Rags had grown up as a rather happy child.

His family had been poor, but loving towards one another. His parents always managed to put food on the table. And they found enjoyment in the little thing in life. He couldn't remember ever wanting for a lavish life or a glorious reputation. All he wanted was for his family to continue to be happy.

But fate seemed to have a different plan for him.

It had started with his father, who had been wrongfully accused of theft from the family of the noble house he served. The Baros.

Anyone with half a brain knew it couldn't have been him. It was a family heirloom that had been stolen, which meant even if his father had taken it, he wouldn't have been able to show or trade it anywhere nearby, less it be recognized. All signs had pointed to their visitors, who had been members of another noble family they'd had a longstanding rivalry with. But a noble accusing another noble of such crimes without concrete proof was a rather big thing, not something to be done a whim.

Still, a crime had been committed, and someone had to pay. And thus his father was arrested and pinned with the deed. The noble family had been furious. They had offered his father a job, a means to put food on his family's table. And he had returned the favor by stealing from them. It was practically a slap to the face.

His father had been sent to prison, where he'd ended up being killed during a brawl he hadn't even been involved in. His mother didn't even have time to properly grieve since she had been working so desperately to put food on the table for him and his siblings. It wasn't as if the Baros would hire her, and other proper work for monsters outside of servitude was scarce.

She worked herself to the bone, and barely got anything for it. One of his siblings starved. The other got sent to prison for stealing. And his mother had quite literally worked herself to an early grave. And as if fate was mocking him, the heirloom that had been stolen was found in the possession of the other noble family, to no one's surprise.

His father's name had been cleared, but it was too late. He had nothing. No one. The Baros accusation had shattered his world and robbed him of everything. And when he brought this up to him, what had they done to make things right?

Offered him a job...

A job where he had been abused, belittled, and pretty much spat on day after day by the very people who had ruined his life. And as much as he would have liked to throw the offer back in their face and leave… he was a young naive boy who didn't know how else he'd been able to feed himself. So he took it.

And he endured years of insults and lack of appreciation. Then eventually, he grew old enough to learn how the world worked. Old enough to know how to survive without having to live under their cruel thumb.

But he stayed anyway.

The Baros thought it was just him knowing his place. Being appreciative for the chance they had given him. Others thought he just didn't know any other way. That he had been beaten down and abused so much, he didn't know where else to go.

But the real reason was much more simple.

Revenge.

It had been nothing but a sheer chance that he'd wandered into the chamber beneath the Butterfly castle. The Baros were in a meeting with the royal family and had told him to keep out of everyone's way until they were done. The first time he had no idea where he was, or what he'd been looking at. He assumed it was just a dusty old room with crystal in it. But with each visit, he would go back and decipher more of the writings and symbols surrounding the room.

And when he found out what he had really come across, he knew what he had to do. It had taken years to find the information on how to break the spell. Longer still to get all the preparations ready to do so. He'd spent his entire struggling to get to this point, but now that it was here, he felt like it was all worth it.

Lord Baros has berated him up in the meeting room, like he always did. Nobody said anything as he insulted him for simply forgetting to bring along Lady Baros extra pair of earrings, which he hadn't been instructed to do by hte way. Nobody said anything though. Nobody ever did. Save Star and Astro.

If there was one single regret he had, it would be that they might have to go down with the others. Astro was Typhon's son, so he might be okay. But he doubted that Star or her daughter would survive, which was a shame. They were nice people. But he had come too far to have second thoughts now. He would see this through.

After he had been dismissed, he made his way down to the hidden chamber with all the preparations. As usually, nobody paid attention to him. He was just an old man servant not worth taking a second glance at.

"It's time…"

The elderly beastkin looked around at the Ten dark crystals. The symbols were all drawn and linked together and the items were all in their proper place. There was just one part left.

The living sacrifice.

He pulled out the knife and pressed it against the palm of his hand. He knew as soon as he learned about the spell that he'd use himself as the sacrifice. He refused to use another innocent person, and he wouldn't use the Baros either. He wanted them to be around and experience the fear that came with their freedom.

He also knew that it wasn't likely anybody would remember him. They wouldn't know who freed them, and he wouldn't even be a footnote for the events that would play out. Just another casualty that nobody would give a second thought. But that was fine with him. He didn't have anything left to live for anyway. Except this anyway.

He slid the blade across the palm of his hand, then pressed it against the ground. In his death, he would hopefully create a world where no monster would ever have to suffer through what he had ever again.

Rags' entire body was engulfed in light, which broke down and then began spreading through the symbols drawn on the floor. The ground shook as the items around the room began to dissipate, and the light made its way to the crystals. It engulfed them as well, and slowly but surely they began to crack.

Then suddenly, they all burst.

Bits of crystals all flew around the chamber, and the figure inside all began to stir. "Uh… god damn it. My head…" The first figure rose up, a grey skinned boy with insect-like features all over his body. His wings twitched as he reached up and rubbed his neck. "The fuck happened?"

[Gadfly The Mad]

"Gadfly!"

The boy barely had time to get to his brace himself before he was tackled by another of the figures. This was a girl, with pink skin and white hair. The most notable feature about her however was her six arms. "Whoa, Scylla? What the hell are you doing- Mmf!"

[Scylla The Drowned]

He was cut off as the girl pressed her lips against his, one pair of arms wrapped around his waist, as another cupped his face. He looked rather surprised, but then reached up and cupped her face before kissing her back. "You idiot, I thought you were dead," she said between kisses. "Do you have any idea how terrified I was? I should kill you!"

Gadfly leaned his forehead against hers. "You actually thought I was dead? C'mon, you know me better than that. Like I'd go down to those assholes. I just… I got caught off guard is all. But what are you doing here? What happened?" he asked, confused.

"Well, aren't you two feeling frisky today…"

The two youths both went wide eyed before turning towards another of the figures. This one had dark red skin, and looked rather elderly. He groaned as he straightened his back out, his joints cracking loudly.

[Argus The All-Seeing]

"Gramps? What… what are you doing here?" Gadfly asked, confused. He then looked around.

"Everyone's here," Argus said nodding his head.

Another figure spoke up, this one absurdly large, even for a giant. The one eyed blonde cracked her neck before letting out a groan. "Uh, I feel like I just woke up from a nap… the last thing I remember is meeting the Commission outside the valley. And then… it gets fuzzy," she said rubbing her chin.

[Matrona The Mother Of Earth]

"You were felled by them. At least that's what I heard anyway," The earth nymph standing nearby explained. "But obviously I heard wrong. I'm glad to see you, all of you, still alive and in one piece."

[Branch The Benevolent]

One of the other figures rushed up to him, nearly knocking him off his feet. The two headed wolf nuzzled him happily. "Oh, ha! Calm down. I'm happy to see you too Orthrus."

[Orthrus The Beast]

"Okay, so good to know we're not dead. But where are we? And what happened?" another asked looking around. This one was clearly a demon, his three eyes and reddish skin and hair a dead giveaway.

[Kruger The Unhinged]

A snake-like woman looked around carefully, then looked down and saw one of the crystal shards on the ground. She reached down and picked it up, looking over it carefully. "This looks like Rhombulus doing. But… mixed with dark magic. I think we were sealed," she said.

[Echidna The Mother Of Monsters]

"Sealed?!" Scylla said shocked. "How?! For how long?!"

Another woman with snow white fur and nine fluffy sniffed the air, then looked closely at the walls. "This place looks pretty old. But it doesn't remind me of any temple I've seen before," she said wearily. Just how long had they been out. It… it couldn't have been that long. It just couldn't have been.

[Kyu The Elegant]

Argus let out a yawn. "Well, I'm pretty sure I have an idea of just what's going on. But if we want to find out for sure we can always ask someone up top."

"Up top?"

"We're underneath a castle. The Butterfly castle I think."

"What?!"

"You gotta be kidding… what do we do?"

The last figure spread his wings out, and the others all turned towards him. "I'm not sure about what happened, or how long it's been. But I know we won't find out by staying down here. I can sense multiple magic presences upstairs. Some… rather familiar. We're going to go up there and start piecing things together."

[Python The Prince Of Monsters]

The others all watched as his horns began to glow, and he raised his head upwards. He didn't know the path out of here, and he wasn't about to waste time struggling to find it. He would just make one himself…

"Get down!"

The floor split open, and a blinding light spread into the room as the blast of magical energy shot up and tore through the room. The warriors among the royals and nobles moved quickly enough to get out of the way of the blast and debris, and Star and Uran both used their powers to move the others back out of harm's way.

The blast kept going, ripping through the ceiling and going up until it shot through the top of the castle. Star let out a sigh of relief. Everyone seemed to be okay. But just what in the world was that? She looked down towards the hole in the floor. It was deep. Like really deep. She couldn't even see the bottom.

She could sense several magical presences down below, and… one of them was headed up towards them. "Everybody get back!" she yelled holding her hands out. Was this an attack? If so just how had anyone with magical power this noticeable gotten in the castle without them knowing? They just suddenly appeared. Surely they couldn't have tunneled their way in, could they?"

Some of the others braced themselves as well, while a few all backed up towards the exits. A figure shot up from the hole, and Star's eyes went wide at what she saw. It was a monster, there was no doubt about that. But… something about him just made all of her danger signs go off at once.

His presence wasn't unlike that of Typhon, only it felt much more hostile. Uran clearly felt it as well, as he looked ready to move in and strike at a moment's notice.

Python looked around the room, which had fallen silent when he'd showed up. The place was filled with mewmans. Argus was right, this had to be the Butterfly castle. He turned his attention towards the two largest magical serves in the room, the king and queen of mewni. His eyes narrowed.

She was a Butterfly, there was no doubt about that. But she wasn't the Queen. Not the one he knew anyway. Nor was she her daughter. How much time has passed.

Three figures in the room stood deathly still as they watched him hover in the air. Unlike everyone else, they knew exactly who this was, and a wave of terror waved over their entire bodies. "Python…" Hekapoo muttered. It was unmistakably him.

Even if she hadn't been looking at him, she would have remembered that sheer presence anywhere. But how? He was supposed to be sealed. Sealed for far beneath the castle that no one would ever find him. Why was it that they were looking at him right now. How did he break free? This wasn't like with Typhon. His seal shouldn't have worn out, and nobody should have had the access or the knowledge to break it.

At the mention of his name, Python looked down and saw the Commission members. His gaze somehow became even harsher, and he bawled his fist up. "You…"

Hekapoo slowly reached for her scissors, but then noticed something. Amber had managed to avoid the blast, but had been knocked to the ground and was near where Python was hovering. A wave of panic washed over her. "Amber, get away from him!"

Amber groaned and looked up towards her mother, only to see another figure come leaping out of the whole. Kyu growled as she rushed at Hekapoo, grabbing her by the throat and slamming her against the wall. The redhead gasped as Kyu raised her other hand, her claws dangerously close to her face.

"You bitch!" she shouted, eyes sharp and teeth bared. "Where is he?! What did you do with him?! I swear if there's a single hair out of place on that boy's head-!"

"Mother!" Amber quickly got up and rushed in towards her mother, but before she could even get close, Python tail whipped out and struck her in her side. Amber gasped as she was sent flying off to the side, crashing into the wall on the other side of the room.

Star quickly moved down towards Kyu and Hekapoo, forming a magic sword in her hand. She swung towards Kyu, who jumped back and avoided the blow. Python looked ready to move in, but Uran moved in front of Star. He could sense some powerful magic coming from this one, and he had the stench of a deity on him…

"Wait, everybody just wait!" Star said, holding her hand up. "I don't know what's going on here, or who you even are. Let's just… let's just stop for a moment and talk."

Python sneered towards her. "I've had enough of hearing Butterfly's talk. You never have anything worth listening to," he said simply.

Hekapoo rubbed her neck, struggling to catch her breath, while Rhombulus and Omni both moved forward. "Everyone, get out now! Rhombulus, Hekapoo, we have to put them down before the others show up!" Omni shouted. He assumed if both Python and Kyu were here, the others weren't far behind.

"Omni, wait! We don't even know-!"

"There's no talking to that one Star! We need to take them both down, now!"

Omni began to grow, and brought his hand back to swing at Python, but suddenly they heard a loud crash. Something closed down around his entire arms, and he winced in pain. A noblewoman screamed and pointed towards the hole in the wall, where Matrona's face could be seen smirking down at them. "Hey, been a long time pipsqueak," Matrona said, tightening her grip on Omni's arm.

Rhombulus raised his arms and got ready to fire at the giantess, when suddenly he felt a blow to the stomach. Gadfly smirked as he followed through the kick, knocking him into the wall behind him. "Hey there blockhead. Still as ever," he said chuckling. He turned and looked around the room. "Whoa, look at all these mewmans. So many new toys. So much breaking to do."

Uran moved over to strike Gadfly, but the boy easily zipped out of the way. He helped Rhombulus back up to his feet before turning towards their attackers. The others were starting to make their way up out of the whole, and as each new face joined their ranks, those who could sense magic were feeling more and more dread.

Tom and Margo both took notice of Kruger, the former able to feel an ungodly Among demonic energy coming off of him. The Kelpbottoms could sense a strange yet familiar magic from Scylla, who was glaring at them. "Waterfolk royals. Well, aren't I lucky…" she muttered under her breath.

Bloom's eyes made their way to Branch, who seemed to notice her gaze and turned towards her. His eyes went wide. "Blossom…?" he muttered. No… no, it wasn't her. But the resemblance was shocking.

"Who are you?!" Uran demanded.

Python stepped forward. "Who are we? Have we really been gone so long that we've been lost to time?" he asked. There wasn't a single person who didn't recognize any of their faces. Even if a few centuries or so had passed, they should have still…

"It's Python," Hekapoo said, still rubbing her sore throat. "They're the Titanic Ten."

Gasps echoed throughout the room, everyone shocked at the announcement. The Titanic Ten? How was that possible? They were all supposed to be dead. "Ah, at least you've heard of us. That should make things simple," Python said. "Now I have some questions that need to be answered. Cooperate and you'll be granted a swift death."

The threat caused a whole new wave of tension to spread through the room. People grabbed at their weapons, while some turned to flee. "Wait, hold on. I… I don't know how you're here, but things don't have to get violent," Star said. "It's been a long time since you've all been here. Things have changed. We can talk this out and come to-"

"I don't think we can," Python said, getting into a battle stance. The other members of the Ten all look like they were getting ready to strike.

Star frowned, and then looked towards Margo and Higgs. "Get everyone out of here, I'll deal with this," she said. She really didn't want things to come to blows, but she didn't think she was going to be able to settle this with words.

"We will," Uran said, standing next to her.

Python smirked. "Interesting…" This one was stronger from the Queen of his time. And so was the one standing next to her. He still felt a bit stiff after breaking loose, and this would make for a decent warm up.

A/N: The Ten have officially made their appearance! Yeah, that character rags I mentioned last chapter was always pretty much meant to be just vaguely mentioned and then free the Ten. I thought about having a traitor amongst the main cast, but I decided against that. I liked this idea of kind of this almost nameless character just dedicated his whole life for revenge, and nobody even knowing about it.

The scene where the Ten woke up wasn't very descriptive with their appearance since almost everyone has seen them by now, and if you haven't just look them up on my blog of the wiki lol. They're up, they're angry, and they're confused. Just how do you think this is going to play out for everybody?

The plot begins, and it's only gonna start kicking into higher gear from here!