"Whaddya mean, we're only on guard duty!?" Tom defiantly shouted, seemingly close to blowing up as small green flames nearly obscured his pupils.
"I mean what I mean." The lizard flatly responded as he stood in front of a mirror, meticulously adjusting and marveling over his new clothes. He has to find a way to properly repay Valentine for such stylish dress.
"You mean to tell me that the owner of one of two potentially world-ending artifacts is reduced to a watch dog!?"
"Only if you see it that way."
"Jackie! Back me up here!" Tom turned towards his comrade-in-arms, desperate for assistance in convincing his leader.
"Eh." The chill teen girl shrugged. She was in the midst of smoking a cigarette, a bad, stress-relieving habit she picked up while in Hekapoo's dimension. She seemed without a care in the world as she casually leaned against the meeting room wall.
"Wha- But we had a deal!" The demon prince threw his arms down, his irritation now directed towards Jackie. "You and I work together to separate Star and Marco, remember? If you and I came along with them, it would make reaching our goals all the more easier. Why are you so apathetic about this?"
"Why don't you relax, dude?" Jackie responded, slightly annoyed that Tom was being loud and obnoxious again. She pulled a pack from her pocket and extended a cigarette in his direction. "You wanna puff? Takes the edge off ya. You really need it, man."
"No, I told you I don't smoke those things. They're not good for you." Tom crossed his arms in refusal as he chided her.
"He's right, you know." Toffee turned towards the two teens, finished with his wardrobe preparations. "You're better off smoking a good, old-fashioned cigar."
"What!? That's even worse!" Tom's mind was now occupied with health concerns.
"Besides, it wouldn't feel right if I'm not a mafia leader or a CEO of some corporation." Jackie took another huff, followed by a puff. She was making small circles of smoke in the air. "I think I'll stick to these, thank you."
"Suit yourself. You don't know what you're missing."
"Oh my devil, can we please focus?" Tom wanted to get back on track after going off on a tangent and before he went off the rails. "Toffee, c'mon! Why are you being so foolish right now? I thought you were an esteemed warlord, but you're making decisions worthy of a pawn!"
"Look." The serpent began looking and sounding dead serious. He tired of his partner's continuous disobedience. "I understand the stipulations behind the deal we had not very long ago. I am also fully aware of the power you hold currently and your loyalty up to this point is not lost on me. Yes, this task is perhaps below your qualities and status, but this is nonetheless very important. Believe it or not, the mission we are all about to embark on is not that of combat. Or at least, not as much as you would assume. Therefore, I need you and Jackie to ensure the prevention of any outside interference. So I suggest, no, I demand that you accept this task without any further resistance. I promise that my end of the bargain will be fulfilled just yet. All I request is your patience and your unquestioning cooperation. Do I make myself clear?
Tom could only respond with a silent scowl as he tightly clenched his fists and bore his teeth. Toffee gazed back, pity in place of animosity. Jackie just kept puffing away, not giving a single, solitary shit.
"You should listen to him, boy." Eclipsa piped up, startling the demon prince as she wasn't in the room prior to her speaking up. Or maybe she was sitting at the table the whole time and he just failed to notice. Hard to say with her. "And by extension, me. I was the one who informed him of possible interference in the first place. And who are you to go against the word of she who borders on omniscience?"
"Listen to her, dude. She's all powerful." Now Jackie added to the pile of reason weighing on Tom's back. "I trust Toffee to help me keep Marco safe. Why can't you trust him with Star?"
"I... I." He put the piece of his mind Toffee was about to receive back in place as Eclipsa's blank, yet soul-searing stare took hold of his tongue and extinguished his frustrations. He heaved a sigh of loss as he reluctantly relented to the wishes of his superiors. "Fine. Jackie, ya wanna go spar again while we wait for them to get ready?"
"Can I pick the Love Sentence song this time?" Jackie asked, finishing her cigarette. She was about to instinctively toss it to the floor and stomp it out like usual. Then she remembered Tom's qualms about littering in his castle and opted to store the remains in her pocket, lest she becomes another target of his ire.
"Whatever." Tom dryly responded. Jackie celebrated with a fist pump and a hissing "yes". He left the meeting room with Jackie following close behind, leaving their superiors to themselves.
"Heh. Kids, am I right?" Toffee quipped, to which Eclipsa responded with cold indifference. The attempt at humor was not lost on her, but it failed to evoke anything. She had other things on her mind. Curiosity, specificially.
"Enlighten me for a bit, Toffee." The dark queen began, crossing her legs and her gloved arms as she spoke. "It's not that I am against the two acting as security and insurance for our coming ritual, but I must ask. Why not let them accompany us and bear witness? Surely, Lucitor's forces are sufficient enough for such a menial task. Why delegate such young, yet capable warriors like them to a post far below their skillset?"
Rather than answer her questions right away, Toffee instead peered upon the green half-crystal attached to his right palm. Being the almost all-knowing entity that she was, this simple gesture gave Eclipsa the information she needed.
"Ah, so it involves the spell you afflicted them with, correct?"
"Indeed." The suited reptile answered, his gaze directed towards her. "As you're certainly aware, the spell I placed upon them does not give me complete control over their thoughts and actions. They still have their wits about them, they make their own decisions, and their speech and emotions are not suppressed whatsoever, as evidenced by Tom's defiant outburst. This applies to Hekapoo and Rhombulus as well, though I have greater control over them, since those two were made from my magic. I simply tapped in and eked out Tom and Jackie's insecurities and desires in order to push them towards agreeing and working with me. The only thing maintaining my loose influence and their loyalty is the goal that was set for them."
"So what you're insinuating is that if they witness any misfortune befalling the object of their efforts or if they are completely unable to achieve their goals, the spell would be rendered null." The former queen confidently concluded. Being a manipulator and master mage herself helped her reach such an answer.
"Precisely. Especially if such issues were done be, whether directly or indirectly."
"But what happens in the event that they reach their goals? Do they remain under your influence?"
"More so that they are less inclined to defy or go against me during the pursuit of my own ends. But yes."
"I understand."
An uncomfortable silence loomed over the two. While Toffee had the utmost respect for his fellow pursuer of equality, he still couldn't help but feel just a miniscule amount of unease whenever he was left alone with her. Perhaps it was some passive ability she possessed as a God Hand member that allowed her to give off such a disconcerting atmosphere whenever she was present.
"Sooo." Toffee began. "I must ask. What fate will befall the current princess and her loved ones upon completion of this ritual?"
He felt a faint tingling in his spine when he caught a glimpse of a small fraction of a smile forming on her face.
"While I have only a cursory grasp on the flow of causality, it's rather difficult to pinpoint exactly what would happen. There are a myriad of possibilities and probabilities, with death being the most likely outcome. What I can say is that whatever happens will end up being... interesting."
"What the heck is going on in there?" Tom questioned as he stood a great distance from the Butterfly Groundlands. A black swirling sphere with red streaks engulfed the entire kingdom just several moments after the pillars of crystal rose from the earth. His armed forces stood nearby, also gazing upon the ethereal mass in awe and wonderment.
"I dunno, but I hope they know what they're doing." Jackie responded. She tried to remain as calm and collected as she usually was, but she couldn't help but exhibit some semblance of doubt herself. "I mean, he did say they were summoning Eclipsa's friends, right? Maybe they gotta be all flashy and mystical about it."
"I guess. Whatever this 'ritual' is, it better not involve harming a hair on Star."
"Or Marco."
"Master Tom, we have an intruder ahead!" Alerted a nearby demon soldier, pointing to the distance. Tom followed his finger towards a slender, purple haired figure running in their direction.
Tom began walking forward. He held a hand up to signal them to stop and he yelled ahead. "Halt! Cease any further movements or we will attack!"
The person didn't listen. She continued her hurried sprint despite the warnings made plain to her. Every soldier, including Jackie, that stood behind Tom brandished their weapons to provide extra intimidation. Though he was prepared to throw a fireball as a warning shot, he quickly dropped his arm as he recognized who was drawing near. She stopped just several yards away.
"Mina Loveberry?" The demon prince questioned, with a skeptical raise of his eyebrow. "Everyone put your weapons down, it's just some crazy lady. Hey, shouldn't you be digging in trash bins for day-old donuts right now? Or committed to an asylum?"
"Tom Lucitor, get out of the way!" Mina shouted, unfazed by the biting insult at her expense. "I have no quarrel with you, nor do I have time to deal with any of your nonsense. There'll be dire consequences if you don't stand aside and let me pass."
"And why should I do that?" Tom snidely asked, condescension evident in his tone. The Devil Hand filled him with overbearing arrogance as he failed to be persuaded by a fabled warrior like her. "Do you think I'm afraid of you? While I have this?" Tom raised his left arm to back his argument as he flashed a cocky grin.
While Mina was fully aware of what he has and the immense power it holds, she still refused to yield, her sense of duty suppressing all worry and hesitation. "I'm not trying to threaten you, boy. Right now, you're involved in something you will never hope to get a grasp on. And the more you delay me, the worse it's gonna get."
"And who are you to stop us?"
"Another intruder inbound!" Everyone shifted their focus towards the oncoming presence, who was riding on a horse and approaching at full speed. The quickening clops of the steed's hooves grew louder and louder as the distance narrowed. Their form soon became clear to all in the vicinity.
"Who in the world is that?" Tom questioned as he was taken aback by the stranger's unsettling appearance. From where he was standing, he could percieve a strong aura of death surrounding them.
When Mina directed her gaze towards the one in question, her expression brightened significantly. As if fortune smiled upon her, a familiar face was coincidentally coming to her aid yet again.
None of these creatures were like anything she's ever engaged with before. These things were like something out of a nightmare or a cosmic horror story. At least the body structures and anatomies of the monsters indigenous to Mewni made sense, but these affronts to nature had haphazardly placed parts and bodily proportions that were just baffling to look at. Moon wondered if some of these things even had stomachs to fill or were merely feasting on people just for the sport of it.
Regardless of how many of these foul creatures she eliminated, it seemed that several more took their place soon after. While Moon was nowhere near exhausted, she grew more and more bleak as slowly came to terms with the fact that her efforts were proving to be fruitless. She hasn't once stepped foot off the castle since she parted from Star and Marco and she was beginning to think that, by now, everyone in the Noble district was gone.
Everyone she tried to protect in the castle have already succumbed to their deaths as the monsters' numbers proved far too great to manage. All the soldiers that were within the castle were also overwhelmed as the monsters' sheer strengths, sizes, and distinct abilities were far more than they were able to handle. She could barely even save all those within the confines of her own castle. What chance did she have in preserving an entire district?
Despite all these doubts that swam in her mind as well as the numerous injuries she's sustained, Moon was kept driven by pure self-preservation as she has not once stopped swinging her sword or casting her spells for several minutes straight. If she refused to give Toffee even the smallest chance of killing her, she certainly wasn't going give it to these abominations. Even if she was condemned to certain death, she refused to let that happen. She was absolute in her defiance against such foolish concepts. She has been for years, even if some of her past actions proved otherwise.
As she kept fighting, she was slowly but surely making more space for her to breathe and momentarily gather her wits about her. She took this short respite to survey the current situation. Right now, she was in the corridor that connected the Throne room and the Main entrance of the castle. There were about a dozen more enemies ahead, fast approaching and hungering her flesh.
Moon took the fleeting time she was fortuitously given to cast her strongest spell, barring Spacial Erasure. The Moonlight Greatsword. While it was normally a highly consuming spell when cast in her regular mewman form, her boundless force of will prevented any physical ailments or deficiencies to immediately take hold of her. She held the gigantic ethereal blade in one hand in conjunction with her physical sword, and proceeded to charge the vile foes that stood before her with a screeching battle cry.
With one horizontal swing of the Greatsword, she managed to bisect three of the hulking predators at once. Such an extraordinary feat wasn't enough to demoralize their brethren as they continued their advance undeterred. In response, Moon took another swing. Then another. Then once more.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the entire castle was more or less secured. Or at the very least, there was an absence of any sentient life within the immediate vicinity, whether mewman or otherwise.
The reprieve not only gave Moon the chance to briefly rest her senses, but also allowed all the pain and fatigue to catch up and engulf her. Right when her Greatsword faded from existence, she fell to her knees upon the cold, blood-spattered ground. Her eyelids became heavy as her bodily functions made every effort not to shut down. After a few minutes of labored inhales and exhales, her nerves became electrified and she arose to make a break for the main castle entrance posthaste.
"My goodness..." Was all that she thought to say as she stepped out of the building.
Chaos. Just utter chaos awaited her beyond the castle doors. Knights and citizens alike were futilely fighting and fleeing as they fell into the jaws of the horrific creatures that invaded her home. As much as she wanted to, there was no conceivable way to save them as everyone in sight was either already eaten, in the process of being eaten, or reduced to bloody piles of torn organs and appendages.
Rather than despondently watch as her fellow mewmans were being massacred, Moon reluctantly ignored them and looked to the distance, her attention grabbed by the towering limb that overshadowed the entire kingdom. She noticed that the four pillars that initially rose from the ground vanished along with their inhabitants. From where she stood, she was able to catch sight of several monsters scaling the arm, joining the many others that were already standing on the palm.
Moon wondered why that was. There were no Pegastrikes left as all of them have been shot down earlier. And even so, none of the knights have any reason to be on the hand unless they were driven to suicidal tendencies by their own desperation. Unless...
Her heart fell and her pupils dilated as her face was engraved with a combination of tremendous fear and fury as she remembered the last person who had just used flight as transportation.
With panic affixed to her heart and no time to waste, Moon transformed into her Butterfly Form and, within the blink of an eye, took off like a rocket. As she flew through the air, she hoped and prayed that her daughter was still alive and well. Tears welled up in her eyes as the possibility of her death weighed down her composure and her psyche.
After all, being anywhere near those cosmic beings never fared well for anyone, other than those on their side. Someone was always guaranteed to either die or suffer a fate that was far, far worse.
As Marco went flying off the hand, the sight of all those monsters climbing up the arm overtook the sensation that he was being dragged by the torso and plummeting to the ground. He was at a loss for what to do as he became hyper aware that his best friend's life as well as his own was in mortal danger.
This was a nightmare. The worst type of nightmare. He was living it. Existing in it. Breathing it. All these people that were dying all around him. All these monsters with their disgusting appearances feasting on them all. These cosmic entities that gave Toffee the ability to sell the souls of every citizen of the Butterfly Kingdom. The dreadful sky, the fleshy floor, that blackened moon, this giant hand. These tentacles that wrapped around his body. There was no longer any doubt in his mind. All of it was real.
This was it. This was how he was spending his last, fleeting moments. To be eaten by some vile creature like some kind of snack. This wasn't how he imagined he would go out. His life. His future. All of that was about to blink out of existence. Perhaps River was right. Despite the fact that his life should last, theoretically, about a century, it was about to end right here and now, as quickly as it came to be. But at least he wasn't regretting any of it. His life was good thus far. More than good actually. He could at least die without anything weighing on his heart. While there were plenty of things he wished he could have discovered and experienced, none of it mattered to him at the moment. Though, he lamented not getting the chance to say his proper goodbyes to all who were important in his life. Jackie. His parents. The laser puppies. Sta-
No. He instantly brushed off every negative thought that plagued his mind as his pulsing, heating arm snapped him out of his momentary melancholy. He was suddenly pumped with copious amounts of vim and vigor as his will to live blasted its way to the forefront of his thoughts and informed him of what exactly he needed to do.
He had to fight. Not just against these creatures that threatened his life. Not just against Toffee. Not just against these god-like beings. He had to fight against the very idea that these beings upheld.
He had to fight against fate itself. He wasn't going to let something as abstract and moot as that determine his path and destination in life, regardless of what that big-headed idiot claimed.
It's what Star would do. In fact, she's most definitely doing it right now. Fighting and surviving against all the insurmountable odds clearly stacked against her. Defying the path that these so-called gods claimed they laid out for her. Well, if she's doing it, then he's going to do it, too. Head first and balls deep.
As Marco was closing in on the ground below, he managed to turn his body just enough to discover the source of the tendrils that gripped his abdomen. They came from the breasts of a topless centaur-esque female creature whose bare torso conjoined with an enlarged horse body that had a gaping mouth as attached to its front end. What served as the head for the upper body was just a thick, fleshy tendril with a stretched, ghastly face.
While he drew ever closer to the source, Marco bent his right arm backwards, slowing down time and bringing the usual Roulette to his view. He browsed for a move that would be appropriate for an imminent hard landing such as this. His eye was eventually caught by one that sounded fitting enough. The name accurately described the type of object he was about to become in order to defeat this foul beast. It only costed one orb, too.
La Bomba.
Marco's right arm raised itself towards the heavens as his entire limb was cloaked in a bright yellow glow. A split-second before he was within its reach, his fist fell down upon his captor, plunging its foremost portion to the ground. The speed of his descent combined with the strength of the technique reduced it to a damp, gelatinous pile. Its remaining portion fell limp soon after with its overly long tendrils loosening their grip. Marco managed to land safe and sound, though now covered in blood and guts.
Right as he dug his hand from the fleshy mound, more of those creatures started to surround him on all sides. They dwarfed him, outnumbered him, and their auras glowed red. They were painted in the blood and decorated in the body parts of their victims, as if intentionally trying to daunt Marco into giving up hope and letting them end his life with just one bite.
But of course, he was only driven to fight even further as he abhorred the idea of his corpse being an accessory for these wretched fiends. Rather than cower or throw his life away, he curved his body in a fighting stance, ready to take down any who drew near.
Right as the circle of monsters closed in, Marco curved his arm back once again. He searched for something that would help him disperse the crowd and provide plenty of room to maneuver. He found a Roulette move labeled in blue that sounded right for the job. It may spend two out of his total of five orbs, but he was confident that it would be worth it.
Typhoon Kick.
Marco bent his entire body extremely low to the ground. Right as their orifices and limbs were close enough to touch him, he flew high into the air, generating a widespread tornado as he performed a high-speed spin-kick that blew every monster away, sending all of them flying far distances. Many of them were torn to pieces by the instant explosion of wind, and thus died upon their landing. There were some scattered about that remained, but they were far enough for him to ignore for the time being. He commenced bolting for the hand that Star was, presumably, still standing on.
Right when he was just a moderate distance from the bottom of the hand, A giant, slimy worm creature sprung from the fleshy ground in front of him, a large splash of blood rising with it. It possessed a tube-like mouth with several, circling rows of teeth and a pair of mandibles that resembled curved blades.
There was a hitch in his breath when he noticed something different about the worm compared to all the other creatures. Not the fact that it was the most normal looking out of all that he's seen so far, but it was more of a matter of its current status.
A black-silver haze enveloped the entirety of its body.
Level Die.
Killing most of the monsters that surrounded him prior must have triggered the next difficulty. His morale lowered just a tad bit as he took a loud, stressful gulp. While conditions may have gotten worse for him, Marco courageously held his ground as he braced himself for whatever attack the worm wished to dish out.
Predictably, the worm made a relentless lunge for the boy. However, it ended up being faster than he anticipated, as he just barely managed to dive out of the way, resulting in a deep gash to his right leg and a debilitating cut to one of his tendons.
As Marco writhed in the ground, holding his wounded leg in agony, the worm dug its mandibles out of the ground and charged towards him once again. Out of desperation, he instinctively pulled his arm back once more. He chose the move that once saved him in a situation like this.
One Inch Punch.
Like before, Marco extended his open palm towards the gaping mouth of the tubular creature. Once the heat that rose from his shoulder reached the end of his palm, he clenched it into a fist, emitting an explosive flash of light. Rather than sending its entire body sky high as expected, he ended up demolishing its head, the remainder of its segmented length dropping flaccidly to the ground.
The mandibles that once flanked the dead worm's mouth fell tip first to the ground, right between each of Marco's arms and his body. A startled yelp shot from his lips as he narrowly avoided being skewered by the natural blades.
Remembering the orange he was eating prior to this nightmarish ordeal, he pulled the last segment of it out of his pocket and gulped it down without even chewing it. While the pain and the laceration on his leg faded away almost instantly, it didn't feel as capable as it could be. But still, he managed to get to his feet with only minor issue. Maybe now he could finally get to Star and provide some much-needed backup.
Marco's left arm was suddenly bitten hard and yanked towards the sky along with the rest of his body as another worm-like creature erupted from the organic ground once again. This one had a proper pair of jaws and long, sharp teeth that clamped hard on Marco's limb. Its entire length was supported by two, long rows of tiny legs, not unlike those of a centipede.
The beast swung and swayed side to side in a frenzied attempt to toss Marco of its body so it could devour him without a problem. Marco fervently resisted as as his free hand tightly gripped a solid appendage that protruded from the monster's face, keeping his entire body flat against it for the time being.
Marco was now in a dire situation within an even bigger dire situation. His arm was firmly caught between his current foe's teeth, eventually becoming completely numb, but still attached. If his body hung loosely for even a few seconds, he feared that he might lose another limb without any replacements this time. Because of that, he opted not to take the brief time to curve his arm back for one more Roulette move. Though, there was one thing that was sure to force the centipede monster to release him and it would only take a split-second. His right arm rapidly pulsed as it seemed to be urging him to do just that.
Marco quickly raised his arm to the sky, temporarily removing the braces that limited him. At the same time, his right arm emitted another explosive flash that caused the monster's jaws to unhinge. Unfortunately, Marco activated Tension Mode right as the centipede about to swing once more, and the hard, jerking motion sent the boy rapidly flying several miles towards the entrance of the Middle district and far, far away from the hand that held his endangered friend.
Rather than land on the soft, squishy, hand-patterned ground, Marco instead landed upon the remains of what was once a catapult. The hard impact against the pile of wood and metal disoriented him, blurred his vision, and brought him to the cusp of unconsciousness. Much to his dismay, he was barely able to get up with the severe bodily damages took a heavy toll on him. His left arm was left severely torn and mangled and bordering on falling off into uselessness. The muscular wound within his right leg reopened as it was nowhere near fully healed. The length of his flight used up all the time he had to momentarily use the full power of his God Hand, with the braces returned to their proper places. Thus was his abilities and his chances of survival severely limited.
Through his distorted eyesight and drooping eyelids, he managed to see another group of monsters surrounding and approaching his downed form. He shook and struggled to get up, but half of his limbs were incapacitated. He tried, and tried, and tried, the futility of his actions overwritten by his deep self-preservation and his ardent desire to resist. But alas, it seems that all of his efforts up to this point were all for naught as the monsters drew ever so closer to him, attracted by the Brand that adhered to his skin.
He felt something long and slippery wrap around his entire body, starting from his ankles and stretching up to his lower jaw. Pressure was being applied to his neck and increasing with every second as his lungs were being deprived of air and his brain of oxygen.
As the world around him gradually faded to black, he thought of a bright side where, since he'll die of asphyxiation, he won't be able to feel the excruciating pain of being eaten alive by these horrid creatures. He didn't have time to make any internal amends as his mental processes were on the verge of shutting down. However, one short, errant thought rung loudly in his ears and cut through the ever-growing silence that came with falling off of the real world.
Star. I'm sorry.