Chapter 14

Return to Mewni Part 2

The next day, Molly and her friends were finally able to escape from the Forest of Certain Death as they began their march to Butterfly Castle. As they made their way to the center of the kingdom, they all looked up at the castle.

"Okay, everyone! Ludo should be in the castle right now, no doubt ordering the Heartless around!" Star explained, pointing to her castle. "The plan is to charge in, force Ludo to tell us what he has done to my parents, and beat him up and kick him out of the kingdom."

"Remember, Star. Ludo isn't our only enemy. He is still being manipulated by Toffee." Marco reminded.

"Right! We beat up Toffee as well!" Star nodded her head in agreement before bringing her attention back to the castle. "Well, we aren't going to save Mewni just from standing here. Let's go!"

Before anyone could take a step forward, they were suddenly surrounded by wizard Heartless. They all pointed their wands at Molly and the others, who got ready to fight back.

"Looks like they won't let us get in the castle so easily." Xehanort said, summoning his keyblade.

Libby summoned her keyblade as well before taking notice of the countless Heartless surrounding her and her friends. "Oh boy. I wasn't expecting to fight so many of them."

"We can do it, Libby! We have to do this for Star and the rest of Mewni." Molly pointed out.

As the Heartless got ready to cast spells, Molly and her friends charged forward to fight back. Star dodged all of the spells fired at her before countering with spells of her own while Marco helped her out by punching and kicking as many Heartless as possible. Meanwhile, Molly, Libby, and Xehanort were working together, taking turns hitting the Heartless with their keyblades.

After defeating several Heartless, Molly and her friends were able to see a clear path to the castle. Unfortunately, the remaining Heartless wouldn't let up as they started to fight back with more powerful spells. At that moment, Molly and Libby stood by Star's side, deflecting more spells.

"We're almost there, Star! It's just a little further!" Molly encouraged.

"You go on without us! Xehanort and I can handle things here!" Marco said, hitting a wizard Heartless with a karate chop.

"But, Marco." Libby tried to talk Marco out of it.

"Don't worry! I know Marco! He can handle it!" Star assured before running into her castle, to which Molly and Libby followed her.

Once Molly, Libby, and Star left, Marco and Xehanort stood side by side, surrounded by more Heartless. Despite that, they were both ready for anything.

"Still think you can handle them?" Xehanort asked Marco.

"You just worry about yourself! I'm used to fighting monsters with Star!" Marco replied, raising his arms up in defense.

While Marco and Xehanort were fighting the Heartless, Molly, Libby, and Star explored the castle, sneaking past the various Heartless guarding the hallways. It wasn't long before they found Ludo, who was unaware of the intruders in the castle. He walked through the halls with his bird and spider minions following close behind him.

Seeing their chance, Molly and her friends followed Ludo throughout the castle. Before long, Ludo stepped into an elevator, unaware that Molly, Libby, and Star snuck on the elevator shaft. Taking Ludo by surprise, Molly and her friends tackled him before throwing him out the elevator. After getting over his surprise, Ludo got up from the floor, shocked to see Molly and the others, each of them aiming their weapons at him.

"Star Butterfly?" Ludo said, getting over his momentary confusion.

"Where are my parents?" Star demanded, running straight at him.

Thinking fast, Ludo jumped out of the way, and started to blast the three friends with his magic. Star dodged the blasts of magic while Molly and Libby blocked them with their keyblades. They were all about to clash with one another, but before the fight could continue, Ludo suddenly stopped before taking a glance at his now glowing wand hand.

"Right now? But it's not a good time." Ludo suddenly spoke to his hand, weirding out Molly and the others.

"Are you okay?" Molly raised a confused eyebrow.

"Yeah, you're talking to your hand, dude." Star added.

"It's kind of weird." Libby explained.

"Hold on, I have to take this." Ludo explained before walking away, speaking into his hand, as if it was a phone.

Before Molly, Libby, and Star could process what was going on, they were suddenly taken off guard by Spider, who charged at them, tying them all up in its webbing. Surprised by this, Molly and the others struggled to escape from their web cocoons, but to no avail. It was at that moment when Ludo returned as he hung up his "phone."

"Okay, so my hand said I can't destroy you three, so I'll have to throw you in the dungeon." Ludo announced.

At that moment, Star turned her head towards Ludo in a glare. "For the last time, where are my parents?! What did you do to my dad?!"

"Oh, them? Well, I defeated your father! I levitatoed him out of the kingdom! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to do the same for your mother. She got away, but if she ever comes back, I'll do the same thing to her that I did to your father! Now that I am king, your kingdom belongs to me, Star Butterfly, and there is nothing you, Molly, or Libby can do to stop me!" Ludo gloated.

"You don't know, do you? You're being controlled, Ludo!" Star pointed out.

"Star is right. You are currently being controlled by Toffee." Libby explained.

"What?" Ludo stared at Libby, confused. "No, Toffee is dead, remember?"

"Ludo, please listen." Molly tried to reason with Ludo. "Toffee is still controlling you in spirit. If you keep letting him manipulate you, you would lose what little light you have in your heart and fall into darkness. Is that what you want?"

At that moment, Ludo paused as he took Molly's words into consideration. He looked as though he was truly frightened by what might be happening to him. Just like that, his worried look reverted back to a glare.

"I don't have time for this. Bird! Spider! Take them away!" Ludo ordered his minions.

With that, Bird carried Star in her talons while Spider used her webbing to drag Molly and Libby across the floor.

As they were sent to the dungeon, Molly, Libby, and Star all had their hands shackled to the wall. Despite their best efforts to free themselves, they all knew that they wouldn't escape anytime soon.

"Well, that could have gone better." Molly let out a defeated sigh. "What are we going to do now?"

"I'm still thinking about that, Molly. Maybe we can escape if we-"

Suddenly, Libby interrupted Star before she could say another word. "Wait. Sorry to interrupt, Star, but do you hear footsteps as well?"

It turned out that Libby was right as Molly and Star can hear footsteps heading towards the direction of the dungeon they were held captive in. The door suddenly opened, and the group of friends braced themselves, expecting to see Heartless. Instead, they were relieved to find out that it was Marco and Xehanort.

"Marco!" Star exclaimed, happy to see her friend.

"Hang on Star! We're going to get you down!" Marco assured.

At that moment, Marco worked to free Star from her shackles while Xehanort freed Molly and Libby with his keyblade. Once Star was free, Marco was taken by surprise when Star embraced him in a tight hug.

"Star, your horns. They're poking me." Marco said as the horns of Star's headband were poking his chin.

"Take them off." Star smiled, not letting go of Marco.

That was when Marco took off Star's headband before hugging her back with a smile.

"Aww!" Molly and Libby awed in unison at Star and Marco's adorable moment.

With a couple of blushes, Star and Marco immediately let go as they both shyly looked away from each other.

"I hate to interrupt this heartwarming moment, but we still need to save your kingdom, right?" Xehanort reminded Star.

"Xehanort is right. How are we going to stop Ludo?" Molly asked.

"Well, we tried reasoning with him, but he still wouldn't listen to us. I'd say we defeat his bird and spider, before sneaking up on him this time! Ludo won't know what hit him!" Star said with a confident grin.

The moment Star got done telling her plan, the door to the dungeon opened before Ludo stepped in. "Star, I've been thinking and-" Ludo paused when he realized that Molly and the others were free. With a glare, Ludo yelled. "Heartless, restrain them!"

At Ludo's command, the Heartless began to surround everyone, forcing them to surrender. Libby was once again shackled to the wall, along with Marco and Xehanort.

"Not those two!" Ludo suddenly pointed to Star and Molly. "You two are coming with me!"

Without giving Molly and Star a chance to respond, Ludo picked them up with his levitato spell before dragging them with him out the dungeon. All Libby could do was watch helplessly as Molly was dragged away, causing her to struggle against her shackles even more, desperate to save her girlfriend.

A few minutes went by before Ludo took Molly and Star to the castle's balcony. Once they were alone, Ludo let them go so he could speak with them.

"Alright, Ludo! What are you going to do now? Levitaito us again?" Star retorted, mispronouncing the spell.

"No, I need your help. You said something earlier about my W-O-N-D." Ludo gestured towards his wand hand before turning to Molly. "And I've been thinking about what you said about me falling into darkness."

"You're scared, aren't you?" Molly asked. "Star and I can help you."

As much as Ludo hated to admit it, he didn't want to risk being controlled by Toffee if he really was still alive. "You're probably right I've been talking to my own hand. It keeps me up all night and I can't sleep or think!"

Despite all that Ludo has done to Mewni, Molly couldn't help but feel bad for him as she couldn't imagine what he was going through. "Star, is there a way to free Ludo from Toffee's corruption?"

"I don't know. I'm sure we can think of something. The last time we defeated Toffee, I-" Star suddenly stayed silent when she thought of an idea. "Ludo, I think I know how to free you of Toffee's corruption."

"And then I can go back to being a beloved monarch?" Ludo asked.

Star darted her eyes to the side. "Uh, yeah." Star soon turned to Molly before she whispered, "Molly, I think I know how to stop Toffee, but you have to leave."

Molly shook her head. "No, Star. I'm going to help you no matter-" Molly was soon interrupted when Star pushed her back with her magic and put up a barrier so Molly couldn't stop whatever she was planning. "Star, what are you doing?"

"Just go! Libby needs you!"

Without another word, Star brought her attention back to Ludo as Molly tried to get through the barrier. Deciding to put his trust in Star, Ludo held out his wand hand. Star soon kneeled down to Ludo's level and performed the whispering spell on Ludo's hand, just like she did for her wand. As Star whispered into the wand, the green star turned darker as it was slowly losing its power.

Back in the dungeon, Libby continued her futile struggles, desperate to save Molly. She could only imagine what Ludo was doing to Molly right now.

"Ugh! Come on!" Libby pulled against her shackles in desperation. "I have to get out of here! Molly needs me!"

"Libby, calm down!" Marco said. "I'm sure that Molly is fine!"

"But-"

Xehanort spoke up before Libby could say another word. "You need to calm down. How would you expect to save Molly if you keep panicking?"

With a sigh, Libby gazed down in defeat. She knew that Xehanort was right. If she was going to save Molly, she would have to stay calm and think of a plan. Libby was suddenly startled out of her thoughts when the door was knocked down before Buff Frog stepped into the dungeon.

"Yvgeny?!" Libby had no idea how Buff Frog got here, but she was glad to see him.

"And!" Buff Frog smiled before stepping to the side to reveal Queen Moon.

"Queen Moon?!" Marco was surprised to see that Moon was willing to work with a monster.

Both, Moon and Buff Frog rushed forward to free Libby, Marco, and Xehanort from their shackles.

"Where's Star?" Moon asked, worried for her daughter.

"Ludo took her." Marco answered.

"He has Molly too." Libby added. "We have to find them before something terrible happens."

With that, everyone rushed outside, where Buff Frog grabbed everyone in his arms and hopped from balcony to balcony. It wasn't long before everyone found themselves on a balcony high above the ground. Here, they were able to see Molly, Star, and Ludo on a balcony across from them as Molly just slashed through the barrier with her keyblade. Once she finished the whispering spell, Star, along with Molly turned to the side, taking notice of their friends.

"Hi, Mommy. Hi, Marco." Star waved with an awkward smile.

"Hi, Libby." Molly waved, feeling just as nervous as Star.

Upon noticing the black star on Ludo's hand, Moon realized what Star just did.

"Th-The whispering spell." Moon gazed at the wand in shock, knowing exactly what is going to happen next. "No, Star! You- You get away! You run away from there!"

"It's too late, Mom." Star replied.

"So, does that mean that everything is back to normal?" Ludo smiled, happy to no longer be corrupted.

"It's not over yet." Star explained.

Molly raised a confused eyebrow. "Star, what are you talking about." Molly soon paused before remembering what happened the last time Star used the whispering spell at Ludo's castle. "Oh no."

A green beam of energy soon fired from Ludo's wand, much to his shock. The energy from the beam continued to grow until it caused an explosion. The explosion was so powerful, it ended up destroying the tower that Molly, Star, and Ludo were on.

"Molly!" Libby reached her arm out in horror, her eyes welling up with tears.

After getting over their shock, everyone rushed down to where the tower once was. As she rushed to the ruins, Libby started to panic more and more. Despite the explosion that just occurred, Libby didn't want to accept the fact that Molly could be dead. She just had to be alive!

Before long, everyone approached the crater where the castle once was. Unfortunately, none of them were able to find Molly or Star anywhere. Instead, all they found was Ludo's unconscious body.