ACT XII: Mars, the Undaunted Part 2: The Darkest Spell

Mewni was in a state of turmoil. Monster armies were gathering outside the magic barrier, King Comet was dead, and his son Mars had been forced to take up the throne. The young king had donned a black cloak as he gazed at a picture of him and his father. A solemn sigh slipped through his lips just as he heard someone knock on the door behind him.

"Am I disturbing you?" Countess Mildred asked.

Mars put the picture aside and shook his head. "N-no, Mildred, I was just-"

"Mourning the loss of your father?" Mildred interrupted and forced her boyfriend's head onto her shoulder. "I understand. You wanted one last moment of peace before things got too serious. But I just want you to know that no matter what the future holds, I will be there to keep you strong in front of the other leaders."

Mars rolled his eyes and pushed her aside. "Let's just get this over with." He grunted.

Meanwhile, in the situation room, Queen Batra found herself at the mercy of the Magical High Commission and General Loveberry. "I-I swear it wasn't my order!" She whimpered.

Milo used his long beard as a bullwhip, slapping both of the bat monster's cheeks before gripping the scruff of her blouse. "You shut up during your confession!" He snapped.

It was then that Mars and Mildred entered the room. Mildred pulled Mars' seat out for him, but the king irritably shooed her away and put the chair back so he could pull it out for himself. As Mildred sadly went to her own seat, Mars awkwardly scooted his chair closer to the table.

"Now, what's going on here?" He asked.

"King Mars!" Milo saluted. "This dingus claims that an entire platoon of her monster horde went rogue and attacked the peace treaty of their own free will! And that it's their fault that your dad's in a pine box! Y'know, they punched his ticket? Cashed in his chips? Bought him the farm? Kicked his bucket-?"

"Thank you, Milo." Mars huffed.

The Solarian general coughed into his fist. "Ahem. Sorry about your papa."

"P-please!" Queen Batra cried. "I never wanted any of this! King Comet and I were set to sign the peace treaty when one of my rogue generals returned to kill him! She had defected months ago! She claimed that peace was impossible and that the treaty was a trick! Her followers call her… 'the Lizard.'"

One of Rhombulie's snake arms chuckled. "I'm sorry, 'the Lizard?'"

"Hey, girl! Shut up!" The other arm snapped.

"Hey!" Rhombulie scolded. "Don't make me separate you two!"

"This is an affront to Mewni's stability!" Milo shouted. "We need to go to war immediately!"

"I'm down with that!" Rhombulie agreed.

"We can't!" Omnitraxus Prime argued. "We are in no position to go to war right now!"

"Especially not against the lizards!" Hekapoe added. "They're invincible!"

"They killed your father, Mars!"Mildred told her boyfriend. "We need to go to war!"

"We need to sign the peace treaty!" Hekapoe shoved the countess aside.

"Yelling feels really good right now!" Rhombulie screamed.

Mars pinched the bridge of his nose as the Commission shouted over each other, trying to appeal to him all at once. It wasn't until a softer voice spoke up that everyone quieted down. "M-maybe… maybe we should give Mars time to process everything." All eyes landed on Countess Lake Johansen, who nervously bit her lip. "He did just lose his dad."

Mars smiled at his best friend.

"He's the king, Lake!" Mildred scolded, indignantly. "He has to stay strong for his people! And he doesn't need you reminding him of his grief!"

Mars frowned as Lake shrank from the group scolding her for speaking her mind. The king gripped his scepter and slammed it against the table, earning everyone's attention. "Enough!" He declared. "I am the king! So I shall make the decision of what to do! And, my decision is… to make a decision at dawn."

A few hours later, the new king of Mewni paced around the library with his face resting in his palms. "Ugh! Why did I say 'decisions' so much?!"

"Um, King Mars?" Lake entered the library with a turkey leg in her hands. As she held it up, Mars noticed the word "SORRY" carved into it. "I-I wanted to apologize for speaking out of turn."

Mars arched an eyebrow as he accepted the drumstick. "Um, what is this?"

Lake bashfully drew circles with her foot as her hands hid behind her back. "It's an apology meat." She explained. "It's how we Johansens apologize."

The king felt his heart skip a beat at how cute Lake was being. He knew she must still be mad at him, but she was putting that aside to help him feel better after the loss of his father. "You have nothing to apologize for, Countess Lake. I'm glad someone was actually thinking about me." Mars smiled and rested a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Thank you."

Lake blushed at having Mars' face so close to her's. Even though she was still upset with what he'd said about her, she knew in her heart that she would always be in love with her best friend. "H-hey! Any time, buddy!" She remarked as she backed away towards the door. The countess chastised herself in embarrassment. "Did I just call the king 'buddy?!'"

Alone again, Mars slumped to the floor, looking at the turkey leg in his hand. "Oh, apology meat…" He mumbled. "What am I going to do?"

Just then, he heard a soft sobbing coming from one of the bookshelves. Curious, he sat up and traced the crying to the Great Book of Magic. He pulled it off of the shelf and it immediately fell open to reveal its keeper wallowing in a pool of her own tears. "Indexia? Are you alright?"

Indexia sniffled. "N-no, I'm not alright! Your daddy's dead! And he's not coming back… and he never wrote down the recipe for his pudding pie…"

"No…" Mars sighed. "But, I need your help, 'Dexy. I need to decide what's best for Mewni; do I go to war or sign the peace treaty?"

"Oh, I dunno…" Indexia shrugged. "Just pick one. I'm sure it'll all work out."

"That's… not much help."

"Ugh, you're right." Indexia wiped her eyes and prepared to dip back into the book. "I'm in no condition to give advice."

"'Dexy, wait!" Mars called out. But it was too late; the mage had flipped the pages over in her escape. The new king was about to put the Book back on the shelf in frustration before he saw the skull-shaped lock on Eclipsine's chapter. An idea formed in the young king's mind as he remembered his father's stories of how he had learned from the Forbidden Chapter.

The next morning, before dawn, Mars had put on a suit of armor and summoned Rhombulie to meet him in the dungeon. He explained his plan to the crystalline being and they made their way down to Eclipsine's prison.

"Uh, with all due respect, your majesty, I'm not sure this is a good idea." Rhombulie spoke up.

Mars grumbled at her objections as they entered the crystal dungeon beneath the castle. "I already told you, Rhombulie; I just need you to decrystallize his head. That way, he can't escape."

However, as they finally stepped in front of the petrified King of Darkness, Mars' confidence vanished. The cold, frozen glare of Mewni's former king sent shivers down the boy's spine. Up until now, he had only ever heard stories about the dreaded Eclipsine and his heinous acts of evil. If his plan backfired and Eclipsine managed to escape, it would be all his fault. But he needed the spell to avenge his father.

But Rhombulie was still adamant. "I-it's not that, King Mars. You see, usually when I decrystallize someone, it's after they've been crystallized for a few hours. Or a day at the most. But Eclipsine's been crystallized for hundreds of years! I have no idea what's gonna happen when we open this up!"

"I can handle it." Mars insisted, steeling his nerves.

With a nervous sigh, Rhombulie held her snake arms up to her forehead and fired a decrystallizing beam at the King of Darkness. The crystals slowly evaporated from Eclipsine's face until his shoulders were also free. Rhombulie quickly halted her process and fearfully headed towards the exit. "O-okay, I'm out! Uh, call if you need me!"

Mars gripped the scepter with both hands, aiming it at Eclipsine in case he tried anything. Slowly, Eclipsine started to move. A raspy gasp echoed around the cavern, followed by a dry coughing fit as Eclipsine desperately tried to make up for centuries of lacking air. After a few more unsteady breaths, Eclipsine fainted forwards.

"Oh, my gosh, I killed him!" Mars gasped in horror.

Fortunately, his concerns were unnecessary, as he heard a faint whisper slip through the disgraced king's lips. "Bee… four…"

"W-what?"

"Beeee… foooour…" Eclipsine repeated, slowly looking up.

"'Before?'" Mars repeated, confused. "Before what?"

"Bee… four!" Eclipsine forced himself to lean upwards, looking towards something behind Mars.

The new king reluctantly took his eyes off Eclipsine to look behind him. Much to his bizarre surprise, he spotted a vending machine with a snookers bar four rows to the left on the second top shelf, labeled B-4. "Oh… wait." Mars looked back at Eclipsine while pointing back at the machine. "You want… the candy?"

"B-4! B-4! B-4! B-4!" Eclipsine chanted, desperately.

"O-okay…" Mars made his way to the vending machine to retrieve the snookers bar, not quite taking his eyes off of his ancestor. When he returned, he unwrapped the candy bar and awkwardly held it in front of Eclipsine's face as he took a bite.

The King of Darkness was dissatisfied with how slowly he was being fed, however, and decided to literally take matters into his own hands. With all of his strength, Eclipsine managed to slip his arm free from the crystal, tearing his coat sleeve and leaving his glove behind in the process. Mars was startled by the sudden action, and horrified at the sight of the arm's dark purple skin. Eclipsine snatched the snookers bar away from him and hungrily munched on another bite. After a sigh of relief, Eclipsine composed himself to study his surroundings. "How long have I been down here?" He asked, taking another bite.

"Ummm…" Mars' eyes wandered, unable to look at the prisoner when he answered. "Like… three hundred years?"

Eclipsine choked on his candy bar before his eyes widened in disbelief. "Three hundred years?!" A long silence filled the air. Mars was worried that Eclipsine would do something rash, but he just took another bite of snookers as if totally unfazed. Once he finished the bar, he tossed the wrapper at Mars' feet. "Uh, be a lamb and toss that in the rubbage bin for me, will you? I have this… thing about litter, you see."

"Uh… sure." Mars picked up the wrapper and put it in his pocket.

Eclipsine tilted his head as he looked the boy up and down, studying the scepter in his hands and the crown on his head. "So… you're the new king?" He asked, curiously.

Mars gulped. "Y-yeah. What of it?"

"Well, I meant no offense. It's just that… you're far too young. There's no way they'd make you take the throne, unless-" Eclipsine's face fell, showing an expression of deep sadness. "Oh, no. Unless, your father… is he…?"

Mars hung his head as tears once again welled up in his eyes. With a quiet sniffle, he nodded.

Eclipsine cupped his free hand over his mouth, tears welling up in his own eyes as memories of Solarius flashed through his mind. "I see. I'm so sorry, my boy. Truly, I am. I lost my father, too. When I was not much older than you."

It was at this point that Mars began to break down. His father had just been killed, he had been forced to take up the throne at fourteen, the monsters were preparing to restart the war, and instead of being allowed to grieve, he was down in the dungeon trying to negotiate with a rogue king. Tears spilled over the purple diamond-shaped birthmarks on his cheeks and he sobbed into his hand.

"E-ever since dad… since I became king, everyone's been looking to me to prevent the war and fix everything and make all these big decisions! But I'm just a kid!" He explained, sadly. "I-I can't decide the fate of Mewni! I can't even decide which girl I truly love!"

Eclipsine's eyebrow arched. "Excuse me?"

Mars shook his head in frustration. "Yeah, see, there's this one girl I've been dating for a few years, but she's kind of a snob. And there's this other girl who I've been friends with since we were kids, but when I got the scepter I was a serious jerk to her! But she's the only one who's been nice to me since what happened and now I'm starting to see her in a different light!"

"Hmm… that does sound like quite a problem." Eclipsine nodded.

"Ahem, but that's not why I'm here!" Mars wiped his eyes and stood his ground. "I need your help. I have a plan to prevent the war, but I need to learn one of the spells from your forbidden chapter."

"'Forbidden?'" Eclipsine sniffed, indignantly. "Is that what they're calling my chapter now?"

"Uh, yeah. Sorry. I didn't name it." Mars awkwardly tugged at the collar of his shirt. "I need to learn a spell that can kill something… immortal."

Eclipsine's eyes widened in surprise before stroking his goatee. "Are you sure that's what you want?"

"It's my only hope." Mars sighed.

A deafening silence filled the air for what felt like an eternity. Eclipsine thought carefully about what to do. His plan with Indexia was to have him and his wife crystallized until she could send a king naive enough to help him. But his heart ached at the idea of abusing such a vulnerable boy's trust. At last, he made up his mind. "Hmm… well, it's going to be a bit complicated. You see, dark magic does not draw from the same source our family has drawn from."

Mars was confused. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, there are several different dimensions, my boy." Eclipsine elaborated. "Some have magic, some do not. But the ones that do have magic all tap into it differently. Such as Camelot, where a kindly old wizard searches for one worthy to wield a magic sword. Prydain, home to a sinister mage who draws power from a black cauldron. And the Boiling Isles, a chaotic realm overrun with wild witches. But dark magic is its own dimension. As such, there are different rules that come with it. The spell you seek requires a magical contract. I can give it to you, but once your enemy has been killed, you must give something to me in return." He offered.

"Okay… what do you want?"

"... my freedom."

"W-what?!" Mars spluttered in utter disbelief.

Eclipsine smiled. "Oh, I know; it's a lot to ask. Especially with everything you're going through. But it's just that… I've been stuck down here for so long… all by myself. I want to go outside. See what's changed! Buy my own chocolates! Or maybe one of those shrink-wrapped muffins at the bottom." He chuckled, fondly, at the thought.

Mars was still confused. "B-but these are Rhombulie's crystals. I can't free you."

"A magical contract between two kings is far more powerful than any crystal." The King of Darkness extended his hand forward, offering it to the boy. "Now, do you want to learn the spell… or not?"

Mars bit his lip, hesitantly. Going to war with the monsters was all but suicide, and his fathers attempts for peace had utterly failed. At last, he gripped Eclipsine's hand and shook it. A black ribbon stretched from their hands and wrapped around their wrists as the magical contract went into effect. Eclipsine's spade-shaped marks and Mars' diamond-shaped marks shone brightly as the agreement was made in silence.

"Alright, come close. All you have to do is..." Eclipsine beckoned the boy to lend him his ear. Mars listened closely as his ancestor whispered the dark spell to him. It was a poetic incantation with dark overtones, but somehow Eclipsine's voice brought a sensation of comfort to Mars. "And then aim it directly at their heart." Eclipsine finished.

Mars bowed in gratitude. "Thank you, Eclipsine."

"Oh, and one more thing." Eclipsine spoke up again. "Choose the second."

Mars blinked in confusion. "I beg your pardon?"

"You said you couldn't decide which girl you truly liked." Eclipsine elaborated. "Choose the second."

"... why?"

A warm smile spread over the ancient king's lips as he leaned forward. "Because if you really loved the first, you wouldn't have fallen in love again."

Mars considered his words for a moment before a small smile spread over his lips. "That… actually makes sense. Thanks."

"Don't mention it-" Suddenly, a beam of light flashed above Mars' head, freezing Eclipsine in crystal once again.

Mars turned around in shock towards the crystalline warden. "What was that for?!"

"I'm just doing my job, your majesty." Rhombulie crossed her arms. "Evil king. Gotta freeze it."

Mars looked back at the petrified Eclipsine one last time, resting his hand on the cold crystal. "... he didn't seem so evil."

Dawn arrived and the Commission found themselves annoyed at their new king's absence. "He's late." Milo grumbled.

Just then, Ramsey entered the situation room, carrying a picnic basket with a note. He made his way over to Countess Lake and placed the basket in front of her. "King Mars requested that I deliver this to you."

Curiously, Lake opened the note. "'In case I don't make it back.'" She read in her head. Panic filled her heart as she opened up the picnic basket, and she gasped in shock at the sight of a glazed ham with the word "SORRY" carved in the side. She immediately got up from her seat and ran to the window. The others soon joined her, and much to their horror, they saw their king clad in armor with his scepter, a picnic basket, and Lil Caesy following him close behind as he marched towards the rogue monster army's camp.

"He's gonna get himself killed!" Milo remarked.

"He's gone mad with grief!" Mildred cried. "And he was so young!"

Lake felt disgusted at the group's defeatist attitude. "He's not dead yet, you fools!" She snapped, angrily. The countess then raced out of the room to get to her horse and catch up to her best friend.

At that very moment, Mars arrived at the enemy camp. Every monster stopped what they were doing to gaze at the young king. Unfazed by their presence, Mars tucked his scepter into his belt, set his picnic basket down, and placed a blanket down for him and Lil Caesy to sit on. He calmly sat down and prepared his plate and silverware before taking out the apology meat.

"Um, can we help you?" One monster soldier asked.

Mars used his fork and knife to slice off a piece of the turkey leg before replying. "I demand to speak to the general."

The monsters burst into laughter at such an absurd notion, only to be silenced by a voice from behind. "That is no way to greet the king." A lizardwoman dressed in black with long hair made her way towards the front of the group. Mars' gaze hardened as he noticed the skull decoration on her breastplate with two purple dragonfly marks on the cheeks, realizing that they matched his father's cheek-marks. "I presume you are the one they call 'the Lizard?'" He hissed, taking another bite of the turkey leg.

"That is what they call me, your majesty." She bowed, respectfully. "But you may call me… Taffy."

"... 'Taffy?'" Mars arched an eyebrow. "How is that any better?"

"My time is valuable, King Mars." Taffy replied, impatiently. "What do you want?"

Mars wiped his mouth with his napkin, stood up, and drew his scepter. "I want you and your army to leave and never return. Or else you shall face the consequences."

Taffy and her lizard cohorts chortled. "We ain't scared of your magic, boy!" One of them remarked.

"Yeah! We're invincible! Watch!" Another lizard held her arm out for her companion to bite off.

"Wait, wait, wait! I already know about-!" Mars cringed at the gruesome sight of the lizard's arm being eaten, only to instantly grow back. "Eeeeuuugh…" He shuddered.

"You see?" Taffy taunted. "Your father couldn't defeat us. And neither can you. But if you truly wish to throw away your life here and now, then by all means… hit me with your best shot."

Mars felt all the sadness he had felt before transforming into righteous rage. He stood his ground and took a deep breath, aiming his scepter at the lizard general. Then he spoke.

"I call the darkness unto me, from deepest depths of earth and sea…"

Suddenly, a maelstrom of dark clouds blocked out the sun, swirling above the king. Taffy and her monsters took notice of the bizarre weather activity, but still seemed unfazed by Mars' threat.

"From ancient evils unawoken, break the one who can't be broken…"

Back below the castle, in the crystal prison, Eclipsine's spade-shaped cheek-marks began to glow with power.

"To blackest night, I pledge my soul, and crush my heart to burning coal…"

The sapphire at the hilt of his scepter slowly turned black as it began to channel the dark magic. The chaotic energy even spread into the boy's body, turning his diamond-shaped cheek-marks and the veins in his palms and wrists dark purple.

"To summon forth a deathly power, to see my hated foe devoured!" Mars finished speaking the spell, but suddenly felt a pang of fear in his heart at the sight of what it was doing to him. Was he willing to allow a greater evil go free by killing Taffy?

"Enough of this." The lizard general reached out towards the king, prompting him to fire the dark energy at her middle finger. Taffy was knocked back by the force and her finger teleported away.

Mars looked on in anxiety, even as his cheek-marks returned to their usual lilac hue. "I missed." He thought to himself, fearfully. "How could I miss?"

And back in the crystal prison, Eclipsine remained crystalised.

Taffy, unfazed by the attack, held her hand out. "Have you learned nothing?" Her lizard companions smugly looked on, waiting for the finger to grow back so that they could tear the young king to pieces. But just as the digit began to reform, it crumbled to dust and a deathly black puff of smoke rose up from the stump. Taffy was shocked. And her companions even more so.

"It's not growing back!" One of them gasped.

The rogue monster horde screamed in horror before scattering back into the Forest of Certain Death. Taffy was now left alone, staring at the one who had single-handedly defeated her army. Mars glared at her.

"Leave." He ordered. "Now."

Taffy huffed and brushed herself off as she slowly marched back into the forest. Once she was out of sight, Mars finally allowed himself a sigh of relief. Lil Caesy bleated, happily, for her master just as Lake arrived on her horse.

"Mars!" She cheered, running up to him. "You did it!"

"Oh my gosh, Lake!" Mars happily hugged his best friend, spinning her as they embraced. The two friends laughed in joy at the war being successfully avoided. In that moment, they both lost control of themselves and shared a passionate kiss. "Hey, wait a minute, Lake. I have to ask; if you ordered a mauve blouse, and they gave you a magenta one by mistake, would you still wear it?"

Lake shrugged. "If it's clean and I can button it up, I'll pretty much wear anything."

Mars smiled. "My kind of woman." They shared another kiss.

"What… did you just do?"

Mars and Lake broke apart as they saw the MHC, Queen Batra, and a saddened Mildred standing before them. Tired of their judgement, Mars placed his hands behind his back and spoke back with conviction while Lake watched him with pride. "I did my job! And as king, I shall continue to do my job of keeping Mewni safe! I shall hunt down the remaining rogue monsters and scatter them without country or leadership! Any questions?" No one said a word. "I didn't think so."

With that out of the way, Mars marched back towards his family castle with his head held high. The Commission and Batra bowed in respect as he made his way. No longer was he Prince Mars Dragonfly, the happy-go-lucky boy who wanted nothing to with the responsibilities of the crown resting on his head. Now, he was king fit to lead. He was bold. Confident. Determined. Undaunted.

To Be Continued!

Author's notes: You can tell I've been waiting to publish this for a while. As said above, part of my story is that Eclipsine's dark magic comes from a different source than the Well of Magic, so he can tap into it, but without the scepter to channel it, it can damage his body. As always, please read and review!