Chapter 19: The Final Battle
"Ludo, come in! Where are you?!" Tom said into a radio, as he roamed around Butterfly castle.
"Um, Ludo here." The bird-like monster said from the other end. "As for where I am…"
"I already found and fought the boy and tried to capture the girl. You were supposed to attack them from behind while I had them busy, but they both escaped! Where have you been?!"
"Um, well, you see…"
"Spit it out!" Tom demanded.
"The guards caught me and threw me in the dungeon." He finished. There was a brief pause before Tom replied.
"Even with all that training we did in the Neverzone… you're still the same incompetent buffoon from before." He sighed in frustration. "Fine. I'll break you out. But I'm getting very impatient, Ludo! Mess up again and you're on your own!"
Tom put away the radio and used his dimensional scissors to open a portal into Ludo's dungeon cell, and the short bird monster stepped through shortly after.
"Now come on! The princess and the Earth wimp are hiding somewhere and we need to find them." Tom said.
"Um, if I may ask… why do you want the princess so much?" Ludo asked hesitantly.
"Because she broke up with me! I don't care that she's afraid of her parents sending her to some boarding school because of it. And she also called me manipulative! She will be mine and no one else's!"
Suddenly Tom heard a door open and close, and he turned towards the noise to see the princess and her boyfriend running out of a broom closet and down the hall. "There they are! After them!" Tom shouted.
…
"Where are we going again?" Marco asked, panting, as he ran beside Star while they fled from Tom.
"Outside the castle. Anywhere outside. We just need a more open area." Star explained.
"Okay, then what?"
"I… actually don't really know what to do when we get there. I don't really have a plan." Star admitted. "I'm just trying whatever comes to my mind at the moment."
As they reached the doors to the garden, Star slammed them open, panting breathlessly as the two of them ran to the most open area in the garden. They weren't really sure what they were gonna do once they did get there, but at the very least Tom couldn't corner them out there.
They stopped in the middle of a grassy field (Star had no idea why there was an empty field in the gardens), and as Tom approached them, Star noticed for the first time that he wasn't alone. Her old archnemesis Ludo was there with him, although if she was being honest, she wasn't worried about him whatsoever. Marco, on the other hand, looked at the short monster with concern, worried about how difficult it would be to deal with him as well as Tom.
"Star, what do we do?" Marco asked.
"Don't worry, Ludo's a pushover." Star said. "As for Tom, well… I'm not sure." She admitted.
Suddenly, Tom shot a fireball above their heads, catching their attention. "No more running, Star! Come with me and be my queen or I'll kill the boy and force you to!"
At the threat of him killing Marco, Star tightened the grip on her wand, feeling the need to protect him at all costs.
"You take Ludo, I'll fight Tom." Star told him simply.
"B-but, but—"
"Don't worry Marco, I believe in you. I know you can handle him no problem." Star assured him.
Tom growled as his impatience got the better of him, and he threw another fireball, this time aimed directly at Marco. Star countered it easily with a blast of ice from her wand.
"You leave Marco alone, Tom!" She yelled. "And I'm not going back with you, ever!"
"I will make you mine, princess." He spat. "No matter what! Then I'll kill your little boyfriend, just for fun!"
Star's fury rose to a peak as she aimed her wand at Tom and yelled, "Super blackberry death blast!" A magical blast of blackberries hurtled directly at Tom, but he easily dodged the blast.
"You're gonna regret that." Tom growled darkly.
Meanwhile, Marco and Ludo had begun fighting as well, and between Marco's two weeks of training versus Ludo's four years, they were about evenly matched. Even though Ludo had a sword with him, Marco was surprisingly agile and had managed to dodge every attack so far. However, without a weapon of his own to fight back with, the boy was limited to only punches and kicks, which usually landed but did minimal damage.
After Marco had landed a lucky punch directly to his face, Ludo swung his sword at the boy again out of desperation, and this time he managed to slice through Marco's pants and leave a sizeable gash on his leg. He then quickly swung the sword again, landing another direct hit and cutting deep. Marco cried out in pain, causing Star to look his way, yelling his name when she saw him on the ground holding his leg just above his knee.
At first, Star had believed that the threat Ludo posed was small enough that Marco could easily handle him, but at even the slightest sign that he was hurt, Star just reacted. She fired a blast of magic at the small bird like monster, throwing him back several feet and across the ground. However, this distraction was enough for Tom to catch her off guard, and he threw a fireball directly at the back of her head.
The next thing Marco knew, Star's unconscious form had collapsed onto the grass just a few feet in front of him.
"Star!" He called out, crawling over to her. As he reached her, he pulled her into his arms, holding her protectively.
"Well, isn't this cute." Tom said condescendingly. "You seem to think you could actually protect her, when we both know you can't." Tom turned towards Ludo standing next to him, who had a smug grin plastered on his face. "Ludo! Kill the boy and take the princess."
Ludo's grin vanished and turned into an uneasy frown. "Wait… kill him?"
"Yes, kill him!" Tom fumed. "I don't care how you do it. Just get rid of him!"
Ludo hesitated for a moment. "No." He said.
"What?!"
"I said no. I'm not comfortable with killing anyone, much less an innocent kid." Ludo told him. "I may be evil, but I have standards."
"Fine, then." Tom said, picking up the bird-like creature by his head. "I'll do it myself!" And with that, Tom threw him as hard as he could into the nearby forest as he screamed the whole way.
When Tom turned back, he saw that Marco had taken advantage of the distraction and was trying to take Star back to the castle, though his injury was prohibiting his movement considerably. Tom wouldn't allow it, so he flew over to them, easily catching up to the pair, causing Marco to stop where he was.
"Alright, kid, listen up. If you give me Star, I'll let you live. If not, I'll kill you and take her anyway." He offered. "If you're smart, you'll hand her over."
"No! I won't give her to you, no matter what." Marco said, surprisingly determined for someone who was in an obvious losing scenario.
"Fine then. Have it your way." He said. Tom grabbed Star's arm and yanked her out of Marco's grip, tossing her to the grass behind him as he summoned a coffin around Marco that began to slowly close in on him. "Have fun being crushed to death!" He laughed, knowing that victory was finally his. Marco tried frantically to push on the sides to escape, but it was useless. It just kept closing in on him and he was certain he was gonna die.
Suddenly, at the very last second, something hit Tom and caused him to lose focus, freeing Marco from the death trap as the coffin vanished, leaving Marco to fall to the ground. He looked up and saw Toffee standing between him and Tom with a menacing glare directed at the confused and furious demon.
"Pathetic." He sneered. "Attacking a defenseless child just for the satisfaction of killing him."
"What the-? Who are you?!" Tom demanded.
"You mean you don't recognise me?" He scoffed, as though it should be obvious.
"All I know is you're standing between me and what I deserve, so either you move, or you die."
Toffee said nothing as he approached Tom, stopping a few feet in front of him, then swept his feet out from under him with his tail.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Tom demanded.
"Why, I'm giving you what you deserve. That is what you want, isn't it?" Toffee smirked.
In a fury, Tom flew upwards and charged up a large fireball, before hurling it directly at the lizard, who made no effort to dodge it. It landed a direct hit, but when the smoke cleared, the only damage that was done was to his suit.
"Hm. That was my favorite suit." Toffee muttered indifferently, glancing at the burnt fabric.
Taken aback, Tom took a different approach as he flew directly at Toffee, punching straight through his chest with a flaming fist, and smirked in satisfaction.
The smirk fell when Toffee simply pulled the arm out of him, and the hole in his chest quickly regenerated, until the only sign it had happened at all was a hole in his suit.
"Wh-What the-?! Who are you?!" Tom questioned, visibly frightened.
"Didn't you already ask me that?" Toffee pointed out, before answering; "My name is Toffee." He then lunged at Tom and landed a direct hit to his face.
…
Meanwhile, Marco was limping over to Star's unconscious body, trying desperately to reach her so he could know she was okay. Although if he was being honest, Marco had no idea if she was okay or not. As he finally reached her, he saw that she was bleeding from the back of her head. There was also a burnt patch of hair around the blood, and Marco quickly blew out the small embers that were still burning some strands of her hair.
"Star?" He whispered, not sure if she could hear him, but he continued even so. "I've got you, okay? I… I know I'm not very strong, a-and I think my leg might be broken, but… I promise that I'll do everything I can to keep you safe."
"T-that's… what I'm s-supposed to do."
Star shifted in his arms, turning herself so she could look into his eyes, and Marco noticed she was struggling to even keep her eyes open. She was obviously in a lot of pain, and she looked like she could slip back into unconsciousness at any second, but she managed to hold on anyway.
"Star?" Marco said softly.
"I-I'm sorry I wasn't able to protect you better, Marco." Star apologised.
"Star, you've saved me from dying so many times already. You've already done more than anyone else ever has."
"B-but what about Tom?"
"Well, Toffee's fighting him right now, so I think we're safe?" Marco said with uncertainty. The two glanced over at the lizard and demon fighting each other, and at the look Toffee had on his face as he landed blow after blow on his opponent, the two couldn't suppress a shudder running down their spines, despite the fact that he was defending them. Suddenly the pair heard some flapping behind them, and watched in awe as Queen Moon, in full Butterfly form, rushed over and began fighting Tom as well, casting several offensive spells to fight, although she was clearly tense from seeing Toffee for some reason.
The desperation on Tom's face was clear as day. Every hit he landed was rendered useless as Toffee just regenerated anyway. And now out of nowhere, the Queen herself was fighting him as well. Clearly, if things kept going at this rate, he would lose yet again, or perhaps even get killed. He remembered a spell that he could cast as a last ditch effort, but he needed room to do so.
Feigning defeat, he flew off into the Forest of Certain Death, to the confusion of everyone present, until he was out of sight, and began to cast the spell. It was an instant killer, but it required a lot of energy to cast, and once he finished charging it up, he knew he wouldn't be going down without taking at least one other person with him, and he knew exactly who he wanted to kill.
Everyone was startled when a beam shot out of the forest. It was black in color; so black that it looked like the area it tore through temporarily ceased to exist. Star and Marco's faces paled when they realized it was headed directly towards Marco, but right before it could hit him, Queen Moon put herself in the way, and once it hit her, she immediately began turning into ash.
"M-mom…" Star choked out, unable to manage saying anything else, as tears ran down her face.
"Star, I love you, and I'm sorry I wasn't a better mother for you." She said. Most of her body had already turned into ash, and within seconds, she would be gone completely. There would be no long goodbyes, she had to make it fast.
"I-I… I forgive you, mom. A-and… I love you too." Star said. Moon was able to manage one last smile, before what was left was destroyed as well, leaving a pile of ash where the once powerful queen stood. Star broke down into tears, hugging Marco for support, although he was shocked and in tears as well. Even Toffee stood there speechless, excusing himself as he headed off into the woods.
Tom knelt on the forest floor, exhausted and angry. Even his last ditch effort to get at least some satisfaction had been ruined; the queen making a heroic sacrifice to save the boy from being killed off. Through his hazy vision, he saw the lizard Toffee approaching him with an unreadable expression.
"I'll admit; your determination to get what you want is impressive. It's a shame that what you want is among the lowest of evil."
"So… what? You're here to finish me off? Kick me while I'm down?" Tom panted, unable to even stand up. "Where's the fun in that?"
"I believe our battle earlier has provided me with all the 'fun' I need." Toffee stated, drawing his sword once more. Try as he might, Tom knew he had no chance of escape. It still made him furious that he couldn't even win with all his training in the Neverzone.
As Toffee ran his sword through Tom's body over and over again, his final, dying thought was that he was still mad he was never able to kill that Earth boy.
Sorry for the excruciatingly long wait. The final chapter is next, and I'm going to do everything in my power to actually release it at a reasonable time.