Author's Notes:
Welcome back to Sinister Shadows! This chapter is coming much sooner than usual, but don't let that fool you. This chapter wasn't rushed, nor is it any lower quality than the other chapters. As I'm sure you'll see, I poured a lot of passion into this one and I think you'll love it. I won't give anything away here, so, I'll see you at the bottom. Enjoy!
…
Chapter Six: Fury
"The only one dying is gonna be YOU-"
The call ended abruptly as Star's fist shattered the mirror's screen, her knuckles bloody. Almost in the same motion, Star turned back to her room, ignorant of her bleeding hand as she hurriedly gathered her things.
She grabbed her scissors and her wand before turning toward the door, where Angie sat crying on the ground.
She stepped past the woman and walked to Marco's room, where she grabbed a single crimson hoodie and tied it around her waist before returning to the doorway where Angie sat.
She turned to the woman, angry at Ludo for causing her pain, and sliced open a portal without a moment of hesitation. She stepped forward but felt Rafael's large hand grasp her own.
His gaze was intense, but his words were few. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Still, Star nodded.
"I'll get him back," she stated with confidence, turning back to the portal and stepping through.
The portal closed behind her, but even in a new dimension, her train of thought was the same. "I'll bring you Ludo's head too…"
She stood in the middle of a thick forest. She turned to her right, knowing exactly where she was, and walked through the forest with anything but composure.
Maybe it was adrenaline or maybe something else, but she felt like she could run through a wall, and with every moment that passed, her anger only grew. Images of Marco's face continually flashed in her mind, her speed increasing exponentially with every drop of blood she envisioned.
In no time, she was in a full sprint, and in mere seconds, she exited the forest, the imposing image of Ludo's castle filling the horizon. Still, she didn't back down for even a second.
If anything, she only sped up, her blood lust worsened by the slight stinging she started to feel in her hand.
The images of Marco quickly turned into visions of what she would do to Ludo when she saw him. It was barbaric. It was her father's blood coursing through her veins. She didn't care what caused it. She only wanted to see that pathetic wretch bleed like Marco.
The air grew frigid as she grew near, but she was numb to anything that wasn't rage and before long, the castle doors were only mere feet away.
She leaned forward, lifting her wand and blowing through the door without a second thought.
Immediately, the sight of the throne room greeted her, a long table stretching along the room's center.
Star seethed with anger as the monsters around the table stared back at her, each with their own uniquely disgusting smile, but worse than any other was that of Ludo, who sat at the very end of the table, a newly familiar face sitting beside him wearing the same suit he had on earlier that day.
"You," Star remarked, glaring at the two heads of the table with disgust.
"Me," Ludo answered, the monster beside him raising an eyebrow.
She stomped into the room with narrow vision, only barely spotting Marco's cage out of the corner of her eye. She stopped in her tracks as her eyes met his bloodied body.
"You wasted no time," Ludo's partner remarked. "The boy's face appreciates that."
Star's fist loosened for a moment as a drop of blood fell from his nose, but tightened as the monster opened his mouth once more.
"These monsters would've had a lot of fun if you decided to make us wait."
The monsters sneered and chuckled in the disgruntled princess's direction, but her focus was absolute, belonging to only one soul.
"You're gonna regret this," Star stated as if factually. "You shouldn't have gone after him."
"Maybe you're right," Ludo concurred. "I wish it was you in that chair."
Star's body trembled with anger. Her wand aimed for Ludo's mouth and she fired without hesitation.
"NARWHAL BLAST!" she screamed, a bright beam blasting from her wand following her sharp-horned aquatic companion slammed against Ludo's face, even as he tried to run.
Immediately, the monsters surrounding the table got to their feet, grumbling angrily, but Star's fury was too much to contain.
A dark aura surrounded her as she floated slightly off the ground. The monsters dove in their direction, clearly more coordinated than ever before, but even after weeks of training, they couldn't compare to the princess's newfound might.
Acting like a predator surrounded by prey, she weaved effortlessly between their attacks so quickly that the monsters' eyes couldn't even follow her.
Her wand was in her hand, but it was her fist that slammed into the faces of every monster that stood in her way.
The bearded deer and horned bear charged her with their heads pointed forward, but Star merely grabbed them by their antlers and horns and slammed them together before catapulting them through the back wall of the throne room.
In a heartbeat, two monsters followed. A gator with a single large arm and a horned minotaur charged from either side, but before they could even get close, Star squeezed her fist tight, her still-bloody knuckles cracking before slamming into the ground, a massive shockwave launching the duo in opposite directions and out of her way.
Before she could even get back to her feet, another trio approached. An oversized chicken, lobster, and misshapen, three-eyed baby stormed toward her with no hesitation. Overzealous, the man-baby charged ahead of the rest, his arms bulging as he swung in her direction.
She lept into the air before kicking him in the side of the head. Stunned, he gave her a window for another attack and she didn't think twice.
She aimed for his third eye and slammed her fist against it.
He recoiled in pain and just before his partners could come to his rescue, Star grabbed him by his arm and swung him in a circle, knocking the other two monsters to their backs before they could even try to attack her.
She tossed the baby aside, landing on her feet gracefully and finally starting to struggle for breath.
Still, two monsters remained, a bloated frog and a towering monster with spiked balls for hands. Once again, she raised her fists, but it was clear that these two monsters were more calculated than the rest.
They met each other's eyes before turning to her with steeled nerves. They lunged forward in perfect synchronization, but just like the rest, their initial attacks were easy to guess.
The frog leaped toward her with a kick, but Star easily ducked beneath it. She moved to counter the strike but quickly realized that the frog's partner was right behind her.
She dove forward, the spiked fists of her attacker whisking through her hair as she hit the ground, rolling back to her feet just in time for the frog to slam his fist against her jaw.
The force of the punch knocked her to the ground, but she knew better than to rest.
She rolled to the side before the frog could land another strong punch, but before she could even get to her feet, a spiked fist slammed into her stomach.
Blood splashed from her mouth and seeped from her new wound, but in defiance of physics, her body didn't even move.
She met the monster with fury in her eyes and watched as his confidence vanished. Still, his eyes flashed behind her and warned her of an impending attack.
She didn't try to dodge, but without even facing the frog, she grabbed his balled fist just before it could hit her and she slammed him down, his body bouncing on the ground before rolling away.
The spike-fisted monster watched on with horror as Star finally got to her feet. She cocked back her fist, the monster flinching before she could even swing it forward.
She chuckled, lowering her fist as the monster cowered before slamming her foot against the monster's head.
Blood dripped from her mouth between labored breaths. Her eyes lingered on the frog in the corner, who pushed off of the ground in the corner of the room, but he didn't even try to get to his feet. Instead, he leaned against the back wall, watching as Star turned to where the suited monster stood, holding Marco's head by his hair with a sharp dagger against his neck.
"Quite the show," the monster remarked as Star spat out an unhealthy amount of blood.
Her adrenaline finally started to fade, a wave of pain cutting through her body. Finally, she lifted her wand, realizing she'd pushed her body beyond its limits.
"Now now," the monster said. "Lower your wand. I don't want to kill him."
He pressed his twisted dagger against Marco's neck, cutting slightly into his skin. A small stream of blood ran down from where the knife sat.
Star's face fell, her arm following suit after several seconds.
She shook her head.
"You're a-"
"I WIN!" Ludo remarked as he climbed back onto his chair at the head of the table, blood dripping from his head.
"After all these years!" he screamed, both his partner and the princess watching with confusion and annoyance.
He was silent for a moment as he held his hands in the air, his partner finally resuming his conversation.
"Now, bring the w-"
"YOU LOSE!" Ludo interrupted.
"Bring the wand-"
"I WIN!" Ludo interrupted once more, standing on his chair and starting to dance.
His partner palmed his face, the only sound in the room being that of his clothes shuffling as he boogied.
"Oh yeah, oh yeah," he hummed as he did the cabbage patch in circles.
The suited monster sighed, shaking his head.
"Now, bring me the wand!" Ludo shouted, still dancing.
Star turned to his partner with an incredulous look, but, reluctantly, he concurred.
"Yes, bring the wand over here," he affirmed with another sigh.
Star's scowl returned as she finally limped forward, climbing onto the table.
The monster smiled, tightening his grip on Marco's hair and pulling him from his chair as he walked back to the head of the table.
Marco groaned in pain, his eyes finally blinking open and meeting the image of an approaching princess.
Her fist tightened and her teeth gnashed with anger as the monster mishandled the innocent human, gesturing toward a plate on the table.
Star stared at it for a moment, seeing an excited Ludo out of the corner of her eyes.
She wanted to fight back. She wanted to say no. She knew what her mother would say. It was her duty to protect the wand. She'd only had it for a few weeks, but she was already putting it in jeopardy.
Suddenly, the wand clattered onto the plate, her eyes widening at the weight of her instinctual decision.
She stepped back, her eyes immediately climbing to the suited monster's growing grin.
Her body trembled as she awaited his word, but before he could speak, Ludo dove onto the table, reaching for the wand.
The monster grabbed him by his collar before his fingers could even graze the wand, Star's eyes widening.
The frog in the back of the room gasped.
"Toffee," he called. "What are you doing?! You work for Ludo just like the rest of us!"
Star's eyes widened.
"T- Toffee?" she questioned quietly, the monster's smile only growing as he met her eyes.
"H- He's right!" Ludo shouted, panicking as Toffee lifted him into the air. "I pay you! You said you'd give me the wand!"
The monster met Ludo's eyes with a cruel smile.
"I lied," he muttered callously, Ludo's eyes widening before Toffee launched him across the room.
"Toffee," Star repeated to herself, her entire body trembling.
He released Marco, but Star couldn't force herself to move.
She fell to her knees as Toffee reached for the wand.
"TRAITOR!" the frog screamed, struggling to his feet, but stopping in his tracks as he met Toffee's terrifying glare.
He lifted the wand in the air, examining it with a smile.
He sighed with contentment.
"Thank you for your cooperation," he remarked, Star meeting his eyes with terror when suddenly, he dropped the wand back onto the plate and slid it toward her.
She stared at the wand with confusion, hesitant to reach for it.
"Now," Toffee resumed. "Destroy it. You know the spell."
Star's eyes widened, climbing to his knowing gaze with terror.
"W- What?"
"It was the first spell you learned. Now you get to use it."
"H- How do you- How do you know?"
"Come on," he remarked. "I've been around for a while…"
Star's gaze fell back on the wand. She stared at it for what felt like an eternity before finally picking it up, her hands shaking as she continued to stare at the star encrusted in its tip.
Her heart raced faster than her mind could follow. She could feel it beating as her fingers tingled. She squeezed her eyes closed as she finally made her decision.
She gripped the wand with her right, taking a short breath before staring Toffee down and screaming.
"CATACLYSMIC TOTAL EXTINCTION DEATH BLAST!"
Her wand glowed with a brilliant aura as a thick beam screamed through its head. She screamed as she held the beam steady, its light encapsulating the monster's entire head for what felt like an eternity.
Marco dove to the side, covering the back of his neck as he curled his body on the ground, the frog watched on with astonishment, and Star continued to scream until, finally, the beam dissipated.
She struggled to breathe and her hands ached.
Standing in front of her was Toffee's body, his suit somehow unharmed, but his head missing, melted away as the top half of his long neck.
Star let out a sigh of relief as seconds passed. Marco got to his feet and climbed onto the table, wrapping his arms around Star as joyful tears streamed down his cheeks. Even the frog finally approached, his arms at his side as he made his way to Toffee's body.
Star aimed her wand in the frog's direction, but he made no attempt to defend himself.
He stared at Toffee's body with confusion, finally meeting Star's eyes.
She lowered her wand as he finally spoke.
"Why won't he fall," he questioned with a thick accent.
He pushed against Toffee's body, but sure enough, it was like his feet were glued to the ground. He once again turned to the princess, opening his mouth to speak, but falling silent when he saw Toffee's body twitch.
"Bog," the frog shouted as he backed away hastily.
"No," Star muttered as she backed away, aiming her wand at Toffee when his neck slowly started to regenerate.
"There's no way," Marco remarked.
Both teens froze in place as the monster's body rebuilt itself as if nothing happened.
It only took mere seconds before his entire head had returned, an incredulous expression on his face as it finally returned to form.
He smiled.
"Surprise," he said calmly.
"No," Star muttered once more, crawling away as Tears rolled down her cheeks.
She met Toffee's glare and couldn't force herself to move. Her vision was blurred, but his words were clear.
"The whispering spell," he remarked. "Now."
She wiped his tears away, holding the wand in front of her. Her hands trembled, but still, she lifted the wand to her mouth, obeying Toffee's commands with fear in her heart.
"Break the bond, tear the fabric, cleave the stone, stop the magic," she whispered so only she could hear her own words.
"Break the bond, tear the fabric, cleave the stone, stop the magic," she repeated, then again, and again.
The star at the center of the wand once again began to glow, but she knew she couldn't stop repeating the spell.
"Finally," Toffee muttered, his smile growing with every time she repeated the spell.
"Break the bond, tear the fabric, cleave the stone, stop the magic," she said again, her voice growing weak as she continued to sob.
"Break the bond, tear the fabric, cleave the stone, stop the magic."
"Break the bond, tear the fabric, cleave the stone, stop the magic."
"Break the bond, tear the fabric, cleave the stone, stop the magic."
The wand's glow vanished in an instant, as did the words in Star's mouth.
Still, she held the wand in her hands, even as the star grew dim. After several seconds, the wand opened up and a small unicorn walked out before vanishing into thin air.
The silence of the room was unbreakable for a lifetime before the wand once again began to glow.
"I'd drop that if I were you," Toffee suggested, staring at the wand as it clattered back onto the table.
He smiled.
"Goodbye," he said, meeting her eyes as the light grew brighter.
Star and Marco backed away as the wand's glow grew more brilliant by the second when, suddenly, the frog tackled them off of the table, covering them as the wand erupted with magical power.
The room flashed a brilliant white as a deafening tone whistled through the air.
The teens screamed, but the frog continued to cover them.
The walls of the castle caved in as the explosion echoed through Mewni, all eyes watching as a beam of light blasted into the sky for mere seconds before vanishing even faster.
In the heart of the castle, the light finally vanished, the room quickly becoming eerily silent, save for the faint ringing in the ears of all that remained.
After several seconds, the frog finally rolled off of the princess and the human, falling onto his back with a pained groan.
Star's breaths were sporadic. She remained on her back for several seconds before finally turning to her side, grunting with pain as she grasped her stomach.
Still, she sat up, turning to Marco with a small smile.
"Are you okay?" she asked quickly, helping him sit up.
His face was practically painted with dried blood, but still, he nodded, and without another word, Star pulled him close.
"Then it was worth it," she remarked, not letting go for at least two full minutes when Marco finally spoke up.
"Your wand," he started. "Is it?"
Star sighed, peeling away and letting her face fall slowly.
"I- I don't know."
Marco nodded, several silent seconds passing before he finally turned to the incapacitated monster beside them.
"He saved us," Marco remarked, Star nodding.
After a couple of seconds, she addressed him.
"Hey, Frog Guy," she called, the monster groaning in response.
"You should get out of here. I'm sure Mewman Knights will be here soon. You don't-"
She paused.
"You don't deserve to go to the dungeon."
The monster nodded, slowly sitting up and scanning from side to side.
"I don't know where Ludo is," he remarked. "His scissors are with him."
Star nodded, reaching into her tattered bag and pulling out her own. Her body was weak, but she managed to toss her scissors in his direction.
He took them, staring at them for a moment before nodding.
"Thank you," he said, struggling to his feet, cutting open a portal, then stepping through. He dropped the scissors as he walked through, leaving only the teens and the slumbering monsters.
Star sighed, lying down and closing her eyes.
After a couple of seconds, Marco joined her.
…
Minutes later, just as Star had predicted, a troop of Mewman Knights stormed into the crumbling castle, immediately coming to the princess's aid.
She insisted that they help Marco first, but with such an egregious wound on her chest, there was no hope of that happening.
Still, they helped Marco second, loading him into the same medical carriage as the princess when, suddenly, two more horses galloped into the room with two familiar faces on their backs.
The King and Queen scoured the room and quickly approached the medical carriage.
"Star!" Moon shouted, leading River to the carriage, where both parents embraced their wounded daughter, careless of the blood that seeped through her fresh bandages.
After mere seconds of care, Moon peeled away, her relief vanishing.
"What on Mewni happened?!" she questioned, panicked. "W- Where is your wand? What was that explosion? Wh-"
"Mom," Star interrupted, her tone grieve. Moon fell silent in an instant.
"It- It was Toffee," she said, the entire throne room falling silent at the mere uttering of Toffee's terrible name.
"Wh- No," she refused, her skin flushing white. Her head grew light. She leaned on her husband as she nearly collapsed.
"You better be serious when you say his name to me," her mother remarked, hardly able to stand, let alone breathe.
"Star, are you absolutely certain?" her father questioned, unusually firm.
Star nodded.
"H- He made me. I had to-"
Moon's eyes widened. She grasped her daughter's shoulders tightly.
"He made you what? Star, you tell me. Now!"
"The whispering spell," she muttered. "He made me destroy the wand!"
Moon's face fell, but after only two seconds, she turned to her knights with urgency.
"Men," she called. "Capture and search all monsters on the premises, then search for the royal wand. It may be in multiple pieces, but it has to be nearby."
"Star, you need to tell me exactly how all of this happened," she said. "If Toffee has somehow truly returned, then it must be reported to the Magical High Commission."
Star's face fell, but her mother didn't back down.
"Star, you must-"
River grabbed Moon's wrist and gave her a telling expression. In seconds, Moon backed away, nodding.
"Just- It's over now," she concluded. "We'll talk later."
Star nodded, meeting her father's eyes with appreciation.
Moon watched as her knights searched the entire castle, tossing the monsters into the back of a carriage when they finally came to Ludo.
They lifted him by his cowl, but he remained curled up, obviously hiding something. Moon came to the knight's aid and immediately, at the sight of the Queen, Ludo dropped half of the star that sat at the center of Star's wand, her eyes widening in an instant.
"So, it's not destroyed?" Marco questioned.
Star grinned.
"I guess not…"
…
Author's Notes:
Chapter six concluded. I truly enjoyed writing this one. I know that it was similar to the original Storm the Castle episode, but as you can see, I'm going in a different direction. Toffee's arc as well as one other villain out of the four planned villains will be similar to what they were in the show, but they're all different at heart and you'll see that when they come.
That's all I've got, so, as usual, your support is greatly appreciated. I would appreciate it if you guys could leave a comment on this chapter because I really enjoyed writing it and I very much want to hear what you guys think.
Either way, I'll see you guys soon! Goodbye!
~ lucash21