I told you guys that I wasn't holding back on this finale. Now, time for the epilogue.
"...cia? ...arcia? Marcia?"
Marcia wasn't sure who was doing it, but it sounded like someone was calling out her name. But she couldn't remember why. Or why they sounded so frantic, for that matter.
After a few moments, Marcia opened her eyes, which she hadn't even realized had been closed in the first place. "Mmm, five more minutes, Mom..." she lazily said, not caring if she was breaking her morning routine.
"Now, that doesn't sound like something Marcia would say," a familiar voice told her.
Hearing this, Marcia felt the remaining fog in her head begin to clear as she fully woke up. Sitting next to her was none other than her best friend, Comet Dragonfly, a look of worry etched onto his face. "Hey, Mar-Mar," he simply said, trying to give her a soft smile.
As the memories of what had transpired over the last few hours returned to her, Marcia had a million questions running through her head. "Comet, what happened? Where are we? The last thing I remember is us walking out of that glass cell, and then it felt like my body was starting to catch on fire and...oh God, am I..."
"Calm down, you worrywart," Comet said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You're fine. Toffee poisoned you, but I got the antidote and used it to cure you."
"But how were you even able to do-" and then the memory of what happened next came back to her. "Comet, you didn't...?"
"I did," Comet somberly said, a look of melancholy on his face. "I...destroyed my wand."
"Oh, Comet..." Marcia wanted to say so many things to him at that moment, but Comet wouldn't let her do so.
"As for where we are, we are still inside that crystal cell. Although-" Comet then gestured to everything outside as the dust began to settle. "-the same cannot be said for the rest of Ludo's Castle."
Marcia's eyes widened when she saw, or rather, didn't see outside. Castle Avarius, and a good part of the surrounding landscape, was gone. Vaporized, like it never even existed in the first place. As the door to their cell unlocked, the two teens stepped out into what felt like ground zero for a nuclear bomb, minus the radiation.
"Comet, how did all this-"
"It was my Wand," Comet swiftly explained. "It turns out, a side effect of destroying it was it turning into a magical bomb that would level everything in its vicinity. Kind of like a magical nuke, I guess."
"Yikes."
"That's what I said. We're lucky this cell held up, or we might be dead right now."
"Bigger yikes." As Marcia surveyed the desolation, she happened to spot one thing that mysteriously survived the explosion: the coat rack that Toffee had placed his jacket on was completely intact, along with the coat itself.
"Not even going to question that," Marcia said as she walked towards the coat rack and tore off the jacket with her uninjured hand. "Just going to take this and use it as part of my new punching bad. So, what happened to everyone else?"
"Well, Buff Frog got out, I think. So did all the other Monsters; I don't really know where they are, though. Don't really care, either."
"And Toffee?"
"Don't know," Comet said. "I think he got caught in the blast, but I saw him grow back an arm. Who's to say that he won't pull a Majin Buu on us and come back?"
"Heaven forbid. I've already had enough of that freak for one lifetime," Marcia noted.
"Hey, Marcia, look," Comet called her over to another area, where they saw that something else survived the explosion: the egg that Big Chicken laid. "Nature."
Then, out of nowhere, the egg began to wobble and crack until, finally, Ludo popped out of it.
"Eww," both teens said as the little Monster began gasping for breath.
"Uh," Ludo looked around at everything. "Where's my Castle?"
"It's gone," Comet simply said.
"And your Wand?"
"That's gone, too," he sadly said.
"Everything...everything is gone?" Ludo said, trying to process all that he'd heard. Then, his face began to turn crimson with pure rage. "YOU STUPID BRATS! YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME! MY ARMY, MY HOME, EVERYTHING!" Ludo then brandished his scissors with a crazed look in his eyes. "I WILL MAKE YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO ME, COMET DRAGONFLY! YOU WILL RUE THE DAY THAT YOU DARED TO INCUR THE WRATH OF LUDO AVA-"
"Shut up," Comet simply said as he walked over, yanked Ludo's scissors out of his hands before using them to open up a portal. Then, without any ceremony, he tossed the little birdman inside. "And don't come back."
Comet should've felt some sense of satisfaction from all of this. Toffee seemed to be vaporized, Ludo was gone, his army scattered. This should've made him happy. Instead, all he felt was numbing pain and sorrow. And it was about to get even worse. At that moment, a shooting start, much like his namesake, flew overhead before crashing into the nearby ground. When the two teens ran to investigate the crash site, they discovered that the "meteor" was actually Comet's Wand. Or what was left of it.
And it was at this point, the stress of all that he had endured over the last few hours finally caught up to Comet. Looking at his broken family heirloom, Comet collapsed onto his knees in despair and anguish.
"Comet?" Marcia called his name with a worried look on her face.
"It's really gone, Marcia. My Wand, my magic, everything." Marcia felt her heart begin to break in two. She had never seen Comet look so defeated before. As if to add to her shock, though, she then saw Comet do something she'd never seen him do: cry tears of sadness. She had seen Comet cry before from other things, usually from joy. But this was the first time she'd seen him cry out of sorrow.
"Comet..."
"Marcia, I am so sorry. So, so sorry," he said as he continued to sob, practically falling to pieces right in front of her. "I never meant any of those things that I said to you. You were just trying to look out for me because you didn't want something like this to happen, but I didn't listen, and now it's cost me everything." When Comet finally collected himself to speak without crying, he curled up into a ball. "Eternia was right. I'm a failure as a Prince."
Hearing him say that, Marcia couldn't take it anymore, and she roughly hauled him to his feet. "Comet Dragonfly, I never want to hear you say that again! Do you understand me?" she angrily lectured him. "You are not a failure, and you will never be a failure, no matter what your family may think. If you were a failure, then you wouldn't have come to rescue me like you did, and you wouldn't have given up everything to save my life! So stop thinking like that!"
Comet only stood there, stunned to hear Marcia speaking so passionately. A lot of things were going through his head at the moment, and he wasn't entirely sure if he believed what she was saying. But at that moment, as the sun rose to a new day on Mewni, all Comet felt was gratitude towards this girl. So, with tears still in his eyes, he hugged her, which the girl happily returned.
The two were so busy hugging that they almost missed something walking underneath them. It was a tiny millhorse carrying a lunchbox, clad in the outfit of a professional runner, his green hair tied back into a ponytail.
"*Pardon me*."
And for some reason, the horse spoke Italian.
"*When I was a baby horse*" the horse continued to monologue as it descended into the crater, "*Mama told me the day will come when I'll be called upon to fulfill a responsibility greater than myself, greater than this dimension.*" The horse then stopped as it faced the husk of the Wand before opening up its lunchbox and pulling out a detachable horn. "*For me, that day is today!*" As the horse finished putting on the horn, he then walked over to the Wand, somehow flipped the cover to the bell open, and descended inside of it.
"Okay, that was super weird," Marcia said.
It was about to get weirder. No sooner had the millhorse gone inside than did the ground start to shake. As the two teens watched, crystals began to pop out of the earth, including a very large one that drew the eyes of the two onlookers. The pair proceeded to scramble down the crater towards the crystal. They weren't sure about what would happen next, but they knew that it would be important.
They would be proven right. Much to their surprise, the crystal opened like a door, revealing Comet's Wand within. Only, it wasn't what it once looked like. The shaft was now slightly longer, and instead of being all-purple in appearance, it was now mostly pink, with violet-colored ribbons decorating it. The bell was also bigger and sported the same pink color as the rest of the Wand. The white dragonfly between the bell and grip was larger and golden in color, while the dragonfly wings became sharper and more pronounced. Atop the bell, the little crown remained, as did the devil horns. However, the most noticeable difference was the crystal at the heart of the Wand. It was broken in half, with the star split right down the middle.
As if called to it by its wielder, the Wand flew out of the crystal and into Comet's waiting hands, as he could only look on in confusion.
"Whoa..." Marcia said.
"An upgrade..." Comet said, a little of his energy seemingly returning. Still, getting his Wand back did little to lift his spirits. As far as he was concerned, seeing the Wand in its current state reminded him of how badly he screwed up.
"How am I going to explain this to everyone back on Earth? Or my parents?" There was no way that he could hide this from his Dad, and he knew it.
"We'll find a way, Comet," Marcia told him. "Now, can we go home and get me to a doctor? My hand still hurts like crazy."
Before either teen could leave, though, they heard a chorus of voices call out one name: "COMET!"
As the two teens turned around, they were surprised to see all of their friends from Earth coming down the crater's walls and headed towards them. Jonah, Jackson, Brittney, Sabrina, Alfonso, Ferguson, Karla, CometFan13, and even Coryn and Kevin ran towards the astonished pair, who promptly found themselves underneath a massive group hug.
Nearly everyone present was in a state of tears. Alfonso and Ferguson tried to say something like they were so worried that the two were dead, but they couldn't stop crying long enough to finish. Brittney and Sabrina wouldn't stop hugging Comet. It was like they were terrified that if they let go, he would disappear. That, and they just wanted to hug him. When Brittney saw Marcia, though, she burst into tears and begged the Diaz girl to never scare her like that again.
CometFan13 looked like he was about ready to lose it, saying that he didn't know how he would live if Comet or Marcia were to croak on him.
Karla managed to keep cool for the most part, though she also begged them not to do that again, saying that she didn't want to start writing music for their funerals just yet, which did get a laugh out of everyone present. Jackson looked both over and then gratefully hugged them, saying that he was so relieved to see the two of them were alright. Kevin squawked cheerfully, happy that his creator was still alive, while Coryn wouldn't stop nuzzling against the two.
As for Jonah, he didn't freak out. He just told the two that he was glad to see them alive because life would be way too boring without them in it.
As all their friends cried and cheered for Comet and Marcia's survival, Marcia was met with a surprise of her own. Two armored figures began to run down the crater's walls calling out her name. Even though they were wearing helmets, Marcia knew right away that they were her parents. She practically leaped into their arms as the stress of the last few hours just burst out, and the family of three had a tear-filled reunion.
After a few minutes of this emotional reunion, everyone calmed down enough for Comet to explain what had happened. He hadn't even been aware that his equipment got fried in all the confusion. While he tried to maintain a positive attitude, it was clear to Marcia that he was putting on a front for their sakes.
"Hold on," Marcia said. "How did you guys all get here without dimensional scissors?"
"Oh, we had some help, Mija," Mr. Diaz said. As if on cue, a row of knights appeared at the edge of the crater, much to Comet's confusion.
"The royal army?" he said as he looked up. Then, the realization dawned on him as he remembered what he told his friends to do right before leaving. "Oh, no..."
"Oh yes," an all-too-familiar voice called out to him. The column of knights then parted ways, allowing for two figures to descend into the crater.
Comet gulped as the man and women approached. Standing there, in full battle regalia, was none other than his parents.
"Hey, Mom. Hey, Dad," Comet apprehensively said as he saw his parents in person for the first time in months.
"Hello, son," King Mune simply said.
"Everyone," Comet said, addressing his friends. "Meet my parents, King Mune and Queen Lake. Mom, Dad, meet my friends," he nervously introduced the two groups to each other.
"We've met. And they told me everything that happened, son," Mune coldly told Comet.
For once in his life, Comet did not feel like fighting his Dad. What was there to fight about? He screwed up and almost got his guide killed. Rather than dispute or quarrel about it, Comet hung his head in defeat.
"Father," Comet said, "I know that you have a lot of things to say to me right now. And no doubt, I will deserve a lot of them. But right now, all I'm concerned about is seeing to it that Marcia's looked at. She's been hurt because of me, and she needs medical attention back at the Castle."
Without even bothering to hear how his parents would respond to this, Comet walked over to Kevin. "Hey, buddy. Do you think you can give Marcia and me a ride back to Castle Dragonfly?" When the griffin squawked in affirmation, Comet gestured for Marcia to join him on the mythical beast. After that, Kevin took to the sky in the direction of Castle Dragonfly, leaving his family and loved ones surprised.
"Um, he does know that you guys have dimensional scissors and can just teleport us to the Castle, right?" Ferguson said, pointing out the obvious.
As for King Mune, he was left in a state of astonishment at what he just heard come out of his son's mouth. For the first time in his life, Comet didn't argue, lie, or give any sort of back sass to him. Under normal circumstances, that would be something Mune would be proud of.
The trip back to Castle Dragonfly took less time than Marcia thought it would. Either that or Kevin was very fast, as he got them there before the sun rose over the mountains in the north. By the time they all arrived there, though, everyone was waiting for them in the courtyard. No one said anything about how they could've just used scissors, though. They all came to the conclusion that the two needed to be alone with their thoughts.
The nurses in the medical ward of the Castle were very skilled at their job. They carefully inspected Marcia for injuries and to make sure that there was no lasting damage. As it turned out, Marcia had indeed injured her hand thanks to Toffee. There were a few hairline fractures in the bones on her hand. In addition, she had suffered some minor bruising from where the lizard had punched her on top of the claw marks she got from him.
Fortunately, the doctors and nurses had access to magic to use that to fix Marcia up. All her injuries were gone in moments; the claw marks did not even leave a scar. Jonah couldn't help but make a smartass remark about this being the power of bullshit, though, much to everyone's disapproval.
After that was done and Marcia was given a clean bill of health, the moment that everyone had been dreading had finally arrived: Comet's parents summoned him to the throne room to discuss the day's incident. Comet knew what would likely happen to him. His parents wouldn't just force him to return home to Mewni but would probably place him under such strict observation that he would never get the chance to see any of them again. Seven Hells, he would be lucky to see the sun again! Still, Comet knew this was a risk when he gave his friends his parent's mirror number. And Marcia was safe now. That alone was enough for him.
What's more, the Diaz Family and the rest of his friends from Earth all insisted that they accompany Comet into the throne room as moral support. While Comet told them they had no obligation to do so, saying that this was his mess he had to fix, they weren't having it.
That is how Comet now found himself in the throne room of Castle Dragonfly for the first time since the Wand Ceremony all those months ago, waiting for his parents to pass judgment on him.
"So, to recap everything that has transpired lately," Mune started. "Comet Dragonfly, when I sent you to train on Earth, I did so while telling you not to misuse your magic. Yet you have willfully done not just that but, if I am to understand correctly, you have been subjected to numerous attacks by the very same band of Monsters that were responsible for the events of the last few hours. And to make matters worse, you neglected to inform us of this threat, allowing your friends and your guide to be put in danger in the process."
So far, this wasn't going well, and Comet knew it.
"What's more, when your guide was abducted, instead of informing us as you should have, you recklessly charged into a stronghold filled with Monsters in a bid to save Mr. and Mrs. Diaz's daughter, putting both of you at even greater risk. And that's ignoring the fact that you somehow managed to disobey my direct orders not to leave Earth, which everyone refuses to answer how-"
All of Comet's friends, plus Mr. and Mrs. Diaz, had made an oath to never tell his parents that he had dimensional scissors. They didn't want him to get in even more trouble than he already was!
"-and to top it all off, you nearly destroyed your Wand, as well as leveled an entire Castle and a good deal of the land around it. Did I miss anything?"
"Well, um, the Wand somehow remade itself? See?" Comet then held out the new version of his Wand for his parents to see. "So, it's not a total loss?"
"It might as well have been, you halfwitted, impotent excuse for royalty!"
Everyone then looked behind them to see who had said that. Much to Comet's dismay, he saw that it was none other than his Great-Uncle Eternia, who was always ready to belittle the Prince.
"Uncle Eternia," Mune addressed his relative, "I did not summon you to this meeting."
"And I will be sure to speak to you about that later, dear nephew," Eternia said, acting like he, not Mune, was the one in charge before returning his attention to Comet. "And as for you. I already heard everything that happened! From the moment I heard your parents' plan to send you to that dunghill of a dimension, I knew that you would find some way to mess things up for us."
Everyone who was listening to Eternia felt very offended by his comments regarding Earth. None of them spoke up, though, as the old man continued to tear into Comet.
"I told your father that we should've sent you to Sgt. Oleg's Reform School years ago. But he refused, and now it's too late! You not only managed to destroy our family's greatest weapon against the Monsters, but you've put the honor and prestige of our family in greater jeopardy than it has been for centuries."
"But I didn't-"
"You didn't what? You didn't break your Wand? Then what do you call this?!" Eternia held up the Wand and pointed to the broken star in the center. "No other word to call but broken."
Everyone present couldn't believe what they were seeing. The Comet they knew would never take what Eternia was saying lying down. He would be pushing back. Yet there stood Comet, silently taking all this verbal abuse with his head hung in shame. Because, in truth, Comet felt like he deserved everything that his Uncle was saying to him.
"I hope that you are happy, boy. Once word about what happened today gets out to the rest of Mewni, the Dragonfly Kingdom will become a laughing stock. And it's because the Gods chose to curse with a feckless, irresponsible failure like you to wield our family's sacred Wand. If your father has any sense in him, then he should disown you as his heir for what you have done to us!" Eternia then leaned in real close and narrowed his eyes as he looked at Comet. "Do you understand what I am saying to you, you ill-bred, arrogant, witless boy? You are an absolute failure as a Prince."
At this, King Mune stood up from his throne. Regardless of his son's shortcomings, he would not tolerate anyone speaking to him in such a manner. Before he could do anything, though, someone else beat him to it.
Slap*
The room became so silent following the sound of Marcia slapping Eternia in the face that one could hear a coin drop on the floor. Everyone, including the King and Queen, just stood there in complete shock. Marcia's parents hadn't even realized that their daughter had walked up to the old man.
"You have no idea what you are talking about, sir." Marcia coldly told Eternia, who was still trying to process what had just happened. Once his brain figured out that this girl, this peasant, had just slapped him, a member of the esteemed House Dragonfly, a Lord of Mewni, he grew absolutely livid.
"You...how dare you strike me, girl! Do you have any idea who I am?!"
"Just a foolish old man who has no idea what he's talking about," Marcia repeated without any hint of fear in her voice. "You may be part of his family, but you clearly don't know Comet. Because the Comet I know may be many things, but a failure is not one of them. What's more, he only did all of that to save my life. Were it not for him, I would be dead right now."
"And you would have been better off like that," Eternia arrogantly spat in her face, much to the disgust of everyone present. Even the normally friendly Mr. and Mrs. Diaz looked ready to attack this man. "What makes you, a lowly peasant and a girl, at that, from a warnicorn shit dimension like Earth, think that you're worth saving? You are merely one of the billions of people who call that world home. It just so happened that you were fortunate enough to be chosen to provide housing for the Prince, yet you take that to mean that you are of greater importance. Well, you are sadly mistaken. And If the Prince were smarter, he would've realized that something as powerful as our family's Wand is worth far more than the life of some speck that was lucky enough to be in his presence."
SLAP*
Much to everyone's surprise, Eternia was then slapped again, only this time, it came from Brittney!
"Do not speak about Comet or Marcia like that, old man," Brittney hissed. "Marcia Diaz is probably the nicest girl I have ever met in my life. She's smart, kind, and compassionate. I wish I could be half as good a person as she is!" Brittney admitted. "I don't care who you are. I will not stand idly by and let you insult her or Prince Comet's honor. If it weren't for him, I would still be a selfish, spoiled little brat!"
Once Brittney spoke up, everyone else began to step forward in defense of their friends.
"Yeah, where do you get off saying that to them?" Ferguson demanded.
"Marcia's one of the nicest girls I know, so don't tell me her life is meaningless," Sabrina fearlessly said.
"Yeah, this is a load of bullshit. What gives you the right to judge Comet like that?" Karla asked. "If it weren't for Comet, I never would've patched things up with my Dad or gotten my new guitar."
"Comet's the kind of guy that you always want having your back," Jackson proclaimed.
"I can't think of how boring life would be without Comet in it," Alfonso said.
"Insult my Comet again and see what happens!" CometFan13 said in anger. "No balls!
"Yeah, who cares if you think Comet doesn't fit your narrow-minded, backward ideas on how royalty should behave?" Jonah spoke up. "Everyone on Earth loves him the way he is, so why can't he just be who he wants to be?"
Comet just stood there in silence, stunned by what he was witnessing. Just a few moments ago, it felt like everything that could go wrong did go wrong for him. He was sure that everyone had lost all respect for him for how rudely he had rejected their help from before. Yet, it seems as though their opinion of him hadn't shaken in the slightest. And seeing that lit a fire in him. And from that fire, Comet felt his usual confidence return.
With renewed determination in his eyes, Comet towards the throne to face his Dad. "Dad, here's the thing: I am sorry for not telling you guys that Marcia was in danger." He then turned towards his friend. "And I'm sorry to all of you for charging off without letting you help me. That was thoughtless and stupid of me, and it almost cost me everything."
"However," Comet continued. "I'm not sorry that I had to destroy the Wand. That's right, I said I'm not apologizing about that. And do you know why? Because it's like Marcia said: if I hadn't made that sacrifice, then she would be dead right now, and her blood would be on my hands for the rest of my life."
Mune didn't say anything as Comet continued. "I know that part of being a leader is that you have to learn how to make tough decisions sometimes. But I refuse to be the kind of leader that will abandon the people who believe in me when it's within my power to save them. And I'd know that they do the same for me."
Comet then boldly took a step towards the throne. "Dad, I'm not sorry that I almost wrecked our Wand, but Marcia's life was worth it. And if I could, I would make the same choice all over again. Because that's what a real leader-no, a real friend does!"
At this point, Eternia was a complete loss from Comet's bold declaration. The same went with his Mom. As for Mune? He didn't say a word. He just calmly walked down the steps until he stood face to face with Comet. Comet, though, refused to back down.
Then, something unexpected happened: Mune smiled.
"Spoken like a true King, my son."
Before Comet could even react, Mune hugged him.
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
"HUH?"
"You're...you're not mad at me?" Comet asked. He was prepared for his Dad to be furious, but this threw him for a loop!
"Oh, trust me, son, I'm always mad. However, I'm also relieved to see that you're safe. And more importantly, I'm proud of you for what you just said."
"Your highness?!" Eternia gasped in disbelief.
"While it is true that you have broken a great many rules that I set out for you, son, at the same time, I can already see what your time away has done for you. You owned up to your mistakes just now. More importantly, though, you were willing to put the lives of your friends before your own, and just now, they were willing to stand up for you."
"I don't-"
"Comet, part of being a King isn't just telling everyone what to do. It's about being willing to use your power to help those under your care. And that, in turn, inspires them to do the same for you. That kind of mutual loyalty is one of the marks of a true leader."
"It is?"
"It is. And while I don't want you to make a habit of risking your life like that, I can still tell that your time on Earth has helped you grow as a person."
"Huh. I guess it has," Comet realized, no longer feel bad about himself.
Mune then next turned to look at Marcia. "And as for you...Marcia, was it?"
"Yes, your majesty," Marcia politely said, making Mune chuckle. Comet never saw his Dad laugh at anything.
"My wife spoke very highly of you following her brief stay at your family's home. She said that you were, and these were her exact words, 'the most positive influence that our son could ever have in his life.' You're helping him become a better person, so, please, keep doing that for me."
"Your highness," Marcia said, "I will not fail you."
"I do not think you will, Ms. Diaz. And know that Castle Dragonfly will always be open to you and your family."
Hearing his nephew say that this family of peasants was free to come to the Castle was enough to make Eternia pass out, much to Jonah's amusement as he took photos of him.
"And as for the rest of you," Mune said, addressing them all, "thank you for looking out for my son. He's lucky to have friends like you."
"Thank you, sir, but it's more the other way around," Jackson said.
"Yeah, life without Comet would be pretty dull right now," Jonah admitted.
Hearing all of these good things being said about him was enough to drive Comet to the brink of tears. Unlike earlier in the day, though, these were tears of joy.
"You guys really are the best friends that I could ever ask for!" He said as he began to cry. "I love you all so much!"
"We know, Comet. We know," Jonah said.
Mune then walked back to the throne, though not before asking Comet for the Wand, saying he needed to inspect it. "Now then, you have all had a very long night, and I am certain that you could all use some rest. So, you are all free to stay the night here in the Castle with the rest of us."
CometFan13, Brittney, and Ferguson all got stars in their eyes as they heard this. "REALLY?!" They all spoke in unison.
"Of course. I think it would be best for my son to show you all his homeland. Don't you, so-wait, where did he go?"
"SORRY, DAD!" Comet shouted as he proceeded to drag everyone out of the throne room. "I'VE GOT SO MUCH OF THE CASTLE AND DRAGONTOWN TO SHOW EVERYONE, AND ONLY SO MANY HOURS BEFORE DINNER!"
"WOO-HOO! MEWNI VACATION!" Ferguson cried out in joy.
"Please don't take us to a bar, Comet," Marcia could be heard saying. "I don't think we can handle getting drunk."
Now alone with his wife, Mune couldn't help but pinch his nose. "Just when I thought he was changing..." As he felt another migraine coming on, Mune looked over to see his wife grinning at him. "What?"
"Come on, Mune-Pie, admit it. You know you want to," Lake sing in a teasing voice.
Mune groaned. "Oh, all right. You were right about sending him to Earth, sweetie."
"Hells yeah, I was!" Lake cheered in victory. "Do I know my son or what?"
"Don't get a big head over it, Lake," Mune told his wife. "Though, to be fair, sending him to Sgt. Oleg's sounds like it would've been a huge mistake. I saw reports about leaked documents from the school, and the things they said about it were nothing short of appalling."
"Yeah, I read about that, too. You should hear what Queen Colthead had to say when she heard back about her son's treatment. She tried to put a bounty on the headmaster before he fled."
"We're getting off-topic, though, sweetie. Right now, this," he gestured to the Wand, which remained in the form it had when Comet used it, "should be our concern." The two then walked over to the mirror that they had installed inside the throne room and connected it to the one in Comet's bedroom.
They were surprised to find Glossaryck floating in a bath towel when the call went through. And he was using a back scrubber as a microphone.
"Baby, I know you're askin' me to stay
Say, "Please, please, please don't go away
You say I'm givin' you the blues
Maybe you mean every word you say
Can't help but think of yesterday."
Mune coughed to get Glossaryck's attention. "Glossaryck, hello."
The little blue man then took notice of who was calling him. "Ah, yes, your Majesty. Sorry about that. I was in the tub doing..stuff. Felt like I needed to unwind after all the yelling and screaming that was going on earlier," he nonchalantly said. "So, I take it then that Comet was able to get his friend back safe and sound?"
"Yes, he was."
"Thank corn. I'm not sure how Comet would've reacted if anything happened to any of his friends getting hurt. He'd probably spend the rest of his life hating himself for his failure to keep them safe. But the important thing is that the situation resolved its-why is the Wand like that?" Glossaryck then pointed towards the Wand with the half-broken crystal.
"That's what we need to talk about, Glossaryck," Lake said. "Comet had to resort to some...drastic measures to rescue his friend."
"We think the Wand may have been cleaved in the process," Mune added.
Glossaryck laughed. "You know, cleaved is such a funny word. You can cleave something apart, or you can cleave it together. So many uses!"
"Glossaryck, focus," Mune said.
"Like, if I go like this with both my arms," Glossaryck then proceeded to drop the towel from his body, "down goes my bath towel. Cleaved from my body!"
"Glossaryck. Are you trying to traumatize us?!" Mune angrily asked.
"Tell me when it's over, sweetie!" Lake said, covering her eyes.
"Relax, you big babies. It's not like you've never seen another person in their birthday suits," Glossaryck said as he put his towel back on. "But yeah, that Wand has definitely been cleaved. I will have to examine it more once Comet returns, but for now, all I can say is that I hope you guys found all the pieces to it. Any one of the fragments from the Wand will still have a stupid amount of magical power, you know."
The King and Queen both looked at each other nervously. Neither of them wanted to admit that they had not found all of the pieces.
Several dozen miles away from the crater formerly known as Castle Avarius, a lone, hooded figure was roaming the wilds beyond the edges of any Mewman kingdoms. They had received the signal that their group had been waiting for for some time earlier that day. The lock had been broken; the agent was on the other side of the door. The next step was to find the key...and ensure it got to where it was needed.
After searching for some time, the hooded one found what they were looking for. Laying in the dirt in a small crater were the skeletal remains of some creature's forearm, minus its middle finger. The arm itself was clutching onto something like its former master's life depended on it, and as the figure stepped closer, it was plain to see why. Resting in the palm of the hand was a rock, and embedded into the rock, half of a crystal star. Unlike the star found in the Dragonfly Wand, though, this star glowed a sickly, toxic green. A sign of what had happened to it.
The figure then bent down to pick up the object, studying it closely to ensure that their plan had succeeded. Then, the Wand pulsed several flashes in Morse Code: 'Phase one complete. Onto phase two'.
"Glory to Septarsis," the figure said before departing those lands to play their part. They would keep the fragment hidden until the one chosen to play the part returned. And when that day came, it would mark the beginning of a new chapter in Mewni's history...and the beginning of the end for House Dragonfly.
*We return to Jay's workspace, now fully decorated for Halloween, with everyone in Jay's group reacting to what they've just seen.*
DAU Kermit: So, um, not that I'm insecure about my opinion about this, but...what did you all think of that?
Slick Goku: All right, for real...no cap...that was straight freaking FLAMES, MAN!
Lemongrab: It was an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish!
GIR: I WANNA WATCH IT AGAIN!
Ed: MOVIE GOOD FOR ED!
Kermit: Yeah, not gonna lie, that was pretty impressive, Jay. You clearly tried to bring your A-Game, and it shows.
Jay: Tried to? That shit was crazy! Do you know how hard I busted my ass working on this arc?
Janna: Well, I personally thought what Marcia and Brittney did to Eternia was excessive there.
Jay: Really? Because I doubt it.
Janna: Yeah, I'm just joking. I'm surprised my handsome twin didn't tase the old man.
Omnitraxus: Well, I personally enjoyed all of the more emotional aspects of the arc. I found Mrs. Diaz's lecture to Comet to be very wise advice, the kind that Comet should've gotten a long time ago.
Jay: I did think that was one of my finer moments for that arc.
Janna: And even though I don't agree with you not sending the cavalry in with Comet, I at least give you credit for coming up with a good excuse as to why that didn't happen.
Jay: I was well aware that Comet could've freed Marcia with all his friends backing him up with little effort. But that would defeat the lesson's purpose that he had to learn about when to hone in his gung-ho, reckless attitude. Also, even if they did bust Marcia out, Toffee had already planned on poisoning her, so he'd still remain in control.
Hooty: I still can't believe that Comet was about to kill Ludo.
Jay: Well, Hooty, it's like I said in my review, this arc was also meant to bring Comet's biggest flaw to the forefront of the story. Toffee said it best: his love for his friends is a double-edged sword. It can drive him to do incredible things, but if left unchecked, he could end up making some very dark decisions. I'd been hinting at Comet's dark side since the All Blue arc and given us glimpses of it, but this was the moment where we really got to see it in action. And it's going to have an effect on him going forward.
Spongebob Narrator: Well, I can't wait for the new chapter to start the second part of the series next week.
Jay: Yeah, about that...
Yakko: Oh boy, here we go...
Jay: There's no easy way to say this, guys, so I'm just going to be blunt.
*Jay stands up to address his compatriots and the readers, keyblade in hand.*
Jay: EVERYONE, I'M GOING ON VACATION FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR! AND BEFORE YOU COMPLAIN, LET ME EXPLAIN MY REASONING!
Firstly, I've been writing Comet vs. The Forces of Evil for the better part of a year now. I'm starting to suffer from burnout, and I refuse to let that make me hate what I've created. So, I want to take some time off.
Speaking of which, thanks to my devotion to this fanfic, I haven't had as much time to play video games these days, and it's starting to get to me. I haven't done a Let's Play on my YouTube Channel in months! I want to get caught up on that! And I want to finish that critical mode run of Kingdom Hearts 3 like I've wanted to for months.
And three, and I need you to pay attention on this one: I need to finish planning out the rest of this story. I have an outline of how I want it to end, but I've yet to fill in the gaps now and then. I've only gotten as far as the halfway point of Season Two, so I need to focus on that. After all, this story's going to be, like, seven parts altogether.
Janna: Wait, what?
Jay: Well, yeah. Season one is part one, Season two is parts two and three, part four is the Battle for Mewni, parts five and six will be the rest of season three, and part seven will be my season four. I've put a lot of thought into this. Heck, I'm not even sure if I'm going to keep Part two in this story on or just make a separate one. Or just do that when I put this all on Wattpad.
So, yeah, I've got a lot on my plate, and I need a vacation. I've earned it. Now, I may put up the first chapter after Christmas, but don't hold me to it.
Now, with all of that out of the way, let's respond to all of my
READERS' REVIEWS
MLPBrony Fan15, Ch. 51-I hope the rest of the season finale met your expectations.
LockAndKey989, Ch. 51-Damn right!
Ch. 52-The Septarians are the apex predators of Mewni. Or at least, they were, and they hate how they lost that to the Mewmans, who they see as smaller and weaker.
Ch. 53-Does this answer your question. Also, Blackwolf said she wanted to go back and redux "Royal Secrets." But now she's busy with IRL stuff.
Julayla, Ch. 52-I actually have a few ideas about the Septarians regarding that question, Julayla. But that won't be addressed for a long time. And, I had Toffee do all of that to show that this isn't a story held back by Disney. There will be blood, violence, and even death if I decide.
Ch. 53-Yeah, this was one of the hardest chapters that I had to write.
ROTHEM, Ch. 53-My man! Good to see you, and glad you're enjoying the story!
NightAroma, Ch. 52-Thank you, my lad, or ladette. The Septarian Empire was pretty much my own creation, but I got the inspiration from anime that knows how to world-build. Consider them the main villains for the first half of the series. And as I've said several times, Comet's got a dark side to him. If he actually lost Marcia, it may end up breaking him like Joker did with Superman in the Injustice series.
Ch. 53- I wouldn't worry too much about that plot point. Comet was so freaked out about Marcia that he probably didn't hear Toffee's threat. That, and Toffee wasn't speaking that loudly. And yeah, I added the poison part to show how Toffee's planned for everything, even a worst-case scenario. Comet wasn't going to come out of this on top.
Oh, and before I go, I've got a little treat for you all. Just something to tide you over until I come back. It's an Owl House AU fanfic, Luz Clawthorne: Hexside's Number One Delinquent Witch.
Hooty: OOOH! I LOVE THAT STORY!
So do I, Hooty. Written by JP-Ryder, this fanfic asks an important question: what if Luz had been orphaned as a baby and got adopted by Eda? What if that led her to living her entire life on the Boiling Isles? How would that impact the story of the show? It's a very interesting premise, and I think that you'll be satisfied with what JP and their beta-reader, Buck Johnson, come up with. In addition, it's far darker and more mature than what Disney will let Dana do for her show, and even deals with serious issues like the effects of bullying, first loves, family of choice vs. blood family, and serious mental issues related to trauma. I personally love it, because it captures the spirit of the show. Also, it's got some Gravity Falls content in it, but I'm not going to spoil too much for you. So do yourself a favor and go read Luz Clawthorne. JP's about to wrap up Book One any day now, so it's the perfect time to binge read it.
Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go play some Far Cry 6, Kingdom Hearts 3, and get ready for Sora's arrival in Smash Bros. And also Halloween.
End of Part 1. To be continued in Part 2, Coming January 2022.