Chapter 21-The Hunt for Hekapoo
Crystal Dimension
Rhombulus and Globgor strolled through the maze of crystal prisons that lined this dimension. Although 'strolled' was perhaps the wrong word to describe it. Globgor walked with a sadness in his heart as he viewed the contents of the crystalline maze, many of the monsters contained within were his friends, his brothers. To witness them encased in these prisons, frozen and forgotten by even time itself, it filled him with an immense sadness superseded only by his desire to rescue Eclipsa. To tell the truth it was probably the only thing stopping him from crushing Rhombulus right then and there for this atrocity against his kind.
Rhombulus walked with a fixed expression of nervous paranoia, still not trusting Globgor even for a second, despite the fact the monster was now shrunk down to a relatively normal size. Rhombulus knew her could assume his normal size at any time and it would be a hard fight to stop him should it come to that.
Globgor suddenly stopped and pointed towards one of the nearby crystals, containing a humanoid figure with three eyes and a single large black tentacle in place of his left arm. The tentacle wasn't much like one would see on an octopus however, it appeared razor sharp and the end of it was almost like a dagger. It was clear this monster was a threat to any who stood against it. "This one first" Globgor commanded, without much civility to the crystal guardian.
Rhombulus mumbled under his breath about being ordered around by a monster. Globgor heard the mumbling and fired back in an annoyed tone "You say something?" he questioned as he looked down at Rhombulus. Rhombulus quickly shook his head, realising it probably wasn't the best idea to piss him off. "No no, just thinking out loud about..errm..." He thought for a moment, trying to think of what Globgor would like to hear "...How..best to save Eclipsa? Yeah..." he nervously said, hoping Globgor wasn't smart enough to see through his ploy.
Globgor raised a sceptical eyebrow, indicating he didn't exactly buy that story. However he decided it would be best if he let it go for now. "Just free monster brother" he said impatiently as he pointed to the crystal. Rhombulus obeyed and fired a pale beam of magic towards the crystal.
The crystal thawed and the monster inside fell to the floor as it tried to catch it's breath. When it finally looked up, it stared straight into the eyes of Globgor. The monster quickly bowed his head and began to speak "My lord Globgor, I can only express my upmost gratitude for freeing me, I assume I have not been here long if you are here my lord". The monster spoke, expressing great respect and admiration for Globgor.
"I here trapped too, monster brothers, whole monster tribe trapped here 300 year" Globgor replied, drawing a shocked gasp from the monster on the ground. "300 years!?" he cried out in surprise "How is that even possible!?" he said as he looked around the dimension, confused at the sight. He then turned and stared daggers at Rhombulus, who gulped and began to step back.
"You..." the monster said with a seething anger to his voice "I remember now, it was you...you locked me in this prison..you've cost me all these years..I ought to slice you in two for this, bastard!" The monster began to lift his razor-sharp tentacle in preparation for an attack against Rhombulus. But he was frozen in place when Globgor placed a hand on the monster's chest.
"Me know you angry Crypton, but we need diamond man to free monster brothers, Eclipsa in danger, Helvete destroy MewMew!" Globgor said with urgency which shocked Crypton into lowering his attack. He nodded to his leader that he understood before staring daggers at Rhombulus and giving a warning in a seething tone that shook the guardian to his core. "If you betray us and try to lock any of my brothers and sisters back up after this is done, I'll cut you up into pieces too small to count, you understand?" he threatened, receiving a nervous nod from Rhombulus.
Globgor continued walking, "Come diamond man, next one over here" he said, beckoning Rhombulus to follow the monster. Rhombulus sighed in relief and muttered to himself "This is gonna be a long day.." before following Globgor to the next crystal.
Meanwhile as Rhombulus and Globgor were freeing the monster army, albiet with a lot of tension between the two, The group was debating on their next move. Star argued that they needed to save her mother and Eclipsa as soon as possible, who knows what Helvete was doing to them by now? Marco, Tom and Tamia listened patiently as Star spoke, but it was Marco who eventually cut in with his own thought.
"We're not strong enough yet to just storm in, guns blazing, and rescue Moon and Eclipsa, Helvete and his army would wipe the floor with us as we are now" he utters grimly. This drew a hurt look of betrayal from Star as she looked towards the knight with the glint of fresh tears in her eyes. He quickly clarified his remark however, stating calmly "If we had Hekapoo, we could easily learn where they are being held and then be able to stage an escape using our dimensional scissors".
Star sniffed, but was silent for a little while as she considered this thought, she then wiped her eyes and nodded with a small smile towards her boyfriend. This made Marco smile back, he knew how hard it was for Star to stay strong through all of this, but he couldn't afford for her to do anything reckless that would extinguish the last hope they had. Tom took out his dimensional scissors "Hekapoo's Dimension then?" he asked, receiving a confirming nod from the group. The king then cut a portal with the scissors and the group began to walk towards it.
"Wait!" a shout came across from the crystalline maze. The group turned in alert towards the cry, it was Rhombulus who was running towards the group with panic in his eye, a rather confused looking Globgor following behind him. "You're just gonna leave me here? With.." Rhombulus hesistated before uttering the next sentence, becoming increasingly aware of Globgor standing behind him. "...with...them?" he said quietly, indicating to the small force of monsters he'd already freed, as well as the sea of frozen one's he is yet to free.
Globgor rolled his eyes at this "We no hurt you diamond man, you free monster brothers, they no attack unless Globgor say so, and Globgor no say so" he said in a slightly annoyed tone at the accusation that the monsters would hurt Rhombulus. Star smiled sweetly at Globgor "Thank you Globgor" she said pleasantly, drawing a toothy grin from the beast. She then looked down at Rhombulus "See? You'll be fine, besides, we'll be back once we're ready to take down Helvete alright?" she said sternly.
Rhombulus simply nodded, a tad embarrassed at his actions, and then walked off into the maze to free more of his trapped souls. Globgor gave one final farewell to Star and the group before turning and walking behind Rhombulus into the crystals. With that settled, the group entered the portal, and began their mission to find Hekapoo.
Butterfly Castle-War Room
Kahchi and Helvete were stood in the grand room in the centre of the former Butterfly castle. Accompanied by a series of generals and senior officers of the Helios Imperial Army, all of whom were now gathered before a map which showed the Mewnian Kingdoms, with the Butterfly Kingdom in the centre. The argument between the military men was intense as debate over what action to take was beginning to get personal.
"It is undoubtedly clear that the enemy will use the Johansen Kingdom as a forward base for their invasion of the Butterfly Kingdom, if we eliminate that possibility then this rebellion may even surrender outright!" Fired Kahchi towards his staff. The men before him were a mix of support, sceptical and even downright disapproving faces at this plan of action, another general showing his distaste when he decided to speak up.
"General it is clear throughout these campaigns that your plans have always led to problems with the battles, certainly we have won victory upon victory, but suffered unacceptable and avoidable losses throughout this war as a result of your underestimation of the enemy forces, I fear once again you'll lead our armies into the jaws of death with this invasion, and just how many times do you think our forces can come up victorious if you keep this trend going?"
The general spoke in a dismissive and very blunt tone towards Kahchi, who looked more and more furious with each syllable that escaped his subordinates mouth. He slammed the map table in rage, causing the figurines upon it to shake and topple as the counter shook with the force of his blow. "How dare you question my methods!" He yelled in anger, staring the general down as he voiced his offence "I have won the empire for our emperor! My tactics and war plans have brought us crushing victories against our enemies and I'll be damned if I take criticism from a man who's divisions have suffered the worst casualties of this war as a result of his leadership!"
This argument was now escalating to personal levels, and as the two generals continued to bring the disagreement to a peak, one or two of the quieter officers began to notice how uncharacteristically quiet that the emperor was being. Helvete was stood at the end of the map table, his eyes closed with an impacient expression on his face, as though he was waiting for something and it was starting to get on his nerves with how long it was taking. The officers who noticed fell silent and drew their expectant gazes towards the emperor.
After a small while, more and more officers around the table took note and began to quell their arguments, until it was simply Kahchi and Uritas who were left to argue at what was now a shouting match. "At least I'm not so incompetent that I was injured in a one on one fight by some teenage knight who's never so much as commanded a battle before!" Uritas yelled at Kahchi, who immediately clutched the wound Marco had given him in their previous battle.
"Maybe you'd like one to match!" Kahchi yelled at the top of his voice as the two men began to draw their swords in expectance of a fight. But before one could lunge towards the other, a voice cut through their expressions of rage and hatred. "Enough! Fight in here and I'll put you both down where you stand!" Came the angered voice of Helvete, who had finally opened his eyes and was staring in anger at the two generals, his pupils glowing brightly as he spoke.
The two generals immediately placed their swords back into their scabbards and dipped their heads in shame, much like children being punished by a parent. The emperor then sighed with fustration and his eyes lost their glow. "Are you two are quite finished with the pathetic argument?" he asked unnervingly calmly. The general's simply nodded in agreement, not daring to speak up to the emperor.
"Excellent, that's what I thought" He spoke calmly, finally smiling as he directed the men's attention towards the map. He zoomed the map into the Butterfly kingdom itself, confusing the men around him who assumed he was planning another invasion. Instead he pointed to Butterfly castle and said simply "This, is our enemies prize, is it not?". This question drew a confused series of nods from his generals.
"Exactly, so...why not let them fight for it as they wish?" he said, a wicked smile crossing his lips as the officers once again looked on with expressions of confusion and nervousness at just where the emperor could be going with this. "The plan gentlemen is very simple, we let them come to us" he spoke plainly.
Pointing towards the map he began to outline his defensive plans for the city. "The enemy will gather whatever forces they can, but they know that a defensive war for them will not only gain zero ground back for Mewni, but will only ensure that they lose in a more languid fashion" he points out as he begins to use the tip of his finger to craft drawings of flame upon the stone of the map, these drawings outlining the defences he planned to construct for his newly captured city.
"We will use our armies to mount a defence of this kingdom that the enemy will never be able to break through, they'll crash against this city like water on a mighty cliff, using this method, we will bleed their forces dry, slaughter their leaders and bring their hope crashing down into the dust" he spoke with a passion and sinister tone that, while the generals delighted in the idea of finally bringing the war to a close, they found disturbing at the same time. It was as if this man found far too much pleasure in bringing such destruction upon so many, but none of them was about to argue this with him.
"Once this little battle is done, and the last of the Butterfly family lie at my feet, then we can sweep up the Lucitor and Johansen kingdom's at our leisure" he said, that sinister grin taking evermore precedence on his face as he imagined just how far his empire would stretch, it was larger than even his most ambitious plans had ever even considered, it would be a lie to say he wasn't deeply excited at the thought.
The officers however could not entirely see the same vision as the emperor, they were far too concerned by what could go wrong. This is essentially allowing an invasion of the empire in order to defeat it's enemies, they would have to concede land in order to obtain victory. They'd never fought like this in all of their history, none of these officers knew how to fight in this way. Just like that, the murmured voices of the officers began to fill the room. None dared speak louder than a low murmur but the voices were unmistakably there, and Helvete noticed them quickly.
"Is there a problem gentlemen?" he spoke darkly, his eyes glowing lightly as he spoke, demonstrating to the officers that there was consequences for an incorrect response here. The officers chose to shake their heads in a fervent gesture of denial that they had any problems with this new plan presented before them.
Helvete's expression turned into a pleasant smile as he began to direct his officer's gaze towards the map once more "Good, you had me worried for a moment there, now, let's organise the defensive lines shall we?".
Hekapoo's Dimension
The gang emerged from the portal to find themselves stood before Hekapoo's castle. Although compared to the grand castle's of the Butterfly's, the Ponyhead's and the Lucitors, this was more of a turret. But it was what the scissors master called home and as so it was deemed a castle despite it's size.
Marco emerged from the portal last, Immediately he was concerned by the sight of the castle. It was far too...quiet. This place was usually guarded by not only a small platoon that Mewni had stationed here for protection of the scissors master that was one of the primary factors of Mewni's power, but also the lack of Hekapoo clones that also personally guarded her home. There was always at least two of them as guards on the door, but now...nothing.
"Something's wrong here" Marco said instinctively, this drew immediate looks of concern from those around the knight, especially Star. "What do you mean Marco?" Star asked with a concerned tone towards the knight. Marco remained on guard, drawing his sword and looking around for nearby threats. "There are always guards here, a whole Mewnian platoon is stationed here...where are they?" he questioned in a paranoid tone as he continued to scan the area.
"Maybe they were called back to Mewni to defend it?" Star suggested, trying to calm the boy's nerves. But it didn't work, Marco remained on guard and cautiously drew closer to the turret entrance. "Not a chance, they can only be re-called on my orders, Queen Moon didn't even know they were here, by rights they should still be here" he spoke nervously as he continued towards the door to the turret.
"Well...you did order them to the rich pigeon kingdom, maybe they're still there?" Star said, still desperately trying to calm her boyfriend as she watched the paranoia over the situation take hold. But Marco simply responded with the same calm, unnerving paranoia that had filled his other statements. "I had them there for one day, then they were ordered back here, besides, I doubt they stayed in a burned kingdom"
With that, Star had had enough, she slapped Marco sharply on the cheek, which snapped him out of his paranoid trance as he came back into reality and looked at Star, an expression of hurt and surprise on his face.
"Sorry Marco" Star expressed apologetically, plunging herself into the knight's arms as she hugged him tightly in sadness. "I just...can't stand it when you get like that" she said, clearly upset as Marco returned the hug. "It's okay Star, I'm sorry for getting like that...just...there's definately something wrong here" he said as he loosened his grip on the Princess. Star looked up to him with her ocean-blue eyes and nodded as the two prepared to burst through the door of the turret.
The group burst through the oak doors of the turret, Marco and Star leading, the scene that greeted them only served to heighten Marco's growing feelings that something was extremely wrong.
They entered the turret to find the place barely lit, shrouded in blackness save for a couple of torches whose embers still announced their presence against the surrounding blackness. The pool of magma that used to inhabit the central area of the turret was now gone, claimed by the darkness much like the rest of the tower so the group could not tell what had happened to it. Marco held up his hand and faced his palm upwards and spoke gently into his palm "Hikari".
As Marco spoke, a small ball of light appeared in his palm. The light grew at Marco's command and illuminated the space around them, revealing just what had become of Hekapoo's home. Needless to say the scene didn't fill Marco with confidence. It was a scene of chaos, as if a great struggle had happened here. Marco needed a better look, so he turned to Tom and Tamia. "Could you two light the torches in here? I need a better view of the space" he asked. The couple behind him nodded and the two simultaneously fired small beams of flame into the torches around the turret, illuminating the place. To ensure the place was lit well, as well as tease Tom a tad, Tamia fired a small beam into the centre of the turret.
The magma pool that had previously been darkened and blanketed by the cool stone that now lay on top of the former magma, now lit up as the pool once again glowed with life and fire. Tamia admired her handiwork and looked back to Tom with a confident grin. Tom pouted jokingly, "Now you're just showing off" he said in mocking hurt, drawing a giggle from the Princess.
Marco was speechless at the sight of the illuminated turret, it had simply confirmed his fears. The walls, ceilings and floor were scarred and battered by the damage that only a hard fought battle could bring. Scorch marks and great slashes into the stone were everywhere, as well as in places whole walls had been blasted out, revealing the separate rooms away from the main space. But what shocked Marco and the rest of the group the most, was the bodies of Mewnian knights and Helios soldiers alike strewn across the floor with terrible injuries and wounds across them all. But not a peep from any of the fallen souls that littered this, now forgotten and lonely, space.
The group carefully made their way through the turret, attempting to not disturb the sleep of the dead that now occupied it. Marco found the lack of Hekapoo, alive or not, disturbing. She's been attacked here in the past but nothing ever caused her to abandon this place. The pool of Magma in the centre was the only place across the dimensions that her scissors could be manufactured after all.
The group jumped suddenly at the sound of a groan in the corner of the open room. Turning towards the source of the noise, they were greeted by the sight of a barely alive Helios soldier. The man was bleeding heavily from a wound just below his ribs, his uniform dyed a deep crimson by his blood. But he still clung desperately to life through the pain and looked up towards the group.
"Oh...just great" he spoke sarcastically through the grimace of pain as well as the spluttering of blood from his lips as he coughed constantly through his attempts to speak. "Just..fucking great, first that bitch kills my platoon and now I'm found by the enemy...just my luck.." he speaks to himself as he looks up towards the group, who by now had surrounded the soldier.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and kill me you Mewnian scum" he seethes at the group. But the group mostly ignore his words and begin speaking to each other. "We need to get him to talk" Marco said "It may give us a clue as to where Hekapoo went, and more to the point any plans Helvete might have". Tom looked sceptically at Marco "You think he's just gonna talk?" he questioned, but before Marco could answer, Star spoke in a dark tone that Marco had never heard out of her before.
"We make him talk..." She spoke darkly. Marco looked back towards the princess with a shocked expression on his face. Was she really implying what he thought she was? No, no that wasn't Star, that wasn't how she does things. "Errm Star?" he said cautiously, but her expression was blank, a burning stare down to the dying soldier below them, it was a stare of pure hatred. It frightened Marco and Tom equally as they looked at each other with mirroring expressions of concern for the girl.
"Star, you can't be talking about what I think..." Marco began to say before he as cut off by Star snapping at him "So what if I am!?". This statement stopped the knight dead, it was so unnatural of Star to even consider this sort of option, he could feel himself becoming saddened and angry at this change in this girl who he adored so much.
"Star, that's not you...that's not us...That's how Helvete does things" Marco said sternly. "Yeah Marco..." Star said as she looked down with an expression of fixed anger and a tear flowing down her cheek "...and it's clearly helping him alot, he won't show my mum or Eclipsa any mercy..why should I do the same for his soldiers?" she spoke in anger, her tone growing harsher as she directed the wand at the soldier. But Marco stood between the two immediately.
"Move Marco, He's going to tell me where my mother is, whether he wants to or not" Star spoke in anger, but Marco wouldn't flinch to her words. "No Star, I'm not going to watch you do this!" Marco yelled, just as Star was about to fire back with her own argument, Marco placed a finger to her lips. "I won't watch the girl I love do something that she'll never come back from, we need to beat him, but we can't become like him in pursuit of that...please Star..." Marco pleaded as he stroked the girl's cheek lightly, wiping away the tears that flowed from her eyes as he did so.
Star fell to her knees, Marco kneeling down to catch her and hold her close to him, her sobbing the only sound coming from the pair. "I'm...I'm sorry Marco" she stuttered through the sobs. Marco simply stroked her golden hair gently and soothingly as he began to shush the girl. "It's okay Star...It's okay" he said gently.
The Helios soldier breathed a sigh of relief but then began to laugh through his pain "So, you really are just as weak as the emperor says...I hope he makes it painful for you" he says darkly through the struggle of his pain. Tom goes to hit the soldier but Tamia stops him. She doesn't say a word as she kneels down to look the dying man in the eyes.
"Do you know who I am?" She asks calmly. The soldier looked at the girl confused, he'd never seen her in all his life how did she expect him to know her. Just as he was about to tell her this, the man paused, gazing at a necklace that hung down at Tamia's chest. The pendant was...familiar.
"It's...That's impossible" the man stuttered as he looked back into Tamia's scarlet eyes as they dazzled and shone with brilliance. "You...can't be? P...Princess Tamia?" he said in a shocked tone. Tamia simply nodded, a small smile of kindness on her face. The soldier could scarcely comprehend that it could be true. It would mean that, everything they ever fought for...vengence and to honour the memory of the fallen princess, it was a lie?
"But..the Princess fell, she was killed in Eclipsa's attack, the...the Emperor was left with nothing" the man continued to stutter as he attempted to make sense of it all. But Tamia spoke calmly down to the man. "My father seeks only his own empire, he must be stopped, please..tell me everything you know, we can help you".
The man hesitated before sighing and pulling himself up as best he could, grimacing as he did so. "My apologies your imperial highness, but I cannot disclose what I don't know...but I will tell you the mission we came here with" he said, drawing a kind nod from Tamia as she listened.
The soldier reached into his jacket pocket, handing the Princess a small book, marked with bloodstains. "My unit's orders were to come and capture Hekapoo before she could assist the Mewnian forces in exile, we hadn't expected to run into a division of knights but they weren't strong enough to beat us" The soldier hesitated and gulped with fear as he struggled to continue his speech for the next part.
"But her...she..she was like a one-woman army, She tore through us with ease!" The soldier looked around the scene of carnage before him and despaired as he saw the faces of many of the men, his brothers, who he had served with "The first thing I saw was my commander's arms fly off as her blades sliced through them, after that I was on the floor, struggling to breathe...I don't know where she's gone but thank the heavens she's not here"
Tamia soothed the soldier, "It's okay, she's not here, she can't harm you anymore...thank you" She said as the soldier's eyes began to close slowly. "I'm..glad I got to see you before this moment Princess, it's clear why the empire calls you what they do" he chuckles, as he breathes his last and slips into eternal slumber.
Tamia stands, looking towards Marco "Well, she's definitely not here, what now?" She asks with a sadness to her eyes over the death she'd just witnessed. Tom, seeing this, took hold of her hand gently, drawing a small smile from Tamia as she kissed his cheek as a small thank you, causing Tom to blush heavily.
Marco, still holding Star close, thought for a moment before coming to a realisation. "There's one place she may be...it's a long shot but it's all I got" He said as he gestured for Tom to hand him the scissors, which the king did without hesitation. Marco looked down to the blonde haired girl in his arms and gently whispered "You okay to go Star?". Star looked up and sniffed, drying her eyes and nodding to Marco. "yeah, I..I'm sorry I got like that Marco...thank you for stopping me...I'm..sorry" she said in a small tone.
Marco placed a hand under the girl's chin and brought her gently into a small kiss. "It's okay, I'm just glad you're back to my Star again" he said with a smile as the girl smiled at his sweet comment. The couple stood and Marco cut a portal into the air. "Where are we going Marco?" asked Tom sceptically. Marco continued towards the portal and said simply "The Dragon's Spit".
Dragon Spit Bar-Unknown Dimension
Star and Marco were the first ones to emerge from the portal, swiftly followed by Tamia and Tom. All aside from Marco gazed on the building before them with questioning expressions, Star especially given the atmosphere of the place. Even the outside alone gave it the impression of being a run-down, rough bar with several of the windows missing and smashed.
Star looked up with a questioning expression at Marco. "Marco, what is this place?" she questioned as she looked at the dilapidated building. As she watched, the body of a man came flying through the window and crashed to the ground as the noise from within the building went back to a mix of merriment and yelling.
The man who'd flown through the window got back up and began walking off with a drunken shout of "Yeah? Well we'll see who's the big guy the next time you need a shield, you monster loving fuck!" before disappearing off into the night. This scene only made Star bring her hands to her hips as she crossly looked at Marco for an explanation.
Marco nervously scratched the back of his head, "Okay so I can explain this..." he stuttered as he looked the girl in the eye, only to be met with a raised eyebrow from Star. "Go on..." she said sceptically as she tapped her foot expectantly.
"Well, me and Hekapoo used to visit this place to celebrate back when we were closing those portals you kept opening yknow?" Marco said nervously as Star nodded. "Yes I remember, keep going.." she said, still impatiently. "Well, I'll be honest, it used to be a lot nicer.." Marco said nervously as he looked on the, now dilapidated and ruined building. "They did pretty good shakes and stuff, it was always kinda rough but I guess it's gotten worse over the years" He said.
Star was still sceptical but sighed and asked calmly "Okay, so what's the plan then? Why would she be here?". Marco looked towards the door and began walking in, turning his head to Star as the group followed him "I can't guarantee she's here, but it's the only place I can think of" he said as they walked in.
As the group came through the door, the noise of merriment and drunken conversations suddenly came to a dull murmur as the faces around the bar turned to the group. Mixed expressions of distrust and paranoid anger greeted each of the group members as they looked around. Marco spoke under his breath, loud enough for the group behind him to hear. "Don't make eye contact, we'll be fine, just keep your calm and stick with me" he said with a hushed, urgent tone. The group obeyed and kept their gazes fixed on the bar.
As the group made it to the bar the landlord, A tall, stocky man with a thick bearded and scars dotting his entire body from the countless battles he'd seen in these walls, approached and asked in a gruff tone "What'll it be?". Marco took on a serious tone and ordered a Dwarves ale. Star quietly requested a small glass of port, Tom got a single glass of straight whiskey and Tamia got a white wine, though the landlord wouldn't tell her what kind it was.
Star whispered to Marco while the landlord deposited their payment into his register "Why'd we order drinks here anyway? We're here to get information not have a pleasant drink" she said with concern. Marco whispered back "These types of people don't tend to take kindly to folks who come in and don't buy anything, just go along with it for now okay?" he pleaded with the girl, who begrudgingly accepted this argument and sipped her drink quietly.
"I need help finding someone" Marco began as the landlord handed the knight back his change. "Who's the guy?" the landlord asked, once more in the gruff and uninterested tone he had taken their order. Marco calmly sipped his drink and attempted to look natural as he spoke, despite the constant feeling of eyes in the back of his head. "She's not a guy, we're looking for Hekapoo" he said. At this the dull murmur that was present before suddenly stopped, the bar was now so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Immediately Tom, Tamia and Star went on their guard, nervous as to what could happen now and what these people would do. The landlord leaned closer to Marco and gestured for Marco to follow suit, which the knight did. "Thought I recognised you, but let me clue you in there Sir Knight, she's in a bad state...not physically no, but her rage is boundless" the landlord looked genuinely frightened at this point and looked nervously towards a door to the rear of the bar.
"I'll take you to her, but..just know that the last guy that went in there...he didn't come out, I daren't check even now that the screaming has stopped" he said quietly with a shaky voice as he gestured for the group to follow him. Looking back towards the patrons, that look of distrust and paranoia had now transformed in all of their eyes. It was now a universal look of fear and dread. This didn't serve to calm Tom, Tamia's and especially Star's spirits.
The landlord led the group down to a closed door at the end of a small hallway to the rear of the bar. Silently he pointed to the door and then made his way back to his bar as quick as he could. The group simultaneously gulped as they looked at each other nervously. "Well...here goes nothing" said Marco quietly before he knocked on the door loudly.
"Get lost!" came the angry voice of Hekapoo from behind the door, a portal opened next to the group and a fist came flying out of it, hitting Marco square in the face. "That was your only warning, now whoever you are, Piss off!". Marco adjusted his nose as Star quickly rushed to his side to check on him.
"I'm fine Star, she doesn't hit as hard as she thinks" Marco chuckled before knocking on the door once again. "Hekapoo it's Marco and Star, cmon just open the door" Marco pleaded with the scissor maker through the door. A sarcastic laugh came from behind the door "Nice try scum, but Star and Marco will be long dead by now...all because I couldn't see that bastard coming." This last part sounded sad as the sound of sniffling was heard from behind the door. This was interrupted quickly by a rapid turn to shouting once again. "Now get lost! Final chance!"
Marco thought for a moment, then a sudden idea came to his mind, He grinned at the thought and chuckled to himself, much to the confusion of Star, Tom and Tamia. He walked close to the door and cleared his throat. Saying quite clearly in his rugged adult Marco voice "Please H-Poo" before standing back from the door.
Star, recognising the voice, felt her heart's immediately glow bright as the image of Marco's adult form filled her mind. Noticing this Marco chuckled to himself and looked back towards the door, expecting any kind of response. To his pleasant surprise, the door cracked open to reveal an upset looking, but heavily blushing Hekapoo. "Marco? Star? You're...alive!" she said as she happily ran up to the couple to seal them in a cripplingly tight hug.
A/N: Hekapoo has been found and both sides now prepare for the final confrontation, which side will attain victory in this war that has torn all of Mewni apart? Until Next time guys :)