.
Disclaimer: having another of those stress episodes.
[Flashback] Chapter 10 [Flashback]
A weapon to surpass Meteora Butterfly
XxXxXxXxX
Marco fitted himself with gear, behind him his Warband loudly told him to not go headlong into battle, not to go at it alone. He refused to tell them where he was going, he refused to put them in danger over something of a personal nature and duty.
He had his jeans custom made along with his battle hoodie, tougher but breathable and the rest of his gear he made himself with various materials he collected. Putting them on, a mix of metal, leather, plate armor, bone and such he was an intimidating sight to behold. He then begun to fit himself with armaments: two pistols, two magnums, 10 throwing knives, 10 shurikens, his bow with 24 arrows, his long knife, a pouch of smoke bombs and ammunition, 4 handmade frag grenades and flash bangs , a spool of razor wire, a length of rope, his concussive gauntlets, 3 steel stakes at his disposal.
The Traitor's Sword would be free of it's sheath the entire time.
"StudMuffin this is suicide! You're fighting Eclipsa! And her daughter! Alone!" Rhunter seethed.
"Yeah! Listen to some sense. Psst, who the fuck is Eclipsa?"
"Is she hot at least?"
"Fuck if I know."
Marco shook his head, "I can't risk getting you guys involved besides this is a personal affair, politics and that bullshit. You know, the things you don't like."
Rhunter shook his head at his partner, the Sinful Sips would have never been born if not for him and watching him load up and get a duffel bag to stuff more weapons was too much to bear. He grabbed Marco's arm, this mercenary was barely a man and here he was doing most would never do in a lifetime even if given the chance.
"StudMuffin, what if you fall? What will we do? The men hardly sees me fit as a leader, they only listen to me because you tell them to, what happens if you are not here anymore? What will they do? They'll splinter off and cause who knows what trouble, I'm not saying you're their jailor or warden but they look to you for direction and strength. Heck some of them might just drop dead."
Marco sighed as he dropped more weapons and tools into the duffel bag, he looked at Rhunter and the rest that watched him, "I will be coming back. And in the unlikely event I don't: there will be no ransacking of this bar. If you wish to stay here, as your home and job, you will listen to Rhunter, he does own the place. Half of it anyways. In the event of my death you can stay here and be useful…or leave. Your choice."
Marco pushed them aside and made himself a portal quickly, he could feel the weight all over him, his men just watched helplessly as he disappear again.
Rhunter exhaled heavily and kicked the drywall leaving a hole, damnit Studmuffin...
.
[MEWNI]
Marco landed just a few miles away from Eclipsa's castle along a rocky hill, it wasn't much or grand like the Butterfly castle but it was built with black bricks and hidden if you didn't look hard enough for it. He knew the queen didn't want to loom over her subjects, like her descendants did, rather be a shade for them, to seek help and assurance against the weather.
Marco took out a spy scope and looked at the budding kingdom she was building: the humble Knightfall Kingdom. A place for both Mewmans and Monsters to coexist happily, prejudice and racism was present at a minimum, Eclipsa knew it would take some time before that would be settled. Mewni History nearly spent it's entire time waging war on each other, there was a lot of things to be answered for and healed.
He felt it was a step in the right direction.
He had tried infiltrating it once and it was enough for him.
Marco could see the construction ways off, the future bricks to be laid for the walls and housing. No doubt once the place gained momentum, the entirety of Mewni would descend upon them. He looked through the place before he frowned, there was a big forced coming back and from the looks of it, they were bloody. Marco felt his insides churn: Eclipsa and Meteora were coming back from something.
GNOME!
STONE COFFIN!
He stood up and dropped the duffel bag in the raised coffin before it sunk back into the earth and he made his way for the group before they got back to the kingdom. He felt the load on his body dampen his speed.
Gosh, Marco, why are you even wearing this much weapons?
I thought you're gonna talk, you look like you're going to fight her.
"Sorry, but I can never be too sure. Eclipsa isn't just some hedge magician, she has raw magical power and dark magic expertise. I just lucked out she can't use her telepathy on me, I would just avoid her outright if that was the case."
Marco continue to trudge but Slyph got fed up and wind danced around his feet, well get on slowpoke, by the time we get there it's gonna be nightfall. Then you'll be in for a fight.
"So it's not evening right now?"
Marco's eyes drifted upwards, the sky was tinged an mixture of purple, black and blue it was easy to be mistaken, "Probably just the time of the year…"
His heighten speed caught the groups attention especially since Marco seemingly raced to them, inches above the ground on a whirlwind. The group composed of all monsters, burly and aggressive looking, Marco paid them no mind as he skidded before them, they growled at him. Marco glanced at the kingdom, they were far enough to avoid being seen from the populace, for now anyways.
Marco waited for the monsters to part allowing Eclipsa and Meteora through, they wore their usual clothes, Meteora's a little tattered and bloody.
"Ah, Dark Knight Marco Diaz, good to see you again." chirped Eclipsa, her eyes on the sword of his. Meteora glared at him, "Princess Marco…"
"…I see you've been busy, a new kingdom built just a year in, that's incredible speed."
"Yes, I suppose Marco. But let's get these formalities aside: what do you want."
Marco felt his skin crawl at the slight edge of her voice, he gave her a sweeping look at her forces before looking at her again, "Who did you kill."
"Does that even concern you, Marco? And does it even matter?" came the reply, Marco narrowed his eyes, the sword pointed at her, the entire monster posse nearly jumped on him but Eclipsa held them back with a hand aloft.
Eclipsa smiled at the sudden threat of attack by the Dark Knight, her eyes running over all the weapons on his bodice, "If you must know Marco, myself, Metoera and these wonderful gents were accompanying me when I fell prey to a bunch of Mewmans using Snookers bars as an obvious trap to follow them to their white wagon. I foolishly got inside the wagon to find that there were no Snookers bars! Thankfully, my Meteora and her friends freed me and we sent those Mewmans home."
Marco glared at her story she merely smiled innocently, "It's the truth, boy."
"Dead. You killed them."
Meteora spat, fed up, "They were Mewmans looking for more lands to colonize, to conquer, this land is spoken for and we enforce our claim and law. Do you have a problem with that, princess!?"
"No. What you do is your business, however I came because now more Mewmans will investigate, you won't kill them all and eventually they'll find your kingdom and—"
"They won't know about it if you don't tell them, Marco." Eclipsa said simply, a dark magic bolt appeared in her hand but Marco dismissed it.
"Keep your magic to yourself Eclipsa. I'm not here to report you." Eclipsa looked astonished at the answer, she gave him another up-down glance, "Then why are you here for?"
Marco looked at her, "If you intend to march your forces, your army across Mewni: I will stop you. This is your only warning. If you don't, you'll regret it. Don't let lives be lost." He nodded to more than herself and Meteora, the monsters that gathered behind her.
The two parties looked at each other before one side exploded with laughter, giggles, coughing and hacking up spit. Marco frowned as even Eclipsa couldn't help herself, snorting with laughter.
"Mhmmm, Marco, you really are comical." Eclipsa smiled, the rest settling down too, "You couldn't stop us if you wanted to."
Marco looked at her deathly serious, "I've only came to give you this warning. That's all. If I hear you are on the War Path…you won't be for long."
Eclipsa nodded her head, doing an elegant bow, "Well, thank you for your heart felt warning, Dark Knight…but if you wish to live to be a ripe old age, you'll keep your paltry threats to yourself. Here: my word is law, Meteora's word is law. I can slay where you stand and all you can do…is fall dead and feed the worms."
The monsters snickered behind Eclipsa, even Meteora put her nose into the air at the words of her mother, Marco shook his head at the Queen.
"Pray that you can." Marco bowed as well and turned to leave.
Eclipsa stopped in her stride, her face angry, "Arrogance…I guess it's not just a Mewman trait!"
Without warning she threw a dark magic bolt at him, Marco spun and smashed it to pieces, his hand on a pistol, the monsters and Meteora froze and rallied behind Eclipsa.
The queen started forward, blindsiding the monsters and her daughter, they quickly followed, "And if I and my daughter agree not to march through Mewni, burning everything to the ground, after they denied my daughter her birthright and my throne and kingdom handed over to another, what do we get for this 'mercy' Dark Knight!"
Eclipsa stood in front of Marco, "I will make it so that you will all live and coexist. If they attack you, unprovoked I will dispense my blade on them and the same goes for you. At the very least no one will die needlessly, this 'shaky peace' is better than no peace at all."
The queen frowned at the words, "That's not good enough Marco, they will never agree to it. And you are an outsider, who are you to police and govern them? Worse, you are a Dark Knight, my hand in doing so. No matter what you will do…they won't accept it, you don't even have a standing army to exercise your wrath nor will upon them if they do not heed your words and warnings. Just stay out of this, Dark Knight, you will not find happiness here nor the satisfaction of any of your words becoming reality. Leave this land, Marco, do not speak of it to anyone else. THIS. Is your only warning from me."
Eclipsa jabbed a finger at his chest, his cheek marks glowing and she gave an appreciative nod, "Still working on it. Good for you, boy. You may leave."
Marco narrowed his eyes.
"Will you march across Mewni eventually Eclipsa. Answer me that truthfully and I will consider your threat."
"…maybe someday. I'm in no hurry, really, I'll pick them off whoever is still standing." she waved a hand carelessly, "Not that you'll be there to stop me."
Marco brought the blade just in time to block a dark magic fork bolt from electrifying him from Eclipsa's fingertips, however it sent him flying back. She frowned and dark magic began to swirl around her, the posse getting into a frenzy to defend their queen and princess.
"Despite being a Dark Knight, you are just a gnat, no different from anyone who would oppose us. But with that sword of yours…I would rather it served under my banner. Either you do or your successor does."
Marco readied himself, "I must decline. I'm will remain impartial."
"Enough with your bullshit, Marco, we both know you'll never be that. And besides…now that you've shown me your fangs…I now know I can not let the boy become a man."
Marco took up Buttercup's stance: Prairie Style: Wildflower Crossing, "Then you already failed, I did already."
Eclipsa sent a handful of dark bolts at Marco, he deflected them in a flashy display, twirling his sword and amazing footwork to dodge them. The monster stayed back as Eclipsa continued her volley as a front so she could mentally subdue the Dark Knight, but she couldn't like before in the Trial she gave a gesture and moved back.
Damnit…this boy's mind used to be open…now it isn't. I thought it was a fluke but now I'm certain this 'Sir Buttercup' had a hand in it…
The monsters howled and roared at the chance to bloody the soil again and rushed forward, some faster than others, a few hanged back with the rulers. Marco narrowed his eyes and pulled one of his pistols: Beretta M9. The monster grunted suddenly feeling something burrowing into them then the noise of gun fire.
Left hand on pistol and the right with his sword, Marco spun and fired in rapid succession, keeping the frenzied monster at bay when a shot struck them. But that didn't last long when their numbers converged on him more thickly, he leapt back then flipped over a bull monster who tried to gorge him with his horns, Marco in mid flip put three into his skull and he fell over into the ground. Marco felt the wind grip him and he found himself thrown back to give himself some distance.
Seeing their own fall to the contraption and Marco seemingly retreating made the rest even more livid and delve deeper into the frenzy. Marco sheathe the M9 and pulled out the other pistol: FN Five-Seven. He threw the sword into the ground and took aim, they came charging and Marco shot to incapacitate than kill.
One tumbled, shot in the knee.
Next shrugged off two bullet to the shoulder.
Another in the gut, it roared in defiance.
Shoot to kill, Marco, they are going to trample you!
The familiar smell of gunpowder...and the nagging of the Monster Arm, a staple this past two years.
Marco snarled at the words of Monster Arm and took better aim:
A bullet burrow into a skull. Dead.
Blown eye socket. Dead.
Two bullet to the lungs. Dead.
Bullet to the heart, tumbling into the ground.
Shot at the knee.
Blown fingers off.
Bullet bouncing off horn.
Marco continued to fire, the monsters began to slow and cover themselves as the frenzy wore off and suddenly aware that they were injured and dying rapidly. Marco saw them slowing and took aim and fired at Eclipsa, the bullet smashed into a purplish barrier, Marco frowned at the sight as Eclipsa blinked in surprise as she inspected the bullet.
"Crude thing…but effective. We better wait for some more friends, Meteora." She threw a flare into the air, Marco put the gun away and made himself a handful of flames,
Ignis!
You got it!
Eclipsa winced as the flare didn't reach a high enough altitude to be seen before a fireball took it out, she threw a glance at Marco, flames dancing around him, "The boy can use magic?!"
Marco didn't wait and began to send a blistering volley at the queen and princess, a bigger purplish barrier was made to block them.
MARCO!
He rolled as the monsters decided to lob rock slabs at him, he cough as dust shot everywhere, "Hey, you can seriously hurt someone!"
He was answered with a roar.
Gnome!
Eat it, dirtbags!
Marco made sweeping motion with his hands and suddenly the rocks and boulders flung themselves at the monsters, trampling them. He threw a glance again at Eclipsa and she shot more flares forcing Marco to fight on two fronts, keeping the monsters at bay and blasting the flares for reinforcements.
Eclipsa snarled as her flares were still being destroyed and she was too far from contacting her kingdom, she grabbed one of her monster posse, pointing at the kingdom, "Get to the kingdom and tell them I need reinforcement, then close off the kingdom. Understand—good, now go!"
The monster now runner resisted leaving the queen but after Meteora growled it ran for the kingdom. It didn't go unnoticed as Marco saw the monster fleeing, he quickly reloaded his pistol and began to fire only to have Eclipsa stop it with her barriers. Marco frowned and sent searing fireballs after the monster, it screamed but saved again by Eclipsa countering it with dark bolts of her own.
"You should have fled when you had the chance, Marco! Now you face the full might of my kingdom!"
Marco scoffed and looked at the beaten monsters, some of them dead after being smashed with rocks, the others were unconscious, the lucky ones. He casually walked towards Eclipsa, firing round after round as he got closer his sword glistening in the other hand. Marco knew it was a waste of bullets but Eclipsa didn't know that since she couldn't read his mind.
The queen winced every time the lead bullet smashed into the barrier, the sound of the gun fire and the sharp impact made her wonder if her barrier would shatter eventually. Meteora was turning feral at the sight of Marco casually walking about the land she governed.
"Ready to stop this farce, Eclipsa?" Marco called out, Eclipsa frowned before looking back and seeing a growing shadow racing to her, the Dark Knight noticed too, "Tell them to go back, don't put anymore lives in jeopardy."
"Hmph, you've killed plenty already, Marco. You'll make a splendid Dark Knight for Mewni."
"Then maybe you shouldn't have sent to attack me. Most things end up dead that way."
Eclipsa smirked, "Then have your fill of carnage boy!"
Marco snarled and sheathe the gun before blocking Eclipsa's dark bolts, taking a step back with each deflection before Meteora came running at him, her hands turning into her monster claws. Marco readied to defend himself before he brought his guard up just in time to block a dark magic blast forcing him a great deal back. He rolled away as Meteora closed the distance and tried to rake his face with her set of claws.
Cussing, Marco rolled to his feet and send screaming blade arcs at Meteora whilst blocking more dark bolts from Eclipsa, he was pinned between the two rulers. He could hear Eclipsa's girly cackle and that just made him even angrier, Meteora lunged forward, a tip of her claw snagging on his gear harness and he was sent flying from her swing.
"DIE PRINCESS!"
Marco saw the world tumble, sky, ground, sky, painful ground.
Slyph!
Gosh, Marco, you got caught!
Marco felt the wind catch him and he landed safely before he pulled out his pistol and fired at Meteora who got on fours and fled back to her mother's protective barrier. Marco narrowed his eyes before seeing the monster reinforcement had arrived and in great number, the Dark Knight reloaded his pistols putting the sword down into the ground.
"I WANT HIM TAKEN ALIVE. OR DEAD. WHICHEVER YOU CAN MANAGE!" Eclipsa cried as she fired a dark bolt, he sidestep it before he began to fire, both pistols in each hand. The monster foamed at the mouth at Marco, waiting for him to reload before tearing through the land to rend him to pieces.
Marco counted them, the moment he stopped and reloaded the guns they came in a wave made entirely out of muscle, rage and screaming. He put the new magazines before he sheathe them and slam two palms into the ground,
Undine + Gnome
REVENGE OF THE MUDMEN!
WooHoo!
Dibs on that one!
I'm a crackshot!
Nothing but headshots!
Marco felt the ground rumble before 4 clones of himself rose up from the ground, they stood there before held out an empty hand to him. He smiled and stuffed the Beretta M9 on one, the FN Five-Seven into another, taking out his two magnums: .500 S&W and a Desert Eagle and gave it to the other two.
He pulled out his bow and notch an arrow and looked at the mud men, nodding before they all took aim.
The monsters were bipedal or quadpedal but that matter not to Marco and the Mudmen, who normally followed simple commands however it was a different story when the Elementals decided to pilot them. They quickly aimed and fired, the barrage of bullets found their targets, blowing chucks of flesh, bone and appendages leaving monsters howling in agony. The ones that took the magnums had to quickly reformat and reinforce their body to withstand the powerful recoil and grabbing clips and rounds from Marco's pouch.
Arrow. Bullet.
Dead monster.
Bullets.
Monster toppling over itself.
Fireball. Bullet.
Carcass burning in the wayside.
Gunfire rung around Marco, it was oddly comforting. He shook off the momentary memory while he snapped arrow after arrow, they tried to flank them but they were met with hail of gunfire. The five man cell did well, keeping the monsters at bay while whittling down their numbers.
It was a short victory.
One mudmen bubbled and Marco felt the elemental consciousness flee before it exploded, he threw an angry glance at Eclipsa even though he couldn't see her, he could tell she was extremely smug.
He grabbed the fallen FN Five-Seven and fired whatever was left, behind him the two mudmen began to bubble too, he saw Eclipsa holding a hand aloft and it glowed as she chant. Marco furiously fired before the gun twisted and pulled from his hands, he pulled his bow and fired it only to see it smash into the barrier again.
Marco took aim again and fired at a 45, 60 and 85-degree angles and the arrows struck the ground and monster behind the barrier. Marco fired two more until even his bow was snapped in two by Eclipsa's magic.
The mudmen gimped by the magic threw themselves at the monster only to be easily slapped away by massive paws and fists, they laughed gutturally at Marco. He looked at the fallen mudmen, the guns ruthlessly smashed by stomps and trunks for feet, the elementals fled back to him.
He picked up the sword and rest it on his shoulder, he used the polished metal to spy that Eclipsa was merely watching him, trying to divine his powers because her mental invasion didn't work.
"I know I killed some of your comrades, but last warning: flee—!"
Marco dodged massive paws size of bucklers before giving the monster a face full of fire, plunging the sword through it's chest, hot blood spurting all over his front. Marco spit the blood that caught in his mouth before turning to the monster that stampeded for him,
"Garden Style: Weeping Baby Blue Eyes."
Marco brought the sword to his forehead, holding it vertical for a moment before getting into the fray, alternating between pivoting with the ball of the foot and heel, Marco spun to evade hits and return some.
Marco kept his stomach contents down as he quickly made shallow but hard jabbing motions, Marco sliding the Traitor's Sword no more than 5 inches into the monsters. Eyes bled, other clutch their sudden bleeding throat, some limped and others fell to the ground blood filling their lungs.
Marco flicked the blood off before robbing a monster of its sight then piercing into its fat liver to the hilt, he grimaced as dark blood spurted out.
This technique is to take advantage of large and armored opponents, aim for the eye slits, armor gaps, joints, soft neck tissue, wrists, ankles and whatever to lame your adversary. But you have to be precise, your blade should slide between bones, you won't get many chances afterwards when your foe knows your mindset.
Marco managed to clip a handful of the monsters, but soon they just came in droves, condense grouping made it useless. Marco snarled, hoping to put more down but instead fell into another stance, holding the sword to his right side and standing resolute,
"Forest Style: Harrowing Hemlock."
Marco moved forward, the monsters all closely knit but that changed when he sent a screaming shockwave at them, momentarily stalling the front but making the rest crash into them. Pulling free from the mess of limbs, Marco homed in on freed monsters, but they had plenty of fight in them.
Marco got himself out of the way of claws, horns and maws, and quickly dispatch them: cutting and thrusting straight through bone, flesh and sinew.
A chop severed an arm, the monster roared in anger and pain before Marco's sword cut its head off. Faster…
Thrust through the eye socket. He pulled the sword free and out came blood, bone fragments and brain matter. Faster…
A horn parried his hit, he reorient himself and drove the tip of the blade scoring down the collarbone, blood splashed across the blade. Marco spun to the side to avoid being gorged and drove the blade through the sternum, blood flooded the cavity. Damnit, faster…
He found his next target and hack into a meaty shoulder, the monster ready to claw him but he drove the heel of his boot, smashing into its face before he pulled free and brought it down nearly bisecting the monster.
The monsters pulled themselves apart and came barreling at the Dark Knight, his eyes darken at the sight of them and he hack and slashed away, always dodging, always having open ground never being boxed in. The Dark Knight was given no quarter and he did so in return, severing arms, legs, tails, horns, fingers and toes.
Marco's foot trudged through the blood-soaked soil, the monster fewer and fewer the more he swung his sword.
They looked at him, terrified.
That changed when the brutes came tearing in, Eclipsa sent the remaining monster she had left, imbued them with her dark magic.
They stood twice the size of the monsters, thick arms, thick patches of skin that resembled cracked mud and their portions were massive from head to toe. Marco leapt back when one of them smashed their fist into the ground, tremors shook his feet forcing him to run.
The brutes gave chase, he could hear Eclipsa and Meteora laughing over his predicament but he ignored them. He spun and threw an screaming arc, they buff through it and charged, hatred brimming in their eyes.
Again Marco threw shockwave arc and they muscled through it, grinning savagely before one of them got decked in the face full of fire. Marco skidded and ran back to them, leaping on the forearm, he brought the Traitor's Sword down, splitting the brute's face.
He jumped off from the shoulder threw his rope around it's neck and swung himself to the next one, he slashed an arc out only to have the brute bring its arms up to buffer it. Marco grinned, one hand still on the rope, he wrapped the other one and brought the two down, stabbing its muscled torso as its arms were held up against its face.
The Dark Knight crashed to the ground, one brute leapt at him and Marco threw the sword, embedding itself into its chest it gave a wet cough and fell to its side. Marco pulled out his throwing knives and chuck them into the brutes before following up with his shurikens, they didn't do much only piercing the skin so much.
Marco looked at them before his palm began to race with electricity, he held his breath and squinted as he threw a smoke bombs to obscure himself. The brutes swung into the cloud before the sound of something revving and crackling reached their ears,
RAIJU!
LIGHTNING CELEBRATION!
The monsters shrieked and howled in pain when suddenly massive blue forks of lightning shot out of the smoke and homed in on the brutes. They shuffled and threw themselves away in agony but the arcs would not leave them, they began to roast and eventually smolder, flesh darkening from the repeated electrical burns.
Marco looked around making sure the brutes were down for the count.
Marco!
Something struck him and he flew out of the smoke cloud, rolling on the coarse ground and feeling something broken. Marco looked up to see a monster torn between triumph and pissing-scared, it took a tentative step to him before rushing forward, a rock in hand.
"Oh, so it hit me with that…Gnome why didn't you like smash his face in with it?"
…Marco, I'm not attuned to every rock, you have to channel me before I have power over it. Besides, why didn't Raiju protect you?
Oh no, sister you don't get to pass the buck!
Marco shook his head before he pushed himself up, he wheezed feeling his armor cave in the side and his arm aflame.
Marco held out a hand just as the monster was before him, rock coming down to smash his head like a coconut.
The world flashed white.
Marco landed where the fallen brute was and pulled the sword free, he coughed before pulling the sword on his good arm and threw a vicious shockwave arc. The monster threw the rock but it was easily pulverize and the arc rend the monster apart.
The Dark Knight coughed before putting his hand on the soil and muttered, "…I know there's a water table somewhere here…otherwise Eclipsa wouldn't build a kingdom in a barren land…"
[So there is a brain in that head of yours…]
"Undine…I need healing…"
…fine, Sister Seraph I need some of your blessing.
Marco sighed as the water raced from the deep crevices of the ground and snaked up his body, soaking his clothes but fixing him. He tapped his dented armor before asking for it to be fixed too.
Automata
As you wish.
[…] Marco we're done healing you.
Marco grunted when the armor popped and snapped back into place. He took his sword and swung it with his bad arm, feeling it to be good as new.
The few monsters that survived the electric show stared in amazement as the Dark Knight who was bludgeon suddenly was back to fighting form. The moment his eyes turned to them, they did the only reasonable option: flee. Marco narrowed his eyes before sending savage arcs at them, cutting them down by their legs, torso or head, he needed to keep his presences in Mewni to just the two royals.
Marco flinched when a dark bolt killed a monster, he looked at Eclipsa who wagged a finger at his direction.
Marco glanced at the piles of dead bodies, seeing it was only the three of them he walked towards the two exiled Butterflys.
"Ready to talk, Eclipsa."
"I dunno Marco, seeing you butcher those monster makes me want to reconsider that."
"Savage beast…"
Marco frowned at the insult, "That's what you get when you send in fodder. You sent them to die. Fuck, you killed one of them."
"Language, boy." Eclipsa tutted, "I don't shelter cowards Marco, if you live in my kingdom, you will fight for your life. Or I will take that life. "
"Sounds like it needs some work."
Marco wasn't surprised when Meteora leapt at him again, he sidestep before throwing some wire on her before taking a stake and driving it down with his foot making Meteora flip and smack into the ground. The queen sighed, "Must you hurt my daughter like that?"
"Put her on a leash next time." "My, what a curious kink you have." "Don't even—!"
Marco back step as Meteora ripped through the wire, her monstrous appearance showing again, Marco pointed the sword at her and Eclipsa glared at him, "You turn that sword on my daughter Marco, I'm going to filet you then go to your dimension and tear it inside ou—!"
Marco socked Eclipsa in mid-rant before leaping after Meteora, the Queen felt her head ring as two blurry figures attacked each other.
Marco flung arc after arc at Meteora but her monster skin began to spread unnaturally over the mewman one on her arms, she became more and more resilient to the hits. The Dark Knight frowned, keeping the power output low, he could very well kill Meteora and dealing with an enraged Eclipsa would definitely ruin his day.
Meteora on the other hand had no problems with clawing and smacking Marco whenever she could. He held his ground well enough, but it was just a matter of time before his puny human body crumple under her onslaught.
That changed when Marco managed to punch her into the ground, the monster mewman hybrid had to collect her thoughts for a moment but that was cut short when Marco jumped on her back and began to punch her head deeper into the ground.
"Prin—! Aggck! Cess—! Rghh! Mar—! Co—Aghhk!"
Marco paid her howling no mind, feeling his fingers numb with each successive hit. Just before he pulled another one, something coiled around his neck and flung him to the distances.
"Agh! Fuck—ack!"
Marco grunted as he punched into a side of a hill, clumps of dirt and rocks buried him before he clawed his way out, shaking them off. He blew his nose and spit out dirt before tearing off his worthless armor plating, shaking his head at the loss leaving him in minimum armor, "Thanks Automata…I didn't know you could give me your Iron Skin like this."
I'm just as surprised as you are, I didn't know I could!
"…you're not joking are you?"
Marco brushed himself a bit more before the wind danced around him and he let himself be wisked away by it. The Iron Skin was helpful for increasing his durability a hundred fold against the monster strength of Meteora and physical abuse, with so much armor on him, neither of the Butterflys could tell his tan skin took a rather bronze sheen. However, it wasn't foolproof, Automata could get exhausted and enough punishment and he could die from the physical trauma.
[At the very least Marco you can safely put down Meteora without the Pendragon Blade, so put her down, don't waste the opportunity.]
"I will, Hallow."
Meteora pulled herself from the ground and shook the loose rocks, she could feel the welts on the back of her head, "Damn princess…almost punched my head in…Mother! Are you okay?"
"…yes, but Marco won't be." Eclipsa sat, nursing a bruised nose.
"Don't worry I threw him into that hill, I'll collect his body." "That won't be necessary." Eclipsa sighed before she stood up and began to fire dark bolts into the sky. Meteora's eyes widen to see Marco holding the Traitor's Sword to block the majority of the bolts, before throwing it directly at them.
Eclipsa frowned when it landed between her and Meteora, "Tossing your weapon Marco?"
He winked out of the dark sky.
Eclipsa pointed a palm at the sword as Marco appeared there, holding the hilt, a hand raised at her too. Meteora flinched but it was too late, Marco send a twister from his palm sending her mother flying before doing the same to her.
"Stay down Eclipsa! Way down!"
Marco put his palms together before massive earthen snakes wrapped around the dazed Eclipsa, she fired her bolts and pulled herself free but even more came coiling before they dragged her under. Meteora stood up, her face drained white at the sight of her mother being dragged into the barren soil,
"No…no…"
"Stay there until I'—!"
Marco felt his jaw break.
Meteora smashed him across the ground, skidding face first before plopping down, ass in the air.
"Give her back…" "..."
"GIVE HER BACK…" "...?"
"GIVE BACK MY MOTHER, PRINCESS MARCO!" "…!"
His face tingling painfully, Marco pushed himself up, rubbing his chin, water already racing up from his feet and coating him as Meteora stomped closer and closer, her visage positively oozing her killer intent. He winced feeling the not so gentle healing of Undine and Seraph, pushing his broken tissue and bones back into place before experimentally moved his lower jaw before facing the hybrid.
"She'll be fine where she is, so long as you don't do anything foolish." Marco chided the monster mewman, the reply was a solid punch to the face. Immediately, Meteora pulled her hand back, feeling it aching as her blood mired Marco's face, he glared at her as he was barely fazed by it this time.
Meteora doubled over as Marco punched her in the gut before grabbing her tail and threw her just as far as she did to him. She flipped in midair and landed on fours, unsure how could such the puny human princess withstand so much of her monster strength, the thoughts were interrupted as Marco raced after her, the wind literally chasing after him as he homed in on her.
And she met him in kind.
Claw versus fists.
Marco skid and bodily threw himself as if a plank knocking her down before he raised his foot nearly at head height and brought it down in a vicious arc, Meteora scrambled out of the way before the ground where her head was erupted in dust. She grunted when she felt solid boot meet her ribs and she was sent skidding across the ground, Marco chased after her, his eyes harden.
She pushed herself up and felt more and more of her monster blood run thicker in her veins she snarled, her eyes yellowed and slit, another pair of eyes open on her forehead, teeth turning sharp and her skin turning more scaly and red, her tail whipped viciously, she grew a foot taller and burlier but stayed in relative frame.
MONSTER FORM METEORA BUTTERFLY
Marco wasn't dissuaded and launched a flurry of kicks and punches, enduring the vicious claws and tail whips from his opponent. Meteora let her hate for the princess dictate her actions even when it meant Marco managed to land vicious jabs and hooks to her face, it just made her even more angry.
Marco swapped hands with her, muscling through her crushing blows and even her biting down on his shoulder, he grabbed her and performed an impromptu suplex. She growled and broke free midway, grabbing his foot and swung him like a rag doll, smashing his head against the ground and rock before slamming him back first into the ground.
Marco grunted before tucking his legs around her arm, pulling himself up grabbing her by blouse front and headbutt her. She roared feeling her long nose break before Marco pulled her down to her knees unleashing flurry of kicks.
Left roundhouse, snap kick, in crescent axe kick.
Meteora blinked deliriously.
Left axe kick, hitting her on it's way up and down.
Meteora tried to cover herself, but Marco slapped her arms away and alternated to his right foot.
Snap kick to the hip, roundhouse to the temple then the ribs, he spun himself alternating to his left foot to deliver a sidekick then a right sidekick. Meteora tried to fall back but Marco grabbed her to keep her steady and delivered a spinning roundhouse to the face sending her flying.
Marco chased after her, Meteora spat bloody saliva and pull herself up, the Dark Knight raced to close the gap. The hybrid struck her fist into the ground and with massive strength and exertion, muscles bulging and veins bunching at the skin, overturns massive slabs of ground. Marco ran even faster, leaping over the chucks of titanic earth and fell upon Meteora, she grabbed him in midair and slammed him into the ground, she hammer fist his face, his chest before grabbing a handful of his armor and hoodie as she sprinted across the barren land.
Marco yelled in pain as the friction of his body and the ground exceeded the levels of third degree burns, Undine and Seraph rapidly healed him but Meteora only cranked up the speed running for the horizon.
"DIE DIE DIE!"
Marco could feel a bald spot forming on the back of his head, a trail of skin and blood on the ground, he punched her wrist then forearm but it was harden by her resolve. He pulled out stake and put it through it and she screamed and ran even faster, the two Elementals yelled for Marco to break free, Automata getting weaker by the second.
Marco unclip on of his grenades and stuffed it against the stake, the explosion sent the two flying across the place, skidding on the ground.
Marco coughed, feeling his injuries mend itself but Automata was near depleted, she dropped Iron Skin and slumbered. Marco curled under the sudden injuries coming back in full force, clutching over wounds that were no longer there but the sensation of flesh being run raw and to a crisp remained. He convulsed, Marco was going into shock.
NO! Seraph you have to heal him faster! Quit using so little!
[Damnit, Ignis I will not break my vow!]
Shut up, Iggy! Let us work, he's not dead yet!
Marco seized, feeling the cascading water heal him, slowly his breathing relaxed and he weakly coughed and sat up, so close to passing out, "Owww...fuck that hurts...is…Automata okay?"
Yes, but no thanks to you! Let her sleep for a bit, you're going to fight her like that for now.
"I can't do it without protection!"
What happened to 'I'll never get hit' huh!?
"Yeah, with normal opponents, this is a monster mewman hybrid! I've never fought one of that!"
[Excuses! I expected more from you, Marco!]
Marco pushed himself up, feeling the back of his clothes gone, he tore it off and tied whatever he had left on his waist, pants and belt. Thankfully, that was still usable, he glanced down at his chest, seeing the dull roman numeral one on it.
He traced it while feeling the dull throb of his back, reminiscing who gave it to him before turning to face Meteora who stomp closer towards him, her clothes were in tatters but overall if she shrunk there were plenty of rags to cover her modesty.
"How the fuck are you alive Princess Marco…"
"Right back at you."
Marco threw a grenade and leapt to the side as the explosion sent the hybrid shuffling back her arms up to block the blast. He spied the stake, buried still.
Raiju!
I'm on it!
Marco made wide intricate hand motions, arcs raced around his fingers and arms before he step forward and pointed at the stake, forks of lightning shooting from his fingertips. Meteora reacted in a split second leaping into the air and the fork made a 90 degree turn for the hybrid surprising her.
Marco winced at Meteora screamed, the lightning connecting but the hybrid tore it off before she plummet into the ground in a hard crash. Marco took a step forward
He immediately leapt back when Meteora hopped on all fours and charged like a bull, Marco pulled out his long knife, she laughed with insanity at the sight, "SILLY PRINCESS!"
Marco's eyes darken and he knelt and touched the ground, Meteora jumped and he rolled the side, her eyes followed him and the flash bang he left at his wake. Meteora took a face full and fell to the ground, clawing her eyes, Marco rolled further away as the hybrid begun to flail as if to hit him.
Marco took his knife and began to carve glyphs and symbols on the ground quickly, Meteora came to her feet, hunched with one hand over her eyes and the other clawing side to side.
"WHERE ARE YOU!?"
Marco ignored her and slowly worked, trying to keep the scraping of his knife low but Meteora's heighten sense of hearing caught it, Marco stiffen before leaping away as Meteora jumped and tried to grab him.
"WHERE ARE YOUUUUU!"
Marco flinched when a gout of fire spilled out of Meteora's maw unexpectedly, he put his arms up as Ignis manifested and caught the blast sending him skidding as Ignis contained it, the hybrid licked her lips and blinked seeing something in front of her.
Smoking slightly, Marco grabbed one of his few grenades and tossed it as Ignis leapt back and hugged Marco seeping into him, Meteora sputtered and pointed a finger at the blurry image of the flame, "IS THAT—ARGHHH!"
The explosion propelled Meteora backwards but she muscled through it and came rampaging forward, her vision returning to her, "WHERE DID THAT FLAME GO?!"
Marco growled and slapped a hand on the ground, feeling Gnome seep back into him via his fingertips on the ground, Eclipsa halfway through the mantle with a dark magic shell protecting her, seeing the earthy snakes leave her.
Damnit, Eclipsa is free and will be coming back! You better subdue Meteora now!
With Automata resting, Undine + Seraph healing him, he just had a handful of Elementals to help him, that would be enough but they had stoppers to their powers to lend to him courtesy of Seraph. He flexed his concussive glove hands, feeling them pulse painfully despite the healing he was receiving and readied himself with the hybrid.
Marco brought his fist up in an uppercut motion, pillars of rock ascended to his command struck Meteora upwards before he leapt after her, she however had something else in mind and spewed fire, forcing Marco to use Slyph to blast himself back from the flames causing both of them to land.
"So…the princess can use elemental magic…where are you keeping the trinkets? Where are those knock off jars to hold the essence of that nature?"
[Ah, she's referring to those barbaric pseudo means to mimic our powers, indeed magicians can conjure up the elements to do their bidding but it is a shadow of our strength, a mockery even to us, Elementals. What we have is true power of the elements: because we ARE the ELEMENTS. And those feeble toys will never trump our birthright.]
Marco wagged a finger at Meteora, "Ah, ah, ah. Now, didn't your mother teach you not to spread fibs of others?"
"I never learned that because I was robbed of my family! My mother imprisoned! My father executed!"
Marco masked his surprise with Gnome racing over his body forming an earthy armor as Meteora let out a flamethrower blast, heating the stone before he moved himself feeling the added weight. Slyph danced around him and he moved more easily, he wasn't as fast but it would have to do.
Marco rammed into Meteora, hitting her with slabs of rock he called hands and sending some flying from around him. The hybrid had little problems parrying and outright dominating the flow of combat with Marco being so much slower and a bigger target.
She leapt over rocks and pillars and clawed and whip him with reckless abandon, Marco was hardly able to keep up and growing sluggish by the second.
Meteora managed to get behind him and punched him to the ground before hopping on his back, feeling the ground crack before she leapt into the air, clicking her heels in mockery before pelting straight down and crushing the earthy form.
She smiled victoriously and shove an arm into the crumbling mass, hoping to dig out a broken body.
All she got was a muddy solution.
"Mud?"
She stood up and looked around, the sword still shine in the distance along with the blurry forms of the dead monsters.
She was alone.
"He fled…coward." Meteora sneered before something exploded beneath her and the sound of rushing water. She made the big mistake of looking down and was introduced to a stony fist that most definitely broke her nose again.
Marco flailed in the air as Meteora tumbled backwards clutching her broken and bleeding nose, curled on the ground. Sylph caught him and put him down again,
"Oh sweet merciful fresh air!"
You do know I was supplying you with air right? You didn't need to hold your breath.
"Arrghh…" Meteora wheezed, Marco frowned at the sight, "Just to let you know, I'm not—OOF!"
Marco felt the wind knocked out of him as Meteora curled form suddenly explosively extended, kicking him back. He felt his broken ribs puncture his lungs and Undine screamed at him, why are you so damn soft and puny Marco!? Your muscles are just for show!
"Damnit…I can't…breathe…"
Meteora sat up, seeing the water rush to Marco from the hole he exploded out of and wrap around him, she watched him for a moment, deducing he had to have some sort of control over nature far beyond the usual gimmicky means. She got on fours before she shot at him, her nose slowly mending itself, her unique blood mixture had some surprising qualities, one was regeneration not on par with the Lizards but just enough to get back into fights.
Marco wheezed and touched the ground, Meteora narrowed her eyes as a massive rock face exploded in front of her, she leapt on it and it immediately grew retractable spikes forcing her to leap off. She tried to jump over it only to find it rise even higher and she snarled forcing her to claw the sheer rock before fleeing from the spikes. The hybrid landed on fours before running around the rock face only to find more of it rising to obscure the weaken Marco.
She roared, beating her chest before she shrunk back to her base form.
"YOU CAN'T HIDE FOREVER PRINCESS MARCO! MY MOTHER WILL BE BACK AND WE'LL HAVE YOUR PRETTY LITTLE HEAD!"
Marco grunted feeling the bones pulled out of his lungs and back into place, tears slid down his face as Undine + Seraph worked, the two muttering darkly.
Almost done…you big baby.
"Try being nearly killed!"
[…don't you dare say that, Marco.]
Marco breathed deeply, the other Elementals worried for him and the situation; he could feel the distress, "Once you bring down these walls Gnome I'm going to put the hurt on her like I did earlier this time I'm not going to stop. I'm going to need all of you and I'll have to alternate rapidly, I hope you all can keep up."
The elementals agreed, if not grimly.
Marco felt Undine and Seraph's reluctance but he pressed on, feeling himself be finally patched up, "Seraph, I know you've been very hands off…but I'm going to need more, a lot more power, I can't keep this up if everyone is only giving me 2%."
[…fine then. 3%]
"No. I need at least 25%, if Eclipsa shows up, 50%."
[With that much power, Marco, I don't have to worry about Eclipsa killing you: you will just drop dead with that much 'light' inside of you.]
[Then I'll just balance it with my 'darkness', sister.]
Marco waited for Seraph to give him more, Meteora fed up began to chuck rocks, cracking the walls.
The constant thuds made his ears ring.
Marco waited still even when pieces fell and he could see outside.
Meteora pulled a slab of rock the size of a van.
"That's a big rock."
[…fine. 10% everyone and Marco, just put her down already!]
Marco felt the Elementals channel their powers into him before he grinned, he inhaled before striking out his fists, sending the rock walls flying for the surprised Meteora. She threw the rock but it merely floated as her arms came forward, Marco made a claw hand gesture at the rock, Marco savagely smiled,
"My turn."
Meteora backstep as the rocks smashed into her before the rock she held fell on her, sinking her feet first until she was shoulder deep. Meteora head throbbed at the sudden impact, surprised it didn't smash her head open even as the rock was cleanly split in half. She let her blood run thick with monstrous intentions before the breaking free, taking her Monster Form once again, Marco smiled and bowed to her before taking up his 'sword hand dance' stance, the elements dancing around him.
Marco shot out like an arrow for the hybrid, despite the size difference the Dark Knight rained blows on her and Meteora found herself scurrying away from him.
Marco threw hard right jab forcing Meteora to step back but almost immediately with inhuman speed, Marco pivot with left foot and spun himself delivering a spinning high kick. The hybrid leaned back surprised at the follow-up however so focus on dodging the boot she failed to realize when a pillar of rock trailed behind the foot and sent her rolling instead. Meteora wiped the blood on her chin, I have to dodge not only his gimmicky fighting but the elements too?! Mother where are you?
Marco didn't let her rest and charged forward, completely on the offensive.
He came forward and threw out a punch knelling as he did so, Meteora readied for a slab of rock for the face but it was a feint, instead he collapsed to his left knee, delivering a low sweep kick, stumbling her. Marco recovered and leapt up and threw an uppercut, Meteora covered herself only to find she was lifted into the air by a gust of wind.
Marco rolled back into a kneeling position, hands touching the ground before he brought them up over his head into a clap, two slabs of rock hurled themselves to the floating Meteora. Nowhere to run, she breathed fire but it was useless, instead she braced herself as the rocks nearly crushed her stupid.
The gust let up and she fell to the ground, only to have Marco run forward and deliver alternating consecutive jump kicks, rocks flew to cover his fist and he punched her ribs with the right before a left straight and finishing with a flaming spinning back kick. Meteora crumpled at the devastating combo, seemingly juggled thanks to the wind keeping her aloft until it was over.
Marco frowned when Meteora pulled herself up however in a sluggish manner, he shifted his weight on one foot to the other before he step forward.
They hybrid wasted no time letting loose a stream of fire at him, he artfully sidestep, before jabbing and sending fireballs of his own at the hybrid. Meteora snarled and this time decided getting hit by the princess wouldn't be so wise anymore and leapt away from the flaming orbs. Marco stomped on the ground and a slab of rock shot into the air and he kicked it, or rather guided it with the kick as he never touched it and sent it pelting for Meteora.
She rolled to the side before realizing Marco was dashing forward, she inhaled and let out a bigger burst of flames, forcing Marco to stop and make wide flowing movements with his arms around him, water rush to his feet and he flung it through the flames and it struck her like a wave of bricks and dousing the flames.
He closed the distance and she made a swipe at him with her claws, he gracefully cartwheel to avoid it before closing the gap again. This time Meteora was ready, no longer underestimating his hand-to-hand prowess, sooner rather than later, he would strike her and she could tell it would be lethal no matter her heritage.
Marco got close, throwing a left and right stone fist jab at her, Meteora attempted to bear hug him, Marco let his right arm swing further back, his body following it before he delivered a right wheel kick.
"GRRRR!" Meteora threw her arm just in time to avoid getting hit in the face as Marco fell to the ground his kick not quite connecting. She roared in triumph seeing Marco's shocked face as she brought down her fist
only to be kicked in the face by an earthen Marco doing the exact same technique before crumbling away in a heap of dirt.
Marco leapt to his feet and continued his barrage of punches, kicks, elbows, knees and chops, Meteora spewed fire and raked him only to have her fire somehow shy away from the princess leaving him to only to dodge her massive claws.
Embolden with the elements, Marco intertwine his martials arts with slabs of rock, fireballs, jets of water and blast of air, surprising Meteora as he hammered away at her. And if it wasn't a face full of fire or rock slammed on her toes, it was Marcos made out of the elements performing follow-ups whenever his attacks didn't connect.
Meteora's vision filled with Marcos hitting her repeatedly with blistering combos, but her will was strong, the princess wouldn't do her in so easily.
Seeing the tired but iron resolve, Marco chambered his left leg before delivering two rapid high kicks before using his left for a back kick but the hybrid withstood it; a shadow ran underneath Meteora turning into a Sylph Marco and yanked her tail causing her to falter.
Taking the chance the Dark Knight threw a left roundhouse followed up with a hard jab but Meteora managed to back hand him away.
Sylph Marco snarled and slide kick Meteora before performing an improvised windmill, juggling the hybrid for a brief moment before delivering a kick and sent her flying. Sylph Marco picked up Marco, he looked at Meteora sluggishly pulling herself again before the whole place shook from a tremor, "Damnit, Eclipsa is nearly here…take this knife, and make the glyphs and symbols I was making, do it now or this place will get leveled when Eclipsa and I fight."
Sylph Marco looked at the knife before nodding and quickly raced around the two, making the inscriptions as fast as she could.
Marco ignored his throbbing welt on his torso, his bruised hands and feet, running for Meteora, dodging the tail as she spun her arms wide open, hoping to claw him. Marco looked for an opening, timing a punch into her side or belly but this just made Meteora spin even faster, he stepped back as the hybrid fell over dizzy and puking on the ground.
"Had enough?"
"…urk, never—!"
Marco leapt back as Meteora suddenly tried to bury her claws into his legs, she didn't relent and followed up with more swipes at him. Marco raised a rock pillar underneath Meteora to interrupt her rhythm before slide kicking her, Ignis Marco materialized at the same time delivering a fly kick above Marco.
Meteora anticipating the double managed to avoid Marco, clotheslining Ignis Marco. Meteora readied to breath fire on Marco before her tail was yanked by Undine Marco; the hybrid breathed fire on her instead and she screamed but still held on. Despite bubbling at the impressive heat, Undine Marco heroically pulled Meteora away from the two.
and into the waiting arms of Gnome Marco who delivered the unfinished suplex that she deserved.
"Marco I'm done!"
Slyph Marco joined Marco as Ignis Marco, Undine Marco and Gnome Marco stood around him, after all the beatings Marco unleashed on her, Meteora still managed to stand up holding her bodice, her eyes glaring hatefully at him, she barred her teeth and there were gaps in it.
"…you just don't when to quit, do you?"
"…like I…would ever…fall again…because of you, Princess Marco…and your pathetic doppelgangers…"
Marco looked at her before the elementals perked up as he began to channel their powers, "Are you sure? It will definitely kill her."
"I need to make sure Eclipsa is here in a particular moment or she'll just snatch her and run."
Undine looked livid for a second before she grabbed Marco's shoulder as did the other three, "You better know what you're doing, you promised me—" "I know, Undine…"
The ground began to rumble, stronger and stronger, rocks and pebbles began to tap rapidly, Meteora smiled sinisterly at Marco.
"You're going to die, Princess~"
Marco cupped his hands together, the elementals essences pouring into him, Seraph was indignant at what he was going to do, [Marco, don't...]
The elementals crumbled, vanished, splash and poof away as four glowing orbs floated in the cup hands before melding, Meteora's triumphant smile fell suddenly dreading what he was capable of, "Where did those—!"
FORCE OF NATURE!
Marco brought the cupped hands forward and a twisting stream came blasting out, he grunted and held his ground, Meteora spewed fire and it was easily severed. Meteora tried to limp away only to trip and skid on the hard ground, her eyes looked at it fearfully then to Marco's determine face,
…Mother.
"METEORA!"
A massive purple barrier exploded in front of Meteora and the twisting stream smashed into it, bending it nearly to breaking point. Marco grunted as the stream detonated and the following explosion sent him flying, the purple barrier crumbled away as Meteora was protectively hidden by Eclipsa, covered in head to toe in earth, a hole nearby.
Marco shook his head and stood up, Eclipsa wasted no time and flung a dark bolt at him, he held out a hand and the Traitor's Sword filled it and he smashed the dark bolt apart. Eclipsa's spades glowed a violent red, dark magic bolts raced around her fingertips; Marco held the sword in front of him, ready to deal with the queen.
"You're not getting away."
"You're right, I'm not. Not without you two."
Marco thrust the sword downwards.
Eclipsa and Meteora looked around startled, all around them were glowing glyphs made by Slyph earlier at Marco's behest. The queen readied to strike Marco down when suddenly a flash of light obscured everything in her vision.
Eclipsa blinked rapidly, the spots disappearing before she and Meteora looked around, the night sky was sprinkled with constellations she didn't recognize and the land different from Mewni. She looked across to see Marco still there, his hand on the Traitor's Sword,
"Moving us to another dimension, Marco? Afraid to die on Mewni?" Eclipsa sneered; Marco merely shook his head smiling.
"I don't want to level the entirety of Mewni by accident if I can help it." Marco casually pulled the sword out before dusting it, "And besides this dimension…this planet…is free of any occupancy, we can fight to our fullest here."
Without warning the ground around Marco began to crumble and something pulled itself out of it, Eclipsa narrowed her eyes at it, Meteora stared in horror.
A proud black suit of armor stood behind Marco, it bowed before it peeled open and slowly encased Marco until only his head was still free, "Now…I will bring all I have to bear, Eclipsa."
"…hmph, do your worst, Dark Knight."
And the helm fell over his face.
And Marco was no more.
XxXxXxXxX
Ah, so much action in so little time. Gotta say, with what I'm hearing about the Season 3B it is definitely not a godsend to be honest, it sounds like they just overly complicate things. I hear Star is seemingly a 'nobody' and 'not a princess' but hol' up gurl, your father is a legitimate royal prince: SOOO YOU ARE STILL A PRINCESS ON YOUR FATHER'S SIDE.
Gosh, is Star having yet another identity crisis? Mewni crisis...hmmm. Meh, just coincidence.
What I am saying though is that being royalty doesn't mean just living the good life at birth, the term and concept of royalty is really skewed nowadays. I'll touch up on that later.
Pourquoi...okay, let's leave that off for now, my knowledge has gaps since I'm not watching Season 3B juuust yet so maybe I'm missing something here.
So back to the fanfic, yes, Marco is done with Meteora and now it's Eclipsa's turn. If things escalated with the hybrid, just wait till Eclipsa decides to play sandbox with Marco. As of right now Marco only has his Traitor's Sword and concussive gloves left on him. And he is hoodie-less, deja vu if I ever seen one.
Alright, let's get some things out of the way:
The reason why Marco didn't just whack Eclipsa and Meteora off the bat is the fact Marco was trying to reason/negotiate with them even after they let loose a monster mob on him. Normally, yeah that's the end of the talking but Marco has been in hostile talks before so this isn't something new to him. It is only when Meteora personally wipes the floor with him that he sees there will be no talking until he beats them into commission. Sad.
I can already sense the 'but this', 'the chapter before', 'but then', I get it. This is a flashback chapter, so what you know up to now isn't relevant. Yet. It will mesh with the chapters that came before it, even if a bit messy.
As of the elements revealed:
Ignis [Fire]
Undine [Water]
Slyph [Air]
Gnome [Earth]
Seraph [Light]
Hallow [Darkness]
Raiju [Lightning]
Automata [Metal]
Yeah, Marco has a lot more Elementals yet to debut and I'm sure you can guess what other Elementals Marco could have, but I'll leave that for your imagination. Have fun guessing! I'll give you a shoutout whoever guessed who correctly.
And finally, looking back at my drafts and the speed of my updates, I can't help but feel held back, I have so much interesting plot lines to reveal but with days passing me by, the series will definitely overtake me. MRAY pointed out my Scribes mirrors the 'Archives' in the series too well. Dunno about that so I guess I'll just have to fire back a lot sooner that I should, even if it means getting a little spoilery.
So here goes: I can't wait to debut an Original Character: DARCY. She appears down the line in my fanfic, she's going to be a literal hoot to write. And a fun little tidbit: Daron + Nefcy = Darcy [just a fun little easter egg ]
The story continues in the next chapter: I am Eclipsa…the Moon transformed
tu ne me reconnaiss pas?
I AM NRG
END OF TRANSMISSION