The Last Knight

Chapter Five: The Monster Within

It was another day at the Diaz Household, and Marco was in his room, dressed in his karate uniform, letting out steady, deep breathes as his hovered his hand over a plank of wood in the form of a karate chop.

Star was just so skipping by the open door to Marco's bedroom when she took notice as Marco let out a karate yell before swinging his hand down, chapping the wood in half.

"Whoa. You hate wood, too?" The princess from another world exclaimed. "Yeah, crush that wood! Wood's the worst!"

"No, I'm practicing for my upcoming Tang Soo Do tournament." Marco answered.

"Oh."

"You see, Star, martial arts is all about honor and discipline." The Hispanic boy explained calmly. "Which is why..." He then declared with ferocity. "I'm going to kick Jeremy Birnbaum's butt!"

"Jeremy Birnbaum?" Star repeated with confusion. "Isn't that the talking bear that used to rummage through my parents' garbage?"

"He's just this creep in my dojo who's only any good because his rich parents buy him fancy equipment and private lessons." Marco said, bitterness in his voice, as he set up three more planks of wood. "But Saturday, he's gonna get a taste of this!"

With a karate yell, he chopped the planks of wood in half, before calming down and noticing the absence of his brother.

"Hey, where's Richie?"

"Oh, he's outside." Star told him. "He's running through an obstacle course I had set up for him."

"Oh, that doesn't sound so bad."


"I take it back."

Upon stepping outside, Marco saw the insane obstacle course Star had set up, his jaw dropping to the floor at the size of it. The course consisted of swinging pendulums, smashing spike clubs, buzzsaw blades, and even alligator pits. Not only that, but his brother was running it with ease, jumping over the sawblades, swinging over the alligators, running through the spike clubs, and evading the pendulums before landing in front of Star and Marco with grace.

"And that's a ten!" Star declared, holding up the number drawn on a sheet of paper.

"Thanks, Star." Richard said with a smile. "Thanks to this, I feel ready to take on Michael!"

"Whoa, that's Jeremy's older brother!" Marco exclaimed. "He's a lot more honorable and humble in comparison."

"We've been speaking as pen pals, striving to push each other to be our best." Richard declared. "And right now, I'm feeling unstoppable!"

However, the trio didn't take notice of the boulder being launched by a catapult, the boulder sent flying high in the air, before it came crashing down upon Richard like a Road Runner cartoon.

His scream of pain was so loud that Jackie heard it from home, her head jerking up in confusion at the sound.


Later, Richard was laying on Star's bed in a full body cast, with several drawings on it, curtesy of Star, along with reading "Get well s n! Star!".

"This is a nightmare!" Marco groaned. "My brother won't be able to participate in the tournament like this!"

"Hey, don't feel bad, bro." Richard spoke, cringing from the broken bones. "I'm sure Michael will understand."

"It's not Michael I'm concerned about!" Marco said, sitting on the bed. "If you can't fight, Jeremy will say you wussed out, and he'll never let us live it down!"

Star, meanwhile, was off to the side, standing in front of a mirror, using her magic wand to swap her hairstyle between ponytails and pigtails.

Seeing this, Marco had an idea.

"Wait a minute. You have a wand! You could just fix Richard!" He exclaimed.

Turning to the boys, Star's last hairstyle was a hodgepodge of pigtails and ponytails.

"You know... That sort of spell is not really in my comfort zone." She said, slightly unsure, before smiling. "Oh, but if you like, I can give you a pretty wicked set of pigtails." She then switched her hair into pigtails.

Marco groaned, laying on his back.

"Are you sure you don't have any means to fix me up?" Richard asked. "It'd do wonders if I could participate in the tournament."

Thinking for a moment, Star held up a finger at an idea before running to the side of her bed.

"Perhaps..." She then pulled a giant book out from under her bed, prompting the boys to look with interest. "I could look up a bone-healing spell in the magic instruction book that came with the wand."

"What?! This whole time you had a magic instruction book?" Marco exclaimed.

"Yep." Star nodded, not bothered by Marco's outburst. "Whenever the previous owner of the wand mastered a spell, they scribbled it down in here."

Star proceeded to open the book, creating a cloud of dust and several bugs to crawl out, making her cough.

Looking at the book, Richard seemed unsure. "Is this…safe?" He asked, a little concerned.

"I'm sure it'll be fine." Star waved it off. "The only problem is that it's a complete disorganized mess. It's gonna take me foreeeever to find—" The minute she turned a page, she found what she was looking for. "Oh! Here it is."

"Really?" Marco said, looking at the page the spell was on.

"Hmm. It's in an ancient language." She said before aiming her wand at Richard. "Releasio Demonius Infestica!"

A beam of magic shot out of the wand and coiled around Richard's body cast, the boy letting out several surprised gasps.

"I can feel it working! My body is tingling!"

In a flash of light, the cast shattered, leaving a cloud of magic dust.

"Richard, you okay?!" Marco yelled, worried for his brother.

The boy in the cast moved a bit, then suddenly, the cast started breaking in some joints, allowing him to sit up.

"Yo, I feel better already!" Richard declared, his tone happy. "My bones don't feel broken anymore!"

"The spell worked!" Star declared happily.

The two watched Richard sit up, the pieces of the cast falling off, and their faces turned from happiness to shock, and then horror.

Noting their expressions, Richard was confused.

"What? Is something on my face?"

Both Marco and Star looked at each other, unsure on how to react or answer.

Eventually, Marco did answer.

"Uuuuh, bro? Try not to panic." He said, hoping to keep his brother calm.

"You uuh…might want to look in the mirror." Star added.

Confused, the Belmont boy got up from the bed and walked over to the bedside mirror. Upon looking at his reflection, his faced turned to horror at what he saw.

His reflection showed his transformation. Instead of his human self, he had been transformed into some sort of buff monster with bright red skin covered in darker red tiger-like stripes, his short white hair remained the same, but he had four yellow eyes with slitted pupils, pointy ears and nose, short horns, and fanged teeth.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

He let out a scream of absolute terror, so loud, that the dogs wondering the streets ran in fear.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO ME?!"

"I don't know! It seemed I misunderstood the spell, somehow!" Star stammered.

"Well, change him back!" Marco demanded. "I don't want my brother to be stuck like this forever!"

"Don't worry! There must be a spell in here that can change it back!" Star said in a panic, flipping through the book's pages. As she hurriedly flipped through the pages, a small, dark blue humanoid with pink eyes (with diamond-shaped irises and pupils) and lips, twelve fingers (six on each hand), a white beard that parted in the middle, a long nose, and a magenta gem embedded in his forehead, floating in a meditative pose, briefly appeared between two of the pages as Star continued flipping. "I can fix it!"

Suddenly, Richard kicked the book out the window, much to Star and Marco's shock, even Richard was shocked by this sudden action.

"I swear, it wasn't me!"


The next morning came, Richard waking from his slumber with a yawn, sitting up and feeling rejuvenated, his bones not feeling broken at all.

"Whoa, I feel great today!" He declared, getting out of bed. "Man, I don't even remember what I was frightened for."

The minute he walked up to the mirror and saw his reflection, still in the monster form, his face fell in realization.

"Oh."


After getting his things, Richard proceeded to shower, scrubbing himself with soap to clean himself for the day, when suddenly, he felt strange his body trying to move on its own, against his commands.

"What the heck?!" Richard exclaimed, startled by this, and trying to regain control.

Suddenly, against his will, his arm turned the shower handle to 'hot', making Richard scream at the sudden hot water as steam filled the bathroom. In a few seconds, Richard calmed down.

"Hey, it ain't so bad, suddenly."


At breakfast, Richard sat at the table, Marco sitting across from him and about to bite into a breakfast toast when Richard suddenly knocked it out of his hand.

"Sorry."

He then knocked the rest of Marco's breakfast off the table.

"Sorry."

"Richie, quit saying sorry." Marco frowned. "I know you're not doing this on purpose."

"I just don't understand why it keeps doing these things." Richard said, his monster body twitching. "It's like this monstrous urge to act on some sort of instinct or something."

Just then, Star came downstairs, bags under her eyes, and sat at the table and letting out a yawn.

"Morning, Marco. Morning, Richard." She said tiredly. "I was up all night, but I haven't found a way to reverse the spell."

Suddenly, Richard picked up Star's glass of orange juice and poured it on Marco's head before throwing the glass away, Star and Richard staring in shock.

"Don't say it."


School went on, like normal, with Richard putting his hood and gloves to hide what he looked like, although it did little to dissuade the stares he got from the other students.

At breakfast, the trio were walking with trays in hand, Richard still feeling the twitches of his body, Marco rubbing his brother's arm as if to try and calming him down. Just then, Jackie approached them.

"Hey guys." She greeted with a smile, which fell, and her eyes widened when she saw the state Richard was in. "Whoa, what happened to you?"

"It's a long story…" Marco said, unsure, rubbing the back of his head, as his brother pulled his hoodie over his face.

"Hey, kid. I got a joke for you."

The four looked and saw a large, bulky student named Lars harassing a short chubby nerd named Francis, along with a large crowd of students were watching.

"What's the most important meal of the day?"

"Huh?"

Lars proceeded to slap Francis's lunch tray out of his hands, spilling his food all over the floor.

"It's breakfast!" Lars exclaimed, laughing out loud at his below average joke.

Francis laughed nervously. "That's a good one, Lars."

The nerd proceeded to lean down to pick up his tray, only for Lars to shove his face in pink frosting, the bully laughing at his tormenting of the nerd.

Watching this, Richard felt a sudden anger raising within himself. Suddenly, he rushed forward and smacked him in the face with his food tray, knocking him to the floor. The crowd gasped in shock, along with the trio watching.

"Who did that?!" Lars yelled angrily, staring dead at Richard. "No one hits La—!"

Suddenly, Richard's monster body started punching Lars in the face before smacking him over and over again, making him fall to the ground. The monster body then pulled Lars to his feet before punching him in the stomach, sending him into a table, then roared in his face. The bully cried before getting up and running away, the boy-turned-monster pulling Francis up and wiping his face clean, the nerd staring at him stunned.

"I, sir, am in your debt." The nerd bowed before Ferguson popped in and knocked him to the side.

"You're a hero!"

The students cheered at the heroics of Richard, some of the girls running up to him and feeling him up.

"I want him to be my boyfriend!"

"Me too!"

As the crowd of students were hailing Richard a hero, Marco and his two female friends watched.

"You know, I can't help but worry about this." Marco said, worried for his brother.

"Yeah, no kidding." Jackie said, sharing Marco's worry for the Belmont boy.

Richard, on the other hand, started to feel some sort of pride in his monster body. Be it good or bad, only time would tell.


Nighttime had come, and the trio of Richard, Star and Marco had returned home, Stat sitting at her desk and flipping through the magic instruction book for a way to undo Richard's transformation, while the mentioned transformed boy stood in front of the mirror, checking himself out in the mirror, while Marco sat on Star's bed.

"A-ha! I found it!" Star exclaimed, pointing at a page in the book. "A reverse tentacle spell!" She paused for a moment, her brows furrowing in uncertainty. "I think."

The brothers looked at each other, unsure, before looking back at the blonde girl.

"Uh, maybe you should practice on something first." Marco suggested.

"Yeah, I don't want to be set on fire." Richard added.

"Way ahead of you."

Star then pulled out a potted plant and placed it on the desk, then aimed her wand at it.

"Returnio Armius Normalritecus!"

She fired the spell at it, only for the plant to be burned to a crisp, making her and Marco both shudder. Richard looked especially frightened.

"Uh, I'm going to bed now." Richard said, leaving the room in a hurry.

"I'll leave you to it, Star." Marco said, getting up. "Just remember to get some sleep.

"Don't worry! I'll get it!" She called after her friends before pulling out another potted plant. "Returnius Armius Normalrinny!"

She fired a new magic beam, only for the second plant to explode.

"Ugh..."


This was going to be a long night, but Star was determined to find a way to help her friend.

Morning came, and it was apparent that Star had spent the whole night till morning attempting to perfect the spell. To say that she looked exhausted would be an understatement, her hair was messy, she had dark bags under her eyes, and her eyes were bloodshot, all from the lack of sleep. All over her desk was an assortment of failed attempts, including a stump with eyes, a green foot, a multi-layered hand, a foot with six toes, a large rock arm, flowers with toes, and ballooned hands.

Exhausted, Star made one more attempt. "Returnio... Armius... Normalrino..."

The beam hit the potted plant, making a normal, human arm emerge from the dirt, complete with four fingers and a thumb, with no deformities. Star gasped at this, the hand giving a thumbs up, signifying the attempt was a success.

"Marco!" Star yelled, running out of the room, returning briefly for the hand.

"673... 674... 675..."

Inside Richard's room, Richard, still in his monster form, was doing pushups, while Marco sat off to the side and keeping count, when Star ran in.

"I did it, I did it, I did it, I did it, I did it, I DID IT!" She exclaimed happily, presenting the human hand plant. "I've finally done it! Now all I need to do is replace the word 'arm' with 'body' in the spell and we should be able to get Richard back to normal!"

"Hey, that's awesome!" Marco said. "But check it out; I think Richard's got a good grip on his monster body."

Standing on his hands, Richard threw himself into the air before landing on his feet, then breaking a whole stack of wooden planks with his head.

"I admit, this body gives me quite the advantage in the karate tournament." Richard said, flexing his muscles. "And I must say, it's quite the improvement."

"You know, normally I'd agree." Marco said. "But I can't shake the feeling that it might make you cross lines you shouldn't."

"I completely agree." Star nodded, pointing with the arm plant. "Besides that, it would be completely unfair."

Richard, on the other hand, didn't seem pleased with the idea. "Ohhhh, funny how you never have a problem using your magic when it benefits you," He said, slowly approaching Star. "but as soon as it gives me an advantage, you want to take it away!"

Star looked at Richard with concern. This was very uncharacteristic from him, something that worried not only Star, but Marco as well.

"Hold on, Richie, let's dial it back some." Marco tried to defuse the situation.

"And you," Richard growled, pointing a finger at his brother. "You're just jealous that I've got magical abilities and you don't."

"What?! Bro, that's not true!" Marco denied.

"Richie, I seriously think that body's a bad influence on you." Star said, a frightened look on her face.

"And I think you should go." Richard growled, pushing both friend and brother out of his room.

"Hold on, Rich-" Marco tried to argue, but the Earth-raised Mewman didn't give him a chance.

"I am using this in the tournament and that's that." Richard growled, a dangerous look on his face. "End. Of. Discussion."

"Fine! But I don't—!" Star wasn't given a chance to finish what she was going to say when Richard slammed the door in her face.

Now alone, Richard sat on his bed, said bed creaking under his weight.

"Man, what do they know?" He mumbled.

"Don't listen to them. They're just jealous."

The unfamiliar voice made him jump a bit, the boy looking about his room, but saw no one. He opened his bedroom door and looked out. Again no one was there.

"Hello?" He called, somewhat disturbed.

"Look over here."

Slowly, he turned and looked over his shoulder, looking at the standing mirror that stood next to his dresser.

Then suddenly, his reflection smiled back.

"Hi."

"WAAAAHH!" With a startled scream, Richard fell over.

Slowly picking himself up, Richard looked at his reflection, which stared back at him with a toothy smile, in contrast to his surprised expression.

"Did that come out of me?" He asked, still surprised.

"Well, yes, but actually no." The reflection replied, his voice slightly deeper than Richard's, as well as sounding more manic. "You see, I'm a manifestation of the monster within; I'm a part of you."

"So…you're basically inside of me?" Richard questioned.

"I am much more than that, my friend." The reflection said. "I'm everything you haven't seen yet. And I can help you get everything you ever wanted, give you the life you've always dreamed of."

"Really?" Richard asked.

"That's right, my Mewman half." The reflection nodded. "First, we're gonna destroy that little punk Jeremy and his loser brother."

"Yeah..."

"Then we're gonna get Jackie Lynn Thomas to like you."

"Yeah!"

"And then we're gonna slaughter all humans and feast on their bowels!"

"YEAH!" Richard cheered, but did a double take, unsure if he heard the last part right. "Wait, what was that last part?"

Realizing his mistake, the reflection backtracked, "I mean, uh, w-win the tournament!"

"Yeah!" Richard cheered. "So, what do I call you?"

Thinking for a moment, the reflection responded, "Call me Hyde, in reference to Jekyll and Hyde."

"Okay, that can work."

Little was Richard aware of the true intentions of his monstrous side.


Later that day, a small crowd of people were sat in the bleachers in the dojo, Marco sitting on the edge of the mat in his karate uniform, waiting for the tournament to begin. While he was anxious about facing Jeremy, he was mostly worried about Richard, the Hispanic boy concerned that his brother might be letting the monster form get to his head.

"Everything good, Marco?"

Looking up, he saw Jackie sitting next to him, also dressed in her own mixed martial arts uniform, mainly black with red lining, as well as having a red cloud pattern all over.

"Yeah, just worried about Richie." He said before changing the subject. "Say, what're you doing down here on the mat?"

"I'll have you know that I'm also participating in the tournament." Jackie told him. "I've been training in mixed martial arts; specifically, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu."

"Oh yeah, I remember." Marco smiled. "Also, good taste in anime. I'm sure Richie will approve."

"Speaking of which, how is Richie?" Jackie asked, concern in her voice. "Have you guys found a way to get him back to normal?"

"We have, but he kinda took offense to it." Marco said, rubbing his arm. "I'm worried that it's going to his head."

At the top of the bleachers, Alfonzo and Ferguson sat at the top row and waited eagerly, only for their faces to fall they saw a very exhausted Star making her way to them, tiredly saying sorry to everyone she bumped into before sitting next to Ferguson.

"Are you okay, Star?" Alfonzo asked.

"You look terrible, and I have very low standards." Ferguson said.

"I've been up for two nights trying to fix his monster body," Star said with a yawn. "then he gets mad, and then I got to come here and watch him karate, you know?"

At the center of the matt, Sensei Brantley announced, "Allow me to introduce our first competitor, Michael Birnbaum!"

On one side of the dojo, a tall, muscular young teen in a karate uniform, long light brown hair tied back in a ponytail, bright blue eyes and tanned skin. Next to him looked like a tall man in a blue cloak, sipping water served to him by one butler while another butler massaged his shoulders.

…only to discard his cloak with a high-pitched battle cry, revealing to be a little boy standing on a footstool.

For a moment, Star's eyes widened in surprise. "That's Jeremy?!"

"That kid can't be any more than eight years old!" Ferguson exclaimed.

Jeremy let out an overconfident laugh, while Michael only rolled his eyes. Meanwhile, their parents sat in the crowd, pretty much the only ones showing support, the father holding up a sign that read "WE JEREMY".

"We love you, boys!" Mrs. Birnbaum declared.

"Thank you, mother!" Michael waved.

"Shut it, Mom!" Jeremy yelled rudely.

"And his opponent, Richard Belmont Diaz."

Off to the side stood Richard, an ominous look on his face, his body half obscured by shadow before he stepped out, revealing his monstrous form and his kickboxing uniform barely clinging to his form.

The audience gasped in shock at the very sight.

"Now that's a bod." Mr. Birnbaum said.

"Hey, wait! He's jacked up! That's not fair!" Jeremy exclaimed in outrage.

"Yeah! Pretty cool, right?" The sensei said, as though it were normal.

Michael blinked a few times as Richard stepped onto the mat, his monstrous form towering over him, looking at him with vicious glee.

"Richard, I've never seen you like this before." He said. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Never felt better." Richard spoke, although given the tone, it was hard to tell if it was Richard or Hyde talking.

But no one seemed to be away of the other personality.

The minute the gong rang for the match to begin, Richard immediately went on the attack, punching Michael in the chest and sent him into a wall. But he didn't stop there, as Richard started throwing Michael around the dojo like a ragdoll, everyone in attendance watching in shock as the human was sent crashing through the wall.

Watching the scene, Jeremy was beyond outrage. "Hey! No one beats up on my brother but me!" He yelled, jumping at Richard with a jumping kick…

…only for Richard to catch him with one hand, holding Jeremy up by his leg at eyelevel, looking the little boy dead in the eyes with malicious intent.

"…This is not gonna end well for me, is it?" The boy asked in fear.

"No, it won't."

The monster-turned boy then started swinging the smaller boy over his head and down onto the matt, knocking him into a trophy shelf. By the time Richard had thrown Jeremy to the mat, the small boy was covered in bruises.

"Point, Diaz." The sensei declared like it was normal.

Watching from the side, both Jackie and Marco were appalled.

"Dude, talk about brutal." Jackie remarked. "He didn't even give them a chance."

"Yeah, it's almost like…he's a different person…" Marco trailed off, getting a good look on Richard's monster face.

His eyes were shifting between different colors.

"St…Stop…" Richard struggled to say.

"Come on, isn't this what you wanted?" Hyde cackled. "To show how strong you are and put these weaklings in their places?!"

"I only wanted to push them to get better at martial arts!" Richard argued. "I never wanted to act so…dishonorable!"

Marco gasped in realization. "Of course! The spasms, the twitches, the random acts of violence…the spell gave him a second personality!"

Disgusted by Richard's rejection, Hyde took control. "No matter. I'll finish this myself…" He returned his attention to the beaten Jeremy before picking him up by his neck. "…by FEASTING ON HIS BOWELS!"

Hearing this, Jeremy started panicking. "Not my bowels! I love my bowels!" He yelled, flailing desperately to escape, screaming in fear as Hyde opened his mouth, showing his sharp teeth.

Seeing this, Richard and Jackie both sprang into action, Marco grabbing the arm that held Jeremy and pressed his fingers on a spot on the wrist, forcing the monster-turned boy to release the spoiled brat, dropping him to the ground.

"Star was right about you...!" Marco declared, standing defiantly before the monster. "You are a bad influence on my brother!"

"Now give Richard back, or else!" Jackie demanded, glaring at the beast.

Hyde, on the other hand, didn't take too kindly to his meal being interrupted.

"And you annoy me."

He then swung his claw at the human duo, said duo jumping out of the way, Marco throwing Jeremy to the side, right into the punching bag, said punching bag swinging back and hitting Jeremy in the face.

"Point, Diaz." Sensei declared, once again, as though it were normal somehow.

Hyde lunged at the two with a roar, Marco and Jackie jumping away, the two going on the attack, trying to restrain their friend, but Hyde easily shook them off and took control of the situation.

"Star?! You can change him back now!" Marco yelled, hoping his friend would jump in.

"Star!" Alfonzo and Ferguson both said before gasping at the sight of Star falling asleep. No doubt from exhaustion.

"Star, you gotta wake up!" Ferguson yelled, trying to shake her awake.

Back with the fight, Marco and Jackie were struggling to stop Hyde, the monster catching a punch from Marco before throwing him up and into the ceiling, while holding Jackie in a headlock.

"Staaaaar!" Ferguson practically yelled in Star's ear to wake her, but to no avail.

Meanwhile, Hyde had Jackie in a scissors lock, the blonde girls trying to break out of the hold, while the monster had Marco in a choke hold, slapping Marco with his own hand while saying 'stop hitting yourself' repeatedly.

"Hey! Wake! Up!" Ferguson yelled, now slapping Star to wake her up, with no success.

"Here, try this." Alfonzo held up a beverage.

"Oh, thank you so much." Taking the drink, the fat boy started gulping it down.

"No! On Star!"

"Oh, right."

Finally realizing his friend's intent, Ferguson splashed Star with water, waking her up as she spat out the water.

"Star!" Marco cried, Hyde now throwing him and Jackie high into the air as if he was juggling them.

"I'd like to get off this ride now!" Jackie yelled.

"Guys!" Star gasped before jumping into action, aiming her wand at Hyde. "Returnio Armius Normalrino!"

Seeing the magic blast coming, Hyde threw Marco and Jackie to the side before jumping out of the way, the beam turning a punching bag into an arm.

"Returnio Armius Normalrino!"

Star fired again, only for Hyde to dodge again, the magic beam turning a dumbbell into an arm. A third blast turned a towel into an arm. Sensei jumped when a fourth blast created a pair of arms next to him, which pounded together, prompting him to bow in return.

Star kept firing, the whole time Hyde kept dodging with surprising agility, the blasts creating arms all over the dojo and the bystanders ducking to avoid the blasts.

Hyde laughed as he hung upside down, his claws digging into the ceiling. "I could do this all day."

"Ugh! He's too agile!" Star growled.

Getting up, Marco looked at all the arms Star had made, littered about the dojo. That's when he had an idea.

"Jackie, follow my lead!"

Nodding, Jackie repeated his movements, kicking off the wall and grabbing onto the monster boy, both Marco and Jackie planting their feet against the ceiling and pushing, pulling Hyde down and down to the ground, the arms catching and holding the monster boy down, no matter how much he struggled.

"Now!" Marco yelled.

Star aimed her wand. "Returnio Bodius Normalrinooooo!"

Star's magic beam finally hit, right in the face, his form beginning to shift and slowly revert to Richard's normal form.

But even with this, Hyde chuckled.

"All you did... was awaken... what already... laid beneath. You will... never... be free of us. We are now... one and... the same. You can treat... the symptoms... but you'll never... cure the... virus. Long... live... the king."

And with that, Hyde was gone, and the boy fell limp.

"Richie!" Marco gasped, helping his brother up. "Bro, speak to me!"

Richard let out a low groan before opening his eyes.

"Richard, are you okay?" Star asked with worry.

Richard checked himself, a smile creeping on his face. "My body! My beautiful body. It's back to normal."

Suddenly, he heard and felt several bones within himself snapping.

"And totally broken." He groaned before crumpling to the floor like an NPC in Garry's Mod.

"Broken bones? Hah!" Jeremy boasted. "Well, it looks like I win."

Just then, a set of golden brass knuckles fell out of one of Jeremy's gloves and clanged on the floor. One of the animated arms picked it up and held it in front of Sensei Brantley's face.

"Brass knuckles? Seriously?" He frowned, staring at Jeremy with disapproval.

"Pfft! Brass? They're gold." Jeremy scoffed.

"You boys have brought shame and dishonor to this great and noble sport." The sensei said, both Richard and Jeremy wincing from their sensei's disapproval. "'Tis a sad day for strip mall dojos everywhere."

As the sensei left, Jeremy briefly looked at Marco, who looked back at him in turn, before the spoiled kid angrily kicked over some of the arms and walked away.

"Oh-ho, bravo, son! Bravo!" Mrs. Birnbaum declared happily, clapping.

Jeremy only glared at her. "I wish I could fight you, Mom." He growled, making his mother whimper before walking out.

The group watched, all sporting looks of scorn to the spoiled brat.

"What a turd." Ferguson said.

Jackie helped Richard to his feet, the two sharing a smile before Richard turned to Michael, who had recovered from the beatdown he had inflicted upon him.

"Michael, I'm terribly sorry for what I've done." Richard said, his face riddled with great shame. "I allowed such strength to get to my head and I almost did something terrible. I hope you can forgive me."

"It's okay. I had a feeling that it wasn't really you I was facing." Michael said with a smile. "But hey, once you recover, what say we have a proper rematch, to make up for the ruined one?"

"I'd like that." Richard nodded before turning to Star and Marco. "I'm sorry, you guys. I should've listened to you and I was wrong to say what I did."

Star smiled, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I know."

"Hey, uh, when the monster side said he'd be back, that's nothing to worry about, right?" Marco asked.

"Yeah, I'd rather not have to deal with that again." Jackie added.

"Uhhh... probably not?" Star said with an unsure shrug, prompting Richard to look worried.

Behind them stood a mirror, which reflected the group's reflections. Richard's reflection looked back, towards the camera, before giving a fanged grin.

While he might've been put back under, Hyde was far from gone.


And there's the new chapter! Hope you caught the Jojo's and Amphibia references lol. Yeah, instead of Marco, Richard gets turned into a monster form that some fans should be familiar with, which hints at his origins. This was a fun episode to make a Richard focused and I'm glad I didn't skip it. However, I will be skipping The Other Exchange Student, Cheer Up Star, and Quest Buy, as I don't see them as important, and going into the Diaz Family Vacation. So, I hope you guys look forward to the next chapter as Richard goes with Marco and Star to Mewni to see the world he missed out on.

Anyways, thanks for reading and I hope you stay tuned for more! Reviews are greatly appreciated!