Chapter 8: Star 63 part 2
"GUYS, GUYS, can you hear me?" I shouted towards the image on the orb, "Come on, you idiots. I have to get there now, those guys need me."
"No, you can't."
A hand reached out from behind, reminding me to stay quiet.
Johnny Blowhole, what happened to you, you party animal? You used to be the party dare extraordinaire, so lively. And now you were missing half your body, with your entire left arm and left leg replaced by robot parts? And they had your Blowhole plugged in with a giant cork, too? What horrible events led you to this point?
"You don't mess with Bunny Beard and live to tell the tale, don't do it, Star."
"What am I supposed to do?" I cried, "Just sit here and let the me over there get tied up and tortured? I don't think so. I'm rescuing me and my Corps member."
"You don't understand, Bunny Beard is dangerous. This isn't the only Star Butterfly he has captured."
"What did you say?"
"Bunny Beard has been harvesting Star Butterflys from countless alternate realities. Robbing them of their magic wands. It is what's been powering their energy absorbing armors."
"That's horrible."
"Yes, he's been draining the Stars of their life energy, taking them as his own."
"Why?"
"Because Star Butterflys are dangerous, they are powerful. It is not only their wands that make them deadly."
"But what does he have to gain from doing this?"
"I do not know, sorry. All I know is we are doing this under the orders of the boss man. The boss man never shows his face. He wants to get access to some sort of vault in the Comet Galaxy a few universes away. I've been wondering what's in that vault for days now."
"Shh, quiet!" I grabbed Johnny's head, pulling him down behind the barrels we were hiding behind upon hearing mechanical footsteps from afar. Those armored pirates were still searching for me and their mole. I could only imagine what they'd do to Johnny if they find out he had betrayed them.
The situation was not ideal, Bunny Beard had stations and men across half the planet, if they so much even see a strand of hair from my head they'll immediately alert headquarters, putting all of Mewni in full lockdown. If that happens, nothing will be able to enter or leave the atmosphere. I must find a high enough place in hopes to get out of the pirates' magic disrupting fields, maybe I could open a portal and yank those two idiots from the other side. The disruptor fields cover much of the planet, I was still able to do small scale magic, but anything that could turn the tide of battle was out of the question.
The Flag Hill will have to do. If I could sneak past these guards and get on its peak, I should be far away enough from the disruptor field to have my full power back again, then I'll be able to open a portal.
"You're not thinking about fighting the pirates, are you?" Johnny grabbed my hand, "They're really scary. Why don't you just be like me, make like a fish and flop around. Surely they'll pity me enough to leave me be."
It pained me to see him stoop so low. I simply could not bear it. I gave him a warm smile, and patted his shoulder.
"Don't let other people push you around, Johnny. It's not right. I'm not saying to retaliate in full force, because you have to be smart about this. But don't be too nice about it, either. Be nice, but not too nice."
"Oh…"
"Stay here, Johnny. Once I get the portal open, we'll come up with a plan together to take down the energy fields. From then, we attack Bunny Beard. You'll be free – forever."
"Free?"
"Keep your head low, and don't attract any attention. I'll be back, I promise."
But from the skies there rained down fires, flames of power cosmic. What on earth? It was difficult to see what it was from this distance. But perhaps I still had enough power to enhance my vision.
"Wand, zoom in," I commanded. And sure enough it worked. But I had to strain myself much harder than before.
I could not believe what I was looking at, glancing through the plasma gem of my wand.
A raging fireball engulfing a big space right above the planetary energy absorbing shield. What was this fireball? I must know its nature, so powering through and enhancing my vision further was what I had to do. Looking closer, I saw clearly at the center of the engulfing flame, and in shock I kept on staring, holding my wand in front of me for a good long minute – Princess Star's and Quasar's unconscious lifeless bodies, they flew towards us, intending to enter the atmosphere with great force, and they weren't even aware of it.
Truly, the wonders and magic of the wand never ceased to bewilder. Its limits even now were still a mystery to me. There were so many things I had yet to try out, so many possibilities. Here before my eyes I witnessed inner defenses the wands possessed that I wasn't even aware of. Or was this merely the byproduct of Quasar's and the Princess's immense level of willpower?
"Gather the troops," the pirates shouted from afar, "put up your defenses. Those two are not getting through that shield, not today."
The green energy of the shields began shooting up from powerful machines scattered across the kingdom, echoing with a loud vibration, shaking the very ground with the drills the pirates had planted underneath. The steel of these behemoths was strong, engineered by the brightest mechanics around.
No, these weren't engineered – they were architected, crafted by great stone masons, perfect forms to rival the abstracta of realms above. Where did these pirates get these powers from?
If I had been there when they took MonStar, none of this would've happened. If I had kept my emotions in check.
No time to think about that now. The pirates were now focusing on this one massive atmosphere entry. The fireball was getting bigger by the minute. I suppose they realized that even with a weapon as powerful as their energy absorbing armors, the Space Warnicorns were still a major threat to their operation.
Why would they realize such a thing, though? If their weapons were invincible, shouldn't they be fearless of our wands?
THAT'S IT!
They were not fearless, and why? The answer was simple – their armors were not invincible. If they were, they would've killed us in the Magic Source right there and then, or better yet they would've taken the ransom by themselves then kill us afterwards. It must have some unknowable weakness, one that even we are not aware of. If my wand was outside the proximity of the energy absorption field maybe I could learn of that weakness by directly asking the wand.
But for now, this information that the weakness existed was enough for me, because it meant the pirates could be prone to distractions. And that – I could use.
I focused my energy into my wand, the flow was weak, restricted by these fields. No doubt they would detect a massive sudden surge of energy and will be able to locate me. But if I separate my magic, splitting into two – if I make it so that they could not tell me apart…
This just might work.
"HEY!" I shouted, stepping out into the open and waving my hands. The pirates were numerous, I would not be able to take them on with my current form.
I gathered my pluck, and carried on regardless of that risk, shouting:
"You carrot heads looking for me? Come and get me then, I'm hanging on a stick here!"
They noticed me alright, seemingly more annoyed at the carrot comment more than the fact that a Space Warnicorn was here. Perfect – you idiots walked right into my trap.
They started charging towards me, wielding their plasma swords and pistols, one of them even wore a full body canon attached onto his chest, it was heavy and could deal much damage I was sure. Their ferocity was overwhelming but the same fierce spirits blinded them, because they hadn't even noticed that the one standing where I was wasn't even the real me.
"HEY!" I called from the opposite side of the battlefield, catching their attention once more, "Over here numskulls!"
Thus – they finally saw the trick, two Star Butterflys.
I wasn't powerful enough to conjure up a perfect clone of myself, so the mirage won't be able to physically engage in combat against these pirates. But the clone did possess enough inner magic within to keep up this image, and to fool any sensory device the pirates may have lying around.
And if I were to create three clones? Four? Seven, eight, ten? Switching up the clones' appearances a bit to fool them into thinking there were more Warni-Corps members than they initially thought? It will be the perfect distraction for me to dart right towards the architecture holding up the shields, and deactivate them entirely.
"Which one of 'em is the real one?"
"Must be the one over yonder, I'm sure."
"No, the other one you idiots. I saw it with me own eyes."
"Shut up you fools, stay together now."
I smiled at their confusion. I couldn't help myself.
"What's wrong you guys?" I shouted out, laughing. "Try to keep your heads on your shoulders now – if you can."
"Why you little…"
Time to go.
With great momentum, I ordered the clones from my thought to scatter off in all directions, and they obeyed as such, just like happy little worker bees working for their queen. They fled off wielding a clone version of the magic wand. It did no damage, but it did create illusions and fake explosions. Strange pink sparkles bursting off from the ground, lighting diamond lights blinding them left and right, and the loud vibration of the mirage vibrating within their ears. They began to scramble – and then… they began to panic.
I did not need long, just a few minutes at most. Because the machine holding up their shield was just a few more seconds away, I was dashing as fast as could, even with the magic slowly draining my body it shouldn't be long now.
At least…
That was what I thought.
Until I felt the cold metal touch of a giant palm gripping at my left shoulder.
I could feel his heavy aura and glowing breath without even needing to turn around. He was angry, normally it wasn't possible to tell with the cold touch, but this was his mechanical arm, not his real arm. It wasn't possible to hide the heat of his breath and the clanking of his metal beard however, that was much more obvious.
"You may be able to play my men," he growled from behind, "but I see through your tricks. I can see through your magic – your highness. I've been watching those Caterpillars put my men behind bars from the shadows all my life, you really think I couldn't tell the real one from a fake? You all reek of ego."
I was so close. But there was no time to lash out, think! What to do to get out of this predicament…
"Did you forget that our technology could absorb your magic?" Said Bunny Beard. "If it can absorb it, then it can also take those powers to amplify our own. You dare mess with me, captain of the Black Star Raiders?"
His taunt triggered something inside of me, a strange instinct I did not know of, prompting me to do something that I probably would regret later on. In retrospect, it really was not well advised.
But I wouldn't have it any other way.
"Well, you see," I smirked, "I couldn't care less what you are. To me, you're all just filthy pirates. Thieves not worthy of any name."
It instantly got on his nerve, I could clearly tell, there was no hiding that from his bloody red eye. It was obvious these pirates were desperate to make their mark on the multiverse. Working under this mysterious boss of them must hurt their pride, or at the very least Bunny Beard's pride.
I suppose… I could relate to that feeling. The Corps was still new, young, ambitious.
I could almost forgive the pirate for all that he had done.
Almost.
"You're going to get what's coming to yer, ya brat!" His massive mechanical fist winded upwards into a twisted spiral, channeling great energy into the steel, and there the hinges of his shoulder thrust downward with great force. This punch was like a shooting star, too fast to react, too heavy to lift.
"Try and dodge it if you can!" He cried. "I am not afraid of magic anymore! I'm not afraid of anyone! Nobody is going to keep me down any longer. I'll be a king! With nobody bossing me around. You annoying brats are children, CHILDREN! How dare you impose your will on us? This ain't no playground, you're going to die here today, I'll make sure of it myself."
Little did he know, of course… heh…
This was what I was planning on from the very beginning.
I just hoped whatever little magic I had left was enough to keep me from biting the dust.
The heavy steel met furiously with the side of my cheek. With my magic eyes I could basically see this whole scenario in slow motion. As such, the pain, too, was slow moving, gradually traveling from the tip of where it touched through the skin cells, carrying the shockwaves deeper within into the bones where it began to shatter the pieces inside.
It hurt like Underworld. But I must endure. Nothing a little magic couldn't fix after the battle. Easier said than done, however. Because the punch shook me so hard it sent me flying, lifting me right off the ground against the will of gravity, like an old slapstick cartoon or a puppet show of sort.
"Today is the day you die," the pirate cried, "I'll… what the…"
The mad bunny got too caught up in the moment he did not even notice the crack in his suit of armor, the metal crumbling into bits from his mechanical arm, squeezing up like a crushed lemon, or a thin sheet of foil. The impact of the implosion forced him on his knees, dragging him into the depths of gravity and weight.
"What is this?" The pirate shouted, desperately trying to pull himself up, "How? Our technology was invincible!"
"That's where your arrogance failed you," I said, doing my best to stand up and work through the pain, I was certain my jaw had been dislocated at this point. "If you were truly invincible, you wouldn't have scrambled to put up this whole shield. That's a little too much effort, don't you think? You're afraid, aren't you?"
And that right there was the secret, there were imperfections. The armors' durability was finite because it was mortal, as such it could never compare to an infinite source of power. Absorbing it was one thing, but to utilize them in the same extent as an extra dimensional magic wand was another.
"You've been absorbing magic from so many Stars, haven't you?" I tried to smirk through the pain. "I hope in Mewni's name you're not dumb enough to make your armors all interconnected with one another."
The numerous architectures holding up the barriers protecting the sky dispersed as soon as the machines began catching fire, the cogs overlapping one another halted in their steps, pushing against each other in opposite forces. Diverting the flow of energy while draining all armors within the vicinity for a total reboot of the entire system.
And in the next blink of an eye, faster than the winds of thought, both the meteor that were Princess Star and Quasar came crashing down unto this plane, denting the ground with their mighty impact. The bunny pirates flew right off, as if they were feathers disturbed by a light gust of wind. Their armors were less than useless at this point once Bunny Beard's main commanding armor shut down, they might as well be wearing paper for all the good it'll do.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO!"
Bunny Beard slammed his fist onto the ground, still injured from the massive blast that ruptured his arm. He shrieked towards the sky, consumed by desperate madness:
"I'll suck you all dry, believe you me, I'll be master of the universe, I'll steal you all, I'll, I'll…"
Before he could even get up, his fist was grabbed and twisted tight like a cork of a wine bottle. She stood there, mighty as ever, and brimming with powerful magic.
"Heh… you're right… Quasar… you… are right… I have defeated you in our duel, but it does not mean you are wrong."
Her cape flew brilliantly as the dust of the impact cleared, and there I saw clear as the crystal sky her shimmering fiery eyes, glowing with power excess.
"I need to tackle this foe with strategy… creativity… but my victory still means something… it means we must synthesize, combine our views."
"Stop babbling you stupid brat and let me go," Bunny Beard struggled to get free, while simultaneously I could see the Princess's energy being slowly absorbed into his broken armor. The main commanding armor Bunny Beard wore must the most powerful of them all, even now when the system was rebooting it was still capable of absorption.
But then the Princess did something unthinkable that day.
She smirked at the impossible enemy:
"Fighting head on… he would win… 100 percent of the time. But what if… what if I do not engage him in this fight? What if instead… I will the power stolen away back to me? The machine's willpower cannot equal mine, because it has no will, it is but steel and wires… mine…"
"LET GO!"
"By the power of the Moonforce I command thee to return to me."
And just like that, the water of the river flowed up the stream, up the waterfalls, against the pull of gravity. Back into the veins of the Princess where there she held her wand high, blasting its gloriously light to every corner of the land. No shadow shall exist in the presence of this power, and thus it was so.
"No, no, no. My power, my armor, my energy!"
"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, YES!"
The Princess raised both hands towards the heaven, she had triumphed:
"I AM INVINCIBLE!"
"No, you're not, not if I have anything to say about it, and I do!" Bunny Beard yanked out from his shirt pocket a small switchblade, waving it at the Princess as a final last-ditch effort.
But then, peculiarly, Princess Star stopped paying him any attention, instead looking at something looming over the bunny, casting a massive shadow over him. Bunny Beard's confusion briefly calmed his nerves, only enough to prompt him to turn around and proceed down a spiral of emotional wreckage, shrieking out in great horror the figure who stood before him.
"BOSS?"
The figure did not look like a human, perhaps a monster? One who dressed in shadowy drags with his large leather cloak hanging over his dark coat made of bizarre fabric that almost made it looked like camouflage for the black starry nights. He wore a big cone hat covering his grotesque face that was crumbling with old red skin and white scraps of what used to be a full beard, the hat honestly made him look like a wizard. Wrapped around his head was a dirty white rag acting as some sort of a blindfold.
And when he smiled – he bore his fangs for all to see, unashamed and confident.
I did not recognize this person, but what was shocking to me was that Princess Star did.
"You," she pointed her finger. "You were supposed to be dead. We found your body on the Moon. How did you get here? Who… who are you?"
"Boss… Boss, please… please… we just need a little more time… we'll get into the vault, I swear on me mother's name."
This strange being merely replied with a smirk:
"I am – a demon. I am looking for a lunar eclipse… a… rising eclipse…"
"What?" Princess Star squinted her eyes while Bunny Beard remained speechless. The so-called demon continued:
"So you are the new authority around here, eh? The Space Warni-Corps if I remember right? The… what do you kids call it… the space cops?"
"I… I suppose we are," said Princess Star with her energy drastically powering down. It was shocking to see her maintain sanity after entering the Moonforce. Perhaps if she only used it in short bursts – she would not be too far gone.
"Good… good…" the demon smiled, not even paying Bunny Beard any attention. "So are you folks good with the clean up here, or should I stick around to help? These pirates are a handful I'm sure, they are one dangerous bunch."
"What are you talking about?" Princess Star asked. "Are you not the boss of these pirates?"
"I'm only here to make sure you at the very least put these bozos behind bars," the demon laughed on disgustingly, "the look on their faces are hysterical."
Bunny Beard sat there frozen in infinite shock, and it was just more fuel for the demon to keep on laughing.
"I knew if I gave them the wrong coordinates they would no doubt run into you kids," said the demon. "They didn't even question it one bit. Just punched the numbers into their teleporter and boom."
Princess Star stood there, still wielding her wand tight. She seemed as though she was still suspicious of this creature, not knowing who he was, or even what he was. But it seemed, to me at least, that he posed no threat to any of us. Perhaps what he said was true, he really was trying to help.
"Well then, if none of you kids know of any eclipse then I best bid you farewell."
"We still have questions," said the Princess.
"Another time I'm afraid."
"What if I stop you from leaving? I have the most powerful weapon right here, I can do it."
"You'll find it ineffective, your majesty. I myself am not unfamiliar with the craft, you see."
"There is no convincing you then?"
"Afraid not. My time is precious. But hey, look on the bright side. This is still a very profitable day's work, your majesty. All those Star Butterflys captured by the pirates, they're potential new recruits for your Corps are they not?"
"Hmm…"
"With that I must bid you adieu."
The demon slashed open the thin air in front of him to pry out a portal swirling with red energy. He stepped right through into the dark void beyond, closing it behind him as he left.
Over where the countless Star Butterfly hostages stood, in the middle of this crowd of blond teens sat an old man with six fingers. He was unconscious, unaware of where he was, or how he got here.