Toffee had managed to decimate the High Magic Council and absorb all their powers, all while leaving Lekmet completely spread throughout Ludo's castle. Hekapoo, Rhombulus and Omnitraxus Prime were lying unconscious on the floor and Moon was barely drawing breath. This was a truly disturbing sight to behold for Scott who had just appeared through the portal, following his usual visit to Glossaryck…

"WHAT IS GOING ON?!"

"R…Run," Moon faintly tried to warn him, but she passed out instantly.

"Oh, well, well, if it isn't the Royal Family puppy…How have you been Saturn?"

"Spare me of your banter, Toffee, what do you want?"

"Nothing, now…I've accomplished my purpose and now I can retreat, but I must say…Seeing you here is triggering my gluttony. Maybe, I'll absorb your power as well and leave," he said, a wicked tendril already popping out from his corrupted right arm…

"Dream on, Toffee. I've beat you countless times, and I will beat you again. Or merely incapacitate you, you immortal scum," Scott tried sounding brave, but his voice was shaking.

"Then, let it be an honorable fight until the end. Any last wishes?"

"Well, actually I have one…Let me teleport these guys back to their homes. They had suffered enough, don't you think?"

"A fair request. I had never been one for compassion, but I always appreciated you honor, Scott. You'd have been a great force of evil, but you chose this path."

Scott smiled bitterly. He spawned 4 portals for each of the still living member of the council and sent them back to their home dimensions…Unbeknownst of Toffee, Scott had gathered the ashes of Lekmet as well and, using his extremely specific powers, gathered them in an urn and put a note on the vase, reading: "Keep safe, Moon!" Omnitraxus was back in the Time-Space, Rhombulus in his Crystal Palace, Hekapoo in her forgery and Moon in Star's room.

"You're done?"

"I am," Scott sighed knowing what will come next. He realized that if he had called Star to help, she would fall victim to Toffee's ungodly influence and lose herself to her envy…Scott also knew that even though his power was still slightly bigger than Toffee's, the monster would find a way to even the odds. The only thing he could do now was tire him and come up with a plan…

"It is with a heavy heart that I will remember your death, Saturn."

"It's been Scott for two hundred years now, Toffee. Save your comments, they do nothing but add to your…patheticalness."

"My lips…are sealed," Toffee said with a wicked smile, as, with a flick of his monstrous hand, conjured a blast of abnormal proportions. Scott didn't flinch, surrounding himself with his protective shield. His attack had no effect on him. To retaliate, the boy had summoned a horde of beasts to attack the monster… He didn't budge and obliterated them all with one swift shockwave. Still on the offensive, Scott tried his blasts as well, but they were completely powerless. Even though, most of his strength was put into his attacks, they all bounced off him. An unholy smirk crossed Toffee's face and with an unconceivable amount of force, he flung a tidal wave at him. Scott didn't move at first and shielded himself from the humongous force of nature…It hit the diamond shaped capsule with a staggering blow, and the raw power was…overwhelming, causing his defense to crackle, but not to break.

Scott took note of that. His fear grew bigger, but he was spared of the effect of his emotions over his spellcasting, due to him being extremely in control of his feelings. But there was something odd. Magic didn't grow in power all of a sudden…It's either at a capped full power or a fraction of that. Did Toffee hold back at first? Or did his power bloom instantly?

"Where is the honor in not giving all in in a fight, demon?"

"Trust me, mortal, I am not sparing you," he laughed maniacally as he went for the same tendril attack he first used.

Crafting a magical shield in each of his hand, Scott began his strange hand to hand combat with Toffee. He was reckless, but somehow calculated at the same time. Every blow was stronger than the latter…more precise… His white shield was starting to falter and crumble, but his enemy wasn't getting tired. A crushing punch sent him flying across the room, but he recovered after hitting the ground, jumping to his feet. So, hand to hand was out of the question and soon enough he was running out of options…

He had to wear him off, exhaust him or just stun him for a period of time, so that he can reunite with his other self, but the latter was impossible at the moment. Toffee had given up, for now, gloating as he saw how powerless his enemy was. He couldn't help but showcase his arrogance:

"Getting tired already? I thought you'd be more of a challenge!" he said while wildly charging towards Scott. Seeing how fast he was going, he decided to avoid the attack rather than parrying, so he quickly jumped into a portal and appeared behind Toffee.

"Oh, thanks for reminding me. I have Hekapoo's powers," he said as he conjured a portal of his own, which he used to briefly disappear. Five more had taken their place, each spawning their own version of Toffee. It was clear that only one was the real one, but he was sure that the devious beast had some other tricks up his sleeve…

Back at the Diaz household, Queen Moon was starting to regain consciousness. At first she was a bit disoriented, but then she recognized the background she saw time and time again behind her daughter. It was Star's room, back on Earth. The urn beside her was also of unknown origin, but as soon as she looked inside it, she remembered what had happened. Suddenly she heard footsteps, and the door opened.

"Mom? What are you doing here?" her daughter asked confused as to why the Queen visited her.

"Star," she said breathing heavily, making big pauses after every word. "We must leave for Mewni at once…You are no longer safe here." Star didn't understand her very clearly, after all the woman was visibly weakened, so, with an innocent tone, she asked her:

"What danger? Is this a ruse to get me back home?"

"No…Why would I say that?" she 'yelled' desperately. "A great evil has been uncovered and Earth isn't safe anymore…You'll continue your training back home, under our continuous supervision…I am sorry, but I don't believe you'll see this place anytime soon…"

"Why? What's going on?"

"No time…Scott's holding him back… We must go," the Queen was now apparently delirious, barely making any sense, on the brink of passing out again, having been drained of most of her powers.

"Who's being held back? What's going on?"

"I…I…"

Oblivious to her mother's poor condition, Star threw a fit:

"Well, if you're not going to tell me what's going on, I'm heading back for the party…See ya." She was slowly walking away, in what Queen Moon felt like hours rather than seconds. However, gathering all of her strength, she managed to utter another word, before falling to the ground.

"T…Toffee."

As she heard that name, she had frozen solid. Only now did she realize the gravity of the situation… She tried to find out more from her unconscious mother, but she was knocked out cold. Maybe it was for the better, she needed to rest. Star left the room, after levitating her mother on her bed, and went to grab Marco. He wasn't hard to find, but he looked pretty distracted, as if he was trying to tell her something…unsettling. Not having time for this, she cut him short and went straight to the subject:

"Marco, mom is upstairs lying unconscious, after fighting Toffee, the undead lizard dude, and I need you to take care of her, while I go to fight him." Marco was about to interrupt her, but she was faster: "No time to argue, come on!" she continued, grabbing his hand and forcing him to go upstairs. He was baffled at the sight of the passed out woman on Star's bed, but couldn't find words to express his amazement…

"Great, now just stay here as I go find Toffee, ok?"

"Ok!" Marco nodded as Star used her dimensional scissors to tear a portal through her room, to which she swiftly jumped, wand in hand.

At the other end of the portal, Star found the same unsettling view Scott found, only that the roles were reversed. Now the boy was lying defeated on the ground, and she was the almighty being that came to save them all… As soon as she set foot on the castle's floor, Scott got up to his feet, his eyes wide with awe.

"STAR! Why are you here? Go back, now, before Toffee finds you!"

"What? Why? I came to help!" she exclaimed voluntarily.

"You don't understand…"

"I've got my fill of that plate, thanks. Now let's fight some monsters!"

"Star Butterfly!" Toffee's ragged tone echoed through the room, as he appeared through a portal of his own. "I was almost done with your friend, here and now you came? I'd love to have you for dessert!"

"Eat this!" she said attacking him with her signature Narwhal Blast.

"NO!" Scott yelled his lungs out, but it was too late. The blast was…absorbed by Toffee's monstrous body.

"Star..."

"What was that? Narwh-" but Scott hit her hand, causing her attack to blow up a hole in the wall.

"HE FEEDS OFF OF MAGIC!" he yelled, relieved that he managed to avert the danger.

"Indeed. And I think I will finish my feast here then take my leave. I am pretty full."

Toffee had started charging a blast above his head…It seemed as if the monster was using Omnitraxus' power to infuse his attack with celestial power… The raw magic took the form of the galaxy as the time spent casting passed. Grabbing Star's hand, Scott ran and hid behind a fallen piece of ceiling, a huge rock basically. Star's expression contained equal doses of fear and confusion and a slight hint of anger.

"So, what's going on?" Star innocently asked, with her usual high-spirited attitude. Scott smiled, but then sadness overcame him.

"Look, Star, we've got a while to talk before he obliterates us, so might as well. Toffee had managed to destroy any ties of this dimension with others, so I can't leave this place, nor teleport and neither can you. That attack that he is charging is undodgeable and uninterruptable and now that you came here we are doomed, both of us. Now for the exposition part. Toffee has absorbed your mother's and the Council's powers and has greatly surpassed my power…by draining mine as well. Now…we don't really have a choice, Star. We will die in here and the two most powerful beings in the universe will fall, leaving Toffee to rule over the whole universe…"

"Two most powerful beings?"

"Yeah, you and me. And now…we can only give up and accept our fate. Oh, yeah it would've been great if you told Marco you had a crush on him, you know just as the last resort." Scott was as annoying as he was when he was apathetic and completely devoid of any feelings. Star hated people who completely resigned at the sign of trouble, but in a way…she understood him… I mean, the way he portrayed their situation, it was entirely helpless. Still…she couldn't just lose hope, it simply wasn't her.

"Hey, chin up there, sad boy. We can still find a way...how much time do we still have?"

"ABOUT FIVE MINUTES!" Toffee answered Star's question.

"Yeah, like that. The more powerful Toffee gets, the more obnoxious he becomes…Stupid demon."

"Okay, we got five minutes to come up with a plan. Fire away," she said making a finger gun and pointing it at Scott.

"You know, since we are helplessly stuck here, I could tell you something. I had always admired your attitude, ever since I started monitoring you."

"When was that?"

"The second you receive your wand, I started. The second you give away your wand, I will start watching over your daughter, but alas, this is my last time. Anyway, back to what I admire about you…Regardless the situation, you always pick yourself up, dust yourself off and then just go on with your life…You are really just like Marco in that matter."

"Well, since we are on the subject of opinions of each other…You know, what I admire about you? The fact that whatever the situation, you always kept a level head, never overreacting, never not caring. Just analyzing the facts, sitting there, thinking the situation through…I mean look at you, literally three minutes before dying you are not even scared…"

"Neither are you, Star, what's your point?"

"I am freaking out internally…"

"So am I. I am scared out of my mind, but I learnt to control my emotions a long time ago…"

"Looks, like so did I," she said with a smile.

"Well, then…it seems that I was useful at least. I'd go to the afterlife pleased…"

Star looked dismayed. She knew that she was about to be completely destroyed by an immense blast, but somehow she was…at peace with that, but still, she thought she could still do something. Suddenly…a broad smile crossed her face, and she got up, starting to cast the All-Seeing Eye spell.

"You're trying to take a sneak peek at your room and Marco, before you go out?"

"Better. I'm gonna get us out of here!" After she said that, she pushed her arm into the flat screen the spell conjured. It was getting funny after a while, but Scott was not being amused.

"What are you doing?" he asked a bit surprised after he saw the dedication in her eyes.

"No time to explain! Make me feel stuff, fast!" Star yelled at him as Toffee was about to fire his enormous projectile.

"Ummm, ok, fine, I guess. You will perish here... You will leave so many people behind just because you tried to be a hero…"Seeing that the hearts on her cheeks started lighting up, he continued, putting more effort in it, trying to see where it leads. "You will never see Pony Head or the bounce lounge again… None of your friends will understand why you left, your mother will be completely smashed and so will your father…" He felt that she was almost close to her tipping point so he had to top it all off with the last thing he could think off…"And, perhaps the most important… You will never be able to give Marco the closure he needs after the concert."

That was enough…Her eyes were now glowing with the same hue as her cheeks. Scott didn't understand why she was still hopelessly pushing her arm against the screen…He laid back, his back against the rock, listening to Toffee's war scream as he unleashed his 'special attack'. He could feel the gravitational pull of his galaxy sphere as it closed in on him, and Star was still desperately trying to merge with her spell…But what happened next, made Scott rethink his life up until this point…Suddenly Star's arm went through the screen, physically touching the bed sheets on the other side…She soon pushed her shoulder in and her left leg as well…She was bypassing Toffee's dimensional ban, using a spell that wasn't even meant for transportation. That was amazing, but it was a bit of too little too late. Scott's coat was being blown away by the raging gravitational pull, so they had about five seconds left to live…The rock they were hiding behind had its top part already sucked in.

This emotional stress acted like a boost for Star. In one swift motion, she grabbed Scott's hands and found her power of will to be stronger than the universe's laws…They both passed through her makeshift portal and as they looked back to their screen, they saw how powerful Toffee's attack actually was… Scott was speechless.

"St…Sta…Star…How did yo… Where did tha…H…" he stammered trying to find any way of expressing himself… She put her finger over his mouth.

"Shhh, it's okay. You're welcome."

"Oh, Star! I am so glad you're safe!" her mother hug-attacked her from behind and almost suffocated her, should Star not pull out soon enough.

"Okay, mom, could you please not try to kill me," she said smiling.

"Don't I get a hug, too?" Marco asked, showing that he was extremely glad she was ok. He didn't have to ask twice as she was already strangulating him. However…the mood was soon ruined by the Queen.

"Toffee?"

"Free and more powerful than ever."

"Sigh…Well, unfortunately, that settles it," the Queen said fully recovered. "Star, we are leaving for Mewni…I am sorry."

"WHAT?" she yelled, the windows shaking at the pitch of her scream.

"I am sorry, Star, but I can't let you on Earth even if I left Scott with you. Toffee will not dare to attack the castle for a while, but he will completely obliterate this house in one instant. You need to be protected…"

"B…But…"

"Star," Scott said, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "That's the only way…I am sorry…We'll give you two minutes to say your goodbye, but we need to hurry…" Scott looked at Queen Butterfly who nodded understandingly. Star sighed heavily, staring blankly at her feet for a while…lost in thought.

"Star…you ok?" Scott asked.

"What's going on? Is everything alright?"

"No, Marco, nothing is alright…I have to leave Earth…forever, maybe, and I think this is the best time to fix things up between us…Even though, I know what I said, I lied. I do have a crush on you, but I didn't want to come out, because it was obvious you didn't feel the same. I was hoping that pretending the feelings weren't there would make them, go away, but…" she stuttered at the last part, tears choking her. She couldn't say another word…She ran off into the portal and so did the Queen. Scott held back one more second in order to look at Marco.

There are no words to describe the connection the two made…In a fraction of a second, the warm, soothing green eyes of Scott met Marco's hazel and confused… He was trying to tell him everything is going to be fine, but both were sure that it wouldn't happen. With a friendly wave, he left as well, and along came the entire room. Star's whole existence on Earth was reduced to a hole in the wall.

Marco kneeled before the clear sky, disappointed and filled with sorrow. He couldn't believe his eyes and ears…Star was gone…And unaware, he was going to miss her most, being the first and only person in the world to make this kind of impression on him. As he fought back his tears, he saw a note flying above his head. Fearfully he grabbed it mid-air and read it aloud. It had Scott's 'handwriting' on it…

"Marco, I am not allowed to say that, but I can't help myself when I saw the amount of…What you two have is amazing, and I have to tell you this…If you truly care about Star…Whenever you have time, master your dimensional scissors skills…And when you think you're done, come to Mewni. You'll have to seek us there too…Good luck, Marco, and, until further notice…

Farewell…"

Back at her castle, Star locked herself in the room…Outside, the Queen was talking to Scott who was mimicking Lekmet's revival spell to bring back the members of the Council…He knew of the bargain he had to make, but he was immortal…

"Are you sure about this?"

"I have lived too much and did too little in my eternity. I rebuke my dark immortality to bring light and life to others. Besides," he said with the bitter smile he had repeated throughout the day. "This is my last tie-in with your family…I was offered a life away from everything after my thorough service…I will be glad to spend my life helping you…"

One by one, Hekapoo and Rhombulus were brought back to life and Omnitraxus back to…whatever he is… Scott fell weakened on a sofa behind him, but spoke with his same determined voice.

"We need to make a plan, now. Any ideas? No? Great," he glared at the silent, yet as weakened as him, council. "Look, what we need to do. I will be prompt as time is of the essence. We need to focus our efforts on training Star, finding Glossaryck and delaying Toffee."

"And how will we do any of that? None of us still has our powers…" Hekapoo cut him short, trying to clone herself, but failing in the process.

"Wait, I can't freeze things anymore? And my arms are dead?" Rhombulus exclaimed flailing his snake limbs aimlessly.

"Yes, you are powerless and Toffee is more powerful than ever, but there is still hope… We still have Star…"

"And you," Moon completed him, but then covered her mouth, realizing what she said.

"No, you are right, you've got me too. I destroyed the balance and I will do my best to restore it. But, Star is the most important piece of the puzzle. Her full potential greatly surpasses mine and I can be, but the light that guides you through the darkest night."

"You two should be enough to stop Toffee, you reckon?" Moon asked.

"I have three months to train Star. Toffee will be waiting for the Dark Night, in order to storm our castle, that's when his powers will be at max. However, don't be fooled, he will not hesitate to skirmish with us until then…"

Scott stopped suddenly. He had one more thing to say, everyone saw that, but for some reason he hesitated to say it. After a short while he started chanting in an ancient tongue, that none of the members knew. Exhausted after he finished, he said in one breath:

"Moon, the castle is not safe…Toffee will watch it…I must ask you to let me take Star to a completely secluded place that no one knows of…"

"You got my blessing," Moon answered dauntless. " I had lost hope and now that we are on a set part to regain it again, I will do nothing but accept it. Do whatever you see fit. What should we do in the meantime?" Scott's breath regularized, but with hastily made gestures, he signaled the lot that their time was limited. A note appeared in front of everyone, reading: "My spell is wearing off."

"I don't know… I only know that we will need an army to fight what Toffee will unleash upon us…Moon, you manage the situation here…I must go and prepare…Goodbye and good night," Scott replied as he got up and headed to Star's room.

From outside he could hear her heartbreaking sobs and he could feel the pain in her tears. He knocked a few times, but did not wait for an answer…She couldn't hear his heavy footsteps creaking on every single floorboard…Silently, he sat down near her, his gaze hovering on the lovely furniture in her room. For a long time silence reigned over the lonely chamber…

"I screwed up, didn't I?" Star said in-between hiccups…

He said nothing. He didn't have to…He just opened his arms and in a second, his shoulder was wet with tears…

Star woke up to Scott bringing her breakfast in bed. She was pleasantly surprised to see that, but also extremely confused as to why he was doing this.

"Consider this a way of lifting your spirits…You looked very down last night and I hoped this could get you back on the gleeful track you are bound to always be on…"

"That's so nice of you," she exclaimed, moved. "You didn't have to do that."

Scott didn't answer, but he smiled and left the room, so she could eat in peace. He carefully constructed a healthy and extremely Star-like breakfast: Unicorn-shaped pancakes paired with maple syrup and glittered muffins on the side. She ate like a starving prisoner and as soon as the last bit of equine went down her throat, her loyal servant, Scott was back to pick up the dishes. He then left to let the princess change into her regular attire.

After she was done, she wandered through the castle she had grown estranged from, asking herself how did it change so much in almost a year… As she was aimlessly walking the corridors, she stumbled upon the kitchen where, the only noise in the entire palace was coming from. Entering, she saw Scott washing the dishes by hand, not by using magic…

"Why are you doing that?" She asked, amazed that he, a magical being, was doing something magicless…

"It helps me…Doing manual labor reminds me of my humble origins…I had become what I had become because of doing this… Take a seat in the living room, please. I have a lot to tell you."