Episode:
2: Adam Alone

Adam finds himself in the last place he wanted to be.
[[TW: Gore, violence and graphic depiction of death.]]

An indeterminate amount of time had passed before Adam hit the ground with a loud thud. Though instantly painful, it certainly woke him up. He groaned with pain as he opened his eyes to see blackness. Just endless blackness.

Not because he was dead, though.

Feeling the air having been knocked out of him, the teenager moved a hand to prop himself up off the ground. Unfortunately, the branch had hit him harder than he thought. Painfully, he resorted to using his hand as leverage to throw himself onto his back.

The sky was a beautiful, burnt orange colour, not a single storm cloud in sight. He could make out a few, faint stars behind the warm, placating sky. Astoundingly, there were a few moons visible to him, suspended impossibly close to the ground. Three of them were present to count, all a smooth, chalk white colour. One of them even had a ring of asteroids orbiting it, like clerics around a religious stone.

Mewni once had moons.

According to his mother, anyway. She said they used to exist, hundreds of years ago, and they were colossal shining objects that could inspire any soul, Monster or Mewman. Adam had no idea what those moons looked like. For the Solarian Storm had engulfed them all, ripping them to shreds.

After a few minutes of staring at the sky, the warlock finally decided he had enough energy to move. Sitting up, he groaned as he surveyed the grass of his surroundings.

The first thing he noticed, of course, was the Book of Spells a few feet away. Nonplussed, he crawled over to it and picked it up. Flicking through the pages, Adam tried looking for Glossaryck.

'Glossaryck!' He whispered, hopelessly searching for the magical guide. Alas, the man had disappeared. Frustrated, the teenager angrily slammed his fist on the grassy ground. Reluctantly, he slipped the book into his bag.

'Excuse me?' A voice asked him politely. Adam looked up to see a Mewman woman staring down at him worriedly. Looking at her up and down, he could see she was a farmer of sorts, a commoner in these lands. 'Are you alright?'

'Uh, yeah, yeah, I'm fine,' he assured, avoiding eye contact. 'Just had a nasty fall.'

'Yes, it was difficult to miss.'

'Why do you say that?' Adam enquired, furrowing his brow.

'Do you not know where you are?' The woman said with concern stringent in her voice. 'Perhaps you hit your head too hard…'

'What do you…' he began, as he looked around.

Surrounding him was some sort of marketplace. The ground was paved mostly with stone, with patches of grass dotted around. Several plots had numerous flowers and water fountains flowing with magically quietened noise. Stalls were set up around the place, where people could sell various goods. The area was not in shortage of people, many of whom were now staring at him.

In the distance, he could make out endless rows of stone houses and buildings stretching beyond the horizon. One edge of the area he could spot, and it was a huge wall of stone with battlements on either side. What looked to be large guard towers were dotted along and at the corner. Beyond that was a large moat, a chasm of water surrounding him and boxing him in.

He knew this place. Perfectly.

'Wait, this is…' Adam tried to say, as he turned around to see what was behind him. '…oh no.'

Behind him, he could see it.

Stretching far above him, there were giant towers of brightly coloured stone. Each top was rounded outwards at the base and curved inwards at the top, like giant meringues, or blots of icing on a cake. Different colours and shapes adorned them, painted on no doubt with magic. At the tops of each of them, there were long spires of metal where cyan, yellow or cyan and yellow flags were attached and flowed from in the wind. The central building was a purplish brown colour of stone, arranged in a more cuboidal shape. He could just about make out rings of metal supports surrounding the central tower.

'The Butterfly Castle,' Adam whispered in shock.

'You seem…surprised to be here,' the Mewman woman noted with a mystified frown.

'Oh, no, no…it's…it's…fine…everything's fine!' He stammered, flapping his hand dismissively as he stared at the castle. 'Just some…routine…portal maintenance. I'll be on my way.'

Adam turned to his right and threw his arm out. A golden gateway opened a couple metres away. Worriedly, he ran directly into it. Unfortunately, it wouldn't let him through. Instead, it was like a brick wall. Groaning in frustration, the Mewman took a few steps back and ran into the gateway again.

Alas, nothing happened. Even when Adam pushed against the portal with all his weight, it still refused to let him through. No amount of barging seemed to yield any give.

'I…I don't understand,' he stuttered. Trying to determine the problem, the teenager opened another one a few feet away and connected the two together.

Tentatively, he tried to walk through it again. This time, it allowed him through, and he popped out at the other end of the patch of grass. There was a muted gasp among the staring population.

'Okay, okay, don't panic,' he told himself. 'You can't get home the quick way, but you can probably get there the long way.'

Adam looked around the area, trying to find a suitable route to avoid the suspicion of the guards. However, Mewman knights were positioned almost everywhere in the kingdom for as far as he could see. Fortunately, they had not noticed him yet.

'Have they buffed up the security around here?' The teenager asked worriedly.

'Well, naturally,' the farmer stated with a small chortle. 'They want to make sure the Queen of Darkness stays locked up in the castle!' Adam collapsed to the ground in defeat.

'Alright, no way out,' he said with a low voice, largely ignoring the comment about the Queen of Darkness. 'I'm trapped.'

Adam looked up at the huge castle in front of him. He wondered how he hadn't immediately noticed when he got here. Perhaps because it didn't cast a shadow over him, because of its magic. Or maybe he was initially just too disoriented to fully comprehend the situation.

Wait a minute, the castle! He realised. There must be something in there I can use. I've infiltrated it before; I can do it again. Sure it had beefed up security, but I have proper magic now!

Adam leapt to his feet and ran away into the crowd, towards the Butterfly Castle. He ignored the confused pleas of the farmer and quickly lost himself in the crowd.

Looking up, the Mewman spotted a vantage point in the purple tower that would provide him access. The roof was mostly out of sight of any guards, mainly because most people would notice someone trying to gain access that way.

Unless, of course, the infiltrator could open portals with their mind. Using his magic, Adam tore open a gateway beneath him and allowed himself to fall through. Closing it as soon as he fell through, he caught the metal flagpole to keep balance.

'Alright…alright,' he repeated to himself nervously, as he carefully tried to manoeuvre himself down. 'Don't look down…don't look down…Oh, I looked down!'

Perhaps this wasn't the most intelligent way to do it. However, given it was only a matter of time before a guard would recognise him from his wanted poster, it seemed like the best option. Realistically, there was no other way to do it. At least, no other way he could think of.

Steadily, Adam began to loosen his grip on the flagpole so he could move down into the tower. Unfortunately, he was too focused on the pole, and he misplaced his foot and a small loose-fitting stone tile.

He slipped and very nearly plunged to his death.

'Ropes of Binding!' The teenager yelled, as his voice elevated with stress. The ropes shot out of his hand and clasped their hands around the metal pole. His feet landed on the side of the castle, allowing him to pass through a glassless window.

Okay, I'm in, he thought, as he looked around.

He was in a regular castle hallway, it seemed. It was long, and cuboidal. A long carpet adorned the length of the stone floor, pristine and perfectly flat. The carpet was purple, with a series of green diamonds stretching across it. Underneath the carpet, revealed at the ends, was a polished stone tile design. The walls were painted with a mainly dark, maroon colour, though there was a strip at the bottom running across that had a lighter pigment, adorned with yellow rhombuses.

Just about, he could make out the stone archways on opposite ends of the hallway. They were identical in design, with a small stone border jutting out at the edges, with a pink-yellow triangular zigzag pattern running across. Two more of these archways were present in the wall before him, leading to other hallways and other rooms. One of the arches was bounded by a wooden door with a sign that said, 'Broom Closet'. To his left, the archway at the far end led to the top of a staircase, and the archway to the far right led to a balcony that he was already wishing he had gone through instead. Alas, he had not seen the balcony from where he had been standing.

Every few metres along, or so, a stoic set of shiny knight armour stood with a revoltingly regally proud stance. Each one was angled so that they could hold a shield with the Butterfly crest and a blunt sword pointed directly downwards. A few paintings adorned the walls, depicting a member of the Butterfly family or its relatives, during some despotic conquest. Adam felt his stomach turn at the sight of them. Behind him, he could see the window he came in through. It was a plume, icing-top design like the tops of the buildings in the castle. Along the wall he had come in through, the same window design was repeated numerous times across the length.

Glancing upwards, he could spot the magical lamps in the ceiling. They were dull and dim, primarily because it was daytime and the bright sun shone through the windows regardless.

It was actually rather impressive what you could achieve with magic. The Butterflies could make some exceptional things using its majesty.

Wait, no, he stopped himself.

How could he think that?

This…fortress…of brutality…has been the suffering…the pain…the, the paragon of fear…throughout the multiverse, he thought. So why am I admiring its beauty?

'You there! Stop!' A voice commanded from the end of the hallway. Adam turned to his left to see a Mewman knight charging at him from the stairwell.

'I'm stopping!' He assured, throwing his hands up.

'Who are you and what are you doing in this castle?' The knight demanded, pointing his sword at him.

'Uh…Mrs Norris,' he blurted out. 'I'm a…cleaning…lady…?'

'You don't look like a lady to me,' the man deadpanned.

'Oh my!' Adam replied, with a false feminine voice. 'You can't go around saying that nowadays, young man! It's highly offensive!'

'Um…oh…I…apologise, Mrs Norris,' the knight replied, gently lowering his sword. 'But you look awfully like a trespasser!' The Mewman soldier shot his sword up to Adam's neck. 'Who are you?! Answer or I may have to use force!'

'Now, now, let's not get hasty here…' he began, waving his surrendering hands to distract the knight for a moment. Abruptly, Adam grabbed his helmet and spoke an incantation.

'Dreamless,' he whispered, as his eyes pulsed bright blue-white.

The Mewman paladin instantly collapsed. He would have made a huge racket if Adam had not managed to catch him. Heavy armour would definitely draw someone's attention. That would not have been wise.

Realistically, he could just as easily have killed him, for he was getting in the way. Ultimately, Adam had decided not to, since the Dreamless Sleep Spell would work quite effectively on him. After all, he was a weaker willed target, so the spell worked.

Groaning and wheezing, the teenager hauled the fully-grown Mewman male across the floor. As he reached the broom closet, he stuffed the knight into the room and carefully set him down. Adam breathed a sigh of accomplishment.

'You'll be taking a long nap,' he decided, as he inspected the man's armour. It was heavy and clunky, and far too big for him. Not something he could even attempt to hide in. No disguises, then.

Glancing down at his clothing, he supposed he could pass off as a servant or something. He wore dark purple-black combat pants and worn, but still tough, black leather boots. On his torso, he had a slim grey-black jacket on, which covered a dark purple tunic he'd sewn a few weeks ago. Not the height of fashion, his clothes were rather drab. After all, Adam wasn't royalty. Nor did he want to be.

He looked around the corner. The hallway was empty. From his last visit, he distinctly remembered that most of the Butterfly Castle was large halls, or hallways with very high ceilings. Several of these ceilings, if not all of them, had rafters accessible that could easily support his weight.

Perfect way to stay out of sight.

Ready, he shuffled towards the stairwell at the end of the hallway. One hand moved in the air to maintain his balance, while one held the straps of his bag to prevent it from shaking around. Fortunately, the carpet managed to absorb most of the noise his footsteps made. However, the steps were stone, though and echoed his movements. While it let him know if somebody was coming up the steps, it also rather obviously told the other that someone was coming down them too.

I suppose I'll just have to hope nobody comes up, he considered, though Dreamless Sleep was still an option. Provided the target was suitable.

Luckily, nobody did come up the stairs. When he reached the bottom, he peeked through the stone doorway. The room opened up into a large hall, with huge paintings adorning all four walls. A few couches evenly spaced on either side, though nobody was currently occupying them. Two doors stood to his left and right, in the middle of both walls, while opposite him, on the far end, was another stairwell identical to his.

Guards were posted on both left and right sides, opposite each other. There were four of them, spaced evenly so they covered the whole length of the hall. Fortuitously, it was rather dark in the stairwell, so they didn't spot him.

A long network of rafters clung to the walls and roof above. At the ends of the rafters, where a new room was connected there was a stone cut-out where they connected. This was perfect. He could teleport up there, follow the wooden beams, and access virtually anywhere in the castle. Then he could figure out where he actually wanted to go.

So long as he didn't look down.

Adam tore open a golden pathway in the stone wall beside the stairway.

Slowly, he stepped through and placed a foot on the rafters. They were steeped in shadows, so much so he could barely make out the wood he was standing on. Thankfully, the beam was wide enough so that he didn't have to look directly down to determine where he was standing.

The gateway closed behind him.

Bending forward ever so slightly, he reached a V-shaped support of wood and held down in with both his hands. Once the diagonal beam was supporting him completely, Adam collapsed onto it, resting his legs on the other.

Summoning the strength to lean over, he stared down at the guards below. One of them was looking up in his general direction. Adam jerked back and remained hidden in the shadows. After a few seconds, he willed himself to look again.

The Mewman guard was now looking level with the ground. The young warlock breathed a sigh of relief. The guard must have noticed the flash of golden light in his peripherals and inspected for a moment. Luckily, he found nothing.

In that moment, Adam could have sworn his heart would burst out of his chest.

Droplets of perspiration slid down his temples, prompting a twitch from his eye. Running his hands through his hair, he felt how matted and damp they were. He couldn't tell if that was solely from sweat or if the wet mud that he'd hit earlier had had a hand in it.

Truth be told, the young man felt as though he hadn't had a moment's rest in years. Even though he remembered lying down on the grass on his lawn no less than half an hour ago, he still felt exhausted. Maybe all that training from Glossaryck was finally catching up to him.

Glossaryck! He remembered, heaving the bag off his back. Pulling out the ever-heavy Book of Spells, he flicked through them again, hoping to find a certain red-coloured magic man.

'Glossaryck, c'mon! Where are you?!' He whispered agitatedly, reaching the end of the book and flipping through the pages backwards. After a few minutes of angry page-turning, Adam finally gave up.

Okay, still no help.

Home. How was he going to get home? The thought was still permeating his mind. The Butterfly Castle had a wealth of magical items at his disposal. Something had to be there to help him, perhaps a second pair of dimensional scissors. It was entirely probable that Moon would have had the scissors replaced by now. It would make up for the mistake he had made of leaving the scissors behind before he fell through the singularity.

No, he realised, sighing in defeat.

In honesty, as much as he wished the scissors would help, Adam suspected they would not. He could still open portals to areas in Mewni, especially in close range, but for some reason he couldn't use it to get himself home. It didn't make sense. When the Mewman had attempted it, he was thinking clear and pristinely of his little, purple-shaded bunker in the Farlands of Mewni. He thought of the forests that surrounded the edge of his great grass field he called his lawn.

No matter how hard he had tried, he could not summon a path home. In fact, it didn't even seem as though he could open a portal to anywhere outside of the kingdom.

The castle had royal stables; the teenager inexplicably recalled. They housed numerous Warnicorns, but also multiple Pegasuses. Pegasuses were much easier to coerce than Warnicorns, one just had to be respectful. If he could find the stables, perhaps he could fly back home.

There didn't seem to be any other way to do it. Plus, the stables were some of the least heavily guarded areas of the castle!

Though, according to that farmer outside, security's been tightened up tenfold, he remembered.

Sniffing, Adam waved away the negative thought. Even with tighter restrictions, he reckoned he'd still be able to find one.

After all, who's stupid enough to try and steal a PEGASUS?!

Maybe Adam was being so optimistic purely because of how desperate he was. Usually, he was not so idealistically-thinking. This whole situation had been his fault, after all. If he hadn't gotten so trigger happy with his portalling, if he hadn't lost himself in his first sense of childish ignorance in years, then he wouldn't be here right now.

Nonetheless, it was worthless to berate himself now. He'd made a huge mistake; that much was obvious. All he could do now was to try and get out of here and solve the problem. That's what Glossaryck would be telling him right now.

Breathing in and out deeply, Adam finally decided to put away the book and advance onwards.

Standing up, he gingerly let go of the wooden support beam. Very, very cautiously, the Mewman began to place one foot in front of the other. He was hunched over uncomfortably, though he was moving reasonably fast. At this pace, he could make it to the stables in an hour, maybe.

An hour was a long time, but it was worth it to be undetected. The stables…the stables were found on the lower levels, he recalled. Adam only had a vague sense of direction, but something was drawing him into the room to his left.

There was a splitting point in the wall a few metres away. The rafter beam connected to it and led to another room. A room he just knew he had to go through there. Carefully, he moved towards it, and turned to face it.

Looking down, he could see it was another hall. However, this one was much narrower than the previous one, though the designs remained a similar language. Moving across into the hall, he looked down to see some more guards standing rigid in their positions.

There was no visual indication of where to go. Adam had no idea why he felt he needed to go this way specifically. Only the distinct gut feeling that he needed to be here had answered his question. As though the magic inside him was calling for him to stay. Almost like it wanted to show him something.

The thought was broken by the sound of a door opening on one end of the room. It was a very tall, white set of double doors with golden accents. It had a few purple gems embedded into the handles. So very Butterfly.

There was a voice echoing through the halls now as the doors opened.

'I'm just saying, Marco, they could really use some of your expertise!' A voice persisted. That was a voice Adam almost certainly recognised.

'I don't think your chefs would appreciate some random teenager telling them how to do their job,' a voice, whom he could only assume to be Marco, replied stubbornly.

'But you're not some "random" teenager!' The other person argued, as she stepped into the room. 'You're my squire!'

It was Star Butterfly. Star Butterfly!

She was wearing something he hadn't seen her in before. Typically, the princess wore a very gothic outfit, mostly black and pink. This was different. It was…sickeningly bright. She wore a sea green dress with short sleeves and a white collar, as though she were attending a school. Or day-care. The sleeves and skirt were laced in white, with a little purple octopus in the centre. She had oddly mismatching orange and pink leggings, and dark magenta boots with a rhino motif. A red horned headband with devil horns rested on her head. That hadn't changed, apparently. That and the long, wild blonde hair that must get in her eyes constantly.

He knew she had some kind of penchant for bright colours, but only in the sense of the enjoyment of destroying something others considered pretty.

This…this was just sickening.

'I don't think I should be using my status to demand respect from people,' Marco told her disapprovingly. 'You don't demand respect, you earn it.'

'Aw, Marco,' Star replied sadly, pouting cutely at him. 'You're too gosh darn nice!'

'Huh,' he remarked, shrugging his shoulders. 'Maybe I am. Doesn't mean I'm wrong.'

'Will you at least think it over?' Star asked sweetly. 'Your nachos are sooo good…'

'Star –'

'Pleaseee?' She asked again, employing the ruthless puppy-dog eyes. Marco seemed to last a few seconds before ultimately caving in.

'Ugh, fiiine. I'll think about it.'

'Yay!' The magical princess exclaimed, practically bouncing into a hug around her squire.

Put simply, Adam couldn't believe what he was seeing. Star Butterfly…jumping around in exuberance, while the rest of Mewni had to suffer under her whimsical temper tantrums. She was smiling and laughing with this guy while thousands of people suffered! Was there truly no depth she could sink in her bitter callousness?

She MURDERED Janna! She killed my BEST FRIEND! They're dead because of HER and all she can do is bicker about what happens to be on the menu that day?! Where's Beru now, Star? He's a corpse in the ground and you're just gonna joke around like it never happened?

Maybe he shouldn't be surprised.

Star Butterfly was the kind of person to vaporise someone for annoying her. The kind of person to incinerate a castle full of innocent living beings just to prove a point about her power. The kind of person to pillage villages of innocent Monsters when she was only thirteen years old. Someone who genuinely enjoyed watching people be broken down to their last tether and torn apart until nothing was left!

There were so many ways he wanted to end her life that it was depressing he could only choose just one. Maybe he could incinerate her like she did Ludo. Or perhaps blast her with a concentrated Solarian Blast, reducing her to a skeleton. Just like she did to Janna. Then he could watch her receive a taste of her own foul medicine.

No, that wasn't a good idea. Incinerating her was quick, instantaneous and, worst of all, painless. He wouldn't get to watch her suffer. He'd just see her alive one moment, and dead the next. Like flipping a light switch. He wouldn't be able to savour the moment of her death – the death of the most psychopathic of the Butterflies.

Oh, how he'd love to watch her burn alive.

He'd listen to her screams for help and meet them with fierce denial. He'd stand there and watch as the skin melted off her body, as her stupid hair was set aflame. He'd listen to her screeches for the pain to end as the flames seared through her muscle and torched her bones. True justice was watching the magical princess be reduced to a charred carcass that had been burnt so much you could hardly recognise it.

Even better, he could tear her limb from limb. Watch her cry out in agony as the blood tsunami crashed into the ground below. He could break some bones first, to soften her muscle before he ripped her to shreds. Then finally, as she began to lose consciousness, crying out for it to stop, he would reach down and rip her head off. And mount it on a pike.

Because how did she respond, when asked to help? How did she reply as she slaughtered innocent people? With stone cold satisfaction.

Over the past two years, Adam had had little time to mull over his hatred for the warrior princess. He'd been so focussed on training; he'd kept all those emotions bottled up. Now, after seeing her again, he could barely contain the unbridled fury in his heart for the callous Butterfly.

If I ever get my hands on her… he thought, before immediately stopping himself. Wait a minute! She's right there, and she doesn't know I'm here. If I can follow her into a room with minimal guards…I'll have the element of surprise.

Admittedly, the thought was tantalising. After all, Glossaryck had said he'd be ready after two years, and he certainly felt ready. All it really took was a well-timed blow. He knew Star Butterfly; this was not the first time they met, so attacking her wouldn't contravene Rule Number Two, because it followed Rule Number Three.

The element of surprise was a crafty one, at that.

Escaping would have to come later, he decided. Opportunity had knocked. In fact, if he managed to take out Star, then Adam would be able to die happy. If he weren't able to escape, then at least he would have rid the world of a cruel murderer.

Narrowing his eyes, Adam watched as Star Butterfly and her squire walked across the hall. They were engrossed in deep conversation, still, allowing him to follow the two of them.

'Oh, you won't believe what Higgs did today!' Marco exclaimed, throwing his arms up in frustration. Star opened her mouth to speak, but the squire continued regardless. 'I put my dirty uniform down the chute and Higgs went into the Wash, stole it and threw it into the garbage!'

Star met his exasperations with laughter. 'Can't say I'm surprised she'd do that!'

'I had to go diving in the trash compactor just to find it!' He persisted, folding his arms pointedly.

'Ohhh, so that's why you stunk when I saw you!'

'I washed my hoodie three times, and I still don't think I managed to get the smell out.' Marco worriedly wiped down his red hoodie, hoping to somehow remove any odour that may have remained.

'Relax,' Star brushed off. 'You smell fine.'

Marco blushed at the mostly innocent comment but kept it out of Star's sight.

'Thanks,' he accepted awkwardly.

Pointless conversation, Adam thought, almost yawning at their antics. The whole world is dying, and your clothes are the only thing you can think about?!

'So…you haven't told me where we're going yet,' the young squire pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

'Ugh, Mom wants to see me,' Star complained, grimacing at the idea. 'It's probably about the re-signing of the Mace Treaty in a couple months.'

'The what?'

'The Mace Treaty,' she repeated. 'Between us and the Mace Family in the West. The King's been succeeded by his son, so they have to re-sign the whole thing again.'

'And the King's son will sign it?' The teenager enquired curiously.

'Probably,' she waved off irritably. 'It's just politics, Marco. It's hardly that interesting.'

The Mace Family? Adam questioned, as he followed the two into the next room. Never heard of them. Wait a minute, since when did the Butterfly Family sign treaties?

This room was large, but there were fewer guards this time. However, the increased security was giving him the impression there was a guard patrolling nearly every room in the castle. Not exactly opportune for him when he wanted to strike her down.

Nevertheless, Adam continued following Star Butterfly and her (human?) friend through the various rooms of the castle. He was sure he remained perfectly hidden, but he noticed that the princess was getting more and more anxious to get to wherever she was going. Almost, as though she was avoiding something. There was no way Star had spotted him, so what was the problem?

Adam knew something was up when the girl took a hard right into some random room that was completely empty. Even so, he still followed the two into the room and watched.

'Star? What's up?' Marco asked, as she slammed the doors behind her. The girl stomped into the middle of the room and surveyed every angle visible to her.

Profeci densis! He yelled desperately in his head at the double doors. The two golden handles glowed white for a moment, before dulling back down to usual.

'Marco,' she said with a low voice. 'For the past fifteen minutes now, I've been getting this…feeling. Like we're being…followed.'

'Followed? We're in the safest place on Mewni,' he pointed out. 'Sounds like just a feeling to me.'

'No!' The girl protested exasperatedly. 'This feeling…it's magic. Like my magic is trying to tell me something.'

She ignored Marco's sceptical look. Fishing out her wand from her star-shaped purse, she stared at it. The central crystal in the middle was flashing blue, pulsing brightly as if trying to tell her something. Clearly, it hadn't done that before.

A sharp pain split through the side of Adam's hand. He covered his mouth with his arm to muffle the short groan he made. Glancing down at his hand, he stared at the glowing yellow star-symbol pulsing in it. It was flashing in rhythm with Star's wand. Adam's eyes widened.

Well, she knows I'm here. It's now or never.

ROUND 1: FIGHT!

Thank you to everybody reading this story, no matter how small! I hope you are enjoying it!

Yes, Adam and Star will be engaging in a fight next chapter. It's gonna be fun; it's the first magical duel in this story, but there will be many more to come! Should be fun, although Adam's being a little overconfident here. Gloss said those two years of training would be needed to SURVIVE fighting a Butterfly, not actually defeating them. Then again, Adam has the major advantage of foreknowledge and the element of surprise. Star knows nothing about him but Adam knows a lot about her.

In case you were wondering, the profeci densis spell Adam cast is known as the Locking Spell. I made it up (obviously) but it's a spell that's found in both multiverses. It was made by Comet Butterfly, Moon's mother. Just a bit of lore for ya. Correspondingly, there is an Unlocking Spell too. Technically, these are both runes (the concept of magical runes will become more important later), but they can vary in strength and magical resistance.

I decided to inject some comedy in this chapter, because I felt it was too depressing in the initial concept. I mean, there are several paragraphs detailing how Adam would like to murder someone in the most excruciating ways. He's not a complete Debbie-downer, but he ain't exactly the class clown. It remains to be seen if anyone thought it was remotely comedic, but hey, I tried, sorry if it's cringe.

I hope I've gotten Marco and Star in character and convincing. It would be a real shame if I didn't, because that would put a damper on the rest of the story. Starco is real, by the way. This fic ain't focussing on relationships, but there will be a chapter or two which will include a bit of romance. Adam, however, will not have any romantic relationships. He's asexual and aromantic - it's not really his thing. That's not to say he disapproves of that stuff; it's just never occurred to him and he's not interested in having a relationship for himself. In the process of Starco, I'll try not to bash Tom too much - Tom's awesome, but sometimes he really annoys me. Like when he kept comparing himself to Marco...like, no, Tom, be confident in yourself stop comparing yourself to another guy.

Anyways, I'll see you all in the next chapter, titled 'Paint the Town Octarine'!