Star vs The Forces of Evil

The Ballad of Earth-Mewni

Disclaimer: Star vs The Forces of Evil was created by Daron Nefcy and is owned by Disney. I own no part of Star vs.

Episode 38: Sins Past: An Earthni Halloween (Part 2)

Episode Summary: With the help of a spctral partner, Star, Marco, & The Avarius family look to set the record straight, dealing a little revenge towards their mewman chaser, and towards Lord Brudo.

Original Release Date: March 22, 2021

A few moments earlier...

The pissed off mewman found himself stamping & heaving heavily down the sidewalk, trying desperately to keep up with Star, Marco, & their party after he decided to run his big mouth & make a mountain out of a molehill out of Miles's Star Butterfly costume. During his run, he found himself frequently closing his eyes to block out the discomfort his body was feeling from overall fatigue. In doing so, he inadveratntly blocked out his ability to get out of the way of incoming people. As a result...

SLAM!

The Mewman found himself crashing into a figure & knocking back onto the ground, his body a little more worse for the wear. "Hey, what's the big idea, punk!?" He bellowed before his eyes opened and he discovered what exactly he crashed into. Or rather, who he crashed in to.

"Excuse me!?" Nobody could mistake it for anyone else. It was the deep, crackling, booming voice of none other than Lord Brudo, father to Ludo & his siblings, who was wandering around town in a bitter moping mess for some reason. His wive was with him, and she chose to remain silent. "You have some nerve on you, punk."

"Me?" The mewman yelled, standing himself up & dusting himself off. "You're the one standing there like a fat sack of bricks. I'm runnin' here!"

Lord Brudo was in no mood to be sassed at, and he showcased it by grabbing the mewman by his shirt & lifting him off the ground. "And what's the hurry for you, loser!?"

"What's it to you, punk?! I gots me a score to settle."

"Oh do you? Well you're not the only one, fool. Who's your beef with?"

"Some group of kids and this little twink boy wearing a dress and this group of sentient frogs or whatever."

"...Frogs..." Despite the fact that Lord Brudo & his family were not frogs of any kind, the mere reference to them as such made a lightbulb go off in his head. "Ludo! That sniveling little twit that made nice with the treasonous "princess" and her band of morons! AND stole our castle from us! Twice!"

"So you got your beefs with them clowns too, eh?"

"I've been waiting a long time to find them & give them a piece of our mind! I'll make them pay for staining the Avarius name!" And he was dead serious about his intentions as well. But that didn't stop his wife from hesitating & looking away. Nobody knew better than she did what Lord Brudo was capable of.

"Hey, uh, your lady okay there?" The mewman asked, but Brudo would hear none of it.

"That's irrelevent. Now listen, bub, it looks like we can both get what we want here!"

"OH yeah? How?"

"I'll tell you on the way. Follow me! To the castle!"

And now...

And that's how the angry mewman & Lord Brudo joined forces to find the group & give them what for. And now here they were, in the lobby of the castle, frantically darting their heads in every direction, looking for some sign of them to carry out...whatever plan they had devised in their tiny heads, of which they had none. Still, even a spontaneous assault by them could have disasterous results. The group had to act quickly.

"You guys sure you want to do this?" Marco whispered to Ludo & Dennis, who were covering their siblings in the even that they faced an attack.

"Yes." But Ludo was undeterred, inspiring the others to take a stand also. "I'm sick of that...that thing trying to ruin the good things we have now. He's done it all our lives. Well the buck stops here."

"He's gonna get what's coming to him by the time we're done." The specter, Judd Bogswell, added in agreement. Marco then turned back to his girlfriend.

"And...that cranky mewman..." He said while putting a hand on her shoulder. "You sure you want to deal with him?"

"Without a doubt." And now Star was also undettered. "He crossed a line. He can attack me all he wants, but the second you start going after people I love, your butt is mulch!" And her statement was met with a squeaky outburst of support from none other than the orphan children standing behind her, all ready to do whatever they were told to help. "Isn't that right? Are we gonna teach those big, bad men a lesson?" The kids all responded with rapid noddings of their heads. "That's right! Now let's do this! It's time to make some old, kerfugety men weep!"

And that's what was going to happen. Within a quick span of time, the group got themselves ready and in position to pull off their plan to scare the pants off of the angry mewman & Lord Brudo, and either have them come around & realize the error of their ways, or remain stubborn & suffer a host of frights & terrors. Being that it was spontaneous, however, they didn't really have time to truly eek out an organized plan of attack; they had to bounce off of whatever the mewman & Brudo gave them to work with. Luckily, though, those two were a treasure trove of material, as they were about to prove. Meanwhile, Miss Avarius merely stood behind her husband, mouth tightly shut.

"Oh Ludo..."Lord Brudo lorded. "Kids...come out, come out whereever you are..."

"You too, ya dress-loving freaks!" The mewman bellowed loudly.

"Now now, fool, patience is a virtue." Brudo calmly retorted, mistakenly thinking he had control or influence over him.

"Hey! I don't take orders from you! Let's get that clear!"

"Oh yeah? Well I don't take orders from nobody either, pal!"

"Yes, you don't take orders from anyone, do you? Heaven forbid you're ever wrong."

And so it began. The three of them shot up towards the balcony leading to the stairwell, and they saw who else but Ludo standing there, now sporting his pre-Toffee outfit plus his now-signature beard. "Hello, father." He hissed towards the one man he despised more than anyone in this world. "Hello, mother." His tone towards his mother was strikingly indifferent. There was no venom, no malice. Only disappointment. "Good evening...sir..." He awkwardly addressed the angry mewman. But only Lord Brudo had words to say to him to begin the confrontation.

"...I never thought we'd actually see your face again." He snarled. "Well...alive, at least."

"Yes, father. Despite you and mother's efforts to break me, here I stand, having wrestled this castle from your grimey little hands...twice."

"Mistakes that I've never had the opportunity to rectify...until now...you willi return my castle to me!"

A moment of silence from Ludo, plotting his next choice of words. If anything, Ludo was great at building up tension for dramatic effect. "Oh, what's that? I'm sorry, I must've misunderstood you. I could've sworn you said this was your castle."

"That's exactly what I said, you little welp! Are you hard of hearing?!"

"No, no. My ears work fine. And so does my little noggin, and my noggin's telling me you're lying."

It was evident early on that Ludo had no intention of holding back anything against either his father or his mother. The gloves were all the way off tonight. Lord Brudo was completely unprepared for a "no craps to give" Ludo confronting him. "What did you say? How DARE you speak to me like that."

"And what are you going to do about it?" Came another voice, this time in the form of Dennis, who stepped into the light and backed up his brother. He was not going to let him down again. "Hurt us? Please. You can't hurt us any more than you've already had."

"...Dennis..." Brudo growled. "I see you've decided to accept your fate as a deadbeat after all, even though you still clearly don't know what one is."

"Oh I know what a deadbeat is. I've been living with two of them for years!" Even more gloves were off now, as even Lady Avarius had to gasp in disbelief at the angry tone they were taking with them.

"Two?!" And now it was Lady Avarius's turn to speak, and she was about to participate in the age old game of "open mouth, insert foot." "Shame on you. That's no way to speak of your siblings! At least they knew when to keep their opinions to themselves."

Nobody could tell if Lady Avarius was being intelligent obtuse or if she was just that stupid. Fortunately for them, the answer was yes. "He was talking about you, airhead." Ludo bluntly hissed at her.

"All you ever did was manipulate & abuse us." Dennis continued to Lord Brudo. "You weren't "toughening us up." You were beating us into submission, and the only reason you took it out harder on Ludo was because he wouldn't submit!"

"He wouldn't accept his place! And he was never grateful for all we tried to do! Clearly I didn't do a good enough job. On you two or your ungrateful brothers & sisters! You're all a bunch of sissies!"

"You tell 'em, punk!" The angry mewman roared with a hearty, smug laugh. "Wussies, all of them! You shoulda put frilly little dresses on these clowns, stick it to them even more!"

"And what's wrong with dresses?" And up next to confront the two of them was none other than Marco himself, stepping out into the shadows, still in his Marco Turdina outfit & holding his sister Mariposa. He wasn't happy, and he was not afraid to show it. "You think guys are too good for them? That it somehow emasculates us to wear these freeing outfits? Even on Halloween?"

"OH sure, that's how it starts!"

"I'll tell you one thing: a real man doesn't scoff at anything that they see as emasculating, because a real man isn't afraid to be vulnerable. A fake man is."

Both the mewman & Brudo rolled their eyes. "We didn't come here for a lecture, boy. Or whatever you are." Brudo doubled down on his condescending attitude. "And I could care less what this...thing..." He said referring to the mewman. "Is here for. I'm here for my castle back!"

"It's not your castle, dude." And now in came Janna, followed behind by everyone else in the group, with Star tailing the back & holding Meteora. "We know it's not yours."

"Oh. Oh okay..." Brudo played along rather sarcastically. "Then whose castle is it, sweet cheeks?"

"IT'S MINE, YOU DEADBEAT."

And almost on cue, the lights in the room began to dim gradually, and the room began to shake. The teens & little kids all managed to hold their ground while the angry mewman plus Lord Brudo & Lady Avarius found themselves falling on their captain's quarters and hastily looking around the room, hoping for some sort of answer to their question of "what the heck was going on?" It was a question that was given an answer only shortly after their fall; the transparent manifestation of Judd Bogswell the specter gradually rose from beneath the floorboards and stared the three of them down, primarily Lord Brudo. For a brief moment, none said a word or moved a muslce; the prevailing thought was that it was a trick that would quickly reveal itself. But nope...no joke here. And the looks of sheer dread & paranoid on their faces gave it away.

"What is this!?" Despite his obvious fear, Lord Brudo still attempted to play it off as it was a joke of sorts. "IS this that new fangled techno-magic your Earth world dwells in?"

"...Techno magic?"

"Ugh, old people." Janna scoffed, earning a snicker from Star.

"You don't recognize me, do you?" Judd roared rather angrily. He didn't come to play.

"Fool, I barely recognize my woman on any given day!" Brudo said this like it was a badge of honor. What a gentleman and a scholar.

"Well...how about now?" In a flash, Judd was able to shapeshift his transparent specter form into that of a young boy. More specifically, it was a young version of himself at the age when the castle was stolen from him by Lord Brudo. "Remember this face? Remember the endless crying?"

Slowly but surely the lightbulb went off inside Brudo's head. "Oh yes, yes of course! You were that whiny little brat that melted like a pot of melted chocolate!" Brudo found himself twistedly satisfied relieving said memory. "Good times..."

"Now how can that be?" Now it was Star's turn to step forward & confront Brudo. "How can you remember that if you didn't steal this castle from him?"

Lord Brudo could only chuckle. "Silly, delusional children...who are you going to believe? Some silly specter that no longer belongs in our world, or me, the one that could crush you all with my bare hands?"

"You're one to talk about delusions." Ludo barked again. "I think we'll take our chances with the non-sociopathic, actually decent man that prematurely met his match."

"HEY! WHAT ABOUT ME?!" Yelled Judd; bless his heart, he tried throughout his life, but he wasn't always the brightest bulb in the barn.

"...We are talking about you." Star reassured him.

"...Oh, never mind, then."

Oddly enough, Brudo found entertainemtn in the poor specter's plight. "Oh, simpleton...you were never worthy of this castle in the first place." He hissed, his patiences all but evaporated.

"It's not about worth! It belonged to him and his family! You had no right to take it from him!"

"And why not!?" And now even more bizzarely, the mewman was defending Lord Brudo's actions. "You gotta take what you want, punk! That's how you get anywhere in life. Being nice & polite only ends with your life in tatters while everyone else around you reaps the rewards! Who cares that some fat farmer or whatever had this place first! Bruce wanted it, so he took it by force!"

"Excuse me, it's Bru-"

"I'll call you whatever I want to call you, foolio! You keep your trap shut!" At this point any sense of logic either of them had for why they were angry & pissy towards the teens & children had evaporated. Now it was mainly being angry for the sake of it. Luckily, Judd was having none of it, flying up to them & frightening them with his intimidating appearance & angry face.

"MY FOLKS DIED OF DEPRESSION BECAUSE OF YOU! They never got over the loss of their family home. And I spent my entire adult life fighting your people & the governments to get it back!"

"And how is that my fault, fool! Your precious monarchy failed you, not me!"

"Look, pal!" And now it was time for Star to once again step in. "The monarchy failed at a lot of things & it screwed a lot of things up for a lot of people & monsters. I'm not going to deny that. But you're still the one that stole it in the first place. You still need to take responsibility for the crap you've pulled!"

"Oh no! The scared, treasonous wittle pwincess is thweatening me!" And now Brudo was too far gone to be reasoned with, which was something that Lady Avarius easily picked up on. Deep down, she didn't want any of this to transpire, only to be able to return to the comfort of the cabin they inhabited. But that was not meant to be, as she would soon learn.

"Lord, perhaps you should stop-" She didn't even get five words out before Brudo's temper got the better of him yet again. He spun around & glared at her, fire brimming in his pupils.

"YOU DO NOT SPEAK UNLESS YOU ARE SPOKEN TO!" He loudly hissed at her. "We have been over this, woman! You must know your place!"

For reasons only known to creatures that went bump in the night, this little outburst from Brudo seemed to snap something inside of Lady Avarius's head. She glared his way & stood her own. "How dare you..."

"How dare I-"

"You can't just speak to me like I'm so puppet! You don't get to treat me like I'm merely a throwaway rag you use for your convenience until it's no longer needed!"

A very short silence before Brudo burst into arrogant, loud laughter. "Of course I can! I run this family. I am what keeps it afloat! I am the reason our name still has some clout even after everything our so-called children have done to sully it."

"No. You're wrong!" With every word she bellowed, her confidence in herself only grew, evidenced strongly by her standing tall & keeping her eye contact with Lord Brudo. "You're the one that's sullied our family name. You've never done anything but put us all down, belittle us, & leave us in a constant state of fear of your wrath! They're not the deadbeats! YOU ARE!"

And there it was. Years of living in paranoia, walking on invisible tightropes around him have finally led Lady Avarius to say "enough." And it was the last thing Lord Brudo ever expected to hear from her mouth. Quite frankly, the same went for most of the Avarius children. Dennis, in particular, was the most skeptical. And the least willing to buy it from her.

"You too, you know." He said rather flatly to her, drawing her ire and raised eyebrows from everyone, save for Ludo, whose reactions was that of fury.

"Dennis!" Ludo pleaded with his brother, nearly slapping him right where he stood. "How dare you!"

But Dennis was undeterred. "What? Tell me I'm wrong."

"You are, you dingbat! You don't think father was unleashing his wrath on her just as often as he was on us!?"

"That's irrelevent. She saw what he did day in and day out and she could've said - done - anything to try and stop it. But she didn't. She just sat back on her butt and let him wallop us! And she had the nerve to say we should be grateful that we had someone in our life who was dedicated to shaping us as much as father was! She was in a position to stop it, but she did nothing! So in my book, she's just as guilty as he is, if not more!"

"Hey!" And now it was Star's turn again to get in the middle. Safe to say she didn't like what she was hearing from Dennis. "That's not fair."

"It's completely fair!"

"Not if he's been as disrespectful & abusive to her as he's been to you guys! You can't pin that on her! Or do you think it's really that easy to leave an unhealthy relationship!? Or stand up to someone or something that you know isn't right but could shut you down in a heartbeat!? Because it's not!"

"It is when you've got kids that are depending on you to be their role model & look out for them, which she decided was way too much of a burden for her!"

Now one could argue & nitpick over what parts of what he said were true & what parts weren't, but that wasn't the point. Dennis was clearly hurting. Ludo was clearly hurting. All of the Avarius children were hurting. To them, Dennis especially, whether or not Lady Avarius was actively engaged in the tactics Lord Brudo used to abuse & terrify the children was irrelevent. She didn't stop him. She was well aware of what he was doing & why he was doing it. She knew the toll it took on them. Yet nothing was done. Between a parent that used scare tactics & mental, even physical, abuse to mold them into whatever he wanted them to be, and a parent that was wide-eyed to this abuse yet didn't intervene on their behalf, how are the children supposed to ever trust them again?

"Look...I'm not going to pretend that I know exactly what went on in your family." Star spoke again after a silence that included Brudo growling with his temper rising, and Lady Avarius fighting not to break into tears. "And to be honest, I don't really think I want to know what went on in your family."

"Good! It's none of your beeswax anyway!" Lord Brudo yelled, forever the champion of "failing to read the room" contests.

"But...I do know what it's like to feel like you should've done more. Should've done more to fix what you broke, what you didn't break, etcetera. Feeling like there was no good choice you could ever make a-and you're just stuck with a bunch of terrible options."

By this point everyone could pinpoint what Star was talking about in these little mini rants of hers. Having dealt with her own emotional trauma non-stop since the Cleaving gave her some much needed insight in order to help others process theirs. "She didn't do everything she could to fix it, and she didn't make the best choice she could've. I shouldn't have to forgive her just because she suddenly feels guilty about it."

"You're right. You're under no obligation to forgive her if you're not ready to forgive her. You don't have to forgive anyone that treats you worse than you deserve. It's your life."

"Not when you're party of a royal heritage!" Lord Brudo bellowed. "In an important family, the needs of the group must be put before your own! That's a lesson my children never learned no matter how many times I tried to beat it into them."

"Well maybe if you didn't try to beat it into them so harshly, they would've."

Even the angry mewman was beginning to question Lord Brudo's motivations & intentions. "Sounds like you got a lot of crap you need to sort through, bro."

"Says the man that also terrifies his own wife into submission." Janna blurted out. "Come on, dude, we all saw the way she acted around you. You scare the bajeebers out of her."

"That ain't none of your business, girly! People in this world gotta know their place! Like wives, who belong in the kitchen! Or little boys, who should know not to wear frilly little dresses!" He squared his eyes on Miles, who remained undeterred, while baby Lilly stood next to him in solidarity & gently held his hand. It was his complete lack of fear in the face of the mewman hissing at him that took him & Lord Brudo aback.

"You know, I would love to live inside your heads for five minutes, just to see what makes people like you so hateful & despicable." Star said to the mewman & Brudo.

"Forget it, they're too far gone."Judd finally spoke again, ready to unleash his fury on them. "They know what they are. A miserable, pathetic loser that will die alone because he refuses to understand that he should treat others the way he wants to be treated, and a liar & fraud that can't stomach that the very thing he stole from me was stolen from him!"

"I'm not going to say it again, THIS CASTLE IS MINE AND MI-"

"Okay, have it your way!" And that was the end of that. Judd raised his fists into the air and began screaming, and as that happened, gusts of wind began bursting throughout the room, flowing in all sorts of directions, knocking Brudo, Lady Avarius, and the angry mewman off of their feet once more. Fires also began to form around the room, fires that wouldn't actually do serious harm to the three of them but were intended to scare the heck out of them. And it did. Lord Brudo, Lady Avarius, and the angry mewman started screaming in mortal terror & began running - running past the group of teens & children and heading up the stairs, hoping to get as far away from Judd & his wrath as possible. Judd was determined to teach them a lesson & make them as frightened & uncomfortable as possible before it was over, but no harm would befall the three. Unfortunately.

Judd chased them in and out of every room in the castle, stroking untold mounds of fear & terror into their hearts. All without every laying a finger on them or causing any sort of bodily harm to them. During the entire ordeal, the teens & children followed them, waiting patiently outside of every room for Judd to do his work and for the other three to run out screaming. Janna, in typical Janna fashion, was recording the entire thing for posterity on her phone. One problem, though: Judd wasn't showing up on the film.

"Hey, what gives?" She said in disappointment.

"Well of course he's not showing up. He can't see his reflection!" Bless Tom, he continued to try, but there was always a wrench thrown in.

"...That's vampires, Tom." Marco calmly corrected him.

"...oh."

"Ooh, check it out!" Janna got everyone's attention again, this time towards the angry mewman. Lo and behold, he was showing himself to be a true coward, his legs shaking endlessly from paranoia...and even a little wet spot in between his legs. "This guy ain't so tough after all!"

Despite Star's belief he was getting his just desserts, a part of her couldn't help but feel sorry for the mewman. Perhaps, she thought, he didn't deserve her pity. But if she set out to truly hurt him the way he had tried to hurt others, was she any better than he was? "What's wrong?" Jackie asked her, breaking her out of her trance.

"I don't know...is this really the right thing for us to do?"

"Look, they're not getting injured or anything!" Janna argued just as Lord Brudo began tumbling over his feet and falling face first on the ground. "Other than of their own volition, I mean. Besides, they were the ones that pushed things to this state. We were perfectly content with them not being a factor in our lives of any kid, but they had to make a big stink about the dumbest things or refuse to atone for their mistakes."

"Yes, I agree with the girl!" Ludo agreed in a righteous tone. "I understand the long, tedious, painful process of atoning for your mistakes. The gut-wrenching soul-searching it takes to recognize how you need to improve & do better. I had a lot of time to myself to reflect on my choices. And I realized that if I ever wanted to help the people in my life that I cherish become better & live better, then I had to become better first. Stealing the magic wand wouldn't have made me better. Stealing the castle didn't make me better. Only when I looked deep into my mirror & realized I couldn't stand the thing I had become did the healing start."

"But they refuse to learn." Marco continued, eyeing the mewman & the Avarius parents angrily. "Whether it's holding an old grudge against someone o-or refusing to accept that the way they raised their kids is what pushed them away, or even lying about taking this castle...they're just stuck in their old ways and they won't change."

"Yeah, but you can't force them to change, either." Star lamented. "They have to want to change themselves. They have to want to be better people from within. Only then can you start salvaging what's broken. If they don't want to change, then trying to make them see the light is rather pointless, isn't it?"

"Which is why I feel no guilt whatsoever for what they're currently experiencing." Janna stood firm. "And neither should you."

The routine seemed endless, but at last, a boiling point seems to be reached. Lady Avarius stopped in her tracks and stood tall. "ENOUGH!" She shouted, causing everyone - Judd included - to halt in their place and turn to face her, as well as the teens & childrens. Lady Avarius turned sharply to face Judd, tearing up, which earned the ire of Lord Brudo. "I am sorry! I am sorry your beloved family home was wrongfully taken from you! I am sorry my husband is completely apathetic & heartless to your plight! I am sorry he's an awful, reprehensible creature that feels no empathy or compassion for others! I am sorry I did not speak up to the atrocity when I had the chance. I knew it was wrong in the day but I did nothing to stop it. I am sorry his man friend feels constant offense over the princess living her best life or some young boy idolizing his favorite person! And I'm sorry I keep leaving the toilet seat up!"

Pretty much everyone - minus Brudo & the mewman - was on board with Lady Avarius's apology up until her final statement. But nonetheless, the message seemed to get through to everyone - some for different, more heinous reasons than others. Even Judd had to temporarily stop his reign of terror on the three of them, surprised but impressed at her sincerity, which left her crying. Lord Brudo was also surprised at her sincerity...and quite furious over it.

"You're dead to me." He hissed at her just loudly enough for everyone else to hear.

"You've been dead to me for a long time." She fired back. "I was merely too cowardly to accept it for far too long. I should've thought about fighting back a long time ago-"

"You're not here to think, woman! If I ever wanted your opinion on something, I sure as hell would've asked for it sooner!" Brudo, in a fit of rage, began to raise his hand towards her, but was ultimately halted by none other than the angry mewman himself, which surprised even him. "What!?"

"Bro, what's the matter with you!?" He roared to him.

"Excuse me!?"

"You're not supposed to put your hands on a woman! Ever!"

After a brief moment of silence, Brudo broke out into near hysterical laughter, incredibly offputting for everyone in the room. "You? Telling me not to hit a woman?!"

"...Yeah, I agree with Bruce here." Janna spoke up.

"BRUDO!"

"Whatever." Janna turned to the angry mewman. "Kind of hypocritical of you, ain't it?"

"I've never laid a hand on my wife! I've...I've berated her, cussed at her...belittled her..." And at least for the mewman, the light in his head was slowly turning on. "I've said plenty of crap at her and others that...I ain't entirelhy proud of. I've lashed out in ways that...that I shouldn't have..." He was looking at both Miles and Star as he said this, recalling his past beefs with the girl and the inappropriate ways he behaved with the boy. "But I've never hit my wife."

"That's cute..." Chloe spoke up. "You think the only way to be unpleasant & abusive is to lay your hands on someone."

"Yeah, the girl's right, dude." Judd joined in. "Your words can be equally as hurtful, if not more."

"If you had just handed me back my castle, none of this would've happened!" Brudo yelled, continuing to keep his head shoved where the sun don't shine. While the teens & everyone else tried to formulate the next retort to throw at Brudo, one brave kid stepped forward: Miles. Actually, Miles with Lilly following closely behind. They slowly made their way to both Brudo and the mewman, with Star tailing them out of caution. The two kids eyed the adults with vigor in their veins and began telling them off in a way only these adorable children could: through incoherent babbling & shaking of their fists at them.

Intheir own little way, Miles & Lilly were attempting to tell the adults off for being so angry & bitter at things. They urged them to look at the example Star was trying to set for the kids, that even in the face of the world taking a dump on them, there was also a bright side to look for, happiness to find if they wanted it. Cherish the people in your life, tell them you love them, etcetera. Of course, to everyone else, it sounded just like inane gibberish from the two babies, but it was topped off in a way that only the children under Star's care could pull off: Lilly embraced Miles tightly & gently kissed his cheek, spurring loud aww's from nearly everyone, including Judd, but excluding Brudo & the mewman, the latter being racked with guilt & shame, and the former having sold his soul a long time ago.

"They really are the best, aren't they?" Star swooned, with Marco holding her steady so she didn't fall over.

"You've done good, Star." He said back, kissing her cheek; the other teens soon joined in, as did the other kids plus Ludo & his siblings. Lord Brudo, for his part, had finally reached his limit & began to take off for the way back to the front door of the castle.

"Forget this nonsense. I'm gone." He muttered. He started to stomp his way towards the stairwell, but stopped when he heard his wife pitter-pattering behind him, a motion that Lady Avarius caught on to and immediately began cowering in fear because of it. It was the right call; Brudo spun around and hissed at her. "You do NOT follow me. You're dead to me, remember."

"I didn't plan on joining you." She said with a cold, icy response. "But there's only one exit-"

"Not my concern, wench. You wait until I'm gone."

"I don't take orders from you anymore."

"And where do you think you're going to go, huh? You're not welcome in my home anymore. And what? You think our regrets-" He hissed at his children, whom all shrugged or laughed at his insinuation, which only further fueled his resentment. "-are going to let you stay in their home?" He still refused to accept the reality that he was never getting his castle back, nor was it ever his in the first place. But that's the sad reality of someone living in an alternate reality.

"Oh no. I'm no fool. I don't ever expect them to let me back into their life ever again."

"Good because we won't." Dennis quickly & angrily said, sullying her already crushed mood.

"But you needn't worry about me."

"Oh trust me, wench, I'm not."

"I'll find my own way...far away from the tainted legacy you've left on us."

For some twisted rason, Brudo saw that statement as a reason to laugh his head off. "That's rich! That you think you're anything without me!"

Fed up with the antics caused by the mewman and especiall Brudo, Judd stepped up his game one more time, unleashing a fiery outburst that could only be described as "magical," frightening the heck out of Lord Brudo & causing him to dash away screaming like a little girl. The mewman, despite having started his own turnaround & even calling out Brudo for his reprehensible behavior, decided to run off as well, still fearful of Judd's wrath. What would ultimately become of Lord Brudo & the angry mewman were stories worth following up on. But that's for another time. As for Lady Avarius herself...well, despite her strong showing in standing up to her husband's wrath & finally growing the backbone that she should've had for her children when they were growing up, none of them showed an interest in letting her back into their lives. Dennis especially made that clear when she turned to face him...and he turned his back to her. The Avarius siblings all showed solidarity with Dennis by backing him & doing the same. No matter how much she wanted to argue, she knew in her heart she had no recourse. It was their choice whether they wanted her back in their lives, and they had every right to tell her to go to hell. So she took her loss & somberly walked away, heading for the exits with Brudo & the mewman now out of sight.

"And thus brought to an end this episode of "Street Justice, Ghost Edition." Janna awkwardly remarked.

"I hope we never see any of them ever again." Marco bluntly commented.

"I share that sentiment." Dennis hissed, which was followed by a loud outburst of laughter & cheering from the little babies, who didn't fully understand what was going on but were determined to lighten up everyone's moods.

"Well then...I guess my work is done." Judd remarked with a peaceful smile on his face.

"...Wait, what?" Star questioned. "But...I don't understand. Weren't we supposed to get this castle back for you? Isn't that why you've never crossed over?"

"Weren't you listening? I said we can only cross over when we've resolved our unfinished business."

"And...you think you have?"

"Oh yeah! I never thought I'd get this place back, nor did I really want it!" Judd turned to the Avarius family. "I seen what you all have done to rebuild your lives in this place. You've made it a place worthy of happiness & peace. I think at the end of things, that's all I really wanted."

"You also wanted to see those two cry like babies, didn't you?" Jackie interjected, having almost entirely lost the plot of whatever was going on but was still going along with it for the sake of her friends.

"Well, yeah."Judd laughed, not even bothering to try and hide it. "That was pretty fun, too."

"So I guess this means you're leaving now. You get to "cross over" and everything now..." Janna sighed, visibly disappointed that her first specter summoning was now ending.

"I'm afraid so. But hey...I'd say this was a pretty successful night, all in all."

"Well it's definitely been a Halloween I'll never forget." Jackie again spoke up as she felt Chloe hug her from behind.

"You sure you're ready to go?" Star asked Judd, who gave a somber but encouraging nod.

"Yeah, I'm all good. Thanks, y'all. I'm as happy as a sistine chapel!"

"I'm going to pretend I know what you're talking about so we don't ruin the mood!"

"Goodie! And now, if y'all will excuse me, it's time for me to take my leave!" Judd's body began levitating slowly upward, his spectral form glowing lighter & more transparent. It was his time to go.

"Farewell, strange but good-willed fellow whose existence we weren't aware of until this very day!" Ludo shouted. "I hope the afterlife is filled with nothing but peace and prosperity!"

"Bye! Buh-bye now!" Star contributed, feeling her emotions swell up within her. And then...

BOOM!

Judd's spectral presence exploded into millions of spectral particles that quickly evaporated into nothing. The evaporating part was expected. The explosion...wasn't. And unfortunately for Star, it gave her flashbacks to the last time she witnessed someone she was fond of die.

"...What is it with this world and people exploding when they die?! Is that an Earth thing!?" She screeched in frustration, turning to her boyfriend who could only shrug. "First Glossaryck, now this guy!? What the heck?"

"Well that was more than enough excitement for me." Janna said, stretching her arms and wrapping one around Tom's shoulder. "I think I'm done for the night.

"Well if you're done, then I sure as heck am too." Tom agreed. "What about you guys?"

"I second that motion." Ludo announced, with his siblings nodding in agreement. "It was a lovely evening, but I'm all pooped out."

"...Yeah, to be honest, so am I." Star agreed, loudly yawning & resting herself up against Marco's body. "It was a heck of a night, though! Right, kids?" She turned to the little kids they still had with them, who all cheered in delight & celebrated in their own adorable way. "Although...I feel terrible. We didn't get them a lot of candy before all this nonsense happened. And it's almost time to bring them all home..."

"Ooh, do you think we have time for one more stop?" Jackie asked, the wheels in her head turning.

"...I think so. Why? What'd you have in mind?"

"Follow me. You'll see." Jackie & Chloe took the lead, starting for the path towards the exit. Everyone else - minus Ludo & his family - followed suit, but it was the fact Ludo wasn't following that caught Star's eye.

"...You guys coming or not?" She asked, but they were quick to decline.

"We're all pretty much done with today." Dennis said firmly. "Too much excitement for us."

"...Yeah, I guess."

"But thanks, though. For...helping us." Closure works in its own mysterious ways; it's not always the same for everyone. But the healing is always worth the journey.

"Anytime, guys. Anytime." With that, she turned around & caught up with the others.

Jackie, for her part, led the group back to her house, where she entered & came back out just as quickly with a bucket full of candy, with the intent of splitting it amongst the children. "Trick or treat, kids!" She said gleefully as she placed the bucket gently on the ground. The kids, looking up at Star & receiving an approving nod from her, all ran up to the bucket & carefully began taking some for themselves. But after a few reaches into the bucket, they all looked up at Jackie & noted her smile. Then they looked back at Star, who silently continued encouraging them to continue taking candy. But like with their reward of a giant cookie from the playground build, the kids weren't interested so much in the candy, and more in showing how much they appreciate everyone looking out for them. So they gently dropped their bags of candy on the ground & approached Jackie, cutely hugging her & spreading kisses on her face, getting a laugh out of a skater girl. Of course, Jackie wasn't about to start complaining. Like Star, she loved little kids.

Speaking of Star, she had her face covered as she couldn't bring herself to watch the adorable display in front of them all. "These kids are so good." Marco noted, turning to Star. "And I think they really like Jackie. Come on, you don't wanna miss this, do y-" Marco took her hands & slowly lowered them, only to reveal that Star's face was completely red with blush. "Oh, sorry." That would explain why she was covering her face.

"D'aww, kids, stop, I'm ticklish!" Jackie exclaimed as the kids continued their onslaught of affection, including Miles, who was trying his best to kiss Jackie's cheek. But with them preoccupied with being cute around her, they weren't taking any of the candy. So Star took it upon herself to empty the bucket of candy into each of their bags. Once the kids took notice, they stopped & began murmurring towards Star. They were confused & uneasy, but Star was there to ease their nerves.

"Kids, it's okay. Really. Take the candy." She was adament about it, despite their objections. "You didn't take the cookies when we built that playground. Don't do that again here. Take your rewards. I promise you've earned it." The kids again looked at Jackie, who sweetly nodded. With the approval they wanted secured, they thanks Star & Jackie, and they returned to the others with their candy bags. "They're so special."

"You're amazing with kids." Jackie noted, wrapping an arm around Star. She simultaneously knew how to calm Star down and spike her nerves & hormones. One of these days, Star was gonna have to address her huge crush on Jackie. And Jackie knew it too. But today was not that day.

"I love kids." Star awkwardly blurted out, earning a chuckle from Jackie. "Meeting that little wonder Miles was the best thing that could've happened to me. I never would've found that orphanage & taken a job there if I didn't find him."

"You're closer to him than any of the others, aren't you?"

Star gleefully nodded. "Yeah. I love him so much..."

"Hey Star!" Marco yelled, snapping out of the trance Star was beginning to fall into. "We gotta take them home! It's getting late!"

"Oh, shoot!" She carefully took Jackie's arm off of her shoulder. "Sorry, we gotta go!"

"We should do this again next year!" Chloe said in delight. "It was fun! Even with the wild supernatural elements."

"Oh, totally!" Jackie agreed. "It's always a great time when we hang out together!"

Star nodded & blushed again. "We have to hang out again soon!" She ran to rejoin the others as they all headed out to return the kids home. "See ya later!"

Before they could return to the orphanage, they had to drop Lilly off at her new forever home. The group all arrived at the house to find Lilly's parents & their new dog waiting on the front step. Lilly, upon seeing her parents waiting for her, exploded in delight, loudly babbling in delight & running around in circles. "We're home, Lilly!" Star announced. "Did you have fun tonight?" It took no time at all for Lilly to respond with loud cheering & clapping, with the other children joining in. "You were so cute being your little Tooth Fairy self, weren't you? Yes you were! But I'm sure you're ready to see your mommy and daddy & puppy again, aren't you?" More cheering from the little girl. But just as the girl was about to sprint down the walkway towards her awaiting parents, Miles intervened, babbling incoherent & waving his arms around before sticking his right hand out to her and pointing with his left hand at the parents. He was offering to walk her home. "D'aww, you sweetie! Are you walking our little Tooth Fairy home?"

Miles nodded towards Star before looking back at Lilly, who eagerly took Miles's hand. The two began walking towards her parents, who were now filming the encounter & basking in the adorable nature. And the adorable factor would only intensify as the other children all joined in closely behind, walking Lilly home, giggles & laughter mixed in. There wasn't a single objection to be had with the sight before them. As Lilly & Miles reached the front, Miles reached his arms out once more towards Lilly; he wanted to give her a goodbye hug, and she reciprocated unapologetically. Loud awws & near crying from Star permeated the atmosphere, most especially when Lilly gave Miles a goodbye kiss on his cheek.

"Bye fren!" He shouted as she joined her parents in a hug.

"Bye frens!" Lilly shouted back, waving goodbye to all of them.

"Thank you for taking care of her." Chung-Ae, the mother, said sweetly to the children. Her attention was particularly tailored to Miles, as she and her husband Hiroshi picked up that the two of them were closer to each other than the other kids. "We'll see you again soon, right?" The children wasted no time in jumping for joy at the idea of seeing their friend again. It was a new policy that Star was slowly having integrated into the orphanage: any adopted child would have their new home & number on file. Not to skeptically track the adoptive families - though routine check ups were also being implemented - but to have the children all stay connected. As Star put it, the orphan children are a family to each other while they're there. And family is everything. The kids finished saying goodbye & returned to the teens, ready to return to the oprhanage.

"Well, this has been one heck of a day, huh?" Tom yawned. "I'm ready to crash."

"Yeah, same here." Janna agreed. "Turns out summoning an undead ghost takes a lot out of you. We're gonna head off."

"Hey, next time you wanna do something like that, you better invite me!" Star playfully joked with Janna as she & Marco - as well as the kids - waved them goodbye for the night. And now with Janna & Tom out of sight, it was time for the two lovebirds to return the children to the orphanage & then head home themselves. "What a night, huh?"

"You said it. I'm bushed."

"Me too. Let's get these kids home and then you and I can end this Halloween the best way we know how." At this point it was becoming difficult for the two of them to control themselves in front of the kids. Although for Marco, he had a more pressing concern.

"You sure you're up for that? You haven't technically been cleared yet."

"...True. But I trust you, and I've been really missing your warmth lately. I want it back, dang it."

The boy chuckled & kissed her cheek. "Yeah, I hear ya. But I'm not pinning you to the bed."

"Of course you're not..." Star sighed & playfully rolled her eyes. It was debatable exactly how serious she was when she made that demand for when she was medically cleared to engage in sexual activity with Marco again, but Marco knew deep down she only wanted to do what she thought was necessary to make him happy. He was forever grateful to have her in his life. "I wish that weren't such a big deal for me. You're so polite & considerate & yet here I am..."

"Hey," He lightly tugged at her face, bringing her in for a kiss, which prompted laughter & cheering from the kids. "You always come first. Besides, I don't need to pin you down to rock your world."

"Oh you're right about that, Mr. Diaz." Another kiss shared between the two. "I love you, Marco."

"I love you too, Star." With a kiss, the two set off & lead the group of kids back to the orphanage, a successful night completed. Well...about as successful as it could've possibly been under the circumstances. Still, it was doubtful that anyone would end up complaining about the adventure they had.

End of Episode 38!

I always wanted to do a Halloween episode for this series, and I hope this two-parter delivered for you all. Hard to believe I've been working on this expanded post-finale series for almost two years now. Four books, 79 chapters thus far, and still plenty more I have in mind. This book may be soon wrapping, but I have no intentions of stopping. I hope you'll all stick around for the long haul. It's been so much fun, and I'm forever greatful to everyone that's ever read my stories, shared them, talked about them, etcetera.

Until the next episode, thank you! And please remember to read & review!