The Tale of Three

Chapter 49

The Confrontation

"What are you doing?"

"Praying that this works."

"...No offense, but what's the point of that? Don't you remember? Meteora told us that any gods out there really don't care about us. The only point in doing that is-"

"Yes, I know, we don't matter to them, but I'm hoping that at the very least there's one of them out there that hears this and is grateful for it."

"Won't work." A small voice whispered. "Or at least that's what the Voice is telling me."

"Shh," Eclipsa said quickly, shushing her daughter. "He's coming this way…"

Meteora, who had been doing a truly excellent job of playing dead so far, obeyed this order without question and went right back to it. Their plan was finally going underway. They were outside, Old Jenkins was approaching them, and there was a cavalcade of E.D.F. soldiers surrounding the area and cutting off any escape. But as her parents had predicted, there were not that many. Only two dozen at most. More than enough for the knights to easily ambush and allow them a chance to escape. All they had to do was make sure that it was timed right. They had been ordered to attack the second they saw the flash of yellow from the sleeping spell, and hopefully, things would process somewhat smoothly afterwards.

"Somewhat" being the operative word.

But regardless, it was going to happen one way or another. Old Jenkins moved closed and closed to the trio, a small smile on his face. But it wasn't one of satisfaction or smugness, or of sadism. He just seemed joyful, likely at the fact that Meteora's parents had seemingly followed his instructions to kill the "imposter" that had invaded their midst. When he was ten feet away, he stopped, likely wanting to make sure of a few things first, one of which was obvious the second he opened his mouth.

"Say something to prove that this is you." He demanded.

"Excuse me?" Eclipsa said.

"Say something to prove that this is you." Old Jenkins repeated, inspecting the bloodied body hanging in Globgor's arms from where he stood. "I told you this thing is a shapeshifter, after all. How do I know that it hasn't just killed you and taken on your form? Or both of your forms, for that matter. Say something that only you and I would know."

"..."

"..."

"...Back at the meeting, that one time, you told Eclipsa and I that we along with Star, Marco, Moon, River were the only ones you respected," Globgor replied. "That didn't mean you always liked us, but out of all the Royals you only respected us."

"Hmmm…yes, I think that proves your innocence." Old Jenkins said, before looking over at Eclipsa. "And what about you? What do you have to say?"

"...When we first met…" Eclipsa started. "You threatened me every which way. When I first went to Earth with Star and Marco to see what it was like, you had an entire army's worth of guns trained on me."

"And what does that prove?" Old Jenkins asked. "Any fool with half a brain and a decent knowledge of who I am knows that that is the proper response to any new invaders to this dimension. Nothing can be left for chance. You-"

"I'm not finished." Eclipsa scoffed. "After Star and Marco explained who I was, you whispered something to me. You said, "don't cause any trouble, tell me whatever I want to know, and I'll let you stay in this dimension for-"

"Okay, I believe you." Old Jenkins said quickly. "Should have seen that coming, honestly, but I'd rather that information not get out. Because it'll just lead to a whole host of questions if someone happens to overhear it…"

"What are you talking about?" Globgor asked.

"Not your concern. Not anymore." Old Jenkins said, before sighing. "But back to business. You are who you appear to be. And as for it…" He looked down at Meteora, before shaking his head. "Finally disposed of the little shapeshifter."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Eclipsa said. "She is still, after all, in the form of my daughter. She didn't change it once. We never saw her take any other form."

"Really? Not even while it was dying?"

"I slit her throat while she was sleeping, and she got up and tried to run...but the blood loss got to her a few seconds later," Globgor explained. "Even after all this, she still did nothing that would suggest she was a spy or a shapeshifter. If she was, then why hadn't she reverted back to her original form?"

"Shapeshifters DNA changes completely to whatever being they're turning into." Old Jenkins explained. "The change can only happen with a conscious mind, so it can't turn into something else if it dies. The form it ceases to exist in is the form it remains until decomposition."

"How nice...but you better be sure of that," Eclipsa said. "If we find out that you were wrong, if it turns out that this was really our daughter and you had us kill her for nothing...then we will gather together every single kingdom of Mewni to kill you."

For a brief moment, fear flickered in Old Jenkins's eyes, before it soon vanished and he smiled again.

"Trust me, I knew what I was doing." He reassured them. "We'll soon have that thing bagged, shipped off to a base, and dissected to prove to you once and for all what it really is. And after that, we find out whatever dimension sent it...and destroy them by any means necessary."

"Another war?" Globgor groaned.

"Only if we intend for it to be one." Old Jenkins said. "But we have the upper hand here. The element of surprise. Soon, all our problems will be over." He sighed and then looked at the body again, which was doing a fantastic job of making sure that it was completely still. "And again, I am sorry that you had to do this. But trust me, again, it was necessary. Soon…nothing will bother you two anymore. All that media frenzy that's been built up over the last few hours will be extinguished, all those Royals you've brought to your side will be unbrainwashed…" He then took another few steps forward towards them, nearly in distance to reach out and touch Meteora. "And nothing will ever-"

Old Jenkins then stopped cold as his eyes darted back down to Meteora's body, where he tilted his head and inspected it carefully again.

"Hang on. That blood-"

And then things moved way too fast.

The second Old Jenkins had stopped talking, Meteora, who had been as still as a statue up to this very moment, knew that the jig was up. So without any further warning, she lifted her hand and pointed it right at Old Jenkins's head, causing him to gasp and for his eyes to widen. Her palm glowed a bright yellow as she summoned the sleep spell, and Eclipsa yelled "NOW" indicating for the attack to start. All the knights dashed towards the E.D.F. soldiers and prepared to bring them to the ground…

But they were ready.

They had all been ready. Simultaneously, the soldiers all stepped aside and retaliated against the knights by smashing them in the face with their armored fists, which caused the knights' own armor to dent under the force of the blow. Old Jenkins, meanwhile, shot his head to the right, and the spell nicked his ear before shooting off into the sky and into the clouds, vanishing in an instant.

For a moment, now one moved an inch.

No one even breathed. Not the soldiers, not the knights who had already recovered from the blows and were ready to get back into action, not Globgor or Eclipsa, the former of which looked like he was about to grow giant any second while the latter was frozen with fear, and not Meteora nor Old Jenkins. Those two were just glaring at each other.

"...Well, I can't say I didn't see it coming." Old Jenkins said. "So I think I'll just cut straight to the point. No more conversations." He then cleared his throat and spoke to his underlings, who were clearly getting ready for a brawl. "Take them down. All of them. Without killing them." And then he looked back down at Meteora and smiled, before whipping out a knife. "Except for, of course, you."

After that, all hell broke loose. The knights and soldiers charged at each other, everything having their own separate opponent. The E.D.F. soldiers clearly had better armor and skills, but the knights were stronger overall, and they also had the tendency to just not stay down. Both sides seemed to be, at the moment, evenly matched.

Which is not for what could be said of Old Jenkins and the three standing in front of him. He lashed out at Meteora with his knife, but Globgor became determined to foil his plans, yanking Meteora out of the way and resulting in her nearly flying out of his arms. He then raised one of his legs and kicked Old Jenkins in the chest, sending him flying backwards down the stairs that led up to the Temple. He caught himself a second later, resulting in them gaining only a five-foot difference. But it was enough for Meteora to jump out of his arms, and for her and Eclipsa to move behind him as he suddenly grew as tall as an eighteen-wheeler was long. Old Jenkins stepped back, but there wasn't any fear in his eyes. He simply leaned his head down and spoke into a small radio attached to his shoulder.

"Situation. Code level: Red Titan." He said, before looking back up at Globgor. "Do you know what that was? It was the order for a fighter jet to come here and blast you into a million bloody pieces if I say a single other word into that radio. So unless you don't want to leave your wife a widow, I recommend you get out of the way…" He took out a pistol and aimed it at Globgor's leg, specifically the area that Meteora was hiding behind. "...And let me finish this."

"I thought you said the time for talking was over." Globgor boomed.

"Oh. It is." Old Jenkins said. "Which is why I'm going to shut my mouth now. Unless you surrender, in which case I'll call off the jet. But until then…"

Old Jenkins then rushed forward, pulling out another knife and reaching Globgor's leg in seconds. He lifted up his other one and slammed it down in an attempt to block Old Jenkins's path, but the latter was ready for him, jumping to the side and maneuvering around the oversized limb. With this, Meteora was in his sights, but there was still one thing standing in his way. Eclipsa, who rushed at him like a raging bull and tackled him to the ground. They flew backwards and started tumbling down the steep hill that led to the street, until Old Jenkins kicked the queen off him and saved himself by catching his hand on a loose tree root sticking out of the side of the hill. Eclipsa stopped herself a moment later, using her heels to slow her descent. Meteora and Globgor peered over the side of it in worry, until Old Jenkins caught sight of Meteora, forcing her to move back as he shot at her and nicked her hair.

"Don't you dare hurt her!" Eclipsa shouted, climbing up the hill and grabbing hold of Old Jenkins's ankles, before attempting to yank him down. He glared at her like she was an annoying mosquito before slamming his foot into her face, making her cry out and let go of him. His only response to this was nothing but a disappointed frown as he started climbing back up the hill, scaling it and reaching the top within seconds.

When he got there, however, the first thing he saw was Meteora's fist flying straight at his face. Too fast to dodge, she nailed him right in the nose, causing an explosion of blood to spurt everywhere and for him to grit his teeth in pain. He was about to try and grab her, but this only resulted in her punching him again, making him decide that he had had enough. Old Jenkins leaped up and kicked Meteora like something straight out of a low-budget ninja movie, and she was sent tumbling to the ground. He landed clumsily on his feet, holding his nose and glaring at her. Globgor stepped between the two using only one foot, and Old Jenkins began to realize that he wasn't going to win this alone, especially not when Eclipsa finished climbing up the hill behind him, looking only the slightest bit dazed.

"Give up. You're surrounded." She growled. "Just leave us alone, and don't come back. We're not letting you hurt her."

"Your compliance isn't a factor here...and truth be told, from the very beginning, it never was!" Old Jenkins shouted, before dashing towards her. Eclipsa was caught off guard by this sudden move, confident that he would have tried to go for Meteora again instead, so she was completely unprepared when Old Jenkins slammed into her, knocking the air out of her lungs. He then stepped behind her and grabbed her in a chokehold, before taking out a third knife (where was he hiding all those knives?) and holding it an inch from the queen's right eye. Globgor and Meteora froze in place, realizing that their wife and mother, respectively, was now being used as a hostage.

"I was hoping it wouldn't come to this. Using pointless words yet again." He sighed. "But it seems I have no other choice. All my soldiers and your knights are preoccupied with each other, so it's just us four. Now, I'm sure you know what I want. Meteora, or whatever you are. There is a knife on the ground in front of you. Pick it up, slit your own throat, and I'll release your "mother". That's the only deal I'm going to give you."

"Are you kidding me? That's not a deal, it's an ultimatum!" Meteora replied.

"Precisely." Old Jenkins said. "Of course, there is another option. You don't have to do that. Instead...you can shapeshifter out of the form you're in and show your "parents" what you really are. What you've been hiding all this time."

"I can't even...okay, enough. Let her go." Meteora said, before pausing and gulping. "Because I have another deal for you."

"And that is?"

"...We fight," Meteora replied. "Just you and me. You make your soldiers stop attacking, the knights stop attacking, and my parents stop interfering. Just you and me, hand to hand, with no weapons, no magic, nothing. And if I cheat...then you can shoot me on the spot."

"What?!" Globgor gasped. "Meteora, you can't possibly be thinking of-"

"No." Old Jenkins interjected. "EVERYBODY, STOP!" He roared, and at that very moment, every pair of eyes were on him. The soldiers and the knights ceased their battle in mid-punch, and all looked at him in confusion. "Soldiers...stand down and establish a perimeter. That's an order."

For perhaps the first time in their lives, the E.D.F. soldiers balked at this order, but a few seconds later they came to their senses and did just that, running past the knights that they had practically been dueling to the death with just a few moments later and surrounding the area. The path leading down the mountain was now cut off by them, or at least anybody not currently the size of Globgor.

"What are you doing?" Eclipsa asked. "You can't seriously be thinking of-"

"Oh, but I am." Old Jenkins said. "She has a point. This entire situation is turning into a boring stalemate. And while I could call in a bomber and end it at any time...I think your "daughter" here is on to something. From the very start, this really was just a fight between us two. Everyone else was meddling." He then shoved Eclipsa to the ground and began walking towards Meteora, who gulped and stepped out from behind her father's leg. They moved towards each other until they were five feet away, upon which they stopped. "So...repeat what you just said."

"We fight," Meteora said. "We can only use your fists, and nobody from either side can interfere. It's just us. If I win, you leave and never come back. If you win...then you'll probably beat me to death right then and there."

"Any other rules you'd like to specify again?"

"Of course," Meteora replied. "If you try to use a knife or a gun, my father will come in and wrangle you back. On the other hand, if I use magic, you can order your soldiers to shoot me."

"And what's stopping me from ordering them to shoot you right now?"

"What was stopping you from doing it earlier?" Meteora asked rhetorically. "I know you. Whether you like it or not, I know you. And I know you'd jump at the chance to beat me personally like this. You, or at least this old version of you, is someone who loves to take all the glory when possible. And what more glory could you gain in this situation than by killing me yourself? The so-called "invader" of Earth?"

"..."

"..."

"You're right." Old Jenkins admitted. "Whether I like it or not, you do know me. Although I suppose that's what you get after spying on people and getting as much information out of your fake parents as possible."

"Or living with you for fifteen years…"

"Oh, don't give me any of that." Old Jenkins groaned. "But I don't think we should delay this any longer if it is happening. Globgor, Eclipsa, if you could please step away to allow us to fight."

"No, no, no, this is not happening," Eclipsa said. "Meteora, you cannot do this."

"Yes, I can, and I have to. And since our plans have gone off the rails, this might be the only way for any of us to make it out alive." Meteora pointed out, before looking towards Old Jenkins. "Face it. You said it yourself. You could kill us all at any time. The fact that I'm still alive is a miracle at this point, considering that you shot me in the chest multiple times no more than twelve hours ago."

"Yeah...and by the way, how are you still standing from that?" Old Jenkins asked, sounding genuinely curious. "You were in this form when I shot you. Your durability should have been the same. How are you walking and talking like this with no difficulty?"

Meteora knew the answer perfectly well, but she wasn't about to say that the only reason she could do any of those things was because of the training his future self had given her on how to hide pain to make opponents think you're less injured than you really are. In reality, each step made her feel like her heart was about to burst open, and she could only hope that those bullet wounds wouldn't...expand from all the effort.

"You're a lousy shot, that's why," Meteora said. "You didn't hit anything vital, and the doctors at that hospital are pretty good."

"It would seem so…" Old Jenkins said, before shaking his head. "But irrelevant. Now, you two…" He mused, before turning his head towards Globgor and Eclipsa. "You know, in your heart of hearts, that you will not be able to stop your "daughter" from doing this. She is correct, and I'm impressed. She's fully convinced me to go along with this...and she declared it herself. If you interfere, it's over for all of you. Speaking of which…" He looked past them and spoke towards his entourage again, most of whom were sweating out of nervousness under their armor, wondering what the heck was going to come out of all this. "If these two interfere at all with what is about to happen, you are to shoot them in their knees and elbows immediately. Careful not to hit any arteries, just make it so that they can't move at all."

"Knees and elbows?!" Globgor gasped. "You're going to try and cripple us for life-"

"You deserve it after that stunt you just pulled. And you grow back to regular size, or else I'll actually have to call in an airstrike if you try to do anything stupid." Old Jenkins said. "So go ahead. Stop using that useless power of yours."

Globgor growled, and was clearly hesitant to do this, but a moment later he relented and shrunk himself down back to his normal size, clenching his fists so hard that the skin of his knuckles was poking through his fur. "You...you can't-"

"Not up for debate any longer!" Old Jenkins shouted. "Eclipsa...do you have anything left to say, or are you going to keep wasting everyone's time and try to reason with your "daughter" to not do this?"

"..."

"Good. Glad to see you still have an ounce left of sense in you." Old Jenkins said. "Now then, you two step back. Your fake daughter and I are going to solve this little problem once and for all."

Eclipsa and Globgor both opened their mouths simultaneously, ready to make another comment towards Meteora on how she shouldn't do this, but the girl, for the first time ever, shot a glare their way, warning them not to interfere. This uncharacteristic move resulted in them shutting their mounts immediately, while Meteora looked back at Old Jenkins as her parents finally backed away, leaving only her and her opponent.

"...Wow. That was cold." The Voice piped up, after having been rather quiet for a while. "Seriously. I cannot believe you just glared at them like that. I'm sure the only reason they backed off was because they were just so shocked by what you did."

"I feel like I'm going to throw up my internal organs because of it," Meteora whispered. "But nothing else would have made them back down. As much as I hate to admit it, it's the truth. Unless I showed them that I might potentially force them away if they attempted to keep interfering, they were never going to stop."

"You make a fair point…" The Voice said. "Although may I ask what the hell you're doing? Do you really think you can beat him hand to hand without magic? And furthermore, that he'll even keep his end of the deal in the chance that you defeat him?"

"For the latter, no," Meteora replied. "He's going to try and kill me again no matter what. I'm sure that the second the fight begins, he'll go straight for my neck in an attempt to snap it. Or for my bullet wounds. If he hits any of those head-on, the pain will be too much for me to handle. And the second I drop to one knee, I'm dead."

"I agree. Which is why I'm still wondering why this is a good idea." The Voice said. "Now, the answer to my first question, please. What are you thinking? Do you truly believe you can beat him?"

"You're underestimating me," Meteora said. "Don't forget, he trained Mariposa and I for years. With the exact same fighting style he knows. If he throws a punch, I'll know how to counter it, and then I can devastate him in close combat. With my monster half, my strength should be somewhat comparable to his. All I need is a few good punches…"

"You're in over your head if you think it's going to be that easy. All those times Jenkins spared with you in the future, all those fighting lessons, just how much did you think he was holding back?" The Voice asked. "Do you have any idea how careful he was being to not hurt you? Just how much he didn't teach you because it was just too dangerous for him to teach?"

"...Maybe," Meteora replied. "But I also know how to kill someone using a single finger. I may not know everything he knows, but I think I know enough."

"...Are you going to try and kill him? Future him wouldn't be affected by this, after all. In fact, if we get back and you told him about it, as well as the situation, I'm sure he'd approve."

"I'm sure he would…" Meteora mumbled.

"Are you finished mumbling to yourself?" Old Jenkins asked, tapping his foot against the ground. "I've been polite enough to allow you to do that for a few minutes, but my patience is coming to an end. And I don't want to give you too many chances to beat me…"

"Isn't that the whole point of this?" Meteora retorted. "But yeah. I'm done. We can start."

"Hold on, we are most certainly not done-"

"Yes, I know, but we don't have time to do anything else." Meteora hissed. "So just trust me."

"...Fine. Against my better judgment of this whole situation...I trust you. Again."

Meteora didn't respond back to this, only silently thanking the Voice that it had agreed to her crazy plan. Truth be told, she was only fifty percent sure, maybe less, that she had any sort of chance at beating Old Jenkins. She figured that he would be good enough on his word to not just pull out a knife and stab her, but she knew he was probably going to be using tons of other dirty tricks in the fight to come.

"Finished?" Old Jenkins repeated, looking bored.

"Yeah. I'm done." Meteora replied. "It's really just you and me now."

"Great." Old Jenkins said, before shrugging. "So...just feel free to come at me whenever. I'm sure this'll be a short fight."

"You know, someone once told me that, "overconfidence has led to more deaths in a one-on-one battle than anything else"." Meteora sighed. "Would you like to know who said that?"

"...Who said that?"

"It was you. In the future. And now…" She continued. "I'm going to do the one thing that I never thought I'd do."

And then she charged.

The brief moment of surprise that had overcome Old Jenkins at the mention that his future self had supposedly told Meteora that was all she needed to catch him off guard, rushing forward, and slamming her fist into his side before he could react. After that, everything seemed to move in slow motion, allowing her to collect her thoughts.

'Jenkins told me…' She thought. 'That if he ever went bad for whatever reason, to attack his right side first. He had broken a few of his lower ribs years ago, and no matter how well they tried, the damage was never fully healed. Not enough to hinder him in any way, but if someone knew about this...it might cause a great deal of pain.'

And what a deal of pain it was. Old Jenkins cried out in pain and almost fell to one knee, but Meteora didn't stop. She knew that in a fight like this, against him, she had to use every opportunity. She reared her foot back and then swung it at his face, aiming it so that it would break his lower jaw and cause him enough pain to go into shock. But he saw her coming this time, and caught her foot with one hand. She attempted to twist it to get out of his grip, but he hung on as tightly as he could, and before she knew it Meteora was in the air being swung around. He lifted her over his head and attempted to slam her on the ground, but Meteora immediately wrapped her free leg around his arm, twisting it again in an attempt to break it.

He let go, and she hit the ground and got up less than a second later. The two instinctively took another step back from one another, weary that their opponent would strike again.

"Impressive…" Old Jenkins mumbled. "You really know your stuff."

"Well, of course. After all, you're the one who taught me!" Meteora shouted, leaning forward before launching herself in the air in the same manner a crazed cat would, the claws on her hand spread outwards and aiming towards his face. Old Jenkins stopped her by grabbing both her wrists, but this was just what Meteora was counting on. Before he could get another chance to swing him around, and the second her feet hit the ground again, Meteora leaped in the air, so high that she managed to thrust her legs forward and wrap them around his neck in one swift move. Old Jenkins responded by shoved her arms even further backward, over her head to the point where they felt like they were about to snap, but she held on.

Meteora then tightened the grip she had around his neck in an attempt to choke him out, and it seemed to be working as Old Jenkins started seeing black spots coming over his vision. But he had more than enough ways to hurt her as well. Instead of pushing her arms back even further, he let go and wrapped his hands around her neck, nearly crushing her windpipe one second in. Meteora gasped for air as she realized what he was doing, and knew that she wouldn't win. She was just trying to hold on long enough to knock him out, but he was actively attempting to murder her. And Old Jenkins was strong enough to win before she accomplished her objective.

So in a move that would be looked upon with disdain in any martial arts tournament, Meteora unhooked her legs from his neck and then bit his left wrist, sinking her shark-like monster teeth into his flesh with ease. He yelped and let go of her, resulting in the girl doing the same a moment later. The two stumbled away from each other again, Old Jenkins looking at her like she had just done the worst thing that any person could possibly do.

"Did you just fucking bite me?!" He asked incredulously. "What is wrong with you?!"

"We're in the middle of a fight. All bets are off, and it's not like either of us are holding back anyway." Meteora said. "Plus, I had to get you to let go of me."

"Yes…but now I see why you're going to lose this fight." Old Jenkins said. "Even after everything, you still possess some sense of morality. I felt your leg muscles. They were extremely powerful. You could have snapped my neck at any time, but you chose to try to choke me into unconsciousness. With an attitude like that...you're not going to win this."

"...Shouldn't that be proof enough for you?" Meteora asked.

"Proof enough for what?"

"That I am who I say I am. You're right. I had a perfect opportunity to kill you there." She admitted. "But I didn't. If I was really an evil shapeshifter sent to scout out this dimension so I could take it over, why the hell would I have passed something like that up? The greatest threat to me, dead on the ground. Why would anyone pass that up?"

"Easy. Because if you do, you'll likely lose the trust of your "parents", and my soldiers would fire on you the second they heard the snap and realized what happened." Old Jenkins explained. "That's a stupid question. And I'm sure that I can pick apart any further arguments you-"

"You're wrong." Eclipsa chimed in, making Old Jenkins glare at her. "If she had killed you, we wouldn't have lost any trust in her. You've been trying to kill her for days, almost! It would have been full self-defense at this point! Yes, your death would cause problems...but we wouldn't think any less of her for committing the actual act."

"You two...I'll deal with you later." Old Jenkins growled. "But fine. However, my soldiers-"

"Would not be able to hit her, because I would instantly grow larger and protect her, too fast for your soldiers to fire at," Globgor interjected. "And she knows it. There isn't anything you can point out as a hole that we wouldn't instantly disprove."

"So says you." Old Jenkins scoffed, before looking back at Meteora. "Doesn't matter anyway. A little bit is nothing to be concerned about. It was just...surprising."

"Wouldn't be so sure about that," Meteora said, before a small group spread across her face. "You taught me that bites from humans, monsters, and Mewmans are some of the worst a person can receive, due to all the bacteria. If you don't get that treated, it's gonna leave a nasty infection."

"It'll be nothing compared to what I'm about to do to you." Old Jenkins said, scowling. And this time, it was his turn to charge. Despite all the times he had sparred with Meteora in the future, she wasn't ready for him for a reason she realized in a millisecond. The Voice was correct. All those years he had been holding back. Well, obviously, but if he had wanted to reach them in less than a second, he could have. And that was exactly what he was doing now. The man was on Meteora in less than a second, and he grabbed her face before slamming her to the ground, the back of her head impacting five straight inches into the dirt. Eclipsa tensed up at the impact, and her foot involuntarily moved forward, before Globgor set a hand on her shoulder, reminding her of the agreement that they (unofficially) agreed to. She looked at him and then at the fight, before gulping and deciding to trust in Meteora.

Which was a wise thing to do, because a moment later Old Jenkins cried out in pain again and yanked his hand back, holding his index finger which was now dripping blood like crazy.

"Bit me again you little-!" He started, before growling as Meteora got up again, her mouth now stained crimson as she easily shrugged off being body slammed. "So that's your only real way of attack, huh? How about I fix that!"

And then before she knew it, Old Jenkins's fist had impacted along the side of Meteora's jaw, sending her sprawling to the ground and knocking out more than a few of her teeth. She gasped and gagged as blood poured out of her mouth, and counted five teeth in the ground in front of her, smashed clean out by the hit. Teeth that would never grow back on their own.

"Try something like that again, and I'll make it so that you wear dentures for the rest of your life." Old Jenkins said. "Or, maybe, I could just do this."

He then approached Meteora from behind and grabbed her in another chokehold, to which she struggled and kicked to get out of. Unlike with her last one, she was in no position to bite him again due to the angle she was being held at, her frantic kicking wasn't enough to force him to let go, and her arms weren't strong enough to wrestle her way out of his grip. for the first time since the fight began, she could see no true way out of this.

Except for one, of course, even though she knew only piss him off even further and put her at an even larger advantage. She bowed her head downwards as far as it could go and then thrust it back, slamming the back of her head into the exact same spot that she punched earlier. Old Jenkins' already partially broken nose exploded in pain and blood again as he tossed her into the side of the Temple in response, creating a noticeable crack in the wall. He fell to his knees as Meteora struggled to lift herself off the ground, once again gasping for air as she rubbed her heavily bruised throat. It hurt so much that she could barely even speak, and even worse, it felt like that toss had just reopened a few of her bullet wounds.

"Cheap trick…cheap trick…" Old Jenkins repeated, before looking at her and smiling when he saw the sudden bloodstains on her shirt that were growing rapidly, to which Meteora gasped again. "Well, look at that. Guess that was a lie after all. With those old wounds reopening, you don't have a chance. And the pain certainly won't help you either."

"You told me to never be overconfident," Meteora replied/wheezed. "That it's "killed more of my comrades than anything else in war". Don't tell me you're going to start acting like them. If you do, then what did they die for?"

"You dare…" Old Jenkins spat, before shaking his head. He walked over to Meteora and viciously kicked her in the face, an attack that she attempted to block and failed at. "How long have you truly been spying on us, huh? The last time I said that aloud was weeks ago to a group of newly trained soldiers! Why did you wait so long to do...this?!"

"I'd explained it to you, but it's not like you'd believe me," Meteora mumbled, before using the Temple wall to push herself up, fresh blood dripping onto and staining the dirt below. "I don't think anything I could say would convince you of the truth."

"You keep calling it that…" Old Jenkins pointed out. "I wonder if you actually believe that that is the truth. That you've been wearing this mask for so long that you've almost become it, in a way. That even you don't realize what you've turned into."

"If that's the case, then I'm an entirely different person now and you should have no reason to kill me," Meteora said, before gulping. Before her bullet wounds reopened, she was still confident that she could win this. But now that they had, and the pain was almost causing her to blackout...it was clear that she did not have the advantage here. Not any longer. She had to find a different way out of this now. "Right?"

"Wrong. Even if you're mind is screwed to all hell, you still came here with the intention to give information back to your home dimension. I'm not going to take the chance that you could revert back to normal and ruin everything again." Old Jenkins said. "So this is goodbye."

"No...you can't!" Meteora shouted. "If you kill me, then Seth-"

"Has already been taken care of. Security around the prison is maximized." Old Jenkins said. "No living thing could come within fifty miles of that place without us targeting and destroying it. So assuming that that part of your story is correct, this monster you speak of is all but doomed."

"..."

"Well, time to die."

"Shit," Meteora whispered, as Old Jenkins began walking towards her. "Voice. Voice. Help me the hell out."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Give me some fucking advice, maybe!" Meteora growled, as Old Jenkins swung at her. She clumsily dodged the blow, and his fist went straight into the stone wall, cracking it. "I need your help here!"

"I'm not sure what advice to give you." The Voice replied. "Unless, of course, you use magic. Just one spell would be enough to stop him."

"I can't do that, I have my word," Meteora replied, as Old Jenkins swung at her again, just clipping her right shoulder and nearly toppling her over. "Agh! It...those soldiers would fire at me the second my hands started glowing."

"Not true. Not if you were in a position where they would hit him first." The Voice claimed. "If you can position yourself in such a way that Old Jenkins is standing between you and them, they won't fire. Then you'll make your move."

"I'm sure he's ordered them to fire anyway if that happens," Meteora whispered. "He'll do anything to protect the Earth, including sacrificing his own life. And don't claim otherwise, because he's passed on that sacrificial trait from the Earth to Mariposa and I!"

"Oh, I don't disagree." The Voice said. "But the same can't be said of the soldiers. Yes, he had ordered them to fire on him. But no matter what, no matter how apathetic or heartless or loyal a person is...every single living being has their limits as to what they will do without hesitation. We both saw them earlier, when Old Jenkins ordered them to stop and surround the area. They hesitated to move. Only for a moment, but they still had to think about it. I do believe the same will occur here. Get behind Old Jenkins. Ready your magic. They will aim at him, but it will take them a second or so to fire. That's when you nod to your parents. That one second will be when you and they act. Globgor will grow giant and shield you, and you'll hit Old Jenkins with the Solus spell. He'll be blinded, and that will give you the chance to knock him out or incapacitate him by any other means. Then your father will take care of the soldiers, and without Old Jenkins being able to call in an airstrike or anything of that regard, you will be able to get away."

"...Okay, that all sounds good, because I don't have any other ideas for plans at the moment," Meteora admitted, as she literally dove to the ground to avoid another one of Old Jenkins punches. "But what if one of the soldiers calls in an airstrike?"

"Then get to the town as fast as possible." The Voice suggested. "As long as you are within an area with a major civilian presence, they will not fire. Honestly, I was already surprised that he seemed willing to fire a missile even here. If it missed and hit the Temple, the rubble that would rain down could crush dozens of people…"

"I think he's confident that he can take care of any negative media," Meteora mumbled, getting to her feet and scrambling away. "But okay. Is that it? Are you sure that this will work?"

"As with every plan I've come up with recently, absolutely not." The Voice said. "But if you have a better idea, I'm open to suggestions."

"...Fine," Meteora mumbled. "We're probably going to die again, you know that, right?"

"Oh, I do." The Voice said. "But that's happened so much lately that I don't think you would have cared that much. Between actually freezing to death, escaping that military base, being shot multiple times, and now this, I figured you would have been used to it."

"Was that a joke?" Meteora asked, sounding greatly unamused.

"Yes. Shockingly, I do have a sense of humor."

"I think I'd prefer you without one…" Meteora snarked, before turning her attention back to the fight. She was still just dodging like crazy, making Old Jenkins think that she was just trying to find a proper opening, one that he was so rudely refusing her. But it was now or never. She dashed over towards the Temple at her next dodge, and he sighed in exasperation before approaching her again, clearly getting tired of their life-or-death game of tag. But once he got close enough, Meteora saw her moment. With this, she had successfully put him between the soldiers and her. Any of them that attempted to fire at her would first hit him. If any of them realized it at first, they didn't react, but Meteora promises herself that they would in a moment.

"Now." She said to herself, before closing her eyes and beginning to concentrate. While doing such a thing was obviously a death wish at a time like this, one second was all she needed at this point. She was sure that she could summon up a Solus spell, although her parents would definitely have to carry her afterward.

And again, that one second was all she needed. She opens her eyes and then thrust her hand into Old Jenkins's face, an inch away from his eyes. He looked at her in surprise, clearly not expecting that she would be the first one to break any rules they had set. Then with a quick nod towards her father, and an equally quick nod back from him once he realized what she was doing. She was all set. Her hand started glowing, and even if Old Jenkins moved away at top speed, there was no way for him to avoid the near blinding flash of light.

The soldiers, as he had ordered them to, simultaneously lifted their guns and all pointed them at Meteora the second they saw the light. But as the Voice had predicted, they didn't fire at first. A few were clearly wondering if they should pull the trigger or not, contemplating the consequences of this decision. Which was all the time Meteora needed to shout out "SOLUS"!

...and then it began.

Her light erupted in light and Old Jenkins cried out, futilely covering his eyes from the glare. It didn't do him much good, however, as he fell to the ground a moment later, his eyes feeling like someone had taken a lit match to them. But now that he was on the ground, the soldiers had a clear shot, and then a near-deafening roar of a hundred assault rifles firing cracked through the air…

...only to hit something that they were able to sting, but not penetrate fully. For just as the Voice had planned again, Globgor had stepped in front of his daughter and grew gigantic in the one second that the spell had blocked everyone's vision, and while the bullets felt like a million little wasps stinging him at once, over and over, none of them broke his skin. It was nothing but a mere annoyance.

"Get them! Tackle them to the ground again!" Eclipsa commanded and shouted to the knights, seeing the opportunity at the same time as her husband. The knights didn't wait a moment for this order, dogpiling the soldiers, and a moment later the brawl between the two sides was relit, only this time the knights had the complete element of surprise.

"You little bastard!" Old Jenkins shouted, getting up and shielding his eyes, trying to find his way around. "When I find you I'm going to-"

Meteora, who by now was sick and tired of having to deal with this, huffed and ran towards him to make sure that he wouldn't be able to get up again. But then the unthinkable happened. Before she could get there he was instead tackled by her mother, who slammed him to the ground and then began whaling on him like a wolverine with its claws. Old Jenkins attempted to shield himself, but with his eyes completely useless at the moment there was almost no point. Every single one of Eclipsa's punches hit close to home, and she finally finished him off by grabbing the back of his head and smashing it repeatedly against the ground, shouting one word with each blow.

"DON'T. YOU. EVER. HURT. MY. DAUGHTER. AGAIN!" She shrieked, and with one final hit Old Jenkins' head went limp, finally knocked into unconsciousness by the Queen's assault. For a moment, she sat there panting, not even noticing the shocked looks that her husband and daughter were giving her. Globgor was staring at her like he didn't know she had in her to do something like that, although there was also a bit of pride there as well, as if he was proud of her. Meteora, meanwhile, just seemed more disturbed with the state Old Jenkins was currently in, battered and bruised and bloodied to all hell. Even if he had just tried to kill her, he still had the face of her foster father, a fact she couldn't ignore. To see him like that…

She quickly turned away from the sight, quietly reminding herself that it wasn't her Jenkins. After a few more moments of stunned silence, Eclipsa got to her feet and glanced over at the pair, before shaking her head.

"What are you waiting for?!" She asked. "Let's go!"

And that was when they suddenly remembered what else was going on at the moment. The three of them bolted down the hill, pushing past the quarreling between the knights and the soldiers, while several of the latter attempted to grab them but were held back by the former.

"Keep going, my Queen!" One of the knights yelled. "We shall hold off these treasonous bunglers for as long as we can!"

"Yes! Until the bitter end!" Another yelled.

Eclipsa didn't have the time to respond to this in any way, only hoping that they understood how grateful she was. At their speed, the trio made it past them all in a matter of seconds, Globgor growing back down to normal size again once he was sure that they were out of firing range. They didn't stop until they made it down to the bottom of the hill, where they saw their giant carriage waiting for them.

"There!" Meteora said, being carried by her father as he attempted to wipe away the bloodstains covering her shirt. "We can just use that, and we'll be safe!"

"Don't think so," Eclipsa said, before suddenly turning left and starting to go around the hill that held the Temple, much to Meteora's confusion.

"Wait, what are we doing?" She asked. "Didn't you say that the plan was to use that to escape?"

"It was...until I thought of a better solution. I had already explained this over the phone while you were in the room, but it seems you weren't listening." Eclipsa replied. "I'm going to have Archibald drive the carriage as far away as possible, but remaining in populated areas so it won't be fired upon. Meanwhile, we will make our way to the Jaggy castle using one of our spare carriages. Anyone who is out to get us will chase the giant carriage, and allow us to get away without much difficulty."

"...Dang, I really should have been paying attention," Meteora said. "But won't people notice a carriage rolling around town and stuff, and realize that it's one of yours and put the dots together or something? How are you so sure that this will work?"

"I'm not, just like with everything else we've been doing," Eclipsa said. "This was hardly even a plan until a few minutes ago, I had all but abandoned it until you gave us that opportunity to escape. Of choice I have to say: well done. You cannot believe how worried I was that that was going to be the end for all of us."

"Yeah, I kind of came up with it on the spot as well," Meteora said. "Well, the Voice did, which was what all that mumbling you heard earlier was about."

"Yes, I suspected as much," Eclipsa said. "But I'm wondering. What did you hope to gain with that fight? Did you really think you could beat him?"

"Absolutely. His future self taught me almost everything he knows, after all." Meteora replied. "Unfortunately, I realized a bit too late that while I wouldn't be going for fatal blows, he would. Which is what led to all of that."

"Still, what you did back there was very impressive. Even if you weren't going for any killing blows, you got closer to beating him in a hand-to-hand fight than any Mewman did in the past." Globgor pointed out. "Win or lose, what you did was practically unheard of."

"Whee for me," Meteora said. "But is it bad that I could have ended the fight earlier, but didn't? Take that part where we were trying to choke each other out. He gained the upper hand because, again, he was trying to kill me instead of knocking me out. But if I had been doing that from the start...just going right for the kill...I think I would have been able to do it in seconds. Should...should I have done that-"

"No, you shouldn't have," Eclipsa said. "And putting aside that we would be covered by a hailstorm of bullets instantly, Old Jenkins put you in a position that you shouldn't have been put in in the first place. You only engaged in that fight because you thought it was your best option left, but that doesn't mean you weren't forced into it." She sighed. "What I'm trying to say is that nobody would blame you if you killed him, but at the same time, no one blames you that you didn't, especially us. I imagine it was already hard enough, fighting him like that after you spent fifteen years being raised by him…"

"Yeah, don't mention it. And I mean that literally. Sorry if it sounds mean, I just...can't deal with those thoughts anymore." Meteora requested, as they rounded another bend and were created with what looked like a very steep driveway leading into a dark hole in the Temple, like an entrance to a cave. "Well, this doesn't look very inviting."

"It was designed that way to deter off intruders," Eclipsa informed her, as they started descending towards the entrance. "Anyone that actually had the guts to go in would have been met with a seemingly infinite dark space, with no end. Only a beginning that they could turn back to and get out from."

"Really? Is there some kind of optical illusion involved with that?" Meteora asked.

"Oh no, this was only in effect when magic was still around. It was a safeguard put in place by the MHC to prevent anyone from snooping into the lower depths of the Temple." Eclipsa said. "Nowadays, it's just a quick turn in the dark and then you're greeted with everything."

"That doesn't seem like much security…"

"Don't need it," Globgor said. "Most everyone still thinks that the "infinite space" is still there. We never told them it was made by magic, like you said. And like you said, most of them believed that it was just an illusion they couldn't figure out."

"That's convenient," Meteora said, practically becoming her catchphrase at this point. "But how many carriages do you have in there?"

"Well…" Eclipsa started to say, as they entered the darkness and Meteora felt them turn a few moments later. Then a cavalcade of lights flickered on and she was greeted with the sight of an enormous garage. Inside was like something straight out of a movie (you know which one). It was filled with all sorts of carriages and cars, most of them looking like they had never even been touched. The walls were simply slick stone, and there was a door at the far end, presumably leading up to the Temple. And there waiting for them was a servant with two warnicorns, no doubt one she had sent down earlier in case this was needed.

"It's amazing…" Meteora said. "I've never seen so many cars before. Well, at least ones that were totaled or burnt to nothing but an empty metal shell. I know you're queen, but how did you get all these? Why did you get all these?"

"We wouldn't even have them if not for other people," Eclipsa said. "Take a look at the cars. Take a look at the brands. Most of them are from foreign countries. When we first came here, we explained how we were not entirely used to Earth technology, and that if a few countries could send us examples of what they had to offer to get us used to things. We were expecting a wide range of different kinds of tech...and instead, we got cars. Lots of cars that we didn't know how to drive and never had any reason to use. I suppose that's the Earth equivalent of an upper-class gift."

"Huh. So...which one are we taking?" Meteora asked.

"The simplest carriage we have down here," Eclipsa said. "These cars are worth millions of dollars each. We'd stick out like a bloodstain on a white sheet if we got in and started driving around in one of them. The town and its people have gotten richer as a whole since Earthni, but not that rich. If we're trying to avoid detection…" She pointed over towards a simple worsen carriage, looking like it belonged to any fool on the street. "We'll be doing as inconspicuous as possible."

"Sounds like a good idea," Meteora said, not the least bit disappointed that they weren't going in what could account to a civilian race car, as the memories of flying through the air at a thousand miles per hour were good enough for her. "This better work though…"

"It will," Eclipsa said. "The E.D.F. is likely chasing our giant carriage already, though. So we better hurry up. Everyone get in."

The only other person standing with her did just that, climbing in the carriage and setting Meteora down in the seat next to him. Eclipsa got in a second later, and then the cart started to move as the driver got the warnicorns attached to the front and set them off.

And once again, the future was unclear, and this time, Meteora could truly do nothing but sit back and hope that things went her way.

End chapter 49

A/N: Ugh, I'm sorry again for how long this arc is dragging out. I know how it's gonna end, it's just taking way longer than anticipated to get there. I thank everyone that's had the patience so far to make it through almost fifty chapters of this dang thing, so yeah. Thank you, again.

But as always...thank you for reading and please PM me or leave a review if you have any questions or comments.