Episode:
20: The Great Monsoon, Part 2

With Star and Marco imprisoned, and executions on the horizon, Penelope Spiderbite races against the clock to stop the Red Queen.

Birds warbled from the trees outside, snapping their beaks at one another across the branches. Leaves drifted into the throne room through the window. The rustling of the crispy autumn foliage was soft, almost inaudible, but rest assured, it was there. If one listened closely, you could hear the suffocating business and busyness of the kingdom beyond the four walls of the room.

Queen Moon the Malevolent peered out the window onto the streets below. Her faithful knights kept the peace. Not a hair was out of the line in the citizens going about their day, and if there were, the knights would certainly correct it. A light buzzing noise caught her attention. She mistook it for a sonar bug for a moment, but she saw it was but a simple fly.

Irate, the Red Queen incinerated the fly with a pinpoint zap of a laser from her fingertip. She exhaled through her nostrils and listened to the witters of the two puppet monarchs seated on their thrones behind her.

'I can't deny it…betraying Queen Moon like this was…reprehensible.'

Queen Spiderbite nodded slightly at her husband's words. 'Kidnapping her children was underhanded, of course…but it was necessary.'

'We are already in violation of ancient laws of non-aggression,' he identified, pursing his lips. 'God forbid us, if this plan ever fails.'

'At this current moment, we are winning this "Great Monsoon",' said the Red Queen. Her voice seeped silkily out of her mouth, like air blown softly through wind chimes. 'My Empire's vast resources give us an insurmountable advantage.'

The Queen raised an eyebrow.

'You failed to take the Cloud Kingdom. And you have not managed to attack the Butterfly Kingdom directly yet. For such a vast empire, you have not been very successful.'

Dark Moon swallowed the spike of derision that arose in her throat. 'The Multiversal Limitation Field has caused major issues for us. It is complex magic. Few would have the knowledge of the Multiversal magic required to perform it.'

'Who?' the King asked, frowning.

'The only one who stands in my way,' she replied. 'The man with the magic.'

'The man with the…? Wait…you mean Adam Butterfly?' the Queen realised. Her eyes widening. 'The Royal Magic Ambassador?'

'He is far more than that.' The Red Queen's features darkened enough for it to be visible from the back. 'He is the Abomination. The Unsightly Metamorph. The Unexpected. The First and Last, and the single greatest threat to my empire.'

'Him? Really?' chimed King Spiderbite, cocking his head back. 'I mean…little is really made public about him. We know he acquired a medal for his actions in the Cloud Kingdom a couple weeks ago, but details were never provided. The citizens of the kingdom were unwilling to discuss it. He has only ever been seen casting basic magic. How is he your greatest threat?'

'You do not know him as I do,' she uttered. 'The prophecy dictates it. I saw it myself.'

King and Queen Spiderbite exchanged confused looks. Neither was sure which one of them should ask first, or, indeed, whether they even should. In the end, the Queen had the conviction to ask.

'What are you talking about, Moon?'

'A Shatterpoint revealed the truth.' Neither of the monarchs had a clue what a Shatterpoint was. 'It showed me, relayed to me, a truth that I wish to prevent. I heard it. The words of caution that hung on the wind. I knew how to listen.'

The King looked down guiltily. 'I'm sorry, Moon, but we simply don't understand.'

The Red Queen turned away from the window and looked them in the eye. She perched a very convincing smile on her lips.

'You needn't be concerned,' she said. 'You are choosing the right side of history. Nobody can judge you for picking life over death.' The two blinked at the sudden whiplash in the shift of the conversation. 'My weaker counterpart remains a blight on this world, as does her line of diseased impositions. If I cannot destroy this world, then I shall destroy them.'

'Star had a point, however,' Queen Spiderbite argued. The Red Queen raised an eyebrow and almost glared. 'About Penelope. We may be able to control her, but we cannot stop her from thinking.'

The King exhaled pensively. 'Indeed. Penelope will never forgive us for this. She will always try to rebel. And if she were to become Queen…it could reverse much of what you are trying to accomplish.'

Dark Moon knew the quickest and easiest solution to that problem. However, she suspected that they would heavily disapprove.

'In time, she will learn to appreciate what you have done to keep her safe.' She turned to leave. 'I must direct the war effort elsewhere. And I must devise a counter-curse to break through the Psionic Protection Seal.' She nodded to Negative Omnitraxus, who was standing motionless at the back of the room. 'Omnitraxus. Sentry mode. Guard the castle.'

Negative Omnitraxus gave one word, 'Understood,' before disappearing in a flash of light.

The Red Queen walked towards the door at the back of the room. As she was about to leave, she turned back and said, 'You must learn to keep your children in check.' She hid a wicked smile. 'It is terribly troubling when a daughter cannot be kept in line.'

Dark Moon traversed the hallways of the Spiderbite Castle, catching the eyes of the servants and knights around. Many of the Spiderbite Knights were simply recoloured Empire Knights, but several were previous knights that had yielded to the new regime. It was always easy for her to tell which was which because the original knights kept their eyes fretfully trained on her whenever they thought she could not see them.

All the servants were much the same. She could sense their stares, and an aura of fear erupted within their souls. None of them ever spoke to her, or ever dared to breathe the same air as her. Their faces went blue from holding their breath around her. Putting themselves through such torture, though indescribable, was acceptable in the face of what could happen if they did not.

On the Red Queen's first day as the true de facto leader of the Spiderbite Kingdom, she had half of the kitchen staff executed for malpractice. What that malpractice was, exactly, nobody knew. She built pens for her "pets". Her twisted creations were kept in the dungeons, safely confined. Archdragons guarded her bed at night. She didn't inform the servants of her arrangements. It was the fate of a particularly unfortunate servant one morning that alerted everyone to the apparent danger.

She stopped at one servant, whose legs were rattling the most. She peered down at the boy and said it quietly, but powerfully.

'Bow.'

The boy did immediately as he was instructed and bowed with as much enthusiasm as he could muster. Dark Moon hummed in dissatisfaction, peering around at the other maggots frozen in the corridor. All of them bowed instantly in her presence.

Satisfied, the Red Queen walked away. A ghoulish grin tugged at the edges of her lips. Fear; respect. In the end, they were both the same.

However, in her revelling, Dark Moon missed the one person nearby who wasn't bowing. A silhouette clinging the shadows followed her in her path. She failed to notice it, as she made her way to her bedchambers. Again, the queen missed how it darted to the side of the door as she stepped through, keeping the door ajar to spy on her.

Dark Moon went over to the curtains hanging on the wall and drew them apart. An oval-shaped communication mirror was hidden behind it. She reached forward and pressed the button on the side. Static buzzed on the screen, until a beep could be heard.

A short, beefy man with emerald eyes and pale blonde hair appeared on the screen. He had a golden crown on his head, bejewelled with a glinting cyan crystal. He had a seaweed-inked green royal tunic, with a lighter green frilly shirt under it. His grey slacks were barely visible under his thick beard. He carried a staff in his left hand, decorated with a half-moon-and-star piece on top.

'Moonpie,' greeted Dark River. 'How is the Spiderbite Operation going?'

'Swimmingly,' she replied. 'But there has been a…complication. The Butterfly Princess and her filthy squire have arrived in an attempt to foil our plans.'

'They are thorns in our side,' he lamented. 'We must remove them.'

'Not without the information they are keeping.' When her husband looked dissatisfied, she raised a hand. 'Worry not, husband. Rest assured; I will crush them under my boot. These Spiderbites are nothing but puppets. Delude them with false promises of freedom and independence, and they freely hand it away. Within a few days, this petty kingdom will be completely under my control. Permanently.'

Dark River nodded. 'Indeed. It is pitiful of them to think they can be redeemed when they committed such an unforgiveable transgression. Housing Monsters is not something we can ignore.'

'Certainly not,' Dark Moon agreed. 'Death is the only answer for Monster-sympathisers.'

Dark River smirked in satisfaction.

'I would be greatly pleased to take part in the execution myself.'

'Caution, River.' She folded her arms. 'You have a previous commitment to handle. Others will deal with it. Now…what is the latest update on Galafamor?'

'It is proving to be more difficult than expected,' he said, pressing his lips together rigidly. 'It's him. The man you warned me about. Adam Butterfly, and his demonic friend Prince Lucitor, have proven that for what they lack in musculature, they make up for in wits. The pair have managed to drive back the wraiths, wretches, shades and even archdragons from St Olga's. And they somehow successfully defended it with an asinine plan. They used…teacups…and a large net made from princess garments, to trap our forces. It's ridiculous!'

The Red Queen raised an eyebrow. 'I suspect that plan was devised by the princesses of that wretched St Olga's.'

'So, if I were to eliminate them first –'

'Listen, husband.' Dark River looked up fearfully. His wife's voice had turned icy cold. 'Do not underestimate the man with the magic. I want him eliminated as soon as possible! I cannot afford to meet the prophecy!'

'I will do my utmost to succeed, my wife!' he exclaimed passionately.

'I know you will, my love.' She looked away. 'But your best, I fear, may not be enough.'

When turned back to him, Dark River looked her straight in the eye. 'No,' he said. 'War is a tool, for those who know how to use it. Fear of failure only ensures it. May the light of the sun guide us, my Queen.'

Dark Moon nodded, smiling a little, before the call ended. She sighed to herself and went over to her window.

'Star better be right about her ideas,' she muttered to herself. 'Subjugation over destruction? I know which one of those is faster.'

The Red Queen turned and opened a ruby-coloured portal beside her. Absent of speech, she stepped through it and disappeared. The portal quickly shut behind her.

Again, what the Red Queen still missed was the person watching. Of course, Penelope Spiderbite walked gingerly into the room, her face hot with cautious breaths. She had seen and heard the whole exchange, and she could not say she was surprised.

She just needed to prove it to her parents. They may have been idiots, and they were partially responsible for so many deaths…but they were still her parents.

Penelope reached into her purse and produced her compact device. The universal ban on communication technology throughout the kingdom had purged every one of their devices, but the princess was smart enough to hide it somewhere the Empire was incapable of locating it. Out of prying eyes.

She connected a cord to her compact to allow her to sync it up with the magic mirror. Her eyes darted worriedly about the bedchamber as she connected the two. The mirror beeped, and options showed up on the screen for what to do with the compact. Penelope filtered through them until she found the option to download from the recorded call history. By default, these mirrors recorded all their calls from the past six months, and it seemed the Red Queen had not yet disabled this option. The mirror was new, after all.

Heightened breathing escaped her throat as the princess hurried to download the call she had just witnessed. She shut her eyes and muttered a prayer. This was it. All she needed to prove to her parents that the Red Queen never intended to save them.

Loud, booming stomps nearly made her heart jump out of her chest. Her eyes widened. Someone was coming, weren't they? She couldn't risk them coming in here and catching her!

73%...c'mon…

The stomps only got louder and louder. Vases and bowls on the nearby drawers rattled and wobbled, coming close to tipping over. She kept her eyes trained on the download, but she couldn't resist occasionally glancing at the tipping décor. The vase leaned over on its side for a few seconds, before collapsing back and rocking on its stand.

89%...almost there! Just a little more!

The vase tumbled off the drawers and smashed to pieces. The fragments of pottery jumped up with each rumbling step. The hairs on her neck stood up all at once, like a rush of coldness snaking down her back. Even the cupboard behind her began to shake and rattle.

Done!

Penelope yanked the cord out and leapt into the cupboard behind her. She narrowly managed to shut the door as Negative Omnitraxus stepped into the room. He turned his head to the left and right, like a robot scanning the perimeter.

'Attention: trespasser detected. Vacate your hiding location immediately or face the consequences.'

Penelope felt her hot breath on the cupboard door. She peered warily through the gap between the cupboard doors. Negative Omnitraxus walked in perfect rhythm about the room, moving past the bed to reach the window. He remained there, frozen for a moment, a statue in the cold afternoon sun.

Her heart pounded in her chest. She feared even breathing would give her away. Utter silence came from Negative Omnitraxus, nothing more.

After a while, the hulking bodyguard turned away to leave. Penelope held the relieved sigh creeping up her throat. She clamped her mouth shut no matter how much she begged to breathe. Only when Negative Omnitraxus left, could she let herself give in.

She never could.

Negative Omnitraxus suddenly appeared in front of the cupboard. She gasped. 'Alert, trespasser: vacate the cupboard immediately or risk being removed by force.'

Knowing she was caught out, Penelope decided to bite the bullet. She hid the compact in the pocketed folds of her dress and reluctantly stepped out of the cupboard. She held her hands up.

'Penelope Spiderbite,' stated Negative Omnitraxus. 'Explain. Your presence is unauthorised.'

She gulped. 'Um…well, my parents told me to find the Red Queen. She was last seen in here, so…' He craned his head to the side.

'Elevated heartbeat, high-pitched voice, increased perspiration around the temple region. Emotional response suggests guilt. Conclusion: you are lying. Why hide?'

'I was scared!' she exclaimed, glaring at him. 'What was I supposed to do? You people are holding people I care about hostage! And you're going to execute them! If I was found in here, no matter the reason, I'd be killed!'

Negative Omnitraxus hummed curiously. 'You are not lying.' His facial features froze for a moment. 'Identity: Penelope Arias Spiderbite. Crime: Article 11A – Trespassing; Article 23 – Resisting arrest. Sentence: Indefinite Imprisonment. Carrying out sentence.' His right eye twitched.'...error...Princess Penelope Arias Spiderbite possesses Limited Immunity Prerogative Code 7-1-2. Reassessing priorities…'The princess edged closer and closer towards the open door. Negative Omnitraxus straightened his back, and his eyes – or absence of them – seemed to glaze over. 'You are free to go.'

Penelope didn't need to be told twice. She bolted out the room immediately, carrying a surprised look on her face as she hurried down the hallway toward the throne room.

Negative Omnitraxus returned to sentry mode, as the commands from the Red Queen had dictated. However, as he did so, his time sense detected that Penelope Spiderbite's presence had been concentrated around the magic mirror. He approached the mirror and stared at it blankly.

A ghostly image of Penelope appeared to him. An echo of the past. Only the Great Shansheeth could witness the waves of time returning to shore. This was his function, to view it. He inspected Penelope and saw her connect her compact to the mirror and download the previous call that had taken place.

This was unauthorised behaviour. Communications in and outgoing from magic mirrors were for the sole viewing of Butterflies and Magic High Commission members.

Negative Omnitraxus lowered his skull head. 'Reassessing verdict…Penelope Arias Spiderbite is in violation of Article 52 – espionage. Limited Immunity Prerogative Code 712 is overridden by Class 5 Offences or higher. Malcompliance verdict appended.' An eyebrow twitched. 'Sentence: summary imprisonment.'

Meanwhile, Penelope rushed her way through the corridors at the speed of light. She shot through a poor servant carrying plates, sending the stack flying everywhere. Unfortunately, the princess had no time to apologise.

Not far now, she thought. Indeed, it was one step away.

Penelope burst into the throne room like a wild coyote on a hunger streak. She had to stop just to catch her breath.

'Penelope Spiderbite!' screeched her mother, putting her hands on her hips. 'What is the meaning of this? Explain yourself?!'

The king adopted the same glare as his wife. 'Why did you burst in like that, young lady?'

'Mom, Dad…it's…the Red Queen…' she panted. 'You can't trust her…I have…proof…'

Her mother shook her head. 'Those are grave accusations you are making. I'm sorry, but you cannot save them.'

'No, I swear, I–!'

'Silence.'

Negative Omnitraxus seized her by the waist.

'Get off me!' she cried, pounding his immaterial arms with her meagre fists.

'Penelope Arias Spiderbite: you are to be detained until further notice. Do not struggle. You cannot escape.'

Negative Omnitraxus forcibly carried her away. Penelope knew there was nothing she could do to escape his grip, but there was something else she could do instead. The only desperate option. Good thing Omni was mindless.

'Mom! Dad! Listen to me!' she cried, fumbling for her compact. She threw it to them with haphazard intent. Her father caught it. He looked up at her and stared. 'It's all in there! I promise!'

The parents exchanged looks for a moment, before her father said something. Something very simple.

'Put her in the cell next to Star and Marco.'

'Acceptable,' was the last word Negative Omnitraxus spoke before he teleported away. He had no directive to account for the compact, especially not now that it was in the hands of the king and queen. His latest directive was merely to guard the castle, which was exactly what he was doing.

King and Queen Spiderbite were left to their own confusion. They stared at the compact their daughter had given them, neither of them quite sure what to do with it.

Penelope struggled in Omnitraxus's grip the whole way to the dungeons. No matter how hard she tried, she could not get his arm to waver even slightly. The Spiderbite Knights across the castle all stared at her with a mixture of confusion, satisfaction and sympathy varying amongst them.

'Unhand me this instant!'

'Negative. This is the thirty-fifth denial of request.'

Penelope was about to respond with some witty remark, but she was thrown into a cell before she could. She hit the cold stone floor with a thud. The princess hurried to her feet, only to be met with a door swung shut in her face. She stared at the door in blank shock.

Only then did the realisation hit her. She'd failed. It was only a matter of time before the Red Queen was informed, and she'd definitely destroy the evidence before her parents could see it. She didn't even get the chance to tell them what to do with it, much less why it was the key to everything.

They killed Grayfia. Slime Monster was next. Star and Marco were soon to follow. Then, one by one, the Red Queen would find and murder all her remaining friends. Everything was pointless. Her parents had been right. Why bother resisting? She'd already failed them all.

Penelope slumped against the wall to her ground. She smashed her fist down on the stone floor in frustration. A wave of tears rolled down her cheeks. She raised her legs up and buried her face into her knees.

'I'm so useless…' she muttered tearfully. She sniffed. 'I'm so sorry Star…I can't help you…'

'Let me be the judge of that!'

Penelope gasped and looked up. She hadn't been sure where the voice came from, but she was entirely certain who it was. The princess crawled forward, looking around hopelessly.

'Star?'

'Penelope! I can hear you! I'm in the cell next to you!'

The voice came from her left. She turned and spotted a hole in the wall. Someone, somehow, had knocked out the bricks and left behind a hole. Did her parents know about that? She certainly didn't.

Desperately, Penelope shuffled over to the hole and peered through. Star and Marco were chained to the wall, just as they had been the last time she had visited. They hadn't even tried to escape, by the looks at it.

'Are you okay?' asked Marco, his chocolate brown eyes dilating in concern.

'No…' she uttered, coughing on the mucus in her throat. 'I failed…'

Star glanced worriedly at Marco. 'What happened? Did you not get any evidence?'

'No, I…I did,' she choked. 'A video call between the Red Queen and the Crimson King…proving they were going to betray my parents. I got it all on my compact. But Omnitraxus caught me! I only had enough time to pass the compact to Mom and Dad…'

'So, you got the compact to them?' said Star, raising an eyebrow.

She nodded. 'Y-Yeah.'

'Perfect!' she exclaimed, beaming at her. Penelope frowned at her. 'All we have to do is wait for your parents to watch the recording, and then we're good as gold!'

'And…w-what if they don't?' stuttered Penelope. Marco shrugged.

'Then we better figure a way out of here fast.'

'Don't say that, Marco!' Star protested. If she had been able, she would've folded her arms disapprovingly. 'Have some faith in your parents, Penelope, okay? I'm sure they care more about you than the Red Queen!'

Marco decided not to speak up about the conversation they had had with the king and queen that seemed to disagree with that. The tracks of Penelope's tears on her cheeks told him that she really needed some reassurances right now. It hadn't even properly hit him that the Empire had casually murdered her best friend, too…he couldn't imagine what the poor girl was going through right now.

And he wasn't sure he ever wanted to.

'Yeah…' said Marco, looking around the cell. 'I mean…they scrubbed this place clean of everything, but they couldn't be bothered to fix that hole in the wall. And they put you in the cell next to us. Maybe that was intentional?'

Star nodded vigorously. 'Exactly! Doesn't that seem convenient to you?'

'I catch your drift…but I don't know.' She looked down at her hands. Her bones creaked ever so slightly. 'They seemed deep in support of the Red Queen's new regime. I…can only hope and pray they do the right thing. The future of Mewni rests in their hands.'

Marco looked down pensively. A shadow of a nod hung on his neck. Penelope rested her forehead on the stone wall beside her and closed her eyes. Grayfia's face flashed in her mind, followed by Slime Monster. She whispered frantic apologies to them. Star bit her lip at the sad tension.

'I'm getting bored,' she said flatly. 'I hope your parents realise they've been backstabbed already. What are we supposed to do in the meantime?'

Penelope looked up. 'I don't know. I just want everyone to be safe. I already failed one person…I can't do it again.'

Marco nodded sympathetically. 'Where are they keeping the Monsters?' he asked.

'In an enclosure, on the lowest sublevel…' she replied, sniffing 'They're…they're being sedated until the e-execution tomorrow morning.'

'Penelope.' The princess wiped away her tears and looked up at Star. She was surprised by the fierce look on her face. 'I promise you; we're going to save them! All of them! We'll avenge Grayfia no matter what!'

Penelope stared at her for a few moments. And then, a small, pert smile tugged at the edge of her lips. A tiny essence of warmness welled up in her heart. Perhaps it wasn't all futile just yet.

'Maybe…maybe you're right. But…all we can do is wait.'

Waiting patiently had never been Star's forte. Ansty, she shook her leg and listened to the rattling of the metal chains. If she shook them just right, she could make different notes. Penelope slumped against the back wall beside the hole and sighed, rolling her soles side to side. Marco seemed to have caught on, because he started hollowly tapping his knuckles against the stone wall behind him.

Together, the three prisoners made a small little tune to pass the time. It wasn't much, it wasn't complex, but it was theirs. They were in for a long night.

A long night, it had been indeed. Star had been confident she would not go gently into it. She had been the first to go to sleep, initially, but she was woken up by the sound of her own snoring. She wished she hadn't.

Penelope had cried herself to sleep that night. Her soft, muted sobbing permeated the air for hours on end. Star desperately wanted to call out to her, to reassure her that everything would be okay, but nothing was going to get through to her. Penelope begged for silence, to be left alone to torture herself with her failures. She didn't deserve this. None of it. She was just a child, like her. She shouldn't have to go through that.

Yet she did. Star could hardly judge, given what she had been through. None of them ever did a thing to deserve it.

If Adam were here, he'd be telling her that few ever did, but it didn't change the fact that they had suffered. He'd tell her that there was no point mulling over it because they needed to focus on the here and now. Marco would be arguing that he was being too dismissive, and maybe he was, but that didn't mean he didn't have a point.

We've ALL suffered, Star. What's another person to the pile?

Adam, that's hardly fair. You know Penelope didn't deserve this.

Of course, she didn't. They never do. But we can't spend the rest of our lives crying about it, can we? Penelope needs help. Slime Monster needs help. The whole fucking kingdom needs help. Are you going to give up now? You already have a plan; it happened last night. You just need to implement it.

Star nodded to the imaginary figure. Adam was right, or at least her perception of him was. She needed to believe in herself more. She used to be so good at that, but…nowadays all she ever did was second guess herself.

'Star…you awake?'

She looked over at her boyfriend. His black hair was dishevelled and greasy, yet somehow it still looked cute.

'Yeah,' she gulped. He nodded ahead.

'They're here.'

Star turned over to the door. She had somehow missed the loud footsteps, accompanied by the jangling of keys. There was a loud shrill of metal, and the door opened. A few Spiderbite Knights stepped inside, followed by King and Queen Spiderbite.

'The Red Queen demands your presence for the execution,' said Queen Spiderbite, nodding to the knights. They walked over to the pair and cautiously unlocked their chains, transferring them to cuffs instead.

As Marco and Star rested their feet on the floor, they began kicking and resisting as much as possible. None of their attempts succeeded, and they only earned a harsher grip from the knights. Marco struggled hard enough to earn a shove from one of them.

'I'd suggest you stop resisting,' the king warned, folding his arms.

'Gutless sell-out!' screamed Marco, spitting at him. 'You're nothing but a murderer!'

King Spiderbite raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. He nonchalantly stepped forward and punched him in the stomach. Marco keeled over and groaned in pain, clutching his stomach with his half-cuffed wrists. The king shook his head in disappointment.

'Watch your tongue.'

The queen tutted. 'Soon, the world will thank us for this. It is almost a shame you will not live to see it.'

'You won't get away with this!' cried Star, a tear sliding down her cheek. 'We'll stop you.'

'I rather think you won't,' the queen said, smirking.

'Mom! Dad!'

The two monarchs rolled their eyes. A thin sigh slipped out of the queen's lips, followed by her husband. Penelope was peering in through the hole in the wall, tears streaming convincingly down her cheeks.

'The recording! You must have seen the recording!' she begged, banging against the stone wall. 'Please tell me you saw it! You have to! The Empire, they –'

'That's enough out of you, young lady,' her father chastised. 'Lying and trying to seed doubts in us about the Empire? Were it not for you being our daughter, you would be joining Slime Monster in treason.'

'You're making a mistake!'

Queen Spiderbite narrowed her eyes. 'Listening to you would be the only mistake.'

'Please, no more words to the prisoners,' a knight spoke up. 'The Red Queen has given us clear instructions. She wants clear eyes on everything now, after Princess Penelope was found sneaking into her bedchamber.'

'Indeed,' agreed the king, nodding. He beckoned for the knights to move them out. 'Someone fix that hole in the wall; it's ridiculous.'

'Mom! Dad! Come back!' pleaded Penelope, smashing her knuckles against the bricks until her skin went raw. King and Queen Spiderbite turned their noses up and walked away in the other direction to Star and Marco.

Alas, they did not listen. Star and Marco were entirely powerless as the knights dragged them out the cell and into the dungeon hallways. They were powerless, still, as they were brought through the castle corridors and brought out to a balcony overlooking the courtyard. Powerless to watch. Star gasped at the sight of it.

All the Monsters that had sought refuge in the Spiderbite Kingdom had been rounded up into cages hanging from metal poles above a giant wooden stage. It was like a pantomime showing. Each cage was designed specifically for them, to accommodate their different abilities. The Red Queen would call them grotesqueries, or mutations, but they were like limbs to them. Slime Monsters was visible easily by how flat and opaque they were. You couldn't even see inside all that well, as each pore was sealed up to prevent even a drop of the boy from escaping.

The courtyard was full of Spiderbite citizens, almost entirely nobles and rich upper-class folk. There were a handful of servants present, some of them in service of the nobles and others in service of the monarchy. And none of the servants looked anywhere near as pleased with events as the rich elite gathered here today.

Queen Moon the Malevolent stepped out onto the crowd, and roaring applause followed her. Whether the people cheering knew who she was, or if they thought she was Moon the Undaunted, Star didn't know. Negative Omnitraxus Prime appeared beside her, as robotic as ever, his pastel-green skin shimmering in the sunny morning glow.

Star struggled against the knight holding her in place. It was bad enough these cuffs were cutting off her magic, but the knight didn't have to be so rough! Marco seemed to be having the same problem, going by his clenched fists. His palms turned white with the force at which he clamped his fingers against them.

The Red Queen tapped her throat, and her voice was amplified magically.

'Order in the courtyard, please.' Her words were polite, but her voice was sibilant and commanding. 'The day of cleansing has finally come to the Spiderbite Kingdom! Monsters have long since infested this world, and I know that you esteemed nobles have always believed that the Butterfly Kingdom ceased their efforts to expunge the disease without due course. That is why, I, the Red Queen of the Butterfly Empire, will do as I did in my world: purge this kingdom of the filth. The Third Great Monster Purge will be upon us!'

The crowd cheered. They whistled loudly, throwing their arms up in vociferous excitement. Star grimaced. How had this gone beyond the notice? She'd tried so hard to reverse the Monster prejudice on Mewni, and yet so many people in the Spiderbite Kingdom had grown to hate them.

She glanced away despondently. What was she expecting? Dissolving old prejudices as going to take a long time. Even for Star, a Mewman with an extended lifespan, might not live to see it truly eliminated.

That didn't mean she should give up. She was going to prove to these uppity, pompous nobles just how wrong they were about them.

'Bring forth the beasts!' cried Dark Moon. Star looked up. The executioners were on stage now, carrying medieval-looking axes. A group of Spiderbite Knights went over to unlock one of the cages and reached inside.

Slime Monster hobbled out of the cage, his emaciated green slime slithering off his form. One of the guards grabbed him by his collar (which had been specially designed to adhere to his slime) and forced him towards the centre of the stage. Slime Monster slipped and fell with a splat. Marco gritted his teeth as the poor guy was dragged towards the stump where he would be executed. The executioner pressed a button on their axe, and the blade split open to reveal a laser beam cutter inside.

Marco knew he had to do something. Now was the right time. He opened his palm and fumbled with a small metal object. He slid it into the keyhole of his cuffs and twisted as much as he could. There was a small click, and they fell off.

He wasted no time. Whilst everybody was distracted, Marco reached over and shoved the key into Star's cuffs. There was a light jingle before they slid off. Star's eyes widened.

She smiled when the knight behind her dropped her wand straight into her hands.

The Red Queen watched with satisfaction as the executioner raised his laser axe. Slime Monster wriggled and struggled in his restraints, but they simply wouldn't give. He watched helplessly as the executioner swung their axe down upon them.

A beam of pure Narwhals slammed into the executioner, knocking him off his feet. A moment later, the other executioners were dispatched with the same spell. Slime Monster looked up.

Star Butterfly, clad in her dazzlingly yellow Full Butterfly form, was floating above the crowd. She had her wand trained on the Red Queen. The woman in question stepped back and glared in shock.

'What is the meaning of this?!' she demanded, balling her fists. 'What are you doing?!'

Unfortunately, Dark Moon paid little attention to what was going on behind her. She felt something quickly grab her wrists and tighten something around them. She looked behind her and saw the truth.

Queen Spiderbite attached magically binding metal cuffs to the Red Queen with a placid look on her face. 'Stopping you,' she said.

'Why you –' Dark Moon jerked forward. She stopped just short of a blade that appeared in front of her neck.

'Steady on, Ms Butterfly,' King Spiderbite warned, pressing his blade closer to her neck. 'I would advise making no sudden movements.'

The Red Queen scowled at him. Behind him, she spied Penelope Spiderbite, unlocking the cages for the Monsters. Spiderbite Knights tried to stop her, but they were quickly taken out, by the knights and Star Butterfly herself.

She pursed her lips. 'I suppose I am owed an explanation.'

Queen Spiderbite leaned into her ear and whispered only a few words.

'We saw the video.'

Indeed, in the middle of the night, King and Queen Spiderbite visited their daughter in jail.

We saw the video, Penelope. We…we've been such fools.

Penelope had agreed with that. Now that they knew that the Red Queen intended only to betray them, they concocted a plan with Marco, Star and Penelope to ensure the Empire could not win. Their plan took advantage of a few factors: one was the reliance that all the Monsters they had captured would be in place; two was the fact that many of the original Spiderbite Knights remained allegiant to the original monarchy, and not the Red Queen; the third was Star and Marco being temporarily freed from their jail to witness the execution; and the fourth factor laid in the magically binding cuffs now being more accessible due to the Red Queen's occupation in the kingdom.

In fact, King Spiderbite never punched Marco in the stomach. Marco feigned it so that the king could slip him the key to their metal cuffs. Queen Spiderbite had corralled the original Spiderbite Knights and ensured they would be the ones guarding Star and Marco, so that one of them could fetch Star's wand and hand it to her at the critical moment.

With all the loyal knights known to Star, she knew exactly who to take out. All the Empire's forces around the kingdom were concentrated in one place, and Star easily took them all out in one fell swoop.

'You plotted against me,' said the Red Queen, raising an eyebrow. 'I'm almost impressed if I weren't so impatient. Omnitraxus! Free me.'

Negative Omnitraxus shifted forwards and began to move. Star shook her head and smirked.

'Oh no, you don't!'

Star zipped forward, beating her wings at the speed of the light. With a crack of a whip, she appeared behind Negative Omnitraxus and dove into his misty green body. Negative Omnitraxus stumbled for a moment, before keeling over.

'Brutum Fulmen!'

A surge of electricity coursed through the entity's body, lashing his chalk white skull head. He let out a guttural cry of agony before his misty form dissolved away into nothingness. Negative Omnitraxus's deserted skull fell to the ground with a loud thud, barren of all life.

Star patted her hands together proudly. 'You're not escaping that easily.'

'You'll have to kill me,' said Dark Moon, narrowing her eyes.

Queen Spiderbite nodded. 'I very much agree.'

'No!' blurted Star. She blinked. The king and queen were staring at her. 'Uh. I mean…we need her. For information! And totally not because I'm super against killing and you're not…'

'Star, cut the head off the grishnak and the body dies,' reasoned the king. 'We have her right where we want her!'

'My husband is right,' the queen said, nodding. 'She must be executed for what she's done.'

'I just stopped an execution; I'm not gonna cause another one!'

'You are not in charge here, Star.' She sighed. 'I'm sorry, but the king and I must do what's best for our kingdom.'

'I've seen enough death already.'

'What do you think is happening on the front lines?' King Spiderbite pointed out. 'Why are you so comfortable with allowing your front-line soldiers to kill, or be killed, but you think yourself so far above that?'

'Star!'

Marco's voice caught her out before she could answer the question. She spun around in time to see Dark Moon crouched next to Negative Omnitraxus's skull. Star jerked forward, but it was too late. Dark Moon's hands made contact with the skull, and she quickly disappeared in a puff of smoke.

With that, the Red Queen's totalitarian regime on the Spiderbite Kingdom was over.

The crowd erupted in cheers as the Queen fixed her crown back on her head. Star scowled at the exploding crowd from the side lines. Not even a few minutes ago, this crowd had been cheering at the prospect of a new Empire regime over the kingdom, and the execution of dozens of innocent people. Now they were acting like nothing happened!

If there was one thing Star knew, it was that she hated politics.

Penelope rushed over to Slime Monster in the carnage and embraced him tightly.

'Oh, Slimey!' she swooned. 'I'm so sorry…I…I never meant for this to happen.'

'It's not your fault, princess.' He smiled brightly. 'You only tried to help. It was the Empire, not you.'

'But…Grayfia…'

'I know,' he uttered, looking down. 'We're going to have a funeral for her. Put her grave next to that cherry tree she planted. I think she'd have liked that.'

Penelope sniffed. 'Yeah, she would.' She took a deep breath. 'Thanks, Slimey. I love you.'

'Love you too.'

Meanwhile, Star brought Marco to the stage from the balcony above. They hugged tightly as a tear escaped both of their eyes. Today extracted a heavy toll upon them – upon everyone.

'Star, Marco, if we might have your attention.'

The pair of them turned to the king. King and Queen Spiderbite approached them guiltily.

'I believe we owe you an apology,' said the queen. Star raised an eyebrow.

'Yeah, I think you do.' She folded her arms and nodded behind them. 'Look at them.' The two monarchs looked over at Slime Monster and Penelope, who were closely embracing. 'You almost took that all away, you know. You almost stole innocent lives from their families. Maybe you don't owe me an apology so much as you do them.'

'Yes, you're right,' the king admitted. 'But first, we must make right on what we have done. We acted out of fear, not reason. We promise to be better leaders from now on. That is why…the treaty. We will sign it.'

'This time,' said the queen, 'we will ally ourselves with the right Moon.'

Star blinked in surprise. 'I…I don't know what to say.' She looked at Marco hopelessly. 'I mean…yeah, we got what we wanted. But…it doesn't feel right. With all that happened here…'

'It doesn't make up for all of it,' Marco agreed, folding his arms. 'We don't forgive you. Not yet. You did the right thing in the end, but people still died.'

King Spiderbite nodded. 'This will be a permanent mark on our history. We will not forget it.'

'I hope not,' replied Star, nodding to Penelope and Slime Monster. 'For their sake.'

For all their sakes, too. For the sake of the entire kingdom, and maybe even the whole of Mewni. The Spiderbite Kingdom was, in just a few weeks, almost completely subsumed into the Butterfly Empire right from under their nose. If that didn't show the Empire was frighteningly capable of, Star didn't know what was.

And it wasn't over just yet.

By the time Star and Marco returned from the Spiderbite Kingdom, the king and queen had signed the treaty for the Alliance as promised. The two left the Butterfly Castle throne room, after having just informed Queen Moon about the developments in the Spiderbite Kingdom. She was very happy to know the Spiderbite Kingdom had joined the Alliance.

Moon was less than pleased to learn what had been going on in the kingdom before that. Less pleased didn't even cut it. She was downright horrified. Even for her, someone with internalised prejudice towards Monsters, could see what it for what it was: mindless, cruel slaughter of innocent people. She certainly wasn't pleased to know how the Spiderbites had, at one point, chosen to betray her and aid the Butterfly Empire.

Star didn't want to talk about it. Marco didn't want to talk about it either. Moon felt guilty for not investigating when they didn't come back until a day later. She had thought Star was trying hard to convince them by staying longer. Instead, she had inadvertently exposed them to the horrors of the war. Star didn't think it was her fault, but she lacked the energy about it to care. She just hugged her mother and left the room with her beloved squire and boyfriend.

Only to be immediately halted.

'Ah, Star, Marco! I need your help.'

Adam appeared in front of them so quickly that he made them jump. She took a sharp intake of breath.

'Adam!' she cried, almost by reflex. 'I didn't know you were back from Galafamor…how'd it go?'

'No time to talk, this is important!' he snapped. 'Look: I just heard from Astoria, the Chief Ambassador for Magic in the Mace Kingdom. She set up these…magic early warning runes around the borders of their land. The Empire just tripped them by Lake Majoris fifteen minutes ago.'

'So, the Empire's making moves against the Mace Kingdom?' Marco surmised, rubbing his chin.

'Worse than that.' Adam swallowed the air in his throat. 'Her recon scouts spotted Dark Star, setting camp on the plateau over the lake. We have to act quickly here, or else the Empire's going to strike.'

'Okay, what's the plan?' asked Star, nodding. Adam stared at her.

'Are you kidding? There's no time for one! The Mace Kingdom is in a strategically advantageous location for the Empire, if they want a permanent foothold on Positive Mewni.'

The Mace Kingdom's proximity to the Butterfly Kingdom was enticing to the Empire, to say the least. It was geologically separated from them by the Forest of the Redoubt, which made it the most logical choice. Behind the Spiderbite Kingdom, of course.

'I understand it's urgent, but shouldn't we keep a level head?' she argued. 'Isn't that what you're always telling me?'

Marco folded his arms. 'Yeah, what if panicking and going in blind is what Dark Star wants?'

'If you don't wanna go, that's fine,' Adam uttered irritably. 'But you can't stop me. I have to do this. I have to stop the Empire.'

Star sighed. 'But it's not about saving Mewni, is it?' Adam looked away. 'It's about Dark Star, isn't it? She's going to be there. You want a second chance at revenge, don't you?'

'Okay, yeah, I do,' he admitted. 'But it shouldn't matter anyway! Dark Star's not gonna wait for us to catch up! We've gotta act first while we have the chance!'

Star groaned and shared a look with Marco. Marco looked back and pursed his lips, shrugging. Star nodded.

'Fine,' she decided. 'You're not gonna change your mind. So, we're going with you. To keep you in line.'

Adam rolled his eyes. 'Whatever. Let's just go.'

He directed them through the hallway and round the corner in a hurry. However, the second he did, he ran into someone.

Adam stumbled back and looked up. 'Oh, I'm s–'

His eyes widened.

'Janna?!'he exclaimed, helping the girl to her feet. 'I thought I sent you home! What the hell are you doing here?'

'I came back!' She waggled a pair of dimensional scissors. Marco's eyes widened in alarm and patted himself down. His pockets were empty. 'I told you; I'm not leaving everyone.'

'When did you take my scissors?' Marco asked, snatching them from her. Janna smirked.

'You really need to keep your pockets secure.'

Unimpressed, Adam interjected. 'Janna, I'm not gonna say this again. Go. Home. Please.'

'No. I'm not leaving you behind, no matter how much you want me to.'

Adam sighed. 'For God's sake…Janna, you're going to be the death of me someday.'

Janna smirked and chuckled.

'What are you doing, anyway?'

'Leading an attack,' he explained. 'Dark Star's set up an outpost next to Lake Majoris. We're going to stop them.'

She frowned. 'The three of you? The whole outpost? I mean…the three of you couldn't take out Dark Star last time…'

Adam didn't give an answer at first. He smiled warmly at her, putting his hands on her shoulders. He bent forward and gave her a kiss on the forehead, which made her blush.

'Don't worry. We'll be fine. Dark Star won't know what hit her.'

'Adam…' she groaned. 'You can't afford to be arrogant now. This whole thing…it's about more than just you, now. You have friends. Family. People who need you.'

'Janna, this is the only way,' he insisted. 'This is it. What I've been waiting for. My revenge. Finally.'

Janna stared at him in silence. Adam was worried he might have somehow broken her. She took him by surprise when she reached forward and hugged him tightly.

'Please, Adam, just…promise me you'll be careful.'

He raised an eyebrow. 'Of course, Janna.'

'No!' she snapped, partially pulling away from him. 'Don't just say it like it's as easy as saying hello! Promise me you'll be careful!'

'Alright, alright!' he said. 'I'll be careful. I promise.'

Janna wasn't so sure it was a promise he could keep.

Whew. So sorry everyone for how long it took me to get round to uploading this chapter. I've genuinely just been so distracted in real life that uploading this ffnet has been the furthest thing from my mind. But here it is.

How's that for a chapter, eh? You probably weren't expecting it to end so soon, but perhaps Dark Star has other plans in mind. And hey, maybe you noticed something about the title of this chapter? It's been a while, but if you don't recall, go back to Chapter 9.

Thanks for reading! So much to talk about in this chapter.

The Red Queen's plan largely failed because she was almost too careful. She had a plan that was so meticulously designed that one little disruption caused the dominoes to fall in the wrong order, so to speak. Penelope got in the way and revealed Dark Moon's deception to her parents, who then faked allegiance and formed a plan to outwit her. She never expected to be deceived, as she's used to being feared beyond consideration of defiance. As she comes from the Negative Multiverse, she's also predisposed to believe everyone is after greed and power and can't understand that some people are naturally virtuous.

She's also highly arrogant, and increasingly paranoid over the "prophecy". She received this prophecy through something known as a Shatterpoint - whereby the sheer force of magic is used to rip open a hole into the fourth dimension (time) and allows the user to witness possible futures. This was where she heard this prophecy, but she's convinced that it's avoidable because it's a possible future.

Dark River makes an appearance in this chapter but if I'm being honest, I don't know what to do with him. He's just a barbarian, a soldier like anybody else, and his rank of King is largely just as a figurehead. Matriarchy is prominent in the Empire, of course.

And that ending. Maybe that was a bit of surprise for y'all? We're only two episodes into the finale and it seems like Adam is going head-to-head with Dark Star again. I wanted a plot twist here, and the twist is simply that the story doesn't end when you think it will, but there's going to be a much bigger plot twist next chapter.

And I mean BIG. What happens in the next chapter shapes the entirety of the rest of the story, and also switches the focus of the finale from the greater conflict of the Great Monsoon to the more street-level focus, i.e. how it affects the little guy. I can't say much else without spoiling it, so you'll just have to wait for when I finish writing it.

As always, thank you all for your support. See you in the next chapter, titled 'One More Day'! (Which is also an interesting chapter title, given Chapter 9).