Marco looked up the stairs that led to the second floor of his house and, eventually, to his bedroom. He sighed. Normally he wasn't one to complain about the trivial chore of walking up a single flight of stairs, but it had been a long day. His feet ached and groaned on each step, begging him to stop. He ignored them, reminding himself through the pain that it would all be worth it when he finally got into his nice, warm, inviting bed. By the time he had reached his bedroom door, his fantasies of sleep and comfort seemed just inches away and he quickly opened his door…

…to find Toffee, immaculately dressed from head to toe in his Italian suit, sitting quietly on his bed.

Before Marco's addled brain could process what was in front of him, Toffee's hands shot up, one pointed at Marco in the gesture of a hand gun, then other putting a single finger on his lips. He made a light shushing noise and indicated for Marco to enter the room. Marco's eyes had gone wide with shock and panic, but he put his hands up and went into his bedroom. He closed the door behind him with a small kick of the heel of his foot. Toffee smiled and lowered the hand pointed at Marco to make a swishing gesture and utter a short, indecipherable phrase under his breath. His hand glowed for a second, and suddenly the walls of the room, ceiling, floor, and the door Marco had just shut were covered with a sticky green substance. It smelled of tar and dead rodents.

"Wonderful," Toffee exhaled, the smile on his face finally spreading to his eyes. He spoke in his detached business voice, but there was a hint of satisfaction lingering in it. "Now we won't be interrupted by any distractions or 14-year-old boys screaming at the top of their lungs for help."

Marco scowled at him. "Listen, Toffee," his voice lacked the normal bravado that he usually tried to muster up when dealing with villainous types and monsters, "I've had a long day. Like, a really, really, REALLY long day." He made a swirling motion with one of his fingers. "Can we wrap this up till tomorrow morning? Just this once?"

Toffee's smile broadened. "But Marco, it istomorrow morning."

Marco closed his eyes and let out a deep groan of one part misery to two parts annoyance. "What do you want?"

Toffee maintained his absurd grin, though Marco noticed that it seemed to have tightened up a smidge. "Revenge."

The word rolled off his tongue as if it tasted of vinegar. Marco's adrenaline kicked in to high gear and his fatigue was replaced with the animalistic instincts of flight-or-fight. His heart started pacing and his pupils dilated. Toffee frowned at Marco, then shook his head dismissively. "No, no, you misunderstand. I have no quarrel with you, boy. You are but a pawn in this matter." His eyes opened and Marco saw the fire burning within them, hate boiling just below the surface. "The Butterfly family has wronged me greatly, and I intend to repay the favor."

Marco nearly gulped, but he regained control of himself and held his ground. Toffee's promise that Marco wasn't the target of Toffee's wrath didn't abate his fear; It only transformed it from a fear for his own life into that for Star's and her family's lives. Star was his best friend, and he both knew and respected, if not liked, her parents. The rage that Marco saw in Toffee's eyes and his experiences with him when he'd been kidnapped screamed at him that Toffee was going to kill the Mewni royalty, if not hurt them in some other horrific way. That by itself was bad enough. And Toffee was still in the room with him. A locked room controlled by Toffee's magic, which he now apparently had control over. For all Marco knew, Toffee could be lying and wanted to finish what he had started months ago. Or he was going to be collateral damage. Either way, he was most likely in extreme danger. That danger both frightened him and enraged him. It took him a moment to calm himself and stop from either making a run at either the door or Toffee himself.

What can I do to stop him? He thought furiously. Nothing, probably. Toffee was miles out of his league. Alright then. What can I do to slow him down? Talk to him? It might work. Toffee had never seemed like the chatterbox type, but tonight he had spent a great deal of time talking, and they hadn't even gotten down to the specific reason he was in Marco's room. Maybe if Marco got him talking and kept him talking, Star or Elizabeth or his parents or anyone might notice that his light was still on and decide to investigate. It was a long shot, but it was the only route he had. He swallowed his fear and rage to make the best poker face he could before saying:

"Wha- what did they do to you?" His voice came out a lot harsher and he stuttered a lot. So much for swallowing his emotions.

Toffee eyed Marco for a long 3-count. He lifted up right hand, the one missing a finger. "Do you know what sort of monster I am?"

"A butt ugly one."

Hey, Marco mused to himself, he'd asked.

Toffee ignored the comment, the skilled teacher working with a distracted and disobedient pupil. "I am a Septarian. Lizard-folk. And as with all my brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts, cousins and even more distant relatives, I have a very special ability." He took his left arm in his right hand and, smiling while he did it, broke it at a ninety degree angle. His smile didn't waver nor his eyes look away from Marco while he did it. Marco grimaced at the sound and had to work very hard to not look away. He had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen next, but Toffee seemed to take some sick, depraved satisfaction in watching Marco become uncomfortable during the process. Creep.

As Marco had predicted, the arm began to sew itself back together. Bone, muscle, tendons and skin resewn themselves back together, restoring the arm and seemingly making it stronger during the process. "Regeneration," Toffee mused. "Cuts, bruises, burns, explosions, magic- none of it can kill me. My body rebuilds itself, becoming stronger, faster, smarter. It has no limits on how often it can undo the stresses that normal bodies succumb to. I am, in many ways, immortal."

Marco stared at him for a while, getting it. He pointed to the maimed, imperfect hand. "Except, you aren't. Someone beat your defenses. They beat you."

Toffee's face didn't change, but the injured hand tightened up into a ball. "Moon. A short time after I had killed her mother in order to send a message, she… retaliated. I don't know how she did it. All I know is that it involved black magic that corrupted her hand." He closed his eyes for a moment, his hand trembling.

Hot anger started to build in Marco. "You killed Star's grandmother and you think you're the one getting revenge? Sounds like you got what was coming to you."

Toffee's eyes opened, flat, staring daggers at the impudent teenager before him. "My people live in filth, poverty, starvation. They are forced to turn to petty crimes and working for imbeciles like Ludo just to scrape by. They are all treated as criminals and outcasts, and while many of them have been forced to make hard choices under the circumstances, many others have tried to stay pure despite the undeserved hate they have received." His voice was coated with murderous hate and bitterness. "Justify that."

Marco didn't flinch. "I was always more of a MLK fan than Malcolm X."

Toffee blinked. Marco stared at him for a couple seconds before slapping himself in the face. "Uh, right. Foreigner. What I mean is, Peace before War."

"Too late," Toffee argued. "It has been hundreds of years, thousands. Mewni is too stuck in it's ways. And peace would not allow for the Butterfly's to pay for what they have done. I am not the only one who has spilt blood in this conflict."

Marco was about to fire back at him, but Toffee raised his engraved hand in a stopping gesture. He frowned at Marco, then rubbed his eyes with his free hand. "All this talking…" he muttered darkly. "Must be a side effect of overtaking Ludo."

Marco's face went white. He hadn't loved the little bird brain, far from it, but… overtaken? The little guy was usually harmless, much like a child. He didn't deserve to have been destroyed by Toffee. "What do you mean, overtaking Ludo?"

Toffee shook his head, apparently clearing his thoughts. "That's not relevant. What is relevant is why I'm in your room right now."

Marco stared at Toffee, refusing to give him the straight line. His plan to stall for time had, well, run out of time. No one was coming. He was screwed.

Toffee stared back, then shrugged. "Well, if you won't ask, then I might as well just get it over with." His hand began to glow a dark, swampish green. "Can you photosynthesize, Marco?"

Marco blinked and, before he could stop himself, shook his head.

Toffee smiled. It was filled with venom. "Really? Because you look quite like a plant to me."

Hello everyone. Thanks for waiting so long. I have good news. From now on, the waits are going to be significantly shorter. I'm going to start updating this fic every other weekend, while updating There For You on the other weekends. I don't have band anymore so there's no excuse.

For this chapter, I wanted to round off the nighttime activities of the group and prepare for the next chapter to have some action. It also helps move the story along, as it reintroduces Toffee and his plans. For a Sunday night update, I'm fairly happy with it. I hope you enjoy, and see you on the 17th!