, WOOSH! POW! SHING! And we kicked his butt!"
Janna couldn't help herself but chuckle, while Hett gave Star a more curious look.
"You fought with my apprentice?"
"Yeah!" Star's enthusiasm then dropped, replaced with a more complacent tone. "I uh… borrowed one of your cool laser swords so… yeah."
"Which I still have with me." Marco took out the two lightsabers from his sleeves, both still intact and handed them to his master.
The Jedi master still felt a dark force around him, the living Bando Gora making him uncomfortable as they walked by.
"What about the…"
Hett waved his hands around him, making Star and Marco act more nervous. How were they going to say it?
"Uh well, we um… kinda are-
Marco's stuttering was abruptly interrupted by Star, blurting out her sentence in a hurry.
"Webecametheirnewkingandqueen!"
"… What?"
"I couldn't believe it either." Janna commented once more, somehow able to understand the fast jabbering. "I insisted that they should order them to jump off the spire to their dooms. Buuuuuut, they wouldn't do it."
"We can't just kill them." Marco argued back. "I already told you on the way down, they can do better things."
Janna scoffed at the statement, unconvinced by the statement.
"I forget you're a Jedi."
Marco rolled his eyes, not in the mood to get into a moral argument and more concerned about his master's wellbeing and informing him about everything that happened.
"It's complicated. Something about a prophecy and… We can explain everything while we get back to Mewni."
Hett simply nodded, going along with what was happening. He knew he missed so much when Vosh'rava defeated him, and while the dark presence of the Bando Gora still lingered, the Sith's did not. It was also worth noting that just through their expressions alone, Hett could tell Star and Marco grew only closer, despite still not being able to sense this strange bond they alone shared, a bond that only grew stronger after the duel with Vosh'rava.
So much information had to be processed, the Bando Gora's new loyalties and their prophecy, the existence of a Sith Pureblood, Star's force sensitivity, and most of all this strange bond his apprentice shared with the princess of Mewni.
"The Council will want to hear all of this."
O-O-O
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or Star vs. The Forces of Evil.