Aflame

Chapter 11

Ritual ex machina

It had all been made worthless.

That was the thought that was going through Star's mind at the moment. All her efforts, everything she had just put into killing this demon and saving the town, had just been reduced to nothing.

The second the demon had gotten back up, Star had realized this. She didn't want to believe it, but she did. She was a fool. She should she called the military first thing and told them what was going on, like Marco had said. They would have already been here, and they would have blasted the demon to pieces. But she didn't, and now the town was paying the price.

Everybody hid. Eclipsa, Star, Marco, and the knights all dove into a random building before the demon had a chance to fully come back. When it did, it was met with an empty street, instead of it's now hated enemies. It huffed in annoyance, and then stomped off towards the forest of unlikely Spiderbites as if it was personal.

Everybody cringed as they witnessed the demon ripping trees out of the ground and throwing them hundreds of feet away, while at the same time picking up gigantic spiders and literally biting their heads off. After it grew bored of that, it headed towards the Johansen kingdom, not stopping it's rampage for a second.

Marco sighed and grabbed the bottom of his shirt, wringing it out. Everybody's clothes were still soaked from the giant wave the water tower had unleashed, and the water on their skin only reminded them of their failure.

"So…" Marco started nervously. "What do we do now-"

"AGHHHHH!" Star screamed, falling to her knees. She pounded her fists on the ground, either in frustration or anger.

"Star!" Marco said. "Don't yell so loud. That thing might hear you and come bac-"

"Don't care!" She yelled back. "It doesn't matter anyways! We failed. That's all there is. It can come back and kill me if it wants. There's nothing we can do to stop it anyways."

"Don't talk like that." Marco said. "We might not be able to do this, but like I said earlier, we'll just call in the military, and have them blow that thing straight back to hell."

He pulled out his phone and tried to turn it on, but couldn't. Cursing, he tried again. Then again. But still it didn't turn on. No matter how hard he tried, his phone remained dark.

"Never mind." He said. "Phones waterlogged. It probably won't ever work again."

Sir Stabby and other other knights slowly approached Eclipsa, unsure if they should go and try to fight the demon again or just leave.

"Queen Eclipsa?" Sir Stabby asked. "What...should we do?"

"For right now, just stay here." Eclipsa said. "You may be useful later. Or not. But don't go anywhere, and don't try to fight that thing."

"Right. We'll just...stand over here." Stabby said, walking back to the other knights, most of which were still drunk enough that they were starting to forget why they weren't in the knights den anymore.

Eclipsa walked over to Star and Marco, the latter of whom was unsuccessfully trying to comfort the former.

"Hey Star…" Marco said, in some effort to be helpful. "It's...okay. We-"

"No! It's not okay!" Star said, not having any of that. "What part of this is okay Marco?!"

Marco backed away from her, realizing it would be best in the moment to just leave her alone. Eclipsa, however, didn't share this sentiment. She walked over to Star and put her hand on her shoulder.

"He's right Star." She said. "It's okay. We can still figure something out. Just because this plan failed, that doesn't mean that there's no chance that we can fix this."

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Star asked. "Who would know how to fix this? Who would know how to stop demons? I know a few people, but none of them are here at the moment. Tom is currently under Bren's control or something,"

"Wait, wha-" Eclipsa started, before Star interrupted her and kept going.

"The other Lucitors are probably under his control as well, the rest of the royals are probably hiding away at the moment, and there's no other way to get to the Underworld! So there's probably not a single person here at the moment who could help us with taking down a giant demon!"

"Demon, huh?" A voice said. "I can help with that."

Star looked to her left and saw none other than Janna standing there, covered in bandages, casts, and walking with a pair of crutches.

"Oh, hey Janna." Star said, waving to her. She then glared back in the direction of the demon. "So there's nobody we can turn to at the moment that can-"

Star stopped mid-sentence and did a double take towards Janna, who was slyly smiling.

"Wha-JANNA?!" She half-asked in shock. "What the heck are you doing here?! I thought you were in the hospital! How are you walking, even with those crutches?! You looked like you were at death's door just a few days ago! How are yo-"

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Janna said, stopping Star's endless interrogation. "Just calm down for a second, will you? I'll explain everything in a second. But first…"

She looked around at the town. The wreaked, partially burning, demon-rampaged town. She paused for a moment to take it all in and sighed.

"Well, I guess this is what Needles was talking about." She said. "Whoever that "new guy" was, I suppose that this was his plan."

"No, not completely." Marco said, equally surprised as Star. "We met the person Needles was talking about. This whole thing, the demon just rampaging around town, it was just a distraction so he could escape. And he did. We could have tried to capture him, or tried to stop that demon. I'm...sure you can guess which option we picked."

"You met this guy?" Janna asked, impressed. "In the flesh?"

"Yeah." Star said, looking down at the ground.

"Hm. Neat. So how'd you find him? Did you do some good old-fashioned detective work? Get a tip from someone? Or something else entirely?"

"Something else entirely." Marco said. "We didn't find him. He told us where to go and he met with us himself."

Janna raised an eyebrow at this. "Why would he-"

"I don't know." Star said. "Although he did make a comment on how he want us to try and stop his plans. He said that without any competition, it's no fun. Then he talked about a bunch of other weird crap, seemed to have a mental breakdown for a moment, and then we decided that we had had enough and left."

"Did he tell give you his name?" Eclipsa asked, joining the conversation.

"He did." Marco said, looking back over at the demon, which was now punching the walls of the Johansen castle. "He said his name was Bren. I don't suppose that either of you know who that is…?"

"Can't say I do." Janna said, shaking her head. "Odd name though."

"Yeah, he said we were free to make fun of it."

"What else did he tell you?" Eclipsa asked.

"Well, he-"

"Can this please wait?" Star asked. "In case you haven't noticed, we still have a giant demon currently treating the town likes it's own personal rage room!"

"Right. Right." Marco said. "Wait, Janna, how did you get here? How did you get out of the hospital?"

"Ugh!" Star groaned. "Not important at the moment-"

"No, it's fine." Janna said. "Dude wants to know, so I'll tell him. Besides, because we're the current focus of the story at the moment, so that demon can't be doing anything too important. It's the rules."

Star tilted her head at Janna, which sounded something along the lines of a rusty metal gate moving one centimeter every second. "I...don't think those are how the rules wor-"

"So, there I was…" Janna said, ignoring Star. "I was in the hospital, just laying on that bed which I grew tired of a week ago."

"You haven't even been in the hospital for a week." Marco said.

"Who said that was my first time at that hospital? Also, don't interrupt again dude. Anyways, I was there, bored out of my mind, waiting for something interesting to happen. And… then something did. I heard what sounded suspiciously like a giant fire demon stomping its way down fifth avenue."

"How would you know what that soun-" Star started, before Janna put up her index finger, shushing her.

"So, I looked out the window. Took some painful maneuvering to angle myself so I could properly see, but I managed. Then I saw it. A literal war-demon from the pits of Underworld itself. Who knew that one of those things still existed?"

Marco was about to say something along the lines of, "Bren did," but he then remembered Janna's earlier comment about not interrupting her, so he stayed silent, continuing to listen to her story.

"I was shocked, naturally." Janna said. "I knew I had to do something. After all, I knew plenty about demons. I could help. I'm just that kind of person. But I wouldn't be able to escape without help, and none of the doctors would ever let me go. But then the weirdest thing happened. I still don't know who it was, or why they helped me, but I'm not complaining. So as I was busy staring out the window, trying to formulate some escape plan, the hospital went dark. It was a full-on blackout. The lights blinked out, the machines shut off, and I was alone. Or, at least, I thought."

Janna took a deep breath, as if struggling to tell the next part. "Somebody entered the room. Because it was so dark, I couldn't clearly see who it was. But I saw what they were holding. They had these." Janna held one of her crutches up. "They gave them to me, and told me that I had to leave. They told me that I had to help you guys. They disconnected me from that IV stand, which I still had, despite the fact that I don't think I needed it anymore, and then they left. Confused as I was, I knew I had to move. So I got up as as fast as I could without screaming in pain, got the crutches, maneuvered my way around the darkened hospital without anybody seeing me, and left. Then, after a while, I found you guys here. So, there you go. That's what happened. Very simple explanation."

"You...don't know who helped you?" Marco asked.

"That's what I said." Janna answered. "I've never heard their voice before, or seen them before. I don't even know what they looked like. So sorry, but I got nothing."

"Well, whoever it was, they wanted you to help us." Elclipa said. "That much is obvious. But speaking of which, you said earlier that you could help with this demon problem."

"Yup."

"So...what should we do?!" He asked. "Because we're kind of out of options here."

"Not entirely." Janna said. "So, here's what you gotta know. You can't kill it. Not normally. Only magic could kill a demon like that."

"Are you sure?" Eclipsa asked. "When the knights hit it with their swords earlier, it literally squealed in pain. I saw some pieces of it come off. Could we not just break it apart?"

"Nope." Janna said. "Those knights only managed to because they probably chipped off small pieces. This was intended in that things design. When those types of demons were first created hundreds of years ago, it was made with a low pain tolerance to small injuries. This way, when people attacked it, they would think that it could be killed with physical attacks. But it can't. If you just blow it up or something, the rocks that make up its body will simply reform, good as new."

"We tried to kill it earlier by dousing it in water…" Star said. "That managed to extinguish it for a minute or so, but then it just relit and came back to life."

Janna nodded. "Yeah, that's to be expected. Nothing like that's gonna do the trick. Although the outside may have looked extinguished at that moment, the inside was still flaming hot. It just needed a short while to rebuild the heat. Unless we can get the demon in an environment that's at like...absolute zero, no amount of cold will turn that heat off."

"ERGGG!" Marco yelled in exasperation. "Why does it have to be so hard to kill?!"

"Hey, these things were created with some of the strongest demon magic ever cast. Along with some of the most powerful spells. We should only be so lucky that so few of them were made, but only because they were just so damn hard to create."

"Thank for the exposition Janna, but that doesn't make me feel better." Marco said. "What kind of monster would use a creature like that in war?! That'd be like, a war crime or something."

"Marco, most of history is one giant war crime." Janna said. "And if you were a demon general, which would you choose? A soldier who dies easily, got afraid, and could balk at orders, or...would you have an almost unkillable, mindless drone who never got scared and followed every order you gave it without question?"

"..."

"Yeah, not so easy to pick. So here's the thing: We can't kill it. Not without magic. The type of magic that could level a city."

"So without magic, what can we do?" Star asked.

"I never said we didn't have magic…" Janna said.

Everyone looked at her, asking themselves if they had heard her correctly.

"What...do you mean?" Eclipsa asked. "Magic is dead. We saw the magic dimension fall apart in front of us. Star said she saw Glossaryck stay there and likely die with magic. How could there be any left?"

"There is another type of magic." Janna said. "Magic created by a being with far more power than Glossaryck."

"What?!" Marco. "Wasn't Glossaryck the equivalent of...God, or something? I thought he created magic."

"No, he was the first being ever created by magic." Janna said. "But we're not talking about the same kind of magic. You're talking about normal. I'm talking about demon magic. The type that created that monster that's wrecking the town. The type that keeps the flames of the Underworld forever burning."

"What's the difference?" Star asked.

"Normal magic was created either by chance or by a being with far more power than Glossaryck could ever dream of. But demon magic...that was definitely created by a supremely powerful being. But whoever this being was, they were much prouder of their creation than who or whatever created normal magic. So they didn't want demon magic to die out, no matter what. They disconnected demon magic from the main realm of magic, this ensuring its survival if the main magic dimension ever died."

"So that's why Tom still has his powers!" Marco said. "His powers aren't even connected to the magic dimension! He's powered by that demon magic!"

"Yup." Janna said. "That's also why the Underworld is still on fire. Without all that demon magic, it would be forever cast in an endless night."

"Hold on." Eclipsa said. "Is the being who created demon magic still out there?"

"Has to be." Janna said. "If it was gone, then demon magic couldn't exist. Instead of making another dimension to contain the source of demon magic, it contained that source within itself. And because a being like that is both immortal and probably unable to die altogether…"

"Demon magic would never die out." Star said.

"That's right." Janna said.

"One last thing before we discuss how we stop that demon." Marco said. "Janna...how do you even know all this? I mean, I understand that you probably know things that the rest of us couldn't possibly know, but even for you, all this talk about demon magic and Gods and what not….even for you it seems kind of far-fetched."

"Tom taught me." Janna said, not skipping a beat. "Last time we hung out in the Underworld, I asked him why his powers still worked, and he gave me some old books that nobody's read in centuries, and that's how I knew that. The Underworld world loved writing stuff down hundreds of years ago. So it was all there. Then I asked about some more stuff, and that's how I know about that demon and what it can do."

"Wait, you and Tom hang out?" Star asked. "That's news."

"Well, don't go blabbing about it." Janna said. "We're just friends. That's all. Don't make anything of it."

"Fine. If you say so." Marco said. "But…there's something about Tom we should tell you."

"Save it." Janna said. "I know that something horrible has probably happened to him, judging by the tone in your voice. But I can also tell that he's not dead. If he was, I would know."

"How can you te-"

"Trust me."

"Okayyyyy…" Marco said, suspicious. "But now, can you finally tell us what we're going to do?"

"Yeah, so everybody listen up." Janna said. Everybody, even the half-drunken knights, crowded around her to hear the plan.

"Like I said earlier, we can't kill it." She said. "So our only option is to send it back from whence it came. To the Underworld."

"How?" Star asked.

"I may or may not know how to perform a ritual that involves demon magic." Janna said. "Like with the stuff I just told you, Tom taught it to me from those books. It can send anyone or anything to the Underworld. It works the same way as Tom's teleportation thing."

"Well, that's perfect!" Marco said. "We can just send that damn thing back to the hole it crawled out of! I mean, Bren could just bring it back, but it would be a start."

"Unfortunately, it's not that simple." Janna said. "We can't just raise our arms like Tom and summon a flame tower to tear open a hole between the two worlds. We're gonna need some paint, some very specific objects, and we need to get near that demon."

"Paint?"

"Yeah. To paint on the ground."

"What?!" Marco said. "What are you gonna paint, a pentagram?!"

"Oh no no no no..." Janna said. "Pentagrams are used for summoning rituals. We're gonna paint a different symbol. Thankfully, it can be in any color, any type of paint. But don't worry about that, I'll get the paint and make the symbol on the ground. What I need you guys to do is get the objects necessary for the ritual."

"Objects?" Eclipsa said. "What kind of object are we talking about."

"It's kind of specific." Janna said. "All the rituals are. We need a gift from a friend that's no longer around, the blood of a brave and strong warrior, and something that looks demonic. I know it all sounds cheesy, but it's what Tom's book said, so that's what we're doing."

"Why do we need these objects?" Star asked.

"Everything requires a sacrifice." Janna said. "It's like...the first rule of demon magic."

"Then where do we find them?" Marco asked. "Are we going to have to run around town on a scavenger hunt?"

"Wait." Star said. "I think I already have two down. For something that looks demonic…"

Star took off her plastic demon horns and held it out in front of Janna. "Would these work?"

Janna stared at them, making various "hmm" noises. "I think it would." She said. "Quicker than having to find something. Yeah, that'll work. But you said you had two down. What was the other one you have?"

"A gift from a friend that's no longer around." Star said. "A few days ago, after you got out in the hospital, we went to visit Needles."

"Needles? You went to visit him?"

"Yeah." Star said. "And he gave us a tennis ball. Right before he left town. I mean, it was just so he could write us a secret message, but he did tell us to give it to you. Sorry we didn't, never got the chance. But I think that could work as a gift, if "gone" doesn't constitute as dead."

"I...guess that would work." Janna said. "Sucks that I didn't get to see him leave though. Would've been nice to say goodbye. But anyways, where's the tennis ball?"

Star inhaled sharply. "Not here. It's at Marco's house, so this might be a bit of a scavenger hunt like he said it would. But I know exactly where it is, so I can easily go there and get it."

"Well, that covers two objects." Eclipsa said. "But what about the last thing? The blood of a warrior?"

"Oh, I know where we can get that." Janna said. "I have a...sample, I guess you could call it, of Marco's blood at my house."

Marco slowly turned his head towards Janna, like some kind of statue in a horror movie.

"I'm sorry?" He said incredulously. "Did you seriously just say that you have a sample of my blood at your house?! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Are you that surprised?" Janna asked.

"YES!" Marco yelled. "Because you...you...actually, no, I'm not that surprised. That does sound like something you'd have, especially if it was pertaining towards me. But where did you even get it?"

"I took it from the town hospital at an...earlier date. I took it because a lot of rituals seem to need the blood of a warrior."

"Would I even qualify for that?" Marco asked himself. "I get that I'm stronger than most people, and have some knights training, but does the title, "brave and strong warrior" suit me completely? Would that blood even be accepted for the ritual?"

"Hey, I've heard of your neverzone adventures, and all the other crazy stuff you've done." Janna said. "Don't belittle yourself. You've definitely earned some kind of title from all that."

"Alright, but why didn't we just get some blood from them?" Marco said, pointing a thumb over at the knights. "Seemed quicker."

"Marco, their blood is probably more alcohol than actual blood at the moment, so I don't think that would do. No. We get the vial of your blood. It's at my house, in my dresser drawer. Go over there, and get it. Back doors probably unlocked, and it's it not I give you permission to smash a window. My parents aren't home at the moment anyways, and if they were they wouldn't want you rummaging around my room when they think I'm still in the hospital."

"I don't think anybody's home at the moment." Star said. "In any house."

"Oh, are you talking about the fact that everybody's disappeared?" Janna asked. "Yeah, I noticed that too. In fact, the hospital seemed emptier than usual as well. A lot of the doctors and nurses weren't there, and the ones that were seemed rather angry. I heard them grumbling about how they were "missing something." I think the whole town is at some big event."

"Then why didn't we hear about it?!" Marco asked. "If the rest of the damn town heard about it, why didn't we?"

"Maybe somebody didn't want you too…" Janna said.

Eclipsa stepped into the conversation. "Enough talk. That demon is still out there, and it's gonna take a while to get all those objects. Marco, go over to Janna's house and get the blood. Star, you get the tennis ball. Give Janna your horns. The knights will get some paint and lead the demon, again, to where it needs to go. Once done, everybody meet back here. Got it?"

"Got it!" They yelled, and all ran off. Star and Marco ran towards the neighborhood, while Eclipsa turned towards the knights to give them their orders.

"Sir Stabby!" She said, getting his attention. "If my Earth knowledge is correct, you can find some paint in the...hardware store, I believe it was called. Now, I'm going to get a map so we can figure out where it is-"

"No need!" Sir Stabby yelled. "I know where it is."

"You...you do?"

"Of course! It's right next to the bar. When me and the knights got tired of the den for a day, we went to that bar that people were always talking about. It was not as good as the knights den, but it was still satisfying. I remember that something called a hardware store was right next to it!"

"Oh." Eclipsa said. "Well, go get some paint. Any color you want. And don't forget a paintbrush as well! Go now, and come back here when you're finished!"

"Understood!" He yelled. "Higgs, my squire, come with me! Let us be off!" They then ran off, both of them seeming to know exactly where they were going.

"I really hope they don't screw that up…" Eclipsa mumbled, before looking over at Janna. "Where do we need the demon to go? Where do we need to take it this time?"

"Right here's actually good." Janna said. "As long as I have some space to do the ritual, anywhere is good. I just need to say some weird word and and send it right back to the Underworld. Just lead it here."

"Getting kind of tired of doing that, but okay." Eclipsa said, before turning to the other knights. "You heard her!Just like before. We're going to chase that monster down, take it back here, and send it right back to hell. So get ready to leave, because we can't wait any longer."

The knights all followed this order and scrambled around to try and find their weapons, which had been scattered by the earlier wave of water.

"Janna." Eclipsa said. "Hopefully, Sir Stabby and Higgs will be back in a few minutes with that paint. In the meantime, just stay here and be safe."

"I get it." Janna said. "Don't want me slowing you down. It's alright. I understand. Frankly, I'm more worried about Star and Marco coming back at the same time as you guys. We probably should have coordinated a specific time…"

"Well, if they're not here by then, then we'll do what we can. It's all we can do at this point."

"Queen Eclipsa!" Sir Dashing said suddenly. "We have found all our weapons! Shall we chase after the enemy…?"

"Yes!" Eclipsa said. "Go now! Don't wait for me! I'll catch up."

"Very well!" Dashing said. "Onward knights!"

They all yelled out some pitiful attempt at a war cry, then ran off down the street, heading for the demon. In the time it had taken Janna to explain everything, the demon had gone through the Johansen kingdom, the Spiderbite kingdom, and the Jaggy mountains, leaving a trail of destruction behind it like breadcrumbs for the knights to follow. (So much for the rules…)

As the knights disappeared from sight, Janna turned back to Eclipsa. "Aren't you gonna follow them?" She asked. "I know you don't have your warnicorn anymore, but you should still do something."

"No." Eclipsa said, earning a surprised look from Janna. "They have this. They're not as drunk as they were before, and they know what to do. They can lead it back here. I trust them."

"That's a lot of trust you're putting in them Eclipsa. Are you sure that's the best idea?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. But for now…" Eclipsa said. "I need to sit down."

Eclipsa walked over to the curb and sat down on it, leaning back against a lamp post. She turned towards the demon, still visible even from there, then looked away, as if growing tired of the sight.

"Are...you okay?" Janna asked. "I know we've only had a few real interactions with each other, but this doesn't seem like you."

"Oh no, I'm fine." Eclipsa said, despite the fact that she was plainly the opposite. "It's just...this whole debacle reminds me of something. A giant monster, attacking everything and everybody…I've seen it before. Back when Meteora when crazy and attacked the kingdom."

"Oh yeah." Janna said. "I heard about that. But it all turned out okay in the end, right? Meteora got turned back into a baby, everybody got their souls back, and you got the kingdom."

"If that's what you mean by okay." Eclipsa said. "But that's not really what I meant. It's what happened after that. After Meteora's rampage, I thought it actually was all okay. I got the kingdom! I can make everything right! I can bring freedom to monsters! But it didn't turn out okay. Just like with Meteora, Mina rose up and threatened to destroy everything we had worked so hard to make. It was a disaster, and I couldn't stop it myself because I hadn't prepared for it. I hadn't thought that she could come back and wreak havoc the way she did."

"But you stopped her too." Janna said. "You destroyed magic, and stopped Mina. Than Star and Marco merged the two worlds together, you and the mayor became the ruling duumvirate, and then we all lived happily ev...oh wait. I think I see what you're getting at."

"That's right." Eclipsa said. "Just like with Mina, all this is happening because I wasn't prepared. I didn't think that a giant demon could one day attack our town out of nowhere. Because of this…Bren. Ugh, I swear, those two better explain every single little thing after this mess is cleaned up. But back to the point. Let's say that the giant demon is Meteora. We take it down. The kingdom is saved. What happens then? Who's the new Mina? Bren? What does he have in store for us that I'm not going to be prepared for? That none of us could be?"

"No." Janna said. "Mina...she was something else. But this Bren, from what little information I got from Star and Marco...he's not Mina. They said that Bren told them he wanted them to try and stop him. He enjoys it. That's not Mina. We can't think of him as a new Mina, because they don't have the same mindset."

"I suppose you're right." Eclipsa said. "But how do we stop somebody who wants us to try and do just that? We'd just be giving him exactly what he wants."

"Like you said. We'll figure it out. But also like you said, we deal with that after this mess is cleaned up. Speaking of which...I think Sir Stabby is back with our paint. That was fast."

Eclipsa looked down the road and saw that Janna was correct. Sir Stabby and Higgs, both of them carrying several cans of paint and paint brushes, were sprinting towards them. They skidded to a stop a few feet away, and dropped what they were holding.

"We got it!" Higgs said. "We got the paint! And those brushes!"

Janna looked over the various things they brought with them. It was more than enough. Careful not to lose her balance, she rubbed her hands together and turned towards Eclipsa.

"I know you're not used to receiving orders, but you're gonna have to do this for me since I can't kneel down." She said. "So just paint what I tell you to paint, and hopefully it'll work in the end."

"Right." Eclipsa said, grabbing a brush and popping open a blue can of paint.

"What should we do?" Stabby asked.

Eclipsa looked at them and then pointed towards the other side of the street. "Go wait there." She said.

Stabby and Higgs glanced at each other, then did as Eclipsa told them to and walked away.

"So." Eclipsa said, looking back at Janna. "Where do I start?"

Meanwhile…

At about the same time all that was happening, Star and Marco were running at full speed, heading for their goals. The only thought in their minds at the moment was them telling themselves to not stop.

Reaching an intersection, Star stopped and quickly looked left and right.

"Alright." She said, gasping for air. "This is where we split off. Janna's house is to the right, and your house is too the left. Go there, get that blood, and don't wait for me."

"Got it." Marco said. "Still feel weird about it though."

"Yeah, well, at least it's your blood, not somebody else's."

"For some reason, that makes it weirder." Marco said, and then ran off down the right side of the street. Star then ran to the left and made a beeline for Marco's house.

'Come on, go faster.' She thought to herself. 'Can't stop. Ignore the pain. Ignore that cramp in your leg. Don't think about it. Don't think about it. Agh! I SAID DON'T THINK ABOUT IT!'

Still running down the street, Star noticed that her earlier assumptions were correct. Just like the town, the entire neighborhood was empty. Nobody was outside, and she couldn't see anybody inside the houses either. But then again, she was running too fast too see them anyways.

A few minutes later, she reached it. 'There!' She thought. 'Made it!'

Putting in one last burst of speed, Star ran up towards the Diazes door and flung it open. But although time was of the essence, she couldn't stop herself from checking to see if anyone was still there.

"Hello?" She called out, her voice echoing throughout the house. "Is anybody here? Mr. and Mrs. Diaz? Anybody? Any...body?"

There was no answer. She was alone. The house was empty and deserted, just like everywhere else. Not a surprise, by Star had hoped that somebody would still be there.

Star shook her head and ran up the stairs to her room. 'Forget about it!' She thought. 'Demon now, disappearances later!'

She entered her room and ripped open her closet door, then started digging through the numerous piles of junk for the tennis ball. After five minutes of frantic searching, she found it, shoved it in her pocket then ran back out, almost forgetting to close the door behind her.

'Don'tstopdon'tstopdon'tstopdon'tstop.' She repeated in her mind, like a mantra. Even though her heart felt like it was on fire, she never ceased her running. The only other thought in her head at the moment was of Marco, hoping that he had found what he needed to.

She made it back to the intersection and right on cue, she saw Marco running back towards it as well, a small glass vial in his hand, which he was holding as far away from him as possible. When they both reached each other, they stopped their movement for a moment so that they wouldn't pass out on the spot,

"Nice-*wheeze* job." Star said, on her last leg. "I see...that you…found what you needed."

"Yeah." Marco said, equally exhausted. "But I don't want to know what Janna put in it that's preventing it from drying out."

Star straightened up in an attempt to painfully stretch her back out. "You can ask her...when we finish that ritual."

"Definitely. We should get going aga-" Marco suddenly gagged and covered his mouth, a hairbreadth away from throwing up. "Oh god. Just the thought of more running makes me want to throw up." He said. "I'm spent. We're either walking, or we can keep running and get a heart attack."

"Yeah, I know." Star said. "But maybe…" she looked to the right, where she saw an old bike conveniently lying against a fence, ready to be stolen.

"Maybe there's a faster way."

Maro looked over and saw the bike as well, then saw the look in Star's eyes.

Marco looked at her and shook his head. "No."

Star coughed and nodded at him. "Yes."

Meanwhile...about a dozen blocks away

"Yes. Just like that. Now a little more to the right. Make a triangle. Remember, make all the sides equal. And...yup. That's it."

Eclipsa set the paintbrush in the ground and backed away from the large circle she had drawn on the ground. After several minutes of painstakingly following Janna's orders to the letter, it was finally complete.

"Nice job." Janna said, admiring it. "Good thing I memorized the whole symbol. I mean, I hope."

Eclipsa frowned and looked down at the painted pavement. The symbol looked like something straight out of a low-budget horror movie. It was a large circle with three large triangles inside of it, presumably where the three objects would be put. Outside of them were random glyphs that looked like the doodles of a madman, completely and utterly incomprehensible. But if this was what Janna said would work, then it would have to do.

"Now we wait." Eclipsa said. "I hope Star and Marco get here before the knights do. If they don't, we're dead."

"Yeah. Kinda sucks." Janna said. "But at least we'll go out in a cool way. Killed by a giant demon. I can think of worst fates."

Eclipsa made a "pft" sound and looked away. "I can think of much better ones too."

They were both interrupted by a frantic ringing sound, and turned to their right to see Star and Marco riding a bike, with Star controlling it and Marco holding on to her, barely even conscious.

"Oh hey." Janna said. "They're back. Phew. I'm going to be honest with you, I was actually really worried."

"Weren't very good at showing it…" Eclipsa mumbled.

"Eh. That's just how I am. I also...hey, they're not stopping."

Eclipsa looked closer at the now rapidly approaching pair and saw that Janna was correct. Completely worn out, Star didn't even have the strength to make the bike brake, and they were now on a collision course with a street sign.

"Uh, guys!" Janna yelled. "You can stop now! You're close enough! You...oh no."

The bike headed straight for the sign, and Eclipsa moved towards them in some attempt to stop them. But it was already too late. The bike rammed itself into the sign, and Star and Marco flew off and slammed face first into the pole holding it up, then fell to the ground in a heap.

"Oh my god!" Eclipsa said, rushing over. "Star! Marco! Are you two alri-"

Ignoring both Eclipsa and the pain entirely, both of them put their hands in their pockets and then held up the objects they were sent to get, shoving them toward Eclipsa.

"Take them!" Star gasped. "Don't worry about us! We're just gonna stay on the ground. We need...we need…"

Not even able to finish her sentence, Star suddenly passed out from exhaustion, her body finally giving out and forcing her to rest. Marco then did the same a moment later.

Eclipsa was about to try and wake them up, but Janna stopped her. "Leave them." She said. "We have bigger fish to fry right now. I can hear something getting closer to us…"

Eclipsa listened carefully and heard what Janna was talking about. Unfamiliar a few hours ago, the now familiar stomping sound of the demon making its way down the street was getting louder, heading straight for them.

"They're back!" Sir Stabby said, jumping up. "They really did it.

"They did indeed…" Eclipsa said, before looking back to Janna. "What now? What's the plan?

"Get the objects Star and Marco have." Janna said. "Then get Star's demon horns and put each of them in one of those triangles. Get that demon in the circle, and leave the rest to me."

Right after Janna said this, another familiar sight presented itself to them. The knights turning a corner, with the demon following them. It looked more damaged than before, as did the knights. Evidently there had been a bit of a battle. The knights showed signs of this too. Many of them had burn marks or large gashes lining their bodies, and Sir Dashing even had a broken arm.

"THIS WAY!" Eclipsa yelled. "TOWARDS THE CIRCLE!"

The knights, almost as exhausted as Star and Marco were, ran towards the circle, shedding their armor to try and run faster. Eclipsa grabbed the objects out of Star and Marco's hands, grabbed Stars demon horns and then put them all in a separate triangle. Once done, the objects seemed to vibrate and lifted themselves an inch above the ground.

"It's already starting to work." Janna said, moving towards the circle. "Okay. Get out of the way. The moment it enters the circle, I'll only have a second to say the word that'll prevent it from leaving. Then I just do what Tom does with his arms...and with luck, it'll work."

Eclipsa gulped and moved to the side of the street, starting to get flashbacks of their failed water tower plan. Only this time, there was almost no chance for yet another backup plan.

It was almost there. The knights ran toward Janna and the circle, and they leaped out of the way an inch from hitting it. The demon roared and tried to stop, but physics forced it to keep moving and it entered the trap zone.

Almost instantly, Janna quickly yelled out, "LAQUEUS!", and the demon stopped the second it hit the edge of the circle, stopped by an invisible barrier. It looked around and pounded on it with its fists, but it was no use. The circle had it completely trapped.

"It-it worked!" Eclipsa said. "Quickly! Send it back! Finish the ritual!"

Janna inhaled sharply and let go of her crutch's, preparing to raise her arms.

"Pleaseworkpleaseworkpleasework." She said to herself, still surprised that the barrier that kept the demon in was holding.

With the thoughts of the demon vanishing at the front of her mind, Janna raised her arms skyward, praying to anybody that was listening that she would succeed.

And evidently, somebody was listening. After she had pointed her arms towards the sky, the circle glowed brightly and unleashed a wall of flame that surrounded the demon. Janna could see it's silhouette slowly vanish as the ritual forced it to go back to the Underworld. It's roar could be heard one last time as it disappeared entirely, along with the wall of fire, revealing nothing but scorched pavement and the burned out remains of the objects that had been used to make it all so.

They all stared at the circle, hardly believing their own eyes.

It was over.

For real this time.

"Ha..haha...hahahah!" Eclipsa said, laughing in disbelief. "It worked! It actually worked! Magic is still around. Well, some of it anyways. I can hardly believe it. I just...wow."

"Hooray." Janna said, emotionless and reverting back to her regular self. "But now I think I better get back to the hospital, before-!"

Unable to keep her balance without the crutches, Janna toppled over and fell to the ground. She simply laid their for a few moments, sighing.

"Before that." She said. "So, we should-"

"No." Eclipsa said. "Have you forgotten? This isn't over. We still have to find the townspeople. We still don't know where they are."

"Ummm...we might know where they are." A tired voice called out.

Janna and Eclipsa looked over at Star, who had just recently woken up. She was attempting to push herself up, but wasn't making much progress.

"You do?" Janna asked. "Where would they be?"

"I know this is gonna sound weird, but I think they're all at castle Avarius." Star said. "When me and Marco were pedaling over here, we passed that place and saw several people through one of the windows. The rest all had their curtains drawn for whatever reason, but there were a lot of people in there. Looked like they were having a party."

"A...party?" Eclipsa said. "At castle Avarius?! Who in their right mind would throw a party there? And-and if the whole town is there, how we could not know? How could I now know?! I'm the Queen! Why didn't anybody tell me about this? And do those people even know that there was a giant demon attacking the town just a few minutes ago?!"

"Hey." Sir Dashing said, join the conversation. "Why don't you go over there, and just check it out? The easiest way to get the answers will be to go straight to the source."

"That's...a good idea." Eclipsa said. "Somehow, it seems that alcohol increased your intelligence."

"Oh, we're not drunk anymore." Lady Whosit said. "That wore off while we were leading that demon here. But we remembered enough that we knew we had to lead it here. Now if you'll excuse us, we're going back to the knights den. Maybe bandage ourselves up. You can figure out this mystery on you own. Us knights fight. Not go and solve puzzles."

"If you came with us, you could tell everybody about the things you just did, how you saved the town, and how you're not the protectors of Mewni again." Eclipsa said. "That is what you wanted, right?"

All of the knights looked at each other.

"Oh yeah, of course." Sir Stabby said. "Let's go."

"Brilliant idea. I had almost forgotten about that, somehow." Dashing said, not even acknowledging his broken arm.

"Recovering from drunkenness would probably do it…" Eclipsa said, helping Janna up. "Alright everybody. Let's go. Star, you can stay here with Marco if you're too tired to walk."

"No I'm fine!" Star said, finally managing to get up. "We came this far, we're gonna see it out to the end. Come on Marco, get up."

Marco groaned and slowly picked himself up off the ground, leaning on Star to prevent himself from falling over. The two finally managed to angle themselves in a way that they were leaning on each other in order to walk, and that seemed to work somehow.

"Good." Eclipsa. "Let's go."

They set off. Walking through the deserted and destroyed streets of Echo creek, surrounded by utter silence. Eclipsa looked at the rubble of one of the buildings and winced.

'This presents a whole new problem.' She thought. 'Who knows how much this is all going to cost to fix up. The mayor isn't going to be happy. At least it didn't look like the neighborhoods were attacked, just the shopping district and some of the kingdoms. I wonder if the monarchs are even aware of this, or if there're all at castle Avarius like the rest of the town. Who even knows what's going on at this point?'

The rest of the walk was also met with silence, with none of them saying a word. After all the noise, all the sounds of crashing and destruction they had just heard, some silence was a nice change of pace.

But the silence was interrupted when Star weakly said, "We're here. Castle Avarius."

Eclipsa stared up at the intimidating building. It had been rebuilt entirely different than before, having more of a house shape than a traditional castle. But Star seemed to have been telling the truth. The blinds on all the windows were drawn, but one of them wasn't closed completely, and through it Eclipsa could see several people moving around inside. None of them were looking out the window.

"Umm, I guess we should go in." She said, not quite sure on how to react to this. She was more worried about how the townspeople would react. This would not do the Mewnian high council well in the PR department. Not after all the destruction the demon had caused.

Cautiously, Eclipsa slowly went up the walkway that led to the door. She took a quick glance behind her to make sure that everybody was still there, then knocked on the door three times.

After a second of waiting, it swung open to reveal Marco's old sensei, Brantley. Holding a bag of money in one hand and some random papers in the other, he looked nothing short of overjoyed...as did everyone else behind him. Just like they had suspected, it seemed that the whole town was there.

"Se-sensai?" Marco said. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey guys!" He said cheerfully. "Marco, Star, and...Queen Eclipsa. It's an honor. It's nice to see you all! You're here kinda late though. A lot of people were wondering where you were. Speaking of which, where were you?"

"Oh no." Eclipsa said out loud, realization hitting her in the face. "You...have truly no idea, do you?"

"Idea about what?" Brantley, before taking a quick look behind her, and noticed the sorry state the town was in.

"Whoa!" He said, walking past her and look at the destruction. "What the heck happened to the town?! It looked like a bomb went off! Like, everywhere!" He then saw Marco and rushed over to him.

"Marco! What happened!" He yelled. "Who did this?"

Marco, still leaning on Star in order to stand, struggled to give him an answer. "Umm...well, you see-"

"Aliens?!"

"No…"

"Karate hating demons?!"

"I mean, the last part is correc-"

"Terrorists?!"

Marco glanced over towards Star. "Could-could Bren be classified as a terrorist?"

Star's eyes darted to the ground in thought. "Umm...maybeee?"

"Oh no! The dojo!" Brantley cried out. "I gotta see if it's okay!" Not saying another word, Brantley rushed passed them into the streets, disappearing from sight.

"Oh boy." Marco. "This is not going to be easy, is it?"

"No. It's not." Eclipsa said. "But it's better late than never. Come in. Let's go inside. Find out what's happening, and then make the announcement."

They all entered the castle. (Mansion.) Just like Brantley had been a minute earlier, everybody inside seemed as happy as could be, holding bags of money and pieces of paper. Some of them were even tearing the papers apart, throwing them in the air like confetti.

It was definitely everybody. The whole town. All humans, Mewmans, and monsters. There was no shortage of diversity here. It looked like that lock-in at the community center that Star had tried in order to make everybody get along.

And in the center of it all, Brudo himself, wearing a gigantic smile and signing several pieces of paper, as well as handing out bags of money. He seemed to be greatly enjoying himself.

Eclipsa frowned and pushed pass several people to get to him. The others followed suit, and once Brudo saw them, his smile dropped, although he quickly took on a new one a second later.

"Ah! Queen Eclipsa." He said. "Glad you could make it. I was wondering where you were. You're just in time as well. I was about to...oh, excuse me for a moment."

Brudo walked over to someone holding a piece of paper, took out an ink stamp, then stamped the paper and walked back to Eclipsa. From what Star could see, the stamp seemed to say, "paid for by Lord Brudo Avarius."

"Sorry about that." He said. "I'm busy finishing things up here. But anyways, why did you get here so late? I thought I sent somebody to find you."

"What...the heck...is going on?" Star asked. "What is this? Why is everybody here? Do they seriously not know what's been going on outside?"

"If something's been happening," Brudo said. "Then we wouldn't know. Except for the door, every part of the castle is completely soundproof. You couldn't hear a thing from outside! I had it made that way so we didn't have to hear all the noises of cars and planes and other things we didn't want to get used to."

"That explains part of it." Eclipsa said. "But what's happening? Why is everybody here?"

Brudo rubbed his beard and smiled. "I don't know why you don't know about it," He said. "But I had an idea a day or so ago. I thought, "Hey, the Avarius family is distrusted and hated. You should do something to fix that." So I did. Using the family wealth, of which there is a lot, I send out messengers all over the town to tell that at 11:15, this will happen: Lord Brudo pays off all your taxes! Come to castle Avarius and get the cash you need! We Avarius's aren't bad! We just want to help you all! So that's exactly what I did. Since both the humans and the Mewmans, and now the monsters all hate paying these taxes, I figured the best way to get people to stop hating my family was to get rid of them all! And it worked! People are having a great time!"

"Brudo, you're basically paying them to stop hating you." Star said.

"Yeah, but it worked!" He said. "Now the Avarius family will no longer be seen as evil! Now we shall be seen as a good family, who does not distrust or hate others!"

"That's...nice." Eclipsa said. "But do you know what just happened outside?"

"No." Brudo said. "Why, what happened?"

They were interrupted by a loud scream coming from the entrance. Everybody turned to see several people crowding around the doorway, horrified by what they were seeing outside. More people flocked to the entrance and had similar reactions, stunned by the sight of the destroyed town.

"That." Eclipsa said. "That happened. While you all have gotten your taxes paid for, me, Star, Marco, Janna, and the knights have been risking our lives to fight a gigantic demon that attacked the town."

Brudo looked stunned. Instead of the town, everybody's attention was now on Eclipsa's words.

"A...giant demon?" Brudo asked.

"Yes. But don't worry, we sent it back to the Underworld." Eclipsa said. "But the town and several of the kingdoms sustained heavy damage."

"What!" A voice from the crowd said. It parted to reveal King Spiderbite, along with the other royals. Every last one of them was here. The Pigeons, the Ponyheads, the Jaggys, even Moon and River were seen with the bunch, which was nothing short of a surprise.

(No, not even the royals were safe from Earth tax.)

"Ummm...the Spiderbite, Johansen, and Jaggy kingdoms." Eclipsa said. "Those are the ones I saw."

"No!" King Spiderbite yelled, before rushing out. The rest of the royals followed suit a second later.

Then the people left. Slowly, and one at a time, the people of Echo creek left the castle, unsure of what to do with this news. Most of them went to check in their houses and shops, but maybe a few were just leaving because everyone else was. In the crowd, Star could see Marco's parents walking out as well, holding Mariposa. They had known as well.

"Brudo pays off all your taxes day" was ruined.

"Well…" Eclipsa said. "I believe it would be right to hold an emergency council meeting. As for you two…" She said, looking over at Star and Marco. "You two are going to tell us everything you saw, everything Bren said, and what you think we should do with him. Then I'm going to have your friend Janna tell us everything she read about in those books. Then you're going to tell us about what happened to Tom.

"Of course…" Star said, inching closer to Eclipsa. "But first, I should tell you something."

Star leaned towards Eclipsa's ear and started whispering. "I want you to have someone keep an eye on Brudo."

"What? But why?"

"Because." Star said. "Do you really think it's just a coincidence that Brudo had this pay taxes day on the same day Bren talked to me and Marco and unleashed that demon?"

"Do...do you think he's in league with Bren?"

"Maybe. He could be. I don't know why Bren would make him do this, unless Brudo did it himself so nobody in the town would get hurt. But if Bren himself ordered it, then I would have no idea why."

Eclipsa looked over at Brudo, who was busy staring into space.

"Okay." She said. "I'll send someone to keep an eye on him. But now I want to know why we didn't hear about this tax payoff day. Brudo!"

"Huh? Oh, um, what is it?" He asked.

"Why didn't we know about this?" Eclipsa asked. "And why did the town know?"

"Listen." Brudo said. "I sent messengers, my children, to go around the town. The human, Mewmans, and monster sections, and tell everybody what I was doing. They all showed up. Every last one of them. Except you guys I guess."

"What...time did you send these messengers?" Marco asked.

"11:05." Brudo said. "And most of them arrived five minutes later. I've never seen so many people so excited for something."

"Well, that explain why me and Marco didn't know." Star said. "Bren called us to the magic sanctuary at 11:00. But why didn't Eclipsa know?"

"I sent Dudo to the monster temple." Brudo said. "Unless he fell asleep in route. He does that sometimes."

"That's why I didn't know?" Eclipsa said. "Because your messenger feel asleep on the way there?"

"Probably!" Brudo said. "Sorry about that, I should have seen that coming."

"I...you know what, forget it." Eclipsa said. "Forget all of it. Thank you for trying to do something nice Brudo, and I'm sorry that it was ruined. But we have to go now, there is a lot of work to be done. Things to be rebuilt. People to counsel over their destroyed property…"

"I understand." Brudo said. "I wish you luck."

"Yeah. Bye."

They left. Eclipsa, Star, Marco, Janna, and all the knights headed back into the wrecked town, where several people were standing in the streets, wishing that they weren't seeing right.

"Boy, this is gonna be a fun Mewnian council meeting." Marco said sarcastically. "Can't wait for it. It's gonna...suck."

"At least we'll have something to talk about." Star said.

They entered the streets, and left the castle behind them.

Brudo watched them go with a sigh, then quickly shut the door. His expression changed back into his signature scowl. Grumbling, he walked over to his favorite chair and sat down in it, before a faint ringing interrupted his attempt at some sort of quiet time. Without even looking at it, Brudo pulled the small black device out of his pocket and held it up to his ear.

"Well?" He asked. "Was that good?"

"It was perfect." Bren answered from the other end. "Good job. They have no idea."

"I wouldn't be so sure." Brudo responded, his mind going back to Star and Marco. "Butterfly and her little boyfriend seemed somewhat suspicious."

"Let them. Who cares? At best, all they'll do is investigate your house. But the only sign of my presence is the thing you're holding in your hand. As long as you safeguard that, it'll be fine."

"I know that." Brudo said. "But I have a question for you."

"Ask away."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you make me pay off everyone's bills to make the townspeople come here? Wouldn't your revenge be better if you killed a couple of people? Make Butterfly suffer even more?"

"Well, that's just it." Bren said. "You see Brudo, I knew that if I had my demon kill anyone, then it would only end in two ways. One, Butterfly would get all sad and miserable, thinking it was her fault. She would go into a depression. Two, she would do the opposite and fly into a rage, making multiple rash and stupid decisions in her quest to find me. Either of these things happening would make it less fun to take revenge, so I had you do the whole tax thing to prevent it."

"Hm. You better give me what I want when this is all over. That was my entire family fortune. Every last gold coin that I dug up. We're broke now, even more so than before we got the mansion back."

"Don't start making demands." Bren said. "Don't forget who's in control here. I have power."

"If we're discussing power here," Brudo said. "Then I'm going with physical. Like that demon. That was effective. Why don't you just keeping doing that?"

"Patience Brudo." Bren said with a sigh. "One must have patience. Physical power is but one of the many types of power, and there are...very, very many. In fact, in my personal opinion, physical power is somewhat in the lower end of the spectrum. With physical power, all you can do is punch someone in the face, and that's that. But with other types of power, you can do so much more."

"Such as…."

"Well, take political power for example. With that, you can become the most powerful person in the world, with great weapons of mass destruction at your command. Or influential power. You can convince dozens, if not hundreds of people to do whatever you want like mindless drones. But none of them, not one, can compare to the most useful type of power there is. Knowledge. Pure, raw knowledge. With that, you can achieve anything, if you're willing to.

"Of course." Brudo said, nodding despite the fact that Bren wasn't even present at the moment. "I understand. But I...just want this all to be worth it."

"It will be. Now, that's everything I wanted to tell you. So we'll be in touch. Goodbye."

Not bothering to let Brudo get another word in, Bren hung up on him. Brudo looked at the device, sighed, put it back in his pocket and then rubbed his face with his hands.

"It'll all be worth it…" He said to himself.

"I hope."

End chapter 11

A/N. Alright, a few things.

One, the next chapter may take much longer to upload. Due to school issues, I won't have as much time to write, so sorry about that.

Two, I feel like this chapter was a bit of a mess, so I hope it was...understandable, and good. I hope that the scene That weren't included, like the knights getting the demon to follow them again and Marco getting the blood weren't that necessary. But, let me know what you guys think.

Three, for everyone enjoying the longer chapters, (this one is over 10,000 words, my god,) it may or may not last, depending on how things go.

Four, the person who broke Janna out of the hospital is probably exactly who you think it is. But everything's for a reason, even that.

Until...next time.