Outside of Septarsis, on the surface of the Mewnan world, there are monsters. They may not be pretty, they may often not even be kind, but beneath the exterior, they just want what all people want, and that is a chance at their own freedom, to live the life they want to live without persecution. Life on Mewni isn't as bad as it used to be, but the prejudice of the days of Solaria still reek among the Mewnans and monsters, especially for Septarians. The Mewnans mostly despise them, and besides the few rare occasions when they are of some use, the Mewnans otherwise want nothing to do with them. They are the grunt workers, the guys to perform the dirty tasks, if need be, and the best thing about them to the Mewnans is that the right ones, the stupid ones, and that's a good many, are cheap for labor.
Cut to the two protagonists of this chapter, Jade and Buff Frog. While Jade is relatively naive, she was far from stupid, and Buff Frog, well, while not the brightest bulb, does carry a heap of newfound maturity in his parenting. It humbles him, and makes him stronger as both a person and a monster. Jade, upon leaving Septarsis, has utilized money to rent herself a hut out in monster town. It's nothing special, just a room with the basic accommodations, but she's willing to accept anything, just to get away from it all. She knows that the money she has won't last forever, so Jade gets herself a job working in the basement of one Lord Rubeus Safire, an elderly lord, senile as could be, and not at all attached to reality. Rubeus has been having some problems with some particularly large rats, making their way into his basement and not only stealing, but eating his Mewnan corn.
In a twist of fate, both Jade and Buff Frog have applied for the position of protectors of the corn for Lord Rubeus, and both have gotten the job. Buff Frog and Jade had never met before, so getting to work together is a bit of a relief for them, as neither has to spend their shift alone, and they can have someone to talk to. It's a good thing that Rubeus is pretty much blind. He can't even tell that Buff Frog and Jade were monsters. While most of Ludo's minions had been summoned to the castle recently by Lord Brudo to tell them to keep an eye out for the small Septarian girl, many either didn't get notified, or didn't show up. Buff Frog, as well as Bearicorn, are among the ones that were not present that day, fortunately for Jade.
Buff Frog: Now, be remembering Jade, only call me Yveny around Lord Rubeus. He is not being knowing I am a frog.
Jade: Yveny?
Buff Frog: "Ih-ven-nee".
Jade: Oh, okay.
Buff Frog: So Jade, is this being your first job?
Jade: Well, yeah, outside of... where I come from.
Buff Frog: You mean Septarsis?
Jade: Sh. Don't go saying that stuff out loud. Just because that old man has terrible vision doesn't mean he's deaf too.
Buff Frog: Is okay. The old man went out of house. He will not be back for hours. All that matters is corn is here when he gets back. As for Septarsis, I have been knowing of Septarsis from my previous job.
Jade: Oh really, what did you used to do before?
Buff Frog: I was soldier, working for another lord.
Jade: Must not have been that great of a gig, huh?
Buff Frog: No not really. Chasing girl and boy around, getting beaten up, boss was jerk.
Jade: Chasing a girl? What girl?
Buff Frog: Princess Butterfly.
Jade: No way...
Buff Frog: What is it?
Jade: Your boss wouldn't happen to be a two-foot tall bird man would it?
Buff Frog: How you be knowing?
Jade: Lets just say, I know Ludo too.
Buff Frog: Oh really, what you be thinking of him?
Jade: I'd rather not talk about it. Lets just concentrate on listening for rats.
Buff Frog: Okay then.
A couple of hours go by and they're just bored.
Buff Frog: So... Septarsis, what is like?
Jade: I can't tell you.
Buff Frog: I don't want to know where is, just what is like, like the people and all.
Jade: We're good people, just trying to get by. Contrary to what people believe about us, we're not just all about perpetual war. A large majority of us just want this to end finally.
Buff Frog: What is stopping you?
Jade: Our leader. He seems hell bent on Septarsis never finding peace.
Buff Frog: I believe peace will come to Mewni. Queen Moon is not so bad.
Jade: I used to think she was, but then I met her.
Buff Frog: Gasp, I am remembering you now. You are girl that attack Queen Moon at festival.
Jade: I figured by now everyone would know that. Only reason I got a job here is because that old man has eyesight so poor, he probably couldn't read any of the wanted posters.
Jade: So, what about you? Why are you here?
Buff Frog: I am here to feed my tiny little dumpling babies.
Jade: You have kids?
Buff Frog pulls out a wallet from his tunic pocket, and hands Jade a picture he had Marco take with his phone and print out at his house, it was a basket full of little black orbs with eyes.
Jade: Aw! I never seen tadpoles before. Do they keep looking like this?
Buff Frog: This picture from few months back. They're so much bigger now.
Jade: Do they look like little Yvenys?
Buff Frog: They are mostly girls. They will be looking like their papa someday.
Jade: That makes me so happy. I'd love to meet them someday.
Buff Frog: For now, let us keep eyes out for rats. I hear they are big ones.
Jade looks at the big old bundle of corn on the table, still uncleaned, raw corn right out of the garden.
Jade: So, do you think this old guy eats all this corn by himself?
Buff Frog: Man doesn't look like he has much teeth. I have no idea what he does with corn really. All I know is we are to be watching it.
Jade: This is boring.
Buff Frog: Might as well address mega-beast in room. How you know Ludo?
Jade: Can we just not?
Buff Frog: Maybe if you talk about things you feel better.
Jade: He's the one that killed my father.
Buff Frog: Your papa, he would not happen to be lizard that wears fancy-pants suit and tie, would he?
Jade: Suit and tie? Shoulder length jet black hair, correct?
Buff Frog: Oh no.
Jade: I need your part of the story. You were there right? What happened?
Buff Frog: I-I-I don't know.
Jade: You better not be lying to me! I will find out.
Buff Frog: I swear, I know only what newspapers put out.
Jade: They put out lies! Ludo told me! He told me he killed my dad! He and that Star Butterfly.
Buff Frog: All I know is that in past Butterfly family was having problems with Septarian they only referred to as "The Lizard". I had no idea was is your papa!
Jade: The others said he had history with them too, supposedly that he killed Queen Comet Butterfly. SHE told me, Queen Moon!
Buff Frog: Yes, Queen Comet Butterfly was killed by Septarian. That I DO know one-hundred percent. Was bad day. Everyone was in uproar.
Jade: I don't know who to believe anymore.
Buff Frog: Trust your heart, Jade. Not everything is as seems.
Jade: I trusted my heart when Ludo lied to me.
Buff Frog: What happened, little one? You can tell me.
Jade: When I first met Ludo. He rescued me twice. I was on a quest to kill Queen Moon and I think it's because of his words that I wasn't capable of doing it. He said "revenge doesn't make you feel better, it makes you dead inside".
Buff Frog: He is being right, you know. I sense you have strong feelings for Ludo. You have been avoiding topic.
Jade: I can't believe he killed my dad.
Buff Frog: Well, I suppose that I should come clean as well, for the sake of my honor. I was there when it happened. Lots of bad things happened that day. Toffee corrupted wand, used it to resurrect himself and caused a lot of destruction.
Jade: Why would my dad cause destruction?
Buff Frog: I think you're allowing your love of your papa to cloud your judgment of him. At end of day, he was man on mission, just like you. This head of your Septarsis yeh, he seemed pretty content on you going out to kill Queen Moon, did he not?
Jade: He encouraged me to go back and finish her off. But that's because I didn't complete my mission.
Buff Frog: I think you must consider it possible that your father was used as soldier, just as your leader did to you.
Jade: I've know Se-MY LEADER... for my whole life. He'd never do that to me. Are just trying to deflect? You're not just another Butterfly family shill like the Avarius family are, are you?
Buff Frog: I used to work for LUDO, and Ludo, is most certainly not "Butterfly shill". Your papa, he was responsible for the destruction of original Castle Avarius. He made Star Butterfly try to, uh, what's it called, "cleave" wand, blowing up whole castle and everyone inside. Star Butterfly survive with indestructible cage Toffee brought to castle.
Jade: Indestructible cage? Wait a minute. That sounds like something Iggy was working on before I left.
Buff Frog: Iggy?
Jade: I've already said too much...
Buff Frog: Fine, we talk no further yeh, lets concentrate on rats... if we ever get one. Is slow day.
Jade:... Yveny.
Buff Frog: Yes, my dear?
Jade: Thank you... for being honest with me. The things you've said, it's starting to clear things up for me a little bit.
Buff Frog: Sometimes truth can be very hard to accept. If Ludo told you a truth that bad, he must really care about you.
Jade: No he doesn't.
Buff Frog: I think he was really scared to tell you at first BECAUSE he really likes you. I mean think about it. He did something HORRIBLE to you before he even met you, but then met you, and got to really like you, knowing that your friendship hinged on not only a lie, but that you never found out about lie.
Jade: I don't know if it would have been better for me to ever find out or not.
Buff Frog: Would you rather be finding out from him, or be finding out many years later from someone else after you possibly got closer?
Jade: This is all assuming that we even got together at all. This is assuming that this doesn't end horribly for both of us. I'm in trouble. He's in trouble. Things aren't well. I feel like a war's about to break out at any moment.
Buff Frog: Let us hope it doesn't come to that.
Jade: You know, I thought we were gonna stop talking about this stuff but I guess_
Buff Frog: Sh!
Buff Frog silences her, putting his hand over her snout
Buff Frog: You hear that? Is rats.
The titter patter of rat feet can be heard all throughout the walls.
Jade: These are some pretty freaking big rats.
Buff Frog: Hole under desk table, over there!
Jade: Oh no you don't, sucker!
Jade leaps at the rat, pinning him down.
She draws her dagger, but then stares into the large rat's terrified eyes.
Jade: Sigh, forget it!
She knocks him out cold with a single punch to the jaw. More and more rats pour in, diving at Jade and Buff Frog. Jade uses a judo throw to toss one into the support beam of the stairs while Buff Frog utilizes his big belly to bounce them off, knocking over a table and chairs and scattering an in-session game of cards all over the floor. They swarm in by the dozens, almost like the whole thing is a planned attack. The rats leap all over Buff Frog and Jade, pinning them to the floor. The rats stand over Jade and Buff Frog, one of them picks up a big rock, and proceeds to bash it over their heads, knocking them out cold.
Jade wakes up nearly an hour later, tied to the support beam of the stairs with rope. Buff Frog is tied to a chair.
Jade: Huh, what? My dagger! Where's my dagger? Yveny, wake up!
Buff Frog: Huh, what? I cannot move! What is this! Is too tight! Rats tie really good knot!
Jade begins to look around the room for something to cut the rope. In the corner of the stone basement sits several gardening instruments as well as a saw.
Jade: Yveny! Over there, in the corner of the room, there's a saw! Can you get over to it?
Buff Frog: I will try!
Buff Frog proceeds to hop while in the chair. He makes several hops before falling over, right onto his face.
Jade: Are you okay?
Buff Frog: I am fine. But I cannot move. Okay, think, think.
A fly buzzes around Buff Frog's head. He snatches it out of mid air.
Buff Frog: Mm a snack. Good food for thought.
Jade: Yveny, that's it! Your tongue! You can use your tongue to reach all the way over there to get the saw!
Buff Frog: I will try.
Buff Frog launches his tongue outward, slapping the wall, draws back. He then shoots it out again.
Buff Frog: Owee!
Buff Frog whimpers and tears fill his eyes.
Jade: What happened?
Buff Frog: I goth thplinter on my thongue.
Jade: Ouch.
Buff Frog: Okay. One more thime.
Buff Frog launches his tongue around the handle of the saw and pulls it over, pulling it closer to himself.
Jade: Come on Yveny! You can do it!
Buff Frog uses his sore, splintered tongue to attempt to give the saw to his hands so that he can properly begin to saw away at the ropes binding his arms to the back of the chair. Slowly, the rope begins to fray from the rubbing the rather dull saw against the ropes. Buff Frog puts more pressure while simultaneously trying not to serrate his own wrists. When the rope gets weak enough, he uses his mere brute strength to break the ropes. He then proceeds to use his free hands to untie the knot holding his feet together.
Jade: You did it! I'm so proud of you!
Buff Frog: Thank you Jade, your words of encouragement helped me to be persevering.
Jade: Get me down!
Buff Frog: Oyeh, right.
Buff Frog proceeds to untie Jade from the support of the stair way and the duo look inward, towards the hole they came out of.
Buff Frog: I do not think I will fit in there.
Jade: Well, looks like its time for the lizard nugget to save the day.
Buff Frog: Be careful Jade.
Jade crawls through the hole, it's a long narrow passage downward in a slightly diagonal slant, filled with bugs and rocks everywhere.
Jade: Man, this guy really should fix this big hole, but then again, if he does, goodbye job.
Jade can hear a high pitched, squeaky voice from the end of the hole. As she crawls closer to the end, the voice grows louder. It sounds familiar, but not. The cadence is uncanny but the voice is off.
Jade: Ludo?
Towards the end of the hall all she can see is a mass of grey fur and what look like a bunch of large pink worms sticking out of them. As the mass spreads apart, she can see. Before her sits a complete mockery, a mimic of a person she knows. A single unique rat lounges before the mass of other rats, similar to all of them, but this one clothed, bearing a Golden Crisps potato chip bag and a pair of tiny sandals on his feet. The top of the rat's head is shaved in a circular friar cut, leaving a big bald spot on top. The rat was behaving just as Ludo used to, an effigy to his previous tortured inner malice.
All that can be certain is that this is most definitely NOT Ludo. The rat rises from his throne and approaches the others, brandishing a wand similar looking to Toffee's very own hand wand that Ludo had used. He is approached by another rat, presenting him with an ear of corn. The Ludo Rat takes the corn, whiffing it and eliciting ecstasy from the aroma. The rats are behaving like a cult, worshiping the Ludo rat. In the background of the cave, Jade can see a massive statue of corn, shaped into the likeness of the Ludo Rat.
Ludo Rat: Excellent, my rat army! Excellent, soon we will have all of the precious Mewnan corn and I, Ludo Avarius, King of the Rats will rule this pathetic patch of dirt and later the entire UNIVERSE! HA HA HA!
The rats chant in a series of indiscernible rat gibberish that almost sounds like "Ludo! Ludo!"
Ludo Rat: Yes! My rats, shout my name into the heavens!
They continue to cheer!
Ludo Rat: But still, this is not enough corn! We must not stop until every last ear of corn is mine! Do you understand! The Kingdom of Mewni will fall! The Butterfly Family will fall! The rats will rule all!
Jade: This is nuts. I have to tell Buff Frog about this.
As she begins retreat however, the Ludo Rat hears something rustling from inside the hole.
Ludo Rat: What was that sound?
The rats turn around, looking in the hole and Jade feels a pair of grey fuzzy arms, reach into pull her out. They toss Jade onto the floor on her face.
Ludo Rat: An intruder, and a female one at that. Bring her before me!
The rats wrestle Jade before the Ludo Rat, forcing her into a kneeling position before his feet.
Ludo Rat: Ah, a Septarian girl. Here to steal all of MY corn, eh? Unless you'd rather meet the demise of my mighty wand, I suggest you yield, before I show you what this baby can really do!
Jade: Pf! That's not a wand, you freak! That's a stick with a rock tied to it!
Ludo Rat: You dare mock my power? Rat army, ANNIHILATE HER!
The rats swarm Jade. She fights them off, with kicks, punches, tosses and tactical evasions. Jade utilizes the more favorably large arena to fight the rats. However, for every rat she outs, two more take their place. Hundreds and hundreds of rats swarm her before a rumbling occurs and out of a hole in the top of the ceiling where light is showing through, Buff Frog hurtles downward.
Ludo Rat: Another intruder! Get that frog!
Buff Frog: You will not get best of me you rodent scum, have at me! I dare you!
Jade and Buff Frog continue to beat down the rats and eventually, the rats begin to retreat.
Ludo Rat: You cowards! Get back here! Protect my corn! You worthless, cowardly balls of fur!
Buff Frog: Why you mock Prince Ludo, imposter rat?
Ludo Rat: Imposter! I am Ludo Avarius, King of the Rats, and this, is my Kingdom! Now I will destroy you with my wand!
Buff Frog: I am not afraid of tiny stick!
Buff Frog swipes the pathetic fake wand out of the Rat Ludo's tiny hand, crushing it with his hand!
Ludo Rat: My wand! You fat oaf! You'll pay for this! I summon all rats from all over Mewni! Heed my call! Do my bidding!
Thousands of rats pour out of the orifices of the wall, enough to dwarf the previous attack.
Buff Frog: Jade, I do not think we can handle all these rats.
Jade: You're right, lets just get the corn and get out of here!
They run towards a wheelbarrow, used for holding all the corn as the rats chase them. Jade stands on top as Buff Frog uses the wheelbarrow to ram the rats out of their way. As they run around the massive room in all directions, they come to the conclusion that there's no way out except for the way they came.
Jade: Ugh, looks like we're not getting out of this.
Buff Frog: Look! The hole in roof, there is rope lowering into it!
Voice From Above: Hurry! Grab the rope before those filthy rats get you!
Jade: But the corn!
Voice From Above: Forget the corn! Just get outta there!
Ludo Rat: Get them! They can't be allowed to leave!
Buff Frog and Jade ascend the rope as the other rats trail them close behind. The rats are much faster at climbing but Jade keeps kicking them in the face to keep them from reaching them.
Voice From Above: Almost there, come on!
Buff Frog and Jade reach the surface where they climb over what appears to be a well in Lord Rubeus' yard. At the top, Lord Rubeus awaits them. Climbing over the edge, Buff Frog beats the rats back into the hole before Rubeus shuts the lid, quickly locking it with a padlock. Lord Rubeus is an absurdly elderly man, wearing princely brocade, stocking and doublets with a fancy little beret. His eyebrows are long and unkempt, in opposition to his naked head and his eyes are small and squinty.
Lord Rubeus: Whew, that was a close one!
Jade: Lord Rubeus! Your corn, we couldn't save it! We failed!
Lord Rubeus laughs.
Lord Rubeus: Ho ho ho! No you didn't my dear. I hired you to watch my basement and you did! Those pesky rats have been stealing from me for months and now I finally found their den and I will hire a proper extermination crew to rid me of those vermin!
Jade: Extermination crew? Do they really need to die, just for stealing some corn!
Lord Rubeus: Of course they do! Those rats have been a complete nuisance to us.
Jade: Oh, I see.
Lord Rubeus takes Jade's hand.
Lord Rubeus: My dear you have a kind heart sympathizing with those pathetic creatures, but it must be done.
Buff Frog: I understand as well sir.
Lord Rubeus: My my, your hands are so leathery my dear. Perhaps I could offer some expensive foreign oils for that rough, dry skin of yours.
Jade: No thanks. I'll pass.
As promised, Lord Rubeus pays them rightfully their 75 gold a piece for a hard day's work and sends them on their way.
Lord Rubeus: Fret not, young lady. I will continue to employ you for the work you have provided for me thus far. This does not end with the rats, if you would indulge me by performing menial tasks my old bones are no longer fit for. See you tomorrow.
Buff Frog: Jade, perhaps I could be picking you up for tomorrow so we could commute in together.
Jade: That would be nice. See you tomorrow Yveny!
Jade finds it nice to live outside of Septarsis among the regular monsters. Still, she is concerned about the Ludo imposter. She wonders, "did that rat really represent some point in Ludo's life, a person he used to be?" It seems like no matter how much she tried to escape that little bird, she was constantly reminded of him. Oh well, perhaps tomorrow he won't be so prevalent.