Nova: Chapter 1: Nightmares

Original Idea by: Scraps

Characters created by: Daron Nefcy

Chapter 1: Nightmare

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Unknown Location: Present day

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"Star…Star free me!" the voice said as it whispered to the young girl before it. "Please…!"

"G-g-get away from me!" The blond haired girl shouted with a shudder as she aimed her wand at the figure, sweat trickling down her brow "I'm warning ya bro! I know how to use this!"

"Star…please!" The figure continued to plead as it moved closer. "You have to free me. You have to…"

"Hyper Rainbow Blast!" Star shouted as she fired a large rainbow beam from her want and through the figure before her, shattering the shadow like glass. As she watched the shards fade away she looked around at her location. She was at the base of a cliff as she could see an orange light up towards the top of the cliff. As she climbed to the top, she gasped in horror as she saw she was back home, in the Kingdom of Mewni, but it was all ablaze with fire, not accidental "Star" fire, but legit fire.

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As she slid down the cliff and rushed into the burning city, she saw two bodies before her. It was her parents, King and Queen Butterfly, both of which were wounded and bloody. A broken sword beside her father's corpse, shattered from an apparent brawl, the pieces were warped and melted. As she approached her dead parents, she fell into her knees, a feeling of pain and numbness began to fill inside her, as well as the desire to hire a butler and live in a cave. Suddenly, she saw her mother gasp and cough as she opened her eyes and looked to Star.

"Mom!" Star shouted as she scooted forward and lifted her mother up.

"Star…" Queen Butterfly muttered as she coughed up blood. "How…could…you…"

"Could what?" Star asked as tears formed in her eyes. "What did I do?"

Before the queen could respond, she coughed up more blood before she fell limp. Star's heart sunk as she then felt a small warmth before her, much like a small campfire. Looking up, she saw a man standing above her. He had blond hair like Star's but it was shorter and pulled back. He also had two black hearts on his cheeks. He also was wearing what appeared to be a silver armor with the Mewni insignia on the breastplate, the armored figure also had blueish green gauntlet with golden star knuckles and a larger red star on the back of the hand. As he looked down to Star, he knelt on one knee and examined the bodies between them.

"There was nothing we could do for them Star." The man explained as tears began to trickle from his eyes. "If they only listened to me, then none of this would happened."

"What happened?" Star asked the man as she stood up and aimed her wand at him. "Who are you?"

The man looked at Star, studying the tearful expression on her face as he reached out towards her with his hand. Star watched as a blueish green gauntlet grasped the wand and lowered it before the man stood up and knelt down to her.

"You know who I am." The man explained as he was now behind her. "You knew who I was but they made you forget me…forget who I was. But if you don't know who I am…"

As the man bent downward to Star's ear, his next few words turned the magical teen's blood cold.

"…then why do you know my name?"

Star gasped as she turned around and backed away from the man. She watched as he raised his gauntlet and all the fire around the two of them began to flow into the palm of his hand. As he clenched it, he turned to her and watched as she aimed her wand at him again.

"What do you want from me?" Star asked as she felt her hands shaking. "Tell me what you want."

The man smiled as he stood before the girl. As Star blinked, the man was gone. But as she turned around, she saw the man again, only this time, he grabbed her head with his gauntlet and raised her into the air, causing the teen to drop her wand in the process.

"Freedom…" the man said warmly as he looked at the girl in his grasp. "…my little Star…"

Star tried to pull the gauntlet off her face, but the man's grip was too strong. As she could see the palm of the gauntlet shine a blinding light, she could hear a voice call out to her.

"Star…hey Star…" said the familiar voice. "Hello…Earth to star!"

As she looked into the blinding light, she could swear she saw another figure right in her face screaming at her.

"HEY STAR! WAKE UP!"

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Diaz Residence: Star's Room: Present Day

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Marco Diaz was once an ordinary kid, in fact, he was known as "The Safe Kid". A straight A student who main goal in life was to survive the everyday social awkwardness and to one day clam the heart of his childhood crush, Jakie Lynn Tomas. However, that was before he was selected as the guide to a particular "exchange student", a student who happens to be living with his eccentric parents in a large tower that was jammed into the side of their house, a student who has been taking the boy on a wild adventure of beating up monsters and enduring weird hijinks for about a year and a half now (It would have been longer, but after an incident with father time and the mud dimension, things...kind of halted for a while).

Now this same student was going to be late for school, and the same boy in charge of her was trying to wake her up, only to feel the embrace of a fist to the face as the magical teen gave him a sharp uppercut, followed by a hard kick in the stomach, knocking the boy into a wall. Star looked around in confusion as she whipped out her wand and aimed it like a gun around the room, suddenly stopping with a gasp as she saw Marco stuck in the wall.

"Marco?" Star said with a huff as she jumped out of bed and rushed over to the boy, pulling him out of the boy wall crater and pointing her wand at him like a scolding mother. "Now what did I say about waking me up like that? What was that saying again? "Fool me one…you can't get fooled again?"

"No…" Marco replied with a winded groan as he looked up at the boy shaped dent in the ceiling…and on the other wall…and on the floor…and on the bed (get your brain out of the gutter). "But there is this think we have known as school you know."

"I know I know." Star replied as she tapped her wand, instantly proofing from her pajamas and into her basic clothing. "I just…I've been having these weird dreams lately."

"I can tell…" Marco said as he stretched his back, feeling his spine pop as he brushed small rocked from his red sweater. "…but could we discuss this, say, after we catch the bus."

"Star gave Marco a look of disappointment as she raised her wand and said "Teleportus Toschoolbusicus" and in a flash of light, the two teens were sitting on the school bus. Marco looked around in confusion as he looked at his lap, his backpack was there before him. As he opened it, he saw his school notes, homework, and a homemade lunch, courtesy of Mr. Diaz.

"Oh wow!" Marco said in astonishment. "You've really gotten better at this. I mean, we're even inside the bus this…"

Marco trailed off at the sight of the magic teen who was staring daggers at him.

"The nightmare?" Marco asked Star as he zipped up his bag.

Star nodded as she continued to glare at him. Despite the intention of intimidation, her stink eye was rather adorable.

"Alright." Marco sighed as he leaned into his bus seat. "Lay it on me."

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Echo Creek Academy: School Grounds: Ten Minutes Later

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Ah school, the breeding ground for social anxiety and a prime example of social Darwinism. There were the nerds, the cheerleaders, the jocks, the bullies, the plastics, the goths, and Janna. As the bus pulled up to the entrance of the school, the student's rushed out like a pack of beasts. With the stragglers like Star and Marco tagging behind.

"…and he called me "his little Star…"" Star explained as she jumped off the stairs of the bus. "…right before he fired his hand thingy."

"Huh…" Marco responded as he scratched his head. "So he said you know his name?"

"Kinda…" Star replied as she began to chew on her wand. "I just…can't remember what it was. I mean, a second ago I know it, but when I think about it."

"…it vanishes." Marco interjected as he placed his books in his locker. "I know how you feel, sometime I forget a name, so I say it ten time in my head, which helps with names like…"

Marco trailed off as he saw a sight that always caused his brain to shut down and his blood to flow south. There, moving towards him on a familiar skateboard and wearing a familiar helmet, was Jackie Lynn Thomas, the love of young Marco's life, or at least, only to Marco. As she passed the boy, she waved at him and gave a simple "Hey Marco." The boy then replied with a shaky "Hey Jackie." As he watched the girl of his dreams skate around the corner, he was brought back into reality with a large clap of hands in front of his face.

"Marco! For crying out loud!" Star shouted dramatically at the young boy. "This is serious!

"I was listing!" Marco shouted defensively. "But you need to relax Star, whatever that dream was, it'll make sense in time. In fact, some people believe that dreams are made from the thoughts, fears and feelings we have towards things."

"Really?" Star said as she rubbed her arm. "So…I shouldn't worry so much about this."

"Of course." Marco replied. "In fact, I had a dream that I saved Jackie from a giant tentacle monster, which was-"

Marco stopped as he turned to see two cheerleaders giving him the stink eye and several head shakes of disgust before walking off.

"Never mind." Marco sighed as he bent forward in shame. "Just get to class before you are tardy."

"Okay!" Star said gleefully as she hugged her bf and skipped away singing, having almost forgotten her dilemma.

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Echo Creek Academy: History 101: Present Day

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Stars class stared towards the slides on the screen as the teacher droned about the significance of each picture, as he continued to speak about the rise of the Germans in World War Two, Star watched the slides with a bored glaze as she started to drift into sleep.

"…by about 1939, the Nazi party was already began taking over Poland and spreading their reign into France, the Netherlands, and even Libya." The Teacher droned as he pressed a button and another slide appeared on the screen. "Here we have a picture of the German Chancellor, Adolf Hitler, during his occupation in Paris, France…"

As the teacher continued to bleat words and switch from slide to slide. Star felt her body shut down as she began to fall asleep. She began to nod off, trying to stay awake before she gave in and fell face first onto her desk.

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Star shot her head up as she found herself alone in the classroom. As she looked around, she saw that there was not a single soul in the class room.

"I must have slept through the entire class." Star said to herself as she looked to the blackboard. "But then why didn't anyone wake me up?"

As Star tried to stand up, she found herself unable to sit up. Star then looked to her table and saw a sight that disturbed her. She found her body was attached to her school desk, as it she and her desk were made of wax and they melted together. Star began to panic as she tried to pull herself free, but it was no use.

"Marco!" Star yelled as she tried to pull herself free. "Marco! Help!"

There was no response, not a sound other than the young girl's breathing. Star then saw her wand on the floor beside her. But she could not reach it because her arms were fused to her desk. As she began to hyperventilate and panic, she then saw the blackboard before her starting to ripple like a lake that had a stone thrown within.

"It's just a dream…" Star muttered as she closed her eyes. "I just have to wake up."

Star then opened her eyes to see the ripple in the blackboard start to become stronger as a familiar bluish green gauntlet emerged from the blackboard, followed by the same figure that Star saw in her last dream. As he began to approach her. Star could begin to hear screams from the door in the room, which led to the hallways of the school. Star could then see the glass on the door turn orange as it shattered, the opening was quickly filled with fire as the screams became louder. As Star tried to pull herself free, she then heard the sound of Marco screaming.

"MARCO!" Star screamed as she pulled harder, but she would not budge. "NO! NOOOO!"

Star then turned to the man before her, who was looking towards the burning door with a blank expression.

"This is no dream Star." The man explained as he raised his gauntlet towards Star. "You will fail to save them…to save Marco."

As he clenched his hand, Star felt her body detach from the desk and fall onto the floor. As soon as she touched the floor, Star grabbed her wand and rushed towards the fire, only to be stopped by a gauntlet grabbing her shoulder. Star shoved the man away as she rushed towards the fire, only to see the door begin to get farther and farther as she ran. Eventually Star stopped and fell to her knees. Looking back to the armored man, who had his arms crossed and a look of curiosity on his face.

"Why are you doing this?" Star choked as she turned to him and stood up, aiming her wand at him. "Why are you doing this to me? What did I do to you?"

The man's face softened as he approached Star, his body began to shrink until he was about her size. Star stood back in confusion as the boy looked with a look of disappointment.

"Nothing…" the boy replied as he looked at his hands. "You were only a little girl then."

Star looked in confusion before she began to charge her wand. The Boy looked up and smiled.

"But I was your hero." The boy stated with a smile. "The bright light within a dark world."

Star stopped in her tracks, lowering her wand as she saw the backboard behind the boy begin to use the fire to write four letters. With each letter written, the boy before her began to disappear.

"Wait…" Star shouted as she reached out towards the boy, only for him to disappear, leaving behind the four flaming letters. As she saw those letters of fire, the spark she was looking for was lit, and the name she was looking for was right before her.

…and then Star woke up to a full classroom and a ringing bell.

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Echo Creek Academy: Cafeteria: Present Day

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It was lunchtime at the Echo creek academy as Marco was sitting with his two friends, Ferguson and Alfonzo, who were discussing the famous book series "Nobody's Perfect" By the mysterious writer Crumbs the Clown.

"I'm just saying is that the first book, while the grammar is atrocious, is the best of the series, and should have stayed a single story as the author intended." Alfonzo stated as he held his finger in the air. "The very fact that Crumbs made two sequels, a prequel, and several spin-offs if a clear sigh of selling out."

"I have no quarrel with the expansion, it's the characters I have a bit of trouble with." Ferguson rebutted as he bit into his sandwich. "I mean, in some chapters of book three "The Ones That Arrived Beforehand, it seems that Crumbs focus the attention on Mister Desmond's relationship with Peacock more than his actions in causing the German civil war. Plus, his death by his sister Rosa seems premature and could be fleshed out for a chapter or two."

"What about you Marco?" Alfonzo asked his friend as he bit into an apple. "What do you think?"

"Honestly?" Marco replied with a raised eyebrow while digging through his lunch bag. "I think it's a miracle that Crumbs manager to get this whole series in the air in the first place. I mean, he delayed several of his other books to work on his "crown jewel" of a series. While people like me who are expecting him to finish "Red and Black", or "Trends of a Were-horse" are just left to die in the sun, and don't get me started on his deadlines. I guess he uses the deadline requests to wipe his-"

Before Marco could finish his rant about some stupid writer with poor writing skills and social compassion, he felt a large sack go over his body, which was pulled into the air and flung onto the floor. It didn't take the boy a second to know who was behind this.

"Star!" Marco shouted as he felt his body being dragged onto the floor.

"Sorry guys!" Star greeted Marco's friends as she flung the sack on her back like a bag of potatoes. "Can't stay and chat, magical emergency."

"Gotha." Ferguson replied with a cool gun finger point and a wink. "See you tomorrow Marco!"

The two nerds watched Star sing a jolly tune as she carried the ranting Marco away. Once the girl was gone, the boys continued their discussion.

"…and then there's his "think tank", which he neglects like a stray dog." Alfonzo ranted as he bit into his apple again. "I feel sorry for that bunch, they deserve better"

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Diaz Residence: Star's Room: Thirty Minutes Later

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Marco pulled himself from the sack he was in and stretched his arms and legs to see the face of his friend and housemate, Star Butterfly, right in his face. As he was about to speak, Star placed her hand on his mouth and whispered to him.

"Nova." Star whispered as stars were in her eyes.

"What?" Marco replied in confusion as he pulled Star's hand from his mouth.

"It's Nova." Star replied as she tried to cover Marco's mouth again, only to be blocked by the boy's karate moves.

"Star, what are you talking about?" Marco asked as he deflected the hands approaching him.

"It's the name." Star replied as she continued to attack the boy before her with her slow moving hand attacks, all with a starry eyed grin.

"What's then name?"

"Nova"

"Okay…and?"

"It's *the* name."

"Of?"

"Of the guy!"

"From your nightmare?"

"Nightmare-s!"

"Okay…and what does this mean?"

Star stopped attacking Marco and scratched her head in confusion as she then snapped her fingers with an idea in her head. Star then dashed under her bed and pulled out the Magic Instruction Book. As she opened the book and began to flip through the pages, she came across a small blue fat man standing before a small blue ball of light with fairy wings.

"I have told you what I have told you the last thirty times, you don't have to yell out "Hey" and "Listen!" to grab my attention" Glossaryck sighed as he rubbed his face with irritation. "You have that mute kid to bug, go do that to him."

As Glossaryck looked up to see Star and Marco above him, he slapped the little fairy aside and turned his attention to the two teens before him.

"Sorry about that, I had to rent my book to some other fairies." Glossaryck explained as he rubbed his bald head. "That one there is such a chatterbox, but at least he's not like that freak in the green tights, ugh…so what's up?"

"Glossaryck, you have knowledge of all of Mewni's history, right?" Star asked as she began to chew on her wand.

"Of course, I have a full record of the entire history of Mewni." Glossaryck replied with a grin as he proofed up a lounging chair and sat in it, proofing up some tea for himself while he was at it. "So what do you want to know about? The founding of Mewni, The Great Monster Massacre, or how about some of your endeavors with Ludo or Toffee?"

"Oh no! Not any of those." Star explained as she looked to Marco, who shrugged in confusion. "But um…do you know of anyone by the name of …Nova?"

At the mention of the name, Glossaryck, spit out the very tea he was drinking, as he coughed and gasped for air, Star looked to Marco with a look of confirmation and concern.

"Sorry…" Glossaryck gasped as he spat out the last of his tea. "I couldn't hear you over my choking. It sounded like you wanted to know about Moba, the space vampire and union representative."

"No, she said Nova." Marco resurrected as he glared at the little blue man. "Star has been having dreams about this guy and they are scarring her."

"I wouldn't say scarred." Star interjected with a blush. "But I was a bit unnerved by the fire…and the bodies…and the screaming."

"Well shoot, I don't know anything about this "Cova" guy, but I'm sure it's nothing." Glossaryck replied in a quick and sudden manner as he reached for the side of his book. "Now I think I'm gonna take a nap. Wake me up when you have something *real* to discuss."

As he slammed the book shut, Star and Marco looked to each other with an unimpressed gaze as Marco stood up and left the room. Star then smiled as she tried to open the book, only to feel Glossaryck hold it shut.

"We're sorry, but the M.I.B is unable to be accessed at this time." Glossaryck said in a poor impression of an automated voice. "Please try again later."

"Oh well." Star shrugged as she heard Marco come back up with two small brown cups in his hands as well as two metal spoons. "I guess Marco and I will have to eat all this *pudding* all by ourselves."

At the mention of the word "pudding", the Book opened slightly as Glossaryck's head peeked out of the book to see the two teens holding a small cup of chocolate pudding in their hands. At the mere sight of the container, the small blue genie began to sweat as he heard the covers on the containers pop off.

"Don't give in Glossaryck" Glossaryck muttered to himself as he felt his body trembled as Star scooped out a large spoonful of chocolate pudding, the blue man could smell it all the way from his book. "You have been sober for almost a year now, don't give in to them."

Glossaryck felt his teeth chatter and his lips moisten as he watched Marco take a bite of the pudding and moan in pleasure at the rich flavor. As Star took a bite and smiled in joy at the pudding's flavor, she "accidently" dropped a small blob on the book, right next to the vibrating Glossaryck, who stared at the thick blob of chocolate gelatin before Star swiped it off the book and gobbled it up.

That was the last straw, for at that moment, Glossaryck shot the book wide open and dashed towards Star's pudding cup, only to be pinned down by Marco's spoon.

"Please! Just a taste! I'll do anything!" Glossaryck begged "…I'll make you feel good."

"Talk." Marco commanded as he took Star's spoonful of pudding and held it before the blue addict. "Tell us about Nova."

"Look, all I know is that he's being kept in a place known as "The Boneheart" It's a place forbidden to anyone but the rulers of Mewni." Glossaryck explained as he tried to reach the pudding with this tongue. "I don't know why, but if he's there, then it's for a good reason. Now please…give me Pudding! Please!"

Marco released Glossaryck as he shot into the pudding cup, devouring the chocolate gelatin like a starving pig. As Marco looked with disgust, he then looked to Star, who was looking at her wand with concern.

"Star…" Marco said as he approached his friend "…are you okay?"

"Marco…I have to release him." Star stated as she turned to Marco. "I think all of these dreams are a cryptic warning."

"Now hold on their Star. This "Boneheart" sounds a lot like a prison." Marco explained as he approached Star and placed his hands on her shoulders. "I don't think it's wise to release a guy from a prison that you only know through your dreams."

"Marco, for once stop being "The Safe Kid" and trust me." Star said in an irritated tone, startling the teen boy. "I know him from somewhere and he knows me, and I think he is the key to stopping a huge threat that's coming."

"Star, what if he's "The Big Threat"?" Marco rebutted. "What if all of that was caused by him?"

"Well, there's only one way to find out!" Star said with a triumphant voice as she pulled out her dimension scissors and carved a hole in the air, creating a portal and jumping in. "Boneyard ho!"

Marco rubbed his face with frustration before he dived in afterward. As the portal closed, Glossaryck sat up and rubbed his head, having consumed so much pudding that he suffered a brief sugar coma and passed out, only to awake to two empty pudding container, two metal spoons.

"Welp, that's ten months down the drain." Glossaryck grumbled as he pulled a coin from his pocket and tossed it away. "Thanks a lot Star, I hope losing my sobriety was wort-"

Glossaryck stopped dead in his tracks as he realized what he had done, in that instant, he quickly rushed over to Star's mirror and activated it.

"Oh crap! Oh crap! Oh crap! Oh crap! Oh crap!" Glossaryck muttered as he began to chew his fingernails. "Please pick up! Please! Pick! Up!"

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Mewni: Butterfly Castle: Royal Chambers: Present Day

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King Butterfly was reading the daily Mewgle, a new contribution to the citizens of Mewni for reading news and other insigificant information, as he sat by the fire. He then heard the footsteps of his wife, Queen Butterfly as she sat down in the chair beside him, holding a cup of tea and a small book known as "Nobody's Perfect: A Woman and her Tiger".

"I must say, whoever wrote these books has a twisted imagination." Queen Butterfly said with a disgusted tone as she closed the book and tossed it into the fire. "Almost the majority of the story was focused on either fornication or torture…or both."

"Well it *is* a human book, my dear." King Butterfly explained as he looked at his paper. "What did you expect?"

Just then, the two of them heard a ringing sound as they saw the mirror was active and making a call.

"I'll get it." Queen Butterfly said as she stood up and walked up to it, as it opened she was greeted by the sight of Glossaryck, smeared with chocolate and looking quite upset.

"Glossaryck?" Queen Butterfly said in confusion at the sight. "Did you break your pledge already?"

"I'm sorry your majesty, but it was Star and Marco's doing." Glossaryck explained as he wiped chocolate from his cheek and licked it. "They did this to me."

"What?" Queen Butterfly said in shock at the news. "Why would Star do such a thing?"

"My Star would not stoop so low." King Butterfly said as he threw his paper in the fire and moved beside his wife. "Not unless there was a good reason."

Glossaryck looked away in worry before he continued.

"So…It seemed that "special spell" has worn off, because she wanted to know…."

"Know about what?" King Butterfly asked with concern, sweat began to form on his brow, as well as his Queen's. "What did you tell her?"

Glossaryck sighed before he replied to them as he took another swipe of body pudding.

"I told her about Nova." Glossaryck replied quickly as he stuffed his hand into his mouth.

There was nothing but silence between the rulers of Mewni and the floating pudding junkie.

"You told her WHAT?" Queen Butterfly shouted as she grabbed the mirror, causing Glossaryck to flinch back and cover his face with his hands.

"I'm so ashamed!" Glossaryck wept as he simultaneously covered his face with his palms and licked them. "I am a terrible excuse for a guardian of knowledge!"

"Oh be silent!" Queen Butterfly snapped at the small man in the mirror. "Just tell me where is she now?"

"She went to The Boneheart with Marco." Glossaryck explained as he began licking his legs. The sight caused Queen Butterfly to shutter and deactivate the mirror.

"Even if she gets there before us, Star won't know how to release Nova." King Butterfly assured as he walked over to a mounted sword on the wall and removed it from said wall. "

"That does not matter!" Queen Butterfly interjected as she walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a large sword. "As long as she has the wand, she can release him."

"But how did she know about him in the first place?" King Butterfly asked as he walked over to a nearby servant, who began to fit him with armor. "The spell we used on Star should have been permanent."

"I don't know darling." Queen Butterfly said with a sigh as she began to fit herself with armor. "But if she releases him, then it was all for nothing."

"Maybe we shouldn't have done it in the first place." King Butterfly said as he picked up a pair of dimension shears and walked up to his wife. "I mean, she should know about him. After all..."

"…he is her brother."

Queen Butterfly looked to her husband as he handed her the dimension shears, as she looked at them, she sighed, remembering that day…

"We did the right thing." Queen Butterfly said as she looked to her husband. "That…thing is no longer our son, just a mindless monster."

As King Butterfly watched his wife open a portal with the shears in her hands, he sighed as he and his queen stepped within the portal, which closed behind them.

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