Thanks again to my wonderful readers/followers/favoriters/reviewers. I love the feedback! Anyway, this chapter contains Blood, Violence, and Flame Alchem- actually, ignore the last one. Just a fair warning to those who don't like that stuff.

Captain Centauri didn't take breaks. Ever. He was of the mindset that when there was a job to be done, it was done to completion as quickly as possible. Which is why it was odd to see him sitting at his post with his feet on the ramparts, talking with Lieutenant Neutron, who was guzzling a tankard of ale.

"So you think they're finally gonna put the foot down on perfect princess Star?" Neutron asked. Centauri shook his head.

"They've done all they can. Little punk defies them at every turn. Word is, they've brought in yet another underqualified guard to take the place of the last one. You know General Diaz, right?"

Neutron raised an eyebrow.

"Moon's sending in the big guns."

"Not exactly." said the captain. "Instead of Raph, they hired his son. Ya know, the one who refuses to kill monsters?"

Neutron gagged on his beer.

"You can't be serious."

"When am I not serious, Lieutenant? I'll tell ya, what with this Toffee situation, the crown's gone mad. Somehow, Diaz Junior escaped the kingdom-wide draft. But they still got 'im on duty, one way or another."

"He's not gonna be much use if he can't be man enough to whack a monster or tw-aaaaagh!" A huge eagle swooped down and grabbed Neutron by the shoulders, carrying him into the sky. By the time Centauri had drawn his bow, his friend had become nothing more than a small speck on the horizon. The captain stuffed his panic deep inside his chest, and, keeping his bow drawn, he sprinted down the stairs into the castle walls.

With every step he took, Captain Centauri became increasingly horrified. Everywhere he looked, there was blood. The floor was slick with it. The bricks were smattered with it. Tapestries as old as the castle itself were stained with red. He silently thanked his ancestors that he had chosen wall duty, for that was the only reason he wasn't lying dead like the monsters and Mewmen that decorated the halls. A footstep sounded behind him. Centauri whipped around and nocked an arrow. Out of the shadows strode a tall lizard in a suit. He walked through the carnage with an air of calmness, coming closer and closer until he towered over the captain.

"Centauri," Toffee hissed. "I knew your father."

Centauri's bow clattered to the ground as the lizardman shoved a clawed hand through his chest. He pleaded for mercy, but Toffee casually flicked him away and continued on.

"He was a rotten man."

Moon stood over the captain. Mere seconds after Centauri was gored by Toffee, she had come through the hallway on her way to warn Star. Upon seeing the young man, one of her best soldiers, she set to work mending him with a powerful healing spell. It was a difficult process, but he had lived. Now he was leaning against a wall while she spat orders at him.

"You are to go to the town square and evacuate everyone that you can to the Cloud Kingdom. Gather up any soldiers and militiamen that you can, then accompany the refugees. If River and I make it out of here alive, we will be waiting there for you."

Centauri saluted rigidly, then staggered toward the door.

Thirty Minutes Earlier-

Marco, in an attempt to keep the princess from blasting him with more spells, had taught Star to play Mewnian Chess, which somehow, she always managed to win at. The board consisted of thirty-two pieces, sixteen on each side. One set of pieces were Mewnian soldiers, priests, peasants, and royals, each carved out of pure white marble. Star had chosen this side, and proceeded to dress each figure up in miniature outfits, each befitting their station. The other set of pieces, Marco's side, were monsters of all shapes and sizes, hewn out of dark onyx. Although Star was good at the game, she seemed more concerned with creating backstories and reenacting famous battles with her characters. Marco found this incredibly childish, but he decided to leave her to it. He had taken up residence in a corner of the room, as far from the princess and her wand as possible, and hadn't made any effort to talk to her since he finished teaching her the basics of the game. Star moved the Mewnian knight (named Calzones) toward the monster king, a lizardman, and acted out a dramatic fight, one that probably would have ended with the destruction of the chessboard. Marco stared off into the distance. Just as he was finally getting comfortable in his corner, the door to Star's room swung open, and Moon swept in. Her usually tidy hair was matted with blood, and she had claw marks all across her face.

"Star, take your knight and get out of the castle."

The two of them stared blankly back at her.

"Hurry. This is a matter of life and death!"

She gestured to the balcony, and Star led Marco over to it. Moon smiled weakly.

"I knew that would prove useful, and not always be for mischief. Now go!"

Without stopping to question her mother, Star pitched over the railing, with Marco following uncertainly behind her. The queen turned back to the hallway. In front of her stood her greatest enemy.

"Hello, Moon."

Queen Moon looked Toffee in the eyes.

"They're gone, Toffee. You lost."

The lizardman tilted his head to an almost impossible angle.

"That's not why I'm here."

Moon frowned.

"I never understood you."

"And that is why I have an advantage. As long as I am unpredictable, I win." He pulled something out of his pocket. Moon looked at it with despair. The broken wand fragment glowed a sickly green.

"How did you get that? Star never explained."

Toffee smiled

"I used to think that I was above taking hostages. That was your role. But when I found out that Star was involved with one Tom Lucitor, I saw my chance. She willingly gave up half of her wand to free him. Such an emotional thing, your daughter."

Moon felt her long-bottled rage explode from within her. Her daughter, making deals with the enemy? Not to mention dating the son of scumbag King Lucitor! Her Mewberty wings ripped from the back of her dress, and four additional arms sprouted from her sides. Toffee closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall.

"Moon, I'm afraid you no longer have your crutch. Defeating me won't be so easy this time."

Toffee snapped his fingers, and a gout of green fire smashed into Moon's chest, sending the queen backwards into the floor. From another of his pockets, Toffee produced a length of spider silk and tied her arms and wings behind her. He leaned close and whispered into her ear.

"You should know this by now, Queen. The spider always catches the fly."