Episode:
19: The Great Monsoon, Part 1

Adam and River battle their way through the war-torn streets of the Cloud Kingdom with hopes of getting to the castle. First, they must devise a strategy to defeat the first wave of the Empire's forces.

After a hasty warning to Janna to go home, Adam rushed to the war council room in the Butterfly Castle. He pushed open the doors in an instant, prompting all the nobles and knights in the room to look up at him. Moon, Omnitraxus and River were all present, gathered around a war table containing a map of Mewni on top of it.

'The Cloud Kingdom…the Empire's attacking them!'

'We know,' replied Moon, side-eyeing him with discontent. Adam hurried over to the side of the table.

'We've gotta act fast!' He looked down at the table. Four blocks of wood, which he presumed represented the Empire, were placed around the Cloud Kingdom. 'We can't just sit here and watch the Cloud Kingdom get pulverised! They won't last long without us!'

'I much agree,' said Moon. 'That's why I'm sending you to the Cloud Kingdom along with Omnitraxus and River.'

'Oh, finally!' he rejoiced sarcastically. 'A good decision!'

'Now is not the time for this, Adam.' She cleared her throat. 'I've already sent one troop of Butterfly Knights, but our forces are stretched thin defending our resources. Hekapoo is off in her dimension safeguarding the Web of Creation and its dimensional matrices, and Rhombulus is in the Crystal Dimension to prevent the Empire from breaching it. And, obviously, I have to stay here to direct our forces.'

'And my precious Star is laden up in the infirmary recovering from that fight!' cried River. 'A battle that I did not get to participate in!'

'Yeah, and Marco refuses to leave her side.' Adam sighed. 'I get it. I'm all you've got. But that doesn't mean I trust you, Moon.'

'You don't have to,' she replied. 'But our interests align. We are still allies.'

Adam looked away. He knew she was right, knew there was no point in continuing his grievances with Moon whilst a war was going on. If anything, that would be precisely what the Dark Butterflies wanted: to sew doubt and instigate discord amongst their enemy, to splinter them and to make fighting them far, far easier. He didn't have to trust her. He trusted Star.

'Okay,' said the teenager. 'I'll do it.'

Moon smiled. 'Good. Now…you can't exactly go into a warzone wearing just overalls. Go get yourself ready.'

Adam nodded and walked away. Omnitraxus and River followed him. Moon watched him leave with great remorse.

I'm sorry, Adam, I made a mistake…but I have to keep moving. I can't simply mull in sadness over my failures.

Adam adjusted the shoulder plates and fitted it into place. Using armour always felt so uncomfortable and strange, but it was better than nothing. His plain purple tunic and black combat trousers didn't exactly do much against swords or stray arrows. The armour that Moon had provided him with actually had minor magic-resistant properties, which would certainly help should he ever encounter any of the Dark Magic High Commission. Or Dark Tom…that guy's skinny figure belied his toughness to an absurd degree.

'It's been too long since I've fought in a proper war!'

Adam turned to his side. River was next to him, fitting his armour into place. Of course, a servant had offered to do it for him, but he respectfully declined. He wanted to do it himself, which he could certainly respect.

'There is nothing nobler than saving our Pony Head brothers from certain doom!'

'Yeah, definitely,' he agreed. 'Try not to get too caught up in the heat of battle. Remember that we're focussing more on saving lives here, not ending them.'

'Fear not, child!' River exclaimed, as he slipped on his metal gauntlets. 'I may be a soldier, but I am also a king. I know my priorities.'

'Thank you.' Adam slotted his uncomfortable armour into place, strapping the chest piece around his torso with leather buckles. He conjured a mirror to look at himself with. 'Ugh. I look like an idiot.'

'An idiot with protection,' argued River, smirking. 'You won't be complaining when it blocks a killing blow!'

'We will all need to be careful,' Omnitraxus advised, appearing next to them. His interpretation of armour was limited to a pair of (admittedly beefy) metal arm bands. 'We do not know much of the Empire and its tactics.'

'Speak for yourself,' scoffed Adam. 'Still…you're right. We have to be careful. Even I don't know everything the Empire is capable of.'

He raised an arm. A large golden portal appeared in front of them. The sound of swords clinking and people screaming echoed through it. The yellow light drained and pulsed. His eyes widened.

The portal began to flicker uncontrollably.

Adam almost gasped. 'Something's wrong. Come on!'

He ran abruptly through the portal. River and Omnitraxus followed after them, a curiously concerned look on their faces.

Indeed, the very moment they passed through the portal, it shut instantly. Adam didn't have time to contemplate how much of the portal was out of control, for it was an absolute warzone.

They arrived in the war-torn streets of the Cloud Kingdom. Not the castle, as Adam intended, and it was in fact a great distance from it. A mortar shell exploded in his face a mere few metres away from him, causing him to stumble. He instinctively ducked, as a series of arrows shot overhead. He nearly froze at the constant cascade of explosions, until a heavy weight hit him on his side.

Adam was tackled to the ground, just as a cannon bolt nearly struck him in the face. He found himself on the sidelines, pushed against a barricade inside an abandoned shop.

'Pull yourself together!'

He blinked. River was kneeling in front of him, his hands around his shoulders. Omnitraxus was behind him.

'R-Right!' he quivered. 'Something…something's screwing with my powers.' He blinked, as the memory of the intermultiversal portal outside the Cloud Kingdom flashed through his mind. 'The portal! It's stable enough to allow anything through…even magic. It's the Restriction Field from Negative Mewni! It must've leaked through the portal just slightly…enough to weaken my Dimensional magic. We won't be able to get to the Cloud Castle unless we're on f–'

A loud shunt of air cut him off. He looked down at the street nearby. A stray mortar shell landed in front of them.

His eyes widened. He had little time to react before it exploded in his face, but he created a forcefield to block it. The eruption instantly shattered it, but it absorbed the brunt of the blow. Adam and River were sent flying back into the wall, but they avoided hitting it.

Adam groaned and sat up. He was being held in the enlarged hand of Omnitraxus Prime, next to River.

'Thanks, Omni,' he said, rolling out of his hand.

'We need to get moving,' River advised, getting out of Omni's hand, and patting himself down. 'I saw a military outpost not far in the distance. It seems the Cloud Knights have set up a blockade to hold off the Empire's knights.'

Adam nodded. 'Omnitraxus. I need you to make your way to the castle. That's easier for you to do than us. Tell the king and queen about us. We'll head to that outpost and help them hold off the Empire's initial forces.'

'Understood!' he replied, turning into his floating skull head form. He then flew off towards the castle, effortlessly dodging the battle fire.

'What's your plan, kid?' asked River. The warlock frowned in surprise. He hadn't expected River to ask him for a plan, but being the control freak he was, he wasn't really complaining.

'Well…it looks like the Empire's coming from all sides,' Adam replied, rubbing his chin in thought. 'We'll have to find some way to get through. Don't we have enough firepower to just, I dunno…brute force our way through?'

'You think you can walk your way through a warzone?' he chided, raising his eyebrows incredulously. 'HAHAHA! You are quite the court jester, Adam!'

He rolled his eyes. 'Okay, so what's your plan?'

River immediately stopped laughing and said, 'We must avoid the mortars and the soldiers advancing on the outpost. A diversion would be most effective.'

'And how are we gonna do that? I'm not gonna blow up half the city just to distract everyone.'

'Hardly!' he exclaimed. 'Moon tells me you've become quite proficient with illusions, hm? Perhaps if you were to create an illusion, maybe of our Butterfly Knights coming towards them, we could make a run for the blockade.'

'Maybe…' the Mewman said, furrowing his brow in thought. 'But an illusion that big, while I'm distracted? I'd need the Seal of Arybailos for sure, so…I wouldn't be able to keep it up for long.'

River put a hand on her shoulder. 'Be brave, Adam. I have complete confidence in you.'

Adam smiled back. 'Thanks, River.' He took a deep breath. 'Okay…I pledge my soul to the throes of magic, to enhance our power now automatic. I prepare myself to become a ghost; grant me strength: the Seal of Arybailos!'

As his mastery over the spell increased, he noticed the speed in which he could activate the spell had also increased. The seal appeared on his brow instantly, its power bequeathed to him the second he finished the spell.

Adam threw out his hands. Glowing orange stars appeared on his palms, as he released a transparent wave of energy.

The Dark Butterfly Knights fighting their way through the streets momentarily ceased. The loud noise of galloping on the horizons caught their attention immediately. Indeed, a whole platoon of Butterfly Kingdom Knights appeared on the horizons, charging on their magnificent Warnicorns with spears and swords in hand. They somehow avoided the arrows being fired at them; they could only assume that they dodged them faster than the eye could see.

'The illusion's holding!' Adam declared, as he and River ran past the illusory Butterfly Knights, avoiding the arrows that slipped through the mirage. They dashed through the street, praying that the soldiers at the outpost would recognise River and not immediately open fire on them.

Unfortunately, they still did. Adam produced a wide purple forcefield in front of them as they ran. His fingers trembled and he felt like he was going to vomit. Casting a powerful illusion, generating a forcefield, all while under the effects of the Seal of Arybailos was rapidly catching up to him.

His foot struck a piece of rock. The forcefield went down. Adam yelped in shock as he almost stumbled over, until River caught him.

'You're not giving up just yet!' he cried, holding up his shield to protect them. River dragged him past the blockade, just as the illusion fell behind him.

Adam slipped from his grasp and fell to his knees, before vomiting onto the ground. The Seal of Arybailos dissipated from him, slightly alleviating his nausea now that his soul was returned to him.

River looked around disconcertedly as a group of Cloud Knights surrounded them. He held his hands up.

'Stay where you are!'

'At ease,' River uttered. 'I am King River Butterfly of the Butterfly Kingdom. I am here with our Royal Magic Ambassador, Adam Butterfly, to help with the current conflict.'

'We're gonna need some proof!' said one of the soldiers.

'Put your weapons down, gentlemen.'

The soldiers did as they were commanded, putting away their muskets and swords as they turned to look at their commander. A Pony Head appeared from the crowd. Unlike most Pony Heads, she actually had a body, although it was stitched onto her head. She had pale turquoise skin and mint green hair to match; however, her body was light brown with a blonde tail. A jagged line ran around her neck where her head was surgically (or perhaps magically?) connected to her body.

She smiled. 'I know River Butterfly when I see him.'

'Chezna Pony Head!' [44] River exclaimed, beaming. 'Why, I haven't seen you since that business with the Acolytes of Azaroth! How have you been?'

'Quite well, River,' she replied, shaking his hand with her hoof. 'You'll have to forgive the lack of a warm welcome. We were warned that the invaders were from a parallel multiverse, and therefore could look almost identical to people that we would call our allies.'

'Worry not,' he reassured. 'I totally understand.'

She looked down in bewilderment at Adam kneeling on the ground. 'Does your friend need some help?'

'Oh! Right.' He helped Adam to his feet.

'Um…sorry about the mess,' Adam apologised, scratching his scalp abashedly. He transfigured the vomit into glitter with a wave of his hand, much to the wonder of the knights around him. 'I'm…I'm Adam.' He still held his stomach, feeling a hint of nausea lingering within.

Chezna raised an eyebrow. 'Adam Butterfly?' He reluctantly nodded. 'I've heard many stories about you. Nice to finally meet the Royal Magic Ambassador in the flesh.'

'Uh…thanks.'

'Please, come with me,' Chezna said, directing them to the small outpost beside her. 'We must discuss strategies to ward off this attack.'

Adam nodded. He and River followed her inside the building. Despite its small size, it was highly reinforced against damage. Its tiny slits for windows were covered with bulletproof glass, and the walls were soundproofed. The noise of gunfire and explosions outside were almost entirely nullified, sounding like nothing more than a light bump against stronger stone. A table in the centre of the room displayed the entire layout of the Cloud Kingdom, with the Cloud Castle at the very centre.

'The Butterfly Empire is attacking from both the east and west side of the city,' the Pony Head elaborated, pointing at the relevant locations on the map. 'I can only presume they wish to flank us. Their mortars and mystic bombs have been attempting to blast through our blockades to lay waste to the castle. Our forcefields have been holding them off, but I doubt they will remain standing forever.'

'I don't get it,' said Adam, shaking his head. 'Why would the Empire attack the Cloud Kingdom first? Surely, the Butterfly Kingdom would be their main target?' He frowned at the ground. 'The city must have some sort of…strategic value, either to us or to them. Something we aren't aware of.'

'I am not so sure,' Chezna admitted. 'But what I do know is that it is imperative that we fight off this first wave, before we try to figure out what the Empire actually wants.'

'Perhaps we should let them through?' River suggested. 'We could ambush them.'

Chezna stared at him with abject incredulity. 'You must be experiencing a severe lapse in your judgement to believe –'

'Actually, River might have a point,' interjected Adam. 'If we could lure all their soldiers into one area, we could take care of them quite easily. My Dimensional magic…I could trap them in a dead dimension.'

'Would that be possible, with this "Restriction Field" interfering with your powers?' River questioned, pursing his lips.

'Not sure,' he confessed. 'But war isn't without risk. Besides, with the portal closed, maybe the Field's fallen to background levels.'

'Your magic seems to be our ace-in-the-hole,' Chezna admitted. 'It would be foolish not to use it.'

'Then I take it you agree to the plan?' said River.

'Somehow, yes.' She turned to leave. 'I must inform the soldiers at the eastern blockade about the plan. They must let the Empire knights through. If we meet them halfway, however, it will be dangerously close to the castle. I would hope, for all our sakes, this plan is successful.'

Adam gulped silently.

'No pressure.'

All remained ephemerally tranquil in this part of the city. The booms of the mortars against the forcefield, the crack of thunder in the storm clouds hanging over the city, the bang of muskets firing, it was all muffled over vast distances and reduced to absentminded echoes. Rain trickled down from the sky, delicately pattering against the roof tiles and sliding down the edges. Droplets of water dripped onto the ground with a concordant, but quiet, rhythm, forming discrete puddles on the aged stone streets below.

The Cloud Kingdom's architecture was far more advanced than Adam had expected; the people here lived in stone apartment complexes with windows covered by blinds, and the walls were reinforced more than he had expected. The city's outward appearance additionally belied how technologically advanced it was. They had managed to combine magic with technology to create arcane circuitry, like the forcefield generator encompassing the castle, as well as the larger one surrounding the entire city.

In one of the since-abandoned apartment buildings opposite the castle, propped against a wall, were Adam and River, lying in wait for the Empire's army to arrive. Having recovered from his bout of nausea, Adam placed several Restoration and Illusion wards around the building to avoid being compromised. From the outside, the building appeared entirely derelict, but the inside showed it was simply abandoned, whilst the Restoration spells coerced the perception of those who looked upon it to be convinced it was entirely innocuous.

River rested his blade down at this side, leaning against the back wall.

'This plan is innately highly risky.'

'It's a risk we have to take, River. Without it, we're dead for sure. It'd only be a matter of time.' Adam drew the blinds apart with his fingers. The street was still empty. 'Do you think this is all the Empire has to throw at us? This is probably just the initial invasion force…to learn our tactics and defences. If we can trap these guys in another dimension, they won't be able to report that stuff back to the Empire.'

'You are no soldier, Adam. Consider what we are about to do: we are putting thousands of lives at risk.'

'This was your idea!' snapped Adam. 'There isn't another option. How can you be a warrior-king if you can't accept there will be casualties of war?'

River looked away, trying to hide the hurt look on his face. An awkward silence fell between them. Rain tapping against the tiled roofs outside was the only source of noise that remained to fill the room. As Adam waited keenly for any sign of movement in the courtyard below, River finally spoke up.

'Will you be there?'

Adam frowned and glanced over at him. 'What do you mean?'

River looked up at him. A tear was stuck in his eye. 'For their funerals. Will you go to their funerals?'

'Uh…well, I'd try. But this war…might make things difficult.'

River stood up and bounded over to him. Despite his smaller stature, Adam still found himself stumbling back in intimidation. He prodded him in the centre of the chest.

'When you have to look their children in the eye and tell them their parents won't be coming home, THEN you can tell me they are simply "casualties of war"!'

Adam sighed guiltily, returning to his post, staring out through blinds of the window. He nearly choked on the thin air around him.

'The Empire is approaching!' he whispered to him. 'Get ready to cover me!'

River nodded, picking up his sword.

Adam waited for the precise moment the Empire would blast their way through the final blockade and enter the castle courtyard. He had seen them in the distance, but they quickly disappeared from sight. Any second now. Just one more moment to wait. Maybe there was a delay? Or maybe –

KABOOM!

The east and west sides of the courtyard suffered compound explosions. The barricades at the edges of the streets exploded instantly, sending debris flying in all directions. Indeed, two troops of Dark Butterfly Knights marched into the courtyard, holding their bows, muskets, swords, and other magical weaponry. Adam clenched his teeth at the sight of them.

He waited for just the right moment. When all the knights had gathered in the centre, looking rather confused as to how they had encountered one another, Adam finally took the opportunity to strike.

'They're here.' He pressed his hands against the wall in front of him. 'Let's do this!'

Instantly, all the walls of the room around him froze over with a thick sheet of ice. With a flare of his fingers, the whole thing shattered into massive ice chunks. Raising his arms and casting them aside, Adam sent gigantic shards of non-melting ice to the entrances that the enemy knights had blasted through, as well as all other exits to the courtyard. No escape now.

With their location revealed, Adam and River jumped down to the courtyard below. He clasped his hands together.

A wide ruby forcefield cube spawned around them, taking up the whole centre of the courtyard. It was the largest Barrier Force spell that Adam had ever produced. As predictable as a murdercrow to a flame, the Dark Butterfly Knights unleashed their weaponry against the insides of the cube. The forcefield absorbed the blows with ease, without a hint of weakness or frailty. In fact, the noises from their efforts were not even audible from the outside, although the prisoners could certainly hear everything on the outside of the cube.

'Don't bother!' Adam declared, catching their attention. 'That forcefield is a thousand times more powerful than anything you've got in your arsenal. You're not getting out of that.'

River looked at him curiously. 'Is it really that strong?'

'Nope,' he muttered back. 'Doubt any of them are gonna call my bluff, though.' He took a deep breath. 'Okay. I gotta open quite a few portals here. Would be quite easy if I didn't have to focus on this spell, too.'

'Do it,' River said. 'I have your back.'

Adam nodded, squeezing his eyes shut. His mind flashed back to that time, so long ago, when he created so many portals in such short proximity that he lost control of them and accidentally opened an intermultiversal portal. Adam perished the thought. He had grown since then. He would not make such a costly error ever again.

He let out one lone breath before his eyes snapped open. Adam threw his arms forward and opened his palms. His cheek marks lit up, and his eyes turned scorching white.

Immediately, dozens of golden portals opened up from within the cube. Adam's eyes brightened, and the portals inexplicably developed a suction force from within their event horizons. The Dark Knights were unable to stop it as they were forcefully pulled into the portals, drawn into a dead dimension. Adam had to keep constantly switching their destinations just to prevent the knights from escaping. All four hundred of them were being pulled into the portals.

Frankly, focussing on so many things at the same time was not easy for him. Spending the entire day expending his entire efforts, draining his mana so consistently, was causing a rapid strain on his body.

Adam coughed when he felt his airway being blocked. Blood spat out of his mouth. He hastily wiped it away.

The portals began to fluctuate. It wasn't just his waning concentration, Adam realised. The Restriction Field was still messing with his powers, nullifying his control. Adam doubled his mana input in order to keep up, but he knew that level of consumption could never last that long.

Blood leaked from his eyes and nose. His vision turned red. His breathing quickened. A mounting sense of fatigue pulled on his muscles.

Barrier Force flickered. Adam growled angrily, clenching his fists. The cube strengthened momentarily, before fading yet again. The knights began leaking out of their prison, although the rapidly switching portals was, for the most part, still able to overwhelm them.

At this point, Adam was fighting to stay awake. A heavy weight hung over his mind, as River blocked the arrows and musket bullets that the knights managed to slip through the waning forcefield trap.

Can't give up now. I still have fifteen more knights to go!

Only…he couldn't manage for much longer. His portals kept slipping; he couldn't keep them open for much longer and it was becoming much more difficult to continue to open them in such quick succession. He bit down the bitter, metallic taste in his mouth from the blood leaking out of it.

Intense nausea welled up in his stomach, just as it came down to the last ten knights. It became too much for him to ignore any longer.

A black filter descended over his eyes. The Barrier Force cube collapsed. The portals closed. Ten of them remained.

The last thing that Adam saw was River, charging valiantly into battle with only his trust sword and shield, ready to do battle with ten knights at once. An intimidating battle-cry rung through his ears as he lost consciousness.

Adam reached out to grab the ground below him. Bunches of mattress linen collected in the folds of his fingers. His eyes opened slowly, photophobic pulses of pain echoing through his irises until he could finally adapt.

There was a fan on the ceiling far above, creating a pleasant swaying in the air around him. Its rhythmic spinning generated a rather concordant, cathartic beat in his ears. Pleasant chirping of the birds outside added to the melody. Golden beams of sunlight shone in through the windows. Fluffy white clouds were visible in the bright blue sky outside, free of thunder, lightning, or rain.

Adam attempted to shift his way out of bed. His muscles ached incessantly, his bones creaking in objection to his movement.

He groaned in pain, as his feet slid onto the cold stone floor. A particular well of soreness arose in his right knee, which forced him on a limp as he forced himself out of his infirmary bed. He limped towards the doors at the back of the room, feeling glad there wasn't a nurse around to admonish him. He shoved his way into the hallways of the Cloud Kingdom, ignoring the puzzled looks of the knights and servants passing by.

Spotting a set of double doors at the end of the hallway, Adam began to limp towards it. As he got closer, the sound of voices within grew louder and clearer. He could make out several voices conversing with haste. Not exactly the best thing to hear after a battle.

With a bottomless groan of pain, Adam forced open the set of double doors and limped inside. Everybody in the room turned to stare at him, and he finally got a good look at what was going on.

King and Queen Pony Head were both in attendance, as was King River and Omnitraxus Prime. They were all standing around a large semi-mechanical table, which projected a holographic image of Moon's face on the holocall. Chezna Pony Head left the room not long after Adam entered, looking particularly unhappy. Several Cloud and Butterfly Knights were gathered around the room, forming a circle that cut off the other exits.

'Adam!' Moon greeted, a surprisingly relieved look on her face. 'I'm glad to see you have recovered.'

He glared back. 'What happened?'

'Well, after you collapsed, I had to take on the rest,' River explained, straightening his back proudly.

Adam did a double take.

'You defeated ten soldiers at once?'

'Why, yes, I did,' he replied, beaming brightly. 'Not without significant effort, however.'

'Quite a lot has happened whilst you were recuperating,' said Moon. He frowned.

'What are you talking about?'

A tense silence brewed between them for a moment. Queen Pony Head bent forward and pressed a button the table with her horn. A large 3D holographic blueprint of the Cloud Kingdom appeared above the table, alongside Moon's visage on the screen. King Pony Head spoke up next.

'Whilst you and River were helping to fend off the attack, Omnitraxus detected the presence of a small tactical unit of the Empire.' A small, pulsing red dot appeared at the very base of the city, indicating a location in the lower basement levels. 'It seems they were attempting to break into the engine rooms, on the lower levels of the Cloud Kingdom.'

'I believe they were attempting the destroy the cloud gears,' added Omnitraxus Prime. 'The arcane mechanisms behind them are what keeps the Cloud Kingdom floating over Mewni.'

Adam's eyes widened.

'The whole thing was just a diversion,' he uttered. 'It's about the cloud gears? But if they destroyed those…' he gasped. 'Destroying the cloud gears would bring the city crashing down to Mewni, like an asteroid! The Red Queen…she's trying to destroy us, and all of Mewni!'

'She means to bury us,' Queen Pony Head surmised.

'But that doesn't make sense!' Adam protested.

'Why?' questioned Moon. 'If they were to eliminate Mewni, they would win the war.'

'You don't understand!' he snapped. 'The only reason the Dark Butterflies haven't eliminated their Cloud Kingdom is because of those cloud gears. They instead chose to control it, as a puppet kingdom. This isn't typical Empire behaviour. They subjugate, not destroy. If they were to take control of Positive Mewni, they could use it as a staging post against the rest of the multiverse. This has to be the Red Queen…something about her makes her want to just destroy us instead…'

What was it she said, back in the crypt? "'I will purge all creation of your pestilent filth"?

'She thinks we're a disease for some reason,' Adam said, rubbing his chin in thought. 'Is she…scared of us?'

'Whatever the case may be, the Empire will almost certainly be back,' River stated grimly, tightening his grip around the table.

Adam hummed in agreement. 'Mm. And in full force, too.'

'Actually,' objected Queen Pony Head. Adam wrinkled his nose.

'What do you mean?'

Moon swallowed the bitter taste in her mouth. 'Whether it is to our luck, or to our peril, it seems the Empire will be unable to deploy their entire army. While you were out, we received word that Pixtopia, the Demon Realm, the Underworld and Galafamor all have come under attack from the Butterfly Empire.'

'It seems this "Red Queen" seeks to destroy not only us, but the entire multiverse,' said Omnitraxus.

'Indeed,' the queen agreed. 'We've sent some of our forces their way, but at the moment, I am afraid it is not looking good for them.'

Adam sighed.

'So, what's the plan now?'

'It is pertinent we defend the cloud gears as much as we can,' replied Queen Pony Head. 'Once we are able to exhaust the Empire's forces, we can regroup and reinforce our security.'

Adam hummed in thought. As it stands, we don't have enough firepower to stand against the Empire's forces, even at a fifth. There MUST be something we can do. But who is around to help us? The Mace Kingdom? No…they need to focus on defending themselves first. Doubt anyone on Mewni who can help, but I don't know anybody else in the multiverse.

Then it hit him. Not in this multiverse.

'We'll need help.'

'From whom?' questioned Moon.

'The Cloud Kingdom,' he replied, earning the confused looks of everybody in the room. 'In the Negative Multiverse. I know their version of Lilacia – or, at least, I used to – maybe I can convince her to lend us some aid in this time of war.'

King Pony Head's eyes narrowed.

'"Maybe"?'

'What do you mean you "used to"?' pressed Moon, folding her arms.

'Well…the thing is…' He bit his lip. 'The last time we spoke, Lily kinda, sorta, maybe told me to take a hike? It might be difficult to get her to speak with me.'

'Mr Butterfly,' spoke up Queen Pony Head. 'I am sorry, but we simply cannot risk the safety of the entire kingdom on a "maybe".'

'Then don't.' His breathing quivered. 'Just me.'

'You are still injured, Adam!' River pointed out. He shook his head in disapproval.

'It's fine. I won't need to travel far.'

'River's right,' said Moon. 'You can barely walk, Adam, I'm not going to risk your life on some pointless escapade to the Negative Multiverse.'

'We need you here, too!' her husband added defiantly. 'You know the most about the Empire's tactics and strategies.'

Adam clenched his jaw. 'River, if you really think I need to understand the gravity of "casualties of war", then I should be prepared to become one myself.'

'I didn't mean it like that!'

'Such a mission is far too dangerous –' Moon began.

'How long will you be gone?' asked King Pony Head. River and Moon stared at him in surprise.

'Not long,' he replied. 'Thanks to that spell I did on the fracture, space-time is weak pretty much everywhere, so I could open a portal to the other Cloud Kingdom right away.' He pinched his nose. 'You're lucky the Empire isn't quite so precise with their portals.'

'Then I see the merit in your idea,' the king decided, nodding.

'This is insanity!' cried River, slamming his fist on the table. 'This whole year, you've done nothing but warn us of the danger this "Negative Mewni" presents. Now you expect to stroll right through it?'

'River,' Moon placated. 'We can argue about this all we like. I don't think Adam here is going to change his mind.' Her eyes met his. 'Good luck.'

Adam bit the inside of his cheek. 'Thanks. I guess.'

Before anybody else could argue, he turned and left the room. Albeit, he still had to limp on the way out.

A warm evening glow descended upon the plains of Negative Mewni, as the sun set behind the clouds in the distance. The scorched half of the planet basked in its glow; it was a barren desert with its dry, stalky trees, chalky sand, and cloudless skies, but its burnt rocks glinting in the evening sun. On the other half, there was mostly rubble and debris, scattered amongst the forests and mountains that still remained. The respective ruins of the Pigeon Kingdom, the Johansen Kingdom and the Mace Kingdom were dotted across Negative Mewni, soaking in the sun with its ancient wreckage. Unfortunately for the Waterfolk Kingdom, the water levels had long since dropped beyond safe levels, a product of the unpredictable and uncontrollable climate conditions of Negative Mewni.

Even the Great Solarian Storm swirling in the distance was not exempt from the glowing orange hue that permeated its outer, greyish-green edges. Jets of green light flickered through the mass of green clouds, creating outlines of skulls, whilst emerald daggers stabbed and struck the terrain below.

Meanwhile, the Cloud Kingdom of Negative Mewni remained tranquil, unbothered, and untouched by everything. Of course, it was still crawling with Dark Butterfly Knights on the city streets, but the castle was noticeably lacking in Empire forces. Something was definitely off. Ordinarily, that would be good news among the Pony Heads (or what was left of them), but if the Empire was drawing away their resources, it had to be for something big.

In Lilacia Pony Head's bedroom in the Cloud Castle, a sudden breeze blew through the balcony. The curtains were blown aside, and the wooden balcony doors creaked and flapped against the wind.

A bright white dot appeared on the balcony. It seemed innocuous initially, until it exploded into a wide, wispy blue-white portal. It was stable and glittery, reminiscent of translucent clouds, or a thin fog. A far cry from the unstable purple portals this world was used to.

A silhouette appeared from within. It became darker and larger, as it got closer. Adam Butterfly appeared through it, drinking in his surroundings with a curt intake of breath.

They took the Restriction Field down, he remarked to himself, as the portal shut behind him. I guess they realised it would make casting Multiversal magic much more difficult.

'Lilacia?' he called, nervously stepping into her bedroom. 'Lila–oof!'

Something heavy slammed into him. Adam groaned in pain as he hit the cold stone ground with a loud thud. He looked up. Lilacia Pony Head was floating over him, pointing her horn down at his throat.

'Adam?' she recognised, hovering back in surprise. 'I thought you were an assassin.'

He chuckled slightly despite himself. 'Not in this universe, maybe.'

Pony, however, didn't see the humour. 'What the hell are you doing here, Adam?!' She inched closer to his face and glared at him. 'I thought I made things quite clear last time. You and me: we're done.'

'I'm not here for me,' he replied, getting back up on his feet. 'I'm here because I need your help to save the innocent lives at risk back home.' He braced himself for the next part. 'Look: the reason why I went AWOL for so long is because I got trapped. Trapped in a parallel multiverse. And in that multiverse, the Butterflies never expanded into an empire. They never conquered and pillaged all of Mewni. They remained peaceful and, for the most part, good. It took me forever to even figure out a way back.'

'You'll have to forgive me if I find that hard to believe.'

'I know it sounds insane, but…' Adam glanced away for a moment, before looking her in the eye. 'Lily, look me in the eye. I'm not lying.'

Lilacia stared at him for a moment, biting her lip. She sighed and rolled her eyes.

'Okay. Fine. What do you want?'

'I'm sure you've noticed that the Empire has much fewer eyes on you and your family now,' he said, prompting her to nod. 'The Empire is waging a war against the other multiverse. They're invading their Cloud Kingdom so they can destroy their cloud gears.'

'To destroy their Mewni,' she finished. Adam nodded gravely.

'I need your help,' he pleaded. 'You know the Cloud Kingdom wouldn't stand a chance against the Empire. I have to protect my home, but I can't do it without you.'

'Once upon a time, this world was your home,' grumbled Pony Head.

'Things change.' He took a deep breath. 'But you haven't. I know you wouldn't be able to sleep, knowing you let innocent people die. Not when you could have done something about it.'

She pinched her lips. 'Well, there isn't much I can do, not without my mother and father knowing about it.' Adam's face fell. 'But I think I can lend you a few things…follow me.'

He beamed. 'Thank you, Lilacia.'

'Don't mention it.' She smiled back. 'Seriously, don't. I already got an earful from my parents about meeting with you in the Sawdust.'

'I won't breathe a word of it. I promise.'

Pony Head hovered over to an unassuming painting hanging on the stone wall on the right side of the room. She bent forward and pressed on something in the centre of the painting with her unicorn horn. The entire painting separated into pieces and slide aside, revealing a secret entrance behind it. Adam followed her through, looking around curiously. His knee had gone mostly numb, which he supposed was better than being in pain.

There was a whole stone chasm around him, a circular funnel of stone bricks running as high as up as he could see, and as far down as the eye could determine. Several sets of staircases ran around the vertical stone tower, leading to dozens of different tunnels descending into darkness. Cobwebs and thick layers of dust coated stone, hanging like hammocks across the walls.

One of the torches mounted on the wall lit by itself as Lilacia approached. She took hold of it with her teeth and handed it over Adam. He took the torch and followed her as she glided down the stairs.

'So, where's your sister?'

Adam's eyes widened in surprise. 'Uh. She's…she's in the infirmary right now. She's still recovering from this pretty major battle we had a few days ago.'

'Oh…I'm sorry. I am sure she will be okay.'

'Thanks. She's partly why I'm doing this.'

Lilacia raised an eyebrow. 'So. Who is she? I mean, really?'

'Uh, what?' he asked dumbly.

'Don't play dumb, Adam,' she scolded. 'I know you well enough to know you don't have a sister. Especially not one called "Estrella".'

'Oh, fine.' He sighed. 'Estrella is…she's…Star Butterfly. The Star Butterfly from the other multiverse.'

'Hold on!' She stopped abruptly in her tracks. 'You're telling me you made friends with Star freaking Butterfly?!'

'She isn't like our Star!' he protested. 'She's a good person, not a psychopath. Look, it was difficult for me to believe but…I'm telling you, on Beru's grave…the Butterflies from their multiverse are good people. And they need your help, or they're going to die.'

'Relax.' She continued onwards down the staircase. 'I already agreed to help you, remember?'

Pony Head led him to the very bottom of the steps. There was a massive steel door at the base of the tower, like a giant bank vault built into the side of the wall. Adam watched in awe as Lilacia pressed a series of buttons in a specific order, faster than he could keep track of. There was a low rumble as she finished, as the round door slid below the ground.

'This is the Cloud Kingdom's hidden weapons vault,' she explained, as they entered the room. 'We keep this stuff hidden, only for times of great upheaval.'

'I've never seen this stuff before,' he remarked, inspecting the various items with curiosity. Numerous articles of weaponry, legendary pieces of armour, and other strange mystical artefacts. 'So, what did you have in mind?'

'This.'

Adam spun around. Lilacia was hovering next to a door. She inputted a code by tapping various stones with her horn, until the Locking rune on it was lifted and the door unlocked. She pushed open the door, and Adam peered inside.

Hundreds of knee-high metal cubes were all stacked on top of one another in storage. Their dull grey surfaces almost made them unnoticeable, had it not been for the pulsing veins of mystical aura running through the plates of metal. The cubes hummed with a low shrill.

'What are they?'

'Mobile defence platforms,' she said. 'They've been magically compressed tenfold into these lightweight cubes, for ease of transportation. Don't let their appearances fool you, they are formidable weapons.'

Adam smiled and nodded. 'This should do.'

'Adam, I said they were lightweight but…there are still hundreds of them.'

'Oh, that's no problem. Levitato!'

All the cubes were encased with individual blue auras. Inexplicably, they floated upwards into the air. As Adam drew his arms aside, the cubes began to levitate out of the room.

Pony Head swallowed the lump in her throat. 'I…forgot you can cast magic now.'

Adam threw out an arm to his side, and a bright white intermultiversal portal opened up in the depths of the weapons vault. Slowly, the cubes were directed into the portal with Levitato, disappearing through their wispy embrace.

Lilacia gasped. Just how much had Adam changed since he first went missing? How had he accomplished this?

'I can't tell you how grateful I am for your help,' said Adam. 'It really means a lot that you decided to help.'

'I still don't trust you, Adam. Not entirely.' She sighed. 'But I understand. We have a common enemy. So, for now, I'll trust you with this. Don't make me regret it, okay?'

'I won't.' He was halfway through the portal when he turned to look at her. 'I promise. And thank you. When this is all over, I'll come back. We can catch up.'

Pony Head smiled reluctantly. 'I look forward to it.'

[44] I am aware of the fact that the wiki claims that Chezna is actually Lilacia's younger sister but given that Chezna doesn't even appear outside the intro sequence, I'm retconning that Chezna is one of the more senior Pony Heads, and Lilacia's cousin.

And so, the first battle of the Great Monsoon begins!

I'm quite proud of this chapter, as it introduces some new elements. Namely, there is the concept of "arcane technology" - magic plus technology. This is how people like the Pony Heads are able to channel magic despite not having a direct connection the Realm of Magic like the Butterfly Family does. The most obvious example of this would be the cloud gears in this episode, which the Red Queen here seeks to destroy in hopes of bringing the whole kingdom crashing down to Mewni, destroying at least the whole continent, and taking out all of her opposition in one fell swoop. Relics with enchantments only count as arcane technology if they have some kind of circuitry involved, so essentially, not all arcane tech are relics and not all relics are arcane tech.

I decided to give River a more central role in this episode, given he largely got ignored up to his point because I didn't know what to do with him. His relationship with Adam has a focus, and particularly he fuels Adam's character development. Lest we forget, River is an actual soldier, despite being used mostly for comic relief and made to seem like a complete idiot. I refuse to believe he could be like this all the time, especially since he was a lot smarter in the flashbacks in the show, so I choose to believe he can get serious when he wants to be. He gets serious about the fact that Adam is risking so many lives to get the job done, and challenges his apparent lack of concern for casualties of war. Adam obviously wants to reduce casualties (as shown when he tells River not to get caught up in the heat of the battle), but he appears willing to accept letting their soldiers die if it means they win. However, it is not that Adam doesn't care, he is just so focussed on the mission (both stopping the Empire in this episode, and his overarching mission of revenge) that he is able to bury his concerns and budding empathy and act like it doesn't affect him. River obviously calls him out on this, which fuels his decision to go ask Lilacia for help as he realises they will need it desperately.

Speaking of Negative Pony Head, she makes another appearance in this chapter. She's going to making multiple appearances here and there across the Great Monsoon, since she's against the Empire, and she's really Adam's only friend from the Negative Multiverse still standing. Then again...the two aren't really friends. They maintain a professional relationship, purely business-related. There are hints that Lilacia does genuinely view him as a friend, and vice versa, but she doesn't like Adam's unpredictable nature and unwillingness to communicate, since she hates dishonesty. Her family have had to maintain secrecy for their acts against the Empire, and thus have had to keep a tight circle of trust. So naturally she doesn't like a wildcard like Adam, and she only helps him because she has a conscience and sees that he's not being selfish in asking her to help him save lives.

Some readers might have forgotten the Restriction Field thing, so I'll give you a reminder: after Adam stole the dimensional scissors in Chapter 2 of Volume I, the Red Queen and the Negative MHC implemented laws to prevent illegal dimensional travel. As such, they managed to erect a field around all of Mewni that prevents portals being opened by anyone who a) does not possess royal dimensional scissors or b) isn't already authorised (any Dark Butterfly or MHC member). The Restriction Field leaked through the intermultiversal portal that the Red Queen opened to bring her forces to the Cloud Kingdom, which is what causes interferences with Adam's dimensional powers and prevented them from making it straight to the castle, necessitating them to fight on the streets. Once Adam got there, he realised they needed help to fight them back, so couldn't then just ask Omnitraxus to take them directly to the throne room. He isn't just gonna ignore people in need of help! When the portal closed, the Restriction Field fell to background levels (as Adam theorised) and allowed him to use his portalling powers without much impedance again.

Hope that clears things up! Thanks for reading this chapter! The next chapter will be the last of Part 1, and will be titled "Scorched Earth". I appreciate everyone's support, and I hope you enjoyed the latest chapter of 'The Negative Multiverse: Volume III'!