Merpy Birthmas Star! As a belated Stump-Day/Christmas gift, here is the latest chapter!
One more left…
There was only one more seal to find before Ragnarok is freed. One last chance to prevent a disaster and rescue Marco, failure was not an option. It had been a day since the fight in the Underworld, since then there has been nothing but radio silence on leads. The squad waited it out by doing some combat practice near the hill of flags. The day had passed and the sun had set without anything happening.
"I think that about covers the basics, ready to spar for real?" Kelly asked to the girl in front of her. Before her, Janna held a wooden sword in her hands, looking as determined as ever "Hit me with your best shot Kells!"
The girls took their stances on the field; Kelly swapped her giant sword for one more like Janna's before they began. Tom stepped in the middle of them with a handkerchief "Ready, set, fight!" he dropped the handkerchief and got out of the way. Janna dashed at Kelly and ferociously swung her sword at the Woollett, to her dismay Kelly blocked it all "Janna, focus! Your swings are too sloppy to do any real damage!"
Stepping back, Janna thrust out the sword many times, Kelly stepped back and knocked the sword from her hand in one hit "What did I say about technique?! You'll never win in a fight if you only focus on stabbing someone!"
"Aw, but stabbing's the fun part!" Janna huffed.
Kelly shook her head in disappointment "Sword fighting is more than just hitting people, it takes a lot of work and you have to focus on defense as much as offense." She grabbed Janna's wooden sword from the dirt. She tried to hand it back to the girl, but Janna made no move to grab it "You know, I think I'm done." She pushed the blade back to her friend "What?! You can't give up that easily!" Kelly protested.
Taking a seat next to Tom, Janna laid back against the grass with a dejected sigh "Sword fighting just isn't my thing, it's yours. Thanks for trying to teach me self-defense but I don't think this is for me." as much as Janna hated feeling powerless, she just couldn't get invested in the learning that came with wielding a weapon.
Tom glanced at her from over his shoulder "You could always try another weapon?" Janna frowned at his suggestion "We don't have the time for me to master any kind of weapon! Our next fight could be at any time, I'll just get in the way again." She rolled over so her face was mushed against the grass "You guys are the ones who can fight, call me if you need surveillance cameras or tracking chips."
Kelly turned around and called to another of her friends a few feet away "Star, can you please tell Janna that-oh." Laying eyes on the blonde mewman, she saw her absentmindedly playing with the strings on the hoodie she wore, a longing gaze in her eyes as she felt the cotton between her fingers. Kelly approached her and placed a hand on her shoulder "You're not gonna slap me again, are you?" Star looked up at the woollett "Nah, you seem to have yourself pulled together at the moment."
Star smiled "As best as I can for now…but…" her smile fell once more as she pulled the hood over her head "I feel so lost about all of this. I have magic again, but only light magic, Marco has dark magic and we still can't get through to him, on top of that I'm trying to prevent some spirit from being released that I know nothing about! I just…I need some answers…"
Kelly was about to open her mouth to speak, when out of nowhere a red glow appeared in the sky. The once white moon had become red as the teens glanced up at it, Pony was snoring loudly on her own until the light woke her up "Whazzat-huh?" now that the Blood Moon had all of their attention, it proceeded to flash rapidly.
"Uh I think the moon is broken?" Tom watched the light in confusion as the girls stood beside him. Pulling the hood off of her head, Star recalled what Alphonse mentioned "The Blood Moon communicates in morse code, without Alphonse to translate I have no idea what it's trying to say."
"Really! Well that is super helpful actually!" Pony responded to the flashes, earning a bewildered stare from her friends "Uh, why y'all staring at me?"
"Pony Head, you know morse code?!" Star did a double take at the floating equestrian head, who nodded in confirmation "Heck yeah girl! I know every language, that way I always know when people are talking about me!"
"Well don't just float there, translate!" Janna impatiently reminded her.
"Oh right! So BM here says it has an idea where the final seal could be!" Pony translated the crimson flashes, earning hopeful glances from the others "Where?!" Star demanded to the moon. It flashed some more, making Pony's eyes widen "Seriously?! There!?"
"Pony Head!" the other four groaned in unison, reminding her that they needed her translation "Oh right, right! The Blood Moon said it might be at St. O's!"
"What? Why would it be there?!" Star tried to think of any connection to the place with the commission, other than it being where they took Meteora she couldn't think of anything.
"So like apparently before it was turned into a school, it belonged to some guy named…Reynaldo-ooh! That's the name in front of the library there! We just roped that place off when we gave that place a makeover!" Pony translated the next few flashes, before remembering what she saw during her time there.
"Who's Reynaldo?" Tom wondered aloud, looking to Star for an explanation. The Mewman wracked her brain "I think that was the name of the fifth guy on the Magic Commission. He retired after one of my grannies accidentally cursed him to always speak in rhyme, I never met the guy…although…" Star remembered the first time they went to St. Olga's, while she and Marco were running from the guards they passed through an odd chamber "I think I've passed the seal before."
Clapping her hands together, Star gathered everyone's attention "Back your bags people, it looks like we're going back to school!"
OXOXOXOX
Coming out of a portal, Star and her friends arrived at the vicinity of the school that once brought horrors untold to the blonde princess. The Blood Moon flickered back in as the others approached the opened gate, the other side looked like a ghost town. Missing were the rowdy princesses that had assumed control of the school, the robot's that once guarded the place laid scattered on the ground, deactivated and covered in dust.
"I thought this place was party city? Where'd the party go?" Janna nudged a robot out of her path.
"When the magic was destroyed, it took everyone back to their own dimensions." Star thought back to what she did half a year ago "Me and Marco are the only ones able to open portals right now, guess that means the place is abandoned."
"Oh, sweet!" Janna knelt down and started rummaging through the guard's carcass "Then it's totally cool if I take a few doohickeys from these guys!" she held up a knot of colorful wires and bolts.
The group reached the front door and was about to head inside, but a red flash caught their attention "Oh, Blood Moon!" Star turned to the space rock apologetically "Thanks for all your help, but you kind of…can't go inside buildings…cause you're a moon…"
The Blood Moon seemed to take offense to that and flashed back, Star pondered on what to do before coming up with an idea "I got it! Since she understands you, Pony Head can stay out here to keep you company!"
The Blood Moon frantically flashed, opposed to the idea, but none paid attention "Sure thing B-Fly! Less work for me to do!" the floating head went on up to a spot on the roof as everyone else went inside. The Blood Moon flashed for them all to come back to no avail, left alone outside with the self-absorbed princess in the cold of night "Alright, so hey, Star says your like some ancient spirit or whatever? You probably don't have a phone or something so you've never seen my hit show, The Pony Head Show! As a favor, I will recap the whole series up to-why are you flashing 'SOS'?!"
OXOXOXOX
Inside the school, it was covered in pitch black darkness. Kelly felt around the wall for a light switch, having no luck whatsoever "Anyone got a flashlight?" "Nope, but I got demon fire." Tom held a flame in his hand and lit the dark entry hall before the quartet; empty pizza boxes littered the ground and confetti stuck to the wall with dried syrup "Guess it was the janitors night off." Tom snarked.
Star went around and poked her head into different doorways, looking unsure about each one "Yo Star, which way was that room?!" Janna called from across the hall. Star came back over near her friends and sighed "I have no idea! We were in such a hurry to escape the guards, I didn't even pay attention to where we were heading!" her eyes searched the room and landed on a random hallway "We're just going to have to get lucky and find it on our own." She motioned for her friends to follow as she trekked down the darkened hallway "I bet we'll find it in no time!
20 Minutes Later…
By the eighth corridor, the group was losing morale "Can't this stupid place have a directory?!" Star cried in frustration "I think we've already walked through this hall!"
"No, you're thinking of the hallway left of the Turdina wing. It looks just like this one, but the graffiti on the wall says 'No Rulez, Heinous Droolz' instead of 'No Rulez, Extra Bacon'." Tom pointed out.
Star gripped her hair in her hands "I don't care! Every hall in this whole stinking place looks exactly the same! We could be walking in circles for hours and not run into any-"Star stopped as her face collided with a door.
"Star look out, your about to hit a door." Janna warned her a little too late. The blonde rubbed her nose to sooth the stinging pain "Thanks Janna." She spoke sarcastically. Peaking up, she noticed the sign above the door "Reynaldo's Library-Oh! We finally found something!" Star perked up "There has to be a map of this place in the library!" she rushed inside the large wooden doors, the other three followed close behind.
While not as large as the study in the Monster Temple, the room held no shortage of books. Rows and rows of bookshelves spanned across the entire room, a small pedestal for reading sat against the far left wall "If I were a map, where would I be?" Star wondered aloud as she scanned the nearby wall. Tom, Janna and Kelly spread out to search the rest of the room, Tom put out his flame and let the room turn black "Tom!" all the girls shouted.
"How am I supposed to search without burning the books?!" he shouted back.
"How are we supposed to search without any light?!" Kelly shot back.
Holding her hands firmly together, Star concentrated as she cast a spell "Firefly Bella Glow!" she released dozens of tiny fireflies into the room, they floated above the shelves and lit the room like a bunch of lightbulbs.
Admiring her handiwork, Star gave herself a pat on the shoulder before skimming through the books on the shelf "Nope, nope, nope, nope…" she muttered as she read each title.
Going through the aisles, Tom found a large pile of books on the floor in the middle of the children's section "Why does this place even have a children's section?" he thought aloud as he knelt down to pick up some books, reading their titles as he placed them back inside the bookshelf "Baby's FirstStump Day, The little Corn Farmer that could, Queen Galaxina and the defeat of Ragnarok, The Flying Pig-Goat-"he stopped. He grabbed the book he had moments ago put back on the shelf and stared at it in disbelief "Uh, guys…I think I found something!"
Everyone dropped what they were doing and gathered around the pedestal, Tom laid out the book he found "Queen Galaxina and the defeat of Ragnarok…look at the front!" he pointed to the cover, the title decorated with the same images as the floor's hiding the seals.
"This is it! This is what we need!" Star grabbed the book, awestruck to finally find something useful. Janna rose an eyebrow "So the ancient information we've been looking for…was in a children's book?"
"Don't look a gift warnicorn in the mouth Janna!" Star slammed the book onto the surface and opened it up "Ooh, it's a pop-up book!" she marveled at the drawings that sprung from the page. Clearing her throat, Star began to read "Each Queen of Mewni has her own story, a beginning, middle and an end. For Queen Galaxina the Clairvoyant, the sixth in the Butterfly line, this is how her story ended…"
OXOXOXOX
Far away in Mewni's distant past, a young queen rode on the back of a warnicorn, galloping across the land as fast as it could move. The queen in question wore a suit of armor hidden beneath a purple colored cloak, a periwinkle colored crystal ball hung from a chain around her neck. Her eyes blazed a mysterious purple, contrasting to her blueberry colored hair cut to just below her chin. Jewel shaped cheek emblems colored like her crystal ball glowed against the dark of night.
Slowing her warnicorn to a stop, Galaxina looked ahead with a forlorn gaze "Your majesty!" she turned to the sound of her name, a flaming portal came from behind as five figures emerged from it "Why did you not wait for the portal to open? It is much faster than riding on your steed." The floating skull pointed out.
"Well, you may be right Omnitraxus, but I would much rather have one last ride on my wonderful companion." Galaxina dismounted and gently caressed the horse's face "Is Glossaryck with my daughter?"
"BAAAH!" Lekmet nodded affirmatively, Galaxina smiled in return "Good, she will need his guidance after tonight." Her features fell in sorrow. The giraffe-like being known as Reynaldo approached her and put a hoof to her shoulder "It is not too late, we can handle this without you."
"I appreciate your concern, but you will need my magic if we are going to win…I've already told you the alternative outcome." She reminded the commission. Rhombulus rolled his eye "Yeah yeah, the universe gets destroyed. But just because you predicted it doesn't mean it will come true! You said Glossaryck was gonna turn my arms into snakes but look-"he held up normal looking arms "No snakes!"
"Give it time." The queen responded. Rhombulus went back to pouting and looked to the girl beside him "You know, this whole thing is your fault new girl!" "I have a name, it's Hekapoo!" she poked his chest "Give me a break will ya, I was just born last week! How could I have known portal creation would give this nutcase such a terrible idea?"
"What's done is done, we cannot change the past…" Galaxina turned and walked forward "But we can change our future…"
Following their queen, the commission made their way to the top of the pitch black spire erupting from the earth. The spire looked like a nail, a swirling path to a large flat top that seemed to overlook all of Mewni. Opening a portal, Hekapoo led the six of them through a shortcut to the top, emerging to face their enemy standing in the center of the area.
"If it isn't the Magic High Commission and the Queen of Mewni, what brings you to my presence?"
"Ragnarok…" the queen glared at the person before her. Standing around 7 foot tall was the spirit of destruction in the spirit-flesh. Although his features were mostly covered by a black cloak, his grey claws and long sharp horns were exposed to the outside. His eyes held a menacing red glow from under his hood, a Mewman-like face could be faintly seen beneath.
"You know why we're here. Stop this madness at once!" Galaxina ordered.
Ragnarok let out a loud laugh, lasting for a good thirty seconds before he saw the serious expressions on all their faces "Oh, oh you're serious? Well that's unfortunate." He walked out from the center, looking to the sky above as countless portals covered the air, a new one popping up every few seconds it seemed "I am too far along to be stopped now."
Reynaldo moved in front of his brethren "This ends right now! If you surrender posthaste, then maybe your punishment will be slightly less than eternity."
"You think you are all above me, beings created by simple magic to symbolize something to the people of this dimension. I am a spirit, an embodiment of a concept itself. This is where the problem lies." Ragnarok gazed into the portal filled sky "This universe has become…chaotic. You claim to keep order, yet you only sow more chaos into reality. You manipulate space-time, allow dimensions access to others, and see yourselves as higher beings than spiritual beings. Well that portal creation that you've introduced to the multiverse will be its downfall. This universe needs to be cleansed of the chaos you've brought to it, but it is not feasible for me to destroy dimensions one at a time. But if every dimension was connected all at once, my full power will reach the entire multiverse in an instant. Bringing true order to this ruined reality."
"How is killing everyone and destroying everything order?!" Hekapoo countered.
"You mortals do not understand, in the calm of nothingness there is serenity. I was going to wait to destroy you with the rest of the universe, but I suppose you'll all be a nice warm up." Ragnarok took a single step forward; the whole commission took several steps back. Galaxina glanced between her comrades "Just a reminder, if he touches you then you'll be turned to dust in an instant."
"Baah!" Lekmet cried out, the last thing he wanted was to be reduced to dust.
"Don't worry, I got this handled!" Rhombulus stepped forward. He took his hands to his head and shot out a crystallizing beam at Ragnarok, instantly crystallizing him "This dude is all talk, there's no way he's getting out of-" the crystal prison turned black and shattered, leaving Ragnarok more angry than he was before. Rhombulus tucked his head in shame "Aww."
"That was your last mistake!" Ragnarok growled, he raised a claw and sent it into the floor, sending a crack of his power rippling towards the commission "Move!" Omnitraxus pushed the group away, barely dodging the attack. As she regained her footing, Galaxina held up her crystal ball, it glowed with magical power as she aimed it at Ragnarok "Amethyst Sphere!" a purple circle of magic surrounded itself around Ragnarok, momentarily trapping him.
Reynaldo reached into his toga and grabbed several golden discs, he threw them at the binded spirit and they exploded on impact, singing his robe but barely doing any real damage. Rhombulus jumped up from behind and shot more crystals at Ragnarok, who breathed some black mist from his mouth and melted them before they could get close.
Hekapoo multiplied herself into several clones, each armed with giant scissors as they rushed at Ragnarok. The original stood behind Omnitraxus as her clones each gave one attack to the spirit before crumbling to ash in his touch "How are we supposed to kill him if we can't touch him?" she asked the floating skull "We can't." he was at the worst disadvantage, not able to fight without physically hitting the guy.
As Ragnarok escaped from the Queen's spell, she prepared several more "Labradorite Meteor Shower!" she sent a wave of blue stars at him "Lapis Lazuli Spiral Storm!" An indigo tornado with golden specks shot out "Tanzanite Shining Wave!" a blue-purple wall of magic pushed forward. Ragnarok took some damage from each, but kept moving towards the queen regardless "You truly believe I can be taken down by some puny magic spells?" Galaxina walked backwards as he crept closer "There is no way to kill me, all you can do is delay the inevitable."
Galaxina glared defiantly "I'm not trying to kill you; I just need you to get into position."
Took by surprise for once, Ragnarok noticed each of the High Commission floating in a circle above him. The ground underneath him shined as countless runes appeared in an instant "What is this?!"
Closing her eyes, the Queen took a deep breath "Power beyond our comprehension, vacate this realm and be held in suspension." The runes changed and shot up around Ragnarok, creating a cage of light. He reached out to break it, but found the light repelled him "How?!"
Galaxina nodded to the other five, who nodded in return. Each held out their hands and released beams of pure magical energy at their prisoner, Ragnarok screamed in pain as his body glowed white, the insignia of each commission member circled around his body "In exchange for sealing a being of such evil and vice, I give my life as an equal sacrifice!" Galaxina shouted as the spell finished. Where Ragnarok stood a massive magic beam took his place, shooting into a large hole in the fabric of reality, unlike the portals below, this tear consisted of a massive door. Once Ragnarok was inside, the doors shut tightly and disappeared from existence.
The portals that filled the sky closed all at once, the spire crumbling to nothing as well. The Commission descended to the earth below, Reynaldo grabbing the queen as they fell. Away from the remains of the tower, the queen was laid against a rock, her body was pale and his breathing shallow "It worked my queen, that menace will never be free again." Reynaldo reassured the dying queen.
Galaxina gasped as her eyes turned white, her crystal ball lit up with her. It lasted for a brief moment, but when her eyes turned back to normal, she gave them a grim look "No, this won't last forever. This prison will break one day!"
"That's impossible!" Omnitraxus denied her words "As long as the commission lives that prison is sealed shut!"
Lekmet bleated loudly, Rhombulus nodded in agreement "Yeah, even without us he would need a massive energy source to break free!"
"Well make a failsafe! A way to keep it closed without magic!" Galaxina pleaded, her body shook as she laid her head back down "Give my daughter the wand, it is her responsibility now." She passed her crystal ball to Hekapoo, who made it float instead of directly holding it.
"I've had one final premonition, heed it well." Galaxina conjured five cards with her magic; each one matched the engravings on the seals "If one day magic should become lost, Ragnarok will seek to take his vengeance at any cost. Magic will be sealed inside two hosts, the brightest star and the darkened sun that are compatible the most. Though they live in harmony it will be disrupted, for Ragnarok will have one of the two abducted. The power of darkness is overwhelming unlike its counterpart, trapped within evils grasp separated from its heart. Light and darkness may fight and clash, but if united under the moonlights shield, evil shall turn to ash." Once the words had left her mouth, Queen Galaxina closed her eyes and let her body go limp.
Each member hung their heads down, silently mourning the lost queen; Rhombulus lifted his head first "Are we really going to make a failsafe? I still don't think that vision of hers will come true." The other four glared daggers at the crystalline cyclops.
As Hekapoo opened a portal back to the castle, Omnitraxus scooped up the body and they prepared to walk through…
OXOXOXOX
"We honored the Queen's final request and created five seals to act as a magicless barrier. We hid each under a mural depicting one of the tarot cards she presented us with. As her daughter Queen Cosmo the Phantom Thief prepares to have a child of her own, I wonder how far into the future did Queen Galaxina see? If ever there is a time that all of us are gone, I pray the two with light and darkness will succeed in protecting the universe from that spirit. The End." Tom closed the book as he read the final words, at some point during the flashback he took over reading it for Star.
"What demographic was this book aimed at?" Janna questioned aloud.
As the words in the book sunk in for the group, they all cast their gazes towards Star. The blonde stood off in the corner, hugging the hoodie across her chest "Star?" Tom called out.
"It's inside of me…" she mumbled.
"Come again?" Tom tilted his head to the side, not understanding what his friend meant.
Turning around to face her friends, Star tried not to freak out as she put the pieces together "Magic will be sealed inside two hosts, Ragnarok taking Marco away and the darkness taking over him, everything in her vision is happening! The brightest star and darkened sun, it's me and Marco! The magic is sealed inside of us!"
"But how?!" Kelly asked as Star began to pace around "It was when the magic realm was collapsing! Me and Marco wished to be together no matter what and-and our cheek marks lit up as the realm was destroyed! The magic hid itself inside of us, it makes perfect sense, why I can only use light magic and Marco can only use dark magic! We are compatible with it the most, I already brought the real of magic back to life once and got a golden Butterfly form that was all light! Marco-he-he had the monster arm all this time, he was affected by Eclipsa's chapter, he was stabbed by a unicorn made of the darkest spell and it didn't kill him! We were the perfect vessels for light and dark magic and it's all my fault!" Star conjured a rainbow fist punch and hit it into the wall, screaming in frustration.
The punch shook the entire building, her scream echoed through the halls. Star fell to her knees and let tears fall into her palms "All the times he was exposed to dark magic, all of them were because of me. If it weren't for me…then Marco wouldn't be in this mess."
Tom, Janna and Kelly knelt beside her, each one placing a hand in hers "Star, there was no way of knowing any of this would happen. It was the price to pay for stopping the Solarian's." Tom reminded her, Kelly nodded "If you two didn't go through that, I don't think your worlds would have cleaved together." "Not to mention, that stab wound would have killed him if he didn't have dark magic already inside of him." Janna added.
Star lifted her head to face her friends; Janna gave her a serious glance "Just because bad things happen, doesn't mean good things can't happen because of it. You read the words in the book, if light and dark team up they can kick Ragnarok's butt! That proves there is a way to bring Marco back to his senses, the two of you can fix all of this." The three of them pulled Star back to her feet "Let's nab that seal and get our dork back!"
Wiping the tears from her eyes, Star nodded in agreement "Yeah, let's!"
An idea crossed Kelly's mind "Hey, instead of finding a map, couldn't you just make a locating spell?"
Star stood in shock, her face blank of any emotion, Tom and Janna wore similar expressions "Kelly, where was this idea thirty minutes ago!" Star groaned, kicking herself for not thinking of that sooner.
"Hey, at least we got a learning experience from this!" Tom tried to think of the bright side, his awkward smile was not as reassuring as he had hoped. Star pinched the bridge of her nose as she took a moment to let out her stress "Search and Find Seeker Bat!" she poofed a fuzzy, purple bat into existence. The bat let out a sonic wave from its mouth as it flew around in circles before settling on a direction. The quartet followed the bat as it led them out of the library and down the halls.
Many twists and turns later, the bat came to a stop in front of a room. Walking inside, Star recognized it as the one she and Marco ran through once before. Strange beasts decorated the ceiling with the floor depicting a star, sun and moon "This is it! Thanks Walter!" she gave the bat a scratch behind the ear "Anytime Star!" the bat bowed before poofing away.
As her friends stood behind her, Star took a deep breath and began casting her magic, sending it into the floor to open the seal "Uh oh, we have company!" Kelly alerted the princess, pointing to a portal forming on the other side of the room "Shoot! Janna, go get Pony Head then hide somewhere safe!" Star ordered, Janna saluted her as she left the room.
The portal widened as Marco and Ragnarok's lackeys entered the room, notably Marco is dragging Mina by her pigtail, half of which had been incinerated "Great, the welcome party is already here! Thanks a lot Loveberry!" Marco sarcastically rolled his eyes.
"Well excuse me for using the last page of references as a napkin!" Mina sassed back at the boy, crossing her muscular arms against her chest as she quietly whispered "What'd my hair ever do to you?"
The new additions in the room broke Star's concentration, stopping her spell for the time being. She wanted to speak, to say anything to her beloved as he stood in front of her. His piercing red eyes made her throat go dry; she missed his brown eyes, the ones that were filled with tender love and compassion. Star could think of a million things to say to him, the real roadblock was getting him to listen.
Tom and Kelly stepped in front of her protectively "Leave Marco to us, you take the loony and gramps." Kelly reassured her friend. On the other side, Mina and Seth let out a shout of protest "Hey!" Not paying attention to the two, Star gratefully smiled to her friends.
It was three versus three on both ends, each side waiting for the other to make their move…"To heck with this! MINA LOVEBERRY!" the muscular woman screamed her name as she charged forward, ending the silence. Star and her friends all shrugged to each other, before Star herself jumped up with a twirl "Shortcake Sparkle Bomb!" she showered the soldier with a massive slice of strawberry shortcake, which proceeded to explode upon contact. Mina was sent right into a wall, taking a piece of frosting off of her helmet and licking it "Oh now that is some good dessert!"
"Ha!" Seth took a second to laugh at the Mewman, the next second he felt a rhino boot kick him in the face "Gah! Right in my eye!" he complained as Star skid to a stop beside him "You miserable brat!" he clawed at the blonde "Mega Narwhal Blast!" she launched one of her signature spells as the Septarian…and one of the narwhals hit him directly in the crotch! Seth dropped to the floor in searing agony "I have felt true pain…"he croaked out.
With Tom and Kelly, the two went after Marco as they alternated attacking; Marco deflected both of their attacks "How are you two weaker than before? Did I beat you so bad it knocked the fight out of ya?" Marco taunted "Release!" he summoned his monster arm and swiped at the two.
The monster arm knocked the both into a corner, instead of crashing they held their legs to the wall and used it to spring forward. Back to back, they launched themselves at Marco, creating a flaming sword tornado. Caught off guard, Marco tried to block it with his monster arm; the attack kept going and sliced off a chunk of the tentacle before slamming directly into Marco. The force pushed them through the wall and into the room on the other side.
OXOXOXOX
"So that is how I got the third ex-boyfriend arrested for mail fraud! I gotta tell ya the Jacuzzi shark did not make things any easier!" Pony Head regaled another of her stories to the Blood Moon above, who in turn wished it had a head to hit against the wall.
"Yo Pony!" Janna's voice caught both of their attention; the beanie-clad teen poked her head out of a nearby window "The terrible trio is here, the fight is on!"
"Looks like my friends need me! We will finish this conversation in a bit BM, kay thanks!" Pony turned to the Blood Moon before flying down to Janna's window, following her to the battlefield.
Now all alone, the Blood Moon waited awkwardly in the sky. Flashing a message that translated roughly to 'Yeah, thanks I love being out here all alone…wish I had a body….'
Rushing through the abandoned school, Janna and Pony Head made it back in time to see Star shoot a cupcake blast at Seth and then immediately turn around and hit Mina with a rainbow fist uppercut "B-Fly, your backup has arrived!" Pony darted straight for Seth "Hey, remember me?" Seth's eyes widened and he instantly backed away "Oh no not you again!" he made his way out of the room, pursued by the floating head as she chased him down.
With only one opponent to focus on, Star gave Mina her undivided attention as she pulled back one of her arms, positioning it so it was like she was holding a bow and arrow. A gold spark lit up and lightning shaped itself into her arrow "Lightning Bolt Arrow Storm!" she released the spell, aiming it up to the ceiling at the last second. The single electric arrow turned to a cloud that rained several arrows down on her former idol. By the last strike, Mina was moaning in pain, barely holding onto her consciousness as she pulled herself up "I'm not…going down like a busted parade balloon…even your strongest spell can't defeat me!"
Star smirked "Oh that wasn't my strongest spell."
Before Mina could react, Star summoned a tiny spider into her hands "Spider with a top hat blast!" the aforementioned spider sent an unending rain of magic bullets at Mina. By the time Spider had finished up his ammo, Mina had lost consciousness and fell face-first onto the floor. Star and Spider high fived before the latter poofed away, the victory fell short a moment later when she heard Tom scream in pain "Oh no, Tom and Kelly!"
Star and Janna poked their heads through the hole in the wall, on the other side Kelly was kneeling against the wall trying to cover a wound, while Tom was being held up by Marco's monster arm, struggling to breathe as the air was squeezed from his lungs. Star pulled Janna down below the wall, out of sight from their corrupted friend "Even Tom can't beat Marco, what now?!" Star spoke in a hushed panic.
"Star, you have to get in there!" Janna urged her friend, speaking in a hushed whisper. Star's eyes widened and she immediately shot down the suggestion "No! Janna I can't!" a pair of hands held Star by the shoulders, Janna looked at her pleadingly "You don't have to fight him; you just have to disarm him."
"How do I do that without fighting him?!" Star questioned, in turn Janna raised an eyebrow at her. It took a moment or so, but the implications of what Janna was saying slowly sunk in for her "Oh-OH! I get it! You stay here, I'll handle the rest." Star crept around the edge of the broken wall, sneaking into the other side as she left her friend in the chamber by herself "Great, I'm sidelined again. Typical." Janna huffed.
She spied Mina's body across lying unconscious against a wall, an idea started to form in her head. Reaching into her pocket, Janna pulled out a near microscopic chip, she held it up to her face and smiled with determination.
OXOXOXOX
He couldn't breathe; Tom couldn't feel the smallest bit of air enter his lungs, the squid like appendage held him too tight. He opened a single eye; taking a good look at the guy he could call his best friend, maybe even a brother, as he single-handedly crushed the life from his body. With his vision beginning to darken, Tom prayed for someone to stop him.
"Seperatio Demonius Infestica!"
In one swift motion, Tom felt the monster arm let go and release him from its grasp, coughing as air began to fill his lungs once more. Daring to look up, he saw the reason for his rescue: Star Butterfly floating by the hole in the wall, her magic glowing a beautiful gold as her spell settled down. The Monster Arm flopped beside him, torn off from the boy that used it. Marco was totally unharmed, his arm had gone back to normal, as if the tentacle had never even been there.
Marco could only stare in shock as his most used spell was separated from him, then promptly incinerated by a beam of golden magic, leaving no trace behind "Release!" he attempted to summon the spell again "Release!" he couldn't feel it, it was truly gone "You!" he glared at the blonde girl as she descended to the ground "What did you do to my spell?!"
"I destroyed it." Star answered simply, calmly making her way to her corrupted lover.
Letting out a menacing cry, Marco began to summon another spell to attack the girl before him. She nonchalantly brushed his attacks away as she came closer "I'm not here to fight you!" she said to him "I just want to talk."
"Talk about what exactly? You're my enemy!" he glared as she stood directly in front of him. Star didn't flinch, she only looked at him sadly "No, I'm not. I'm Star Butterfly, your girlfriend."
"Lies!" Marco prepared another spell, Star kept on talking "It's not a lie! Ragnarok took you and did something to you! Please-"she grabbed his hand, the spell only an inch from her face now "You know who I am, Marco. It's me, Star…"
The spell in Marco's hand began to flicker, his eyes darted around unsure "St-St-"he started to stutter, a foreign feeling washed over him as he dropped his spell "St-St-St-Stop it!" he screamed as he yanked his arm from her grasp. Marco wobbled back and breathed heavily, avoiding looking at the girl before him "No! You-you're my enemy! I-I can't…"
Marco quickly opened a portal, sending some dark whips to grab Mina and Seth from wherever they were "Don't think you've won this! The next time we meet I WILL kill you!" Marco shouted as he shoved the three of them inside the portal.
Long after the portal was gone, Star still found herself staring where it had been. Despite what he had said, her words affected him, she could tell. Even if just for a second, she was able to stir something inside of him.
"Atta girl! I knew you had it in ya!" Janna shouted from the hole in the wall, bringing the blonde back to reality "Oh my gosh, Kelly, Tom are you two alright?!" she remembered her battered friends. The two weakly stood beside Janna and Pony Head who had just flown in "Yeah, nothing that a first aid kit can't fix." Kelly reassured her.
OXOXOXOX
Using her magic, Star once again attempted to unlock the seal in the room. She could hear nuts and bolts unlocking below her, working together as they opened the floor to reveal the compartment. From the center, a disc picturing a straight line with a circle cut and unmatched on the sides of it. Star smiled as it floated down into her hands.
"We did it! We got the last seal!" she cheered, giving a little jump as she hugged the disc in her arms.
The others smiled as they approached her "That's not all, guess what Janna did!" Tom excitedly pointed to the girl next to him, her own face grinning proudly "I snuck a camera bug on Mina, now we can track them down and find their hideout!"
"Janna you are the best!" Star pulled her into a hug as well "Now all that's left to do is save Marco and keep the apocalypse from coming!" Star let go and motioned for Pony Head to come close. When the floating pony was close enough, Star shoved the seal inside her neck hole "Pony, I need you to go and hide that somewhere no one will ever find it!" "You got it B-Fly!" Pony nodded.
Turning away from her friends, Star pulled her necklace out from under her dress, cradling it in her hands "I'm coming Marco, just hold on a little longer."