The Star Warrior Nutcracker Ch. 12: The Wedding Ceremony
The squeakers cackled as they bound the nutcracker to the stake. He gazed down at the pile of wood surrounding him and knew what was up.
Throughout the courtyard, more citizens were being brought in chains. Tiff gasped when she spotted a familiar group
The guards holding her chains prevented her from rushing to her brother
“Ah, let her go!” doc said nonchalantly. “Let them have their sappy reunion while it lasts”
The squeakers released the rebel leader and she didn’t waste a second. After a few stumbles, she reached her brother and embraced him as best she could without choking her with the chains.
“What’s going on sis? Tuff asked “Why are we all here?”
“I don’t know,” tiff said, wiping away the tears. “I’m so sorry, tuff. I came to save you, but…”
“It’s okay. You tried. At least we’re together now”
metaknight turned to the right when he heard a familiar grunt. He gasped when he saw who the squeakers were tying to the other stake
The queen met his gaze and cried, “Metaknight!”
“They’re going to kill you too? But I thought Daroach wanted to marry you!”
“So did i, but he said he had another girl in mind”
“I don’t know. He didn’t say her name”
The nutcracker sighed “I’m sorry, my lady. I swore i would return for you, but i let you down. And now…daroach’s won”
She looked at him empathetically. “No, he hasn’t. Not completely. He failed to drive us apart”
She reached out her hand out as far as she could from the ropes. Metaknight did the same
“Metaknight!” another familiar voice called
The nutcracker turned to see the witch sisters being dragged into the courtyard “Drawcia, paintra!”
“Metaknight, the artist’s brooch! It’s the only thing that can stop daroach!”
“No, metaknight! The artist’s brooch is…”
“Hey!” storo shouted “Shut her up!”
The squeakers tied a gags around the two witches’ mouths, preventing them from finishing their sentence
Meanwhile, daroach was watching from the shadows, smiling in triumph. Escargoon ran up to him and tugged on his cape
“The bride’s ready, your majesty,” he said “She’s waiting in the back”
“Good,” the squeak king said rubbing his hands together “showtime!”
“By the way, is the fairy and the pink ball gonna be sticking around?”
“Yes, yes, whatever” daroach grumbled,waving his paw. “We’ll decide who stays and who goes later. I mean i have to keep some servants, don’t i?”
He took a deep breath and stepped out to the head of the crowd
“Hello, my loving subjects!” he greeted
The populace quieted down as they turned to glare at the squeak king
“It’s so nice of you all to join us on this happy occasion!”
“You dirty rat!” somebody called from the crowd
“You don’t deserve that crown!” cried another voice
“What’ve you done with adeleine?!” tiff demanded
“You can kill us, daroach,” metaknight shouted, “but it won’t help you earn the people’s respect!”
Daroach huffed. “I don’t need your respect! Your pathetic little opinions are nothing to me! I only care about one person’s opinion and you’re all about to meet her!”
“What are you talking about?” the fairy queen asked
The squeak king smiled and lifted his arms dramatically in the air. “This day marks the beginning of a new era! Today, we will be making a slight change in the government!”
“Didn’t you already do that when you took over the place?! Tuff spat
“Smart aleck,” daroach groaned. “No, no! This day will be different, for today, will be adding a new member to our cabinet, so to speak. today, my loyal subjects, you will have a queen!”
The citizens whispered to each other in confusion and alarm
“Oh, don’t worry,” he continued “You’ll like her. For she is the sweetest, most beautiful girl you will ever meet! And you lucky blokes will get to witness our glorious union!”
“Who in their right mind would agree to marry that pest?” tiff murmured to her brother
“You!” daroach cried pointing to an androgynous, young, spider-like creature. He has brown skin and two orange horns with brown rings and yellow tips, as well as shiny, silver, curvy hair; additionally, he has two orange fangs protruding from his upper lip, which is lined in white. On the front of his head, he has two orange-yellow eyes in his hair and two white eyes with a slight purple glow on his face, along with four more orange-yellow eyes on the back of his head. He wears a crimson scarf and a jagged, dark green cape with orange lining in a spider-web pattern. The dark green clothing on his body has two silver buttons on its front and crimson circle designs on both sides. He also has a crimson stinger-like appendage on his bottom and six disembodied hands with white and orange gloves holding a violin with two bows.
“Taranza,” the spider like creature grumbled, as if he had said this in a hundred times
“Whatever. Can you play a wedding march on that violin of yours?”
“Well, I once did this wedding in fine fields…”
That jumped the jester into playing the march on his violin. The squeakers made a long red carpet stretch across the courtyard
“My people!” daroach exclaimed, pointing to the far end of the courtyard. “Behold, your new queen! Queen… Adeleine!”
“What?!” metaknight and tiff both exclaimed as they followed everybody’s gaze
Adeleine walked slowly into the sunlight. Daroach’s breath was taken away as she seemed to glimmer. She wore a sparkling white gown with rainbow streamers. The dress had round, puffy shoulders, a big pink ribbon on the chest and a pink sash. On her back are a pair of oversized rainbow colored butterfly wings. Around her neck is the same brooch daroach gave her and on her ears were a pair of Star earrings. On her head is a headband with two star-like antennas with a pink ribbon tied to the back of her hair and a light, translucent veil fell gently over her face. On her hands she wore delicate white gloves as she held a bouquet of purple roses for enchantment. Ribbon and kirby carried her train, making occasional glances at the pair of squeakers pointing spears at their backs
Adeleine looked around in shock at the crowd, particularly at metaknight and a tall fairy she assumed to be the fairy queen tied to two stakes with firewood at their feet
“Adeleine!” the nutcracker called. “What are you doing?!”
“Are you out of your mind?!” tiff shouted
Many cappies called out similar things. Some murmured to each other, wondering why this girl was going through with this
“Maybe she’s under a spell”
“I think he put her up to it with threats!”
She wanted to deny these accusations and shout the truth, but she didn’t think it would be of much use. She turned her attention forward and decided to explain everything after the ceremony
Daroach was smiling brightly at her, his paws over his heart.it’s like a dream, except that it’s real. Sometimes dreams can be real. He truly looked excited and adeleine might’ve been too, had it not been for the hundreds of imprisoned citizens surrounding her.
He took her hand and led her up the steps. Then he knelt down and carefully lifted her veil
“You look beautiful, my dear” he breathed, kissing her lightly on the forehead. "So lovely"
“Daroach, what is all this?” she whispered, looking out the crowd
“Why, they’re here to watch, of course. A royal wedding is a big occasion”
“Yes, but…why are metaknight and the fairy queen tied to those stakes?”
“Oh, don’t worry darling,” he winked. “I’ll set them free once the ceremony’s over. The stakes are just for…insurance”
She looked at the nutcracker and then back at the squeak king. “So…if I don’t go through with this, you’ll…”
“But you won’t, will you? He said through his smile, pulling her closer
Adeleine glanced nervously back at the crowd. “But you’ll let them go as i say ‘I do’ right?”
“As promised, dearest,” he said, raising his paw, “I will bring them no harm”
After a few more glances, she gulped and nodded “Let’s…continue then”
Doc sped in front of the couple with an open book
“Dearly beloved,” he recited to the crowd, “We are gathered her today…”
“I can’t believe she’s doing this,” tiff murmured as doc continued his speech
“Isn’t that the girl we caught with the captain?” tuff asked
“I’ll bet daroach cast a curse on her!” tiff declared “There’s no way she could be doing this willingly!
“What are we gonna do?” tuff beseeched
“We gotta stop this!” the rebel grunted as she tugged on her chains. “Ugh! I really gotta start wearing hairpins!”
“Hey!” the boy exclaimed as he glanced down at his wrists “Wha?”
“Shhh!” a small voice whispered
They turned their heads to see nobody there
“Stay cool,” the voice said in tiff’s ear, “And wait for the signal”
The rebel smiled as she recognized the voice and nodded
“If anyone has any objections…”
The crowd roaded in protest. Daroach and snapped his fingers to make the squeakers gag everybody’s mouths
“Nope!” he chirped “No objections here! Just skip to the vows!”
“Do you, king daroach, take this girl…? Doc continued
Metaknight struggled in his bounds, determined to stop this ceremony. He didn’t care what happened to him, but he couldn’t let adeleine suffer a fate worse than death
He froze when he heard a “PSSST!” behind him
“Hold still!” a voice whispered
The nutcracker looked back at the empty space and raised his eyebrow in confusion
“Come on, you didn’t think I’d leave you hanging, did you?”
He smiled and shook his head
“…for as long as you both shall live?” doc said
Daroach grinned down at adeleine as he took her hands “I do”
“And do you, adeleine, take this squeaker, to be your lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?”
Adeleine could not find her voice. Daroach’s loving gaze urged her to say the words. But as she looked back at her friends bound and chained…
“Uh, miss adeleine?” doc said
“What?” adeleine said with a jump
The small squeaker tilted his head toward daroach. “I Believe the words are ‘i do?’”
She looked back up at daroach, who was biting his lip in worry.
“I…” she stammered “I…I…”
Daroach flashed the crowd an awkward smile and knelt down to his bride
“Darling, what’s wrong?” he whispered
“Daroach, I’m sorry, but…” she uttered, shaking her head “I just can’t do this!”
“This…this is just wrong! I can’t marry you like this!”
“Yes, you can,” he insisted,taking her face in his hands “You must! Please, adeleine…”
“I can’t marry you when there are strings attached!” she shouted
Daroach’s eyes flashed red and he scowled. She yelped as he grabbed her shoulders and shook her.
“Say ‘I do,’ or I will KILL EVERYBODY HERE!”
They turned and gasped to see the nutcracker free from the stake with his sword at the ready.
“Your reign of tyranny ends now! Everyone, for freedom!”
A series of battle cries rang out as the citizen burst from their chains, which had mysteriously been unlocked. The sqeakers were taken by surprise as their prisoners overcame them
“What?!” daroach shouted “How did…?”
His answer was given as elline and claycia materialized in front of them, each holding a set of keys
“Lose something, your majesty?” elline smirked
“Elline!” adeleine exclaimed in delight
“Traitor!” daroach growled
“Oh, no you majesty,” elline said, twirling the keys with her finger. “Don’t you remember? You laid me off earlier today. How can i betray you when i no longer work for you?”
Doc dropped the book and leaped at the sisters, who vanished before he could get close. He landed on the ground with a thud
“That’s it!” daroach declared as he pulled out his cane, bursting into flames. “These folks are all going to burn!”
“Daroach, no!” adeleine cried, tugging at his paw “You promised!”
He sighed as he extinguished the flame. “You’re right. Squeakers! Kill them! Kill them all!”
“I said i wouldn’t hurt them. And i won’t, darling. The squeakers, however made no such promise!”
Tears started welling up in adeleine’s eyes “Daroach, please! This is wrong!”
“They attacked us, dearest! This is just self-defense!”
Suddenly, a beam of electricity zapped onto daroach like the shock of a joy buzzer.
“What the…?” he said, scanning the courtyard. “Who Did That?!”
One the other side of the battlefield, he spied a pink haired girl
“Good shot, susie!” the blue ball next to her cried
“Take that, you big bully!” the pink one yelled
Three sisters dressed in black with with hair colors of blue, red, and yellow are behind them
“Alright, mages! Susie shouted “Ready!”
The sisters brought out their respective weapons. The blue mage’s weapon is a freezing soda gun, the red mage’s weapon is a giant flame cannon, and yellow mage’s weapon is a giant ring contraption with three taiko drums.
Daroach shrieked as a wave of ice, fire, and lighting came right towards him. He grabbed adeleine and pulled her out of range
“Susie!” metaknight called as he fended off a squeaker “You made it just in time!”
“And guessed who we bumped into on the way over here!” susie piped
“Waddle dees!” two voices shouted “attack!”
The nutcracker grinned as waddle dees came pouring in from all the quad’s entrances
“I think the cavalry’s here! Ribbon exclaimed before hitting a squeaker with a spear
“Shoot!” the squeak king cursed under his breath
“Daroach, stop this!” adeleine pleaded “I can’t let you…”
She was cut off as daroach abruptly lifted her into his arms and rushed to the nearest exit
“What are you doing?!” she screamed
“Getting you to a safe place!” he whispered harshly
Metaknight saw daroach slipping away with adeleine, but he was too far away to follow them
“Yeah?” the resistance leader responded after bashing two squeakers heads together
“We gotta make our way down the courtyard and stop daroach before he gets away with adeleine!”
She saluted before doing a backflip in the air and landed on a squeaker’s head. She hopped from head to head, knocking their owners down in the process. Unfortunately, the last head was storo’s, who was waiting for her. He grabbed her leg and tossed her to the ground. Tiff looked up at him smugly.
“We really gotta stop meeting like this”
“Oh, i’ll make sure it stops,” storo said, raising his hammer “For good”
Before he could strike, he suddenly stiffened and dropped his weapon. He cried out as he clutched his crotch. Elline materialized in front of him and knocking him down with a blow to the chin. Tiff grabbed her whip to fend off incoming attackers
“Glad you came back, elline,” she said to the paintbrush fairy
“Yeah,” elline laughed awkwardly as she kicked a squeaker. “Sorry about the whole backstabbing thing. I wasn’t lying when i said daroach had my sister”
The rebel smirked. “I was wrong about you, elline”
The paintbrush fairy shook her head “No, your right. I am one, without looking, she punched a squeaker in the face, “Bad girl”
And a final blown in the place below
On the other side of the battlefield, taranza was rushing toward susie
The couple zoomed into an embrace
“Did you bring your suit?”
Then susie brought out a pink and white robo mech suit which made tarnaza smile. She squeezed herself inside.
“Ready?” susie asked, powering up.
“Aim!” taranza exclaimed, releasing purple energy balls
They both released balls of energy across the courtyard, knocking squeakers down like bowling pins
Sword knight and blade knight are backing away from a pack of enemies, as was the witch sisters. Neither of them saw each other until they collided. They shrieked and turned to face each other, Their swords and brushes. They paused for a moment and then laughed awkwardly
They were brought back to reality when squeakers started closing in on them. The commanding officers stuck their hands out protectively in front of the sisters
“We’ll hold them off,” you make a break for it and…”
They were cut off as their enemies pounced without warning. Sword knight and blade knight raised their swords but before they could strike, a bolt of colorful energy shot the squeaker nearest to him back. confused , they watched as that same bolt took out the others one by one. When they were in the clear, the commanding officers glanced at the witch sisters, who were blowing out their brush wands
“Wow,” they both said in awe
Escargoon was pressed up against a wall, watching the battle before him. He wasn’t sure whether he should get involved or run. After all, he wasn’t a soldier, even though he was working for the bad guy
“Oomph!” ribbon cried out as she was knocked back against the wall. “Oh, you brutes!”
“Um,” escargoon said with an awkward smile and wave “Hey”
The fairy looked down at him and cringed “Uh…”
Their attention turned to the squeakers closing in on them
Ribbon didn’t get the chance to hit them as a whip wrapped around the squeakers and toppled them over. Escargoon’s eyes widened when tiff leaped on top of them
“Ribbon, the captain wants us to get to the exit over there!” the rebel declared “Daroach went out that way with adeleine!”
Ribbon nodded and dashed off. The snail was left frozen as he stared at the strong, confident blonde girl before him. His jaw dropped when she swipe the sweat off of her brow. She shook her head, allowing her long, straw-like ponytail to snap back and forth like a whip
She looked down at him with emerald green eyes and smiled. “You okay?”
Escargoon nodded dumbliy “Uh-huh”
“Stick with me. I’ll help you get through”
She ran close to the wall where there was less danger. For a moment. Escargoon just stood there in awe. Then he smiled and smoothed out his chest.
“Whatever you say, ma’am!”
Metaknight was almost at the exit when he was suddenly tackled. He reached for his sword but was flipped over and met with a pair of violet eyes”
“Your majesty!” he breathed
“Oh, metaknight!” she exclaimed, moving in to kiss him
“Not yet,” he said, putting his hand to her lips. “There’s still daroach to take care of, and it’s not as easy for him to stab me when i’m wood. Come on. Our only hope of defeating him is if we get you to the great crystal in the throne room”
“Right” the fairy queen said, standing them both up
“Come on, they can’t have gone far!”
—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Daroach was moving so fast that adeleine was running in his grip. Once they reached the throne room, she tried to break herself free
“Daroach, stop!” she shouted “Please! You’re hurting me!”
He finally came to a halt and released her hand. She gently rubbed it as she glared at him
“Daroach, this madness has to end,” she said in a low voice “You promised you wouldn’t hurt them!”
“And I’m not, dearest” he assured her, reaching out to caress her face
She slapped his paw away. “Don’t you ‘Dearest’ me! Do you really think i’m that stupid?! You were going to kill them anyway, weren’t you? As soon as i said ‘I do,’ you were going to burn metaknight and the fairy queen, weren’t you?!”
“adeleine, you must understand” he fell to his knees. “If i let them live, they’ll stop at nothing to destroy our happiness! He took her hands in desperation “I did it for us!”
“Humph!” she huffed, jerking her hands away “I was willing to give you a second chance, and you continued doing evil behind my back! You’re never going to change! Not as long as you’re wearing that…that thing!”
She pointed angrily at the bell. Daroach held it protectively
She sighed “I’m saying you must make a choice, daroach! It’s either that bell, or me”
“That bell is making you do awful things, and all because you wanted power! I can’t marry someone who loves power more than his own wife!”
He seemed truly hurt by this declaration “Darling, you don’t seriously believe that, do you?”
“Well, if you had a choice between me and that bell, which would it be?”
He opened his mouth, but choked on his words. After a while, adeleine turned away from him in disgust
“If it’s that difficult a decision,” she said coldly, “Then I’ll make it easier for you”
“Please, adeleine, I…I love you”
She crossed her arms as she started to walk away “I don’t believe you”
She shrieked as she was suddenly spun around to face him. Daroach’s eyes were glowing red and his teeth were gnashing together in fury
“Who says i have to make a choice,” he sneered, giving an eerie grin, “when i can have both?!”
“If you don’t step away from her now you’ll end up with neither!”
He looked up at the group standing before him: metaknight, the fairy queen, elline, claycia, ribbon, kirby, tiff, tuff, sword knight, blade knight, drawcia, paintra, and even escargoon. Daroach greeted them with a maniacal laugh
“You all really think you can stop me? Me?!”
“Get to the great crystal,” metaknight whispered to the fairy queen
Daroach chuckled as he watch the fairy queen rush behind the great crystal
“Go ahead. Touch that thing. See what good it does you”
The fairy queen paused and looked at her love in concern “it’s a trick”
“We have no other choice!” metaknight declared
She nodded and touched the crystals. Light pulsed through the gem around. The fairy queen opened her glowing white eyes as the great crystal’s magic pulsed around her. Everyone was blinded by a white flash that spread across the room. When the magic reached the outside, the populace and the squeakers ceased their fighting and dropped their weapons
When the light had diminished, the fairy queen’s had been restored to its former glory. The fairy queen was adorned in a glittering gown and a golden crown on her head. She looked at metaknight and frowned. He glanced down at his still wooden body
“I guess you still have to kiss me for this one” he shrugged
“Of course,” daroach cackled “that was the spell!”
The group were aghast when they saw that daroach had been untouched by the magical blast
“But you should be gone!” the fairy queen declared, rising to her arms “or at least mended!”
“You’re forgetting, my dear!” He taunted, holding up his bell “nothing can counteract the magic of the bell! sure, you can break a few of its spells, but not the bell itself! Now that the artist’s brooch is gone, i am invincible! You may won back the land of dreams, but i at least get a consolation prize!”
Everyone gasped as daroach swept his arms around adeleine and began backing away
“You can keep the kingdom!” he sneered “I don’t need it anymore! adeleine and i can start a kingdom all our own!”
“Daroach, let me go!” adeleine screamed, attempting to break free
“Turns out you’re going to get what you wanted, dear, your little friends get to live in their happy land, and we get to live in ours! Everybody’s a winner here!”
“Let her go daroach!” metaknight commanded, drawing his sword “There’s only one way you’re getting away with her!”
Daroach’s eyes glowed brighter “A duel to the death?”
The nutcracker nodded. “Let’s settle this rivalry once and for all!”
adeleine shrieked as she was sent hurdling back to the wall. She tried to move, but found herself paralyzed. Daroach pulled out his triple star rod. Some of the others, including the fairy queen, rushed to assist the nutcracker, but he held up his hand
“This is between him and me”
Daroach chuckled darkly “Couldn’t have said it better myself, nut boy!”
More of the citizens and some squeakers entered to see what ruckus was about. They all watched as the two foes clanged weapons for what might be the final time
“You may have taken back my kingdom,” daroach growled, “but you will not take my love from me!”
“Funny,” metaknight grunted as he blocked daroach’s blow “I believe i said something along those lines you took the fairy queen from me!”
“You’re right. It is different. Because the fairy queen and i actually love each other!”
“You saying i don’t love adeleine?!”
“That’s why you want to marry her? You think you love her?”
“I don’t think! I do love her! And she loves me! At least she will! And we’re going to be happy! You hear me?! Very, very, happy!”
For a moment, the nutcracker almost felt sorry for him. Despite daroach’s mania, he sounded like he believed what he was saying
“Do you even know what true love is?” metaknight asked as their swordplay continued. “It’s about caring for somebody more than you care about yourself! It’s about being honest and compassionate towards each other! It about making sacrifices not so you can be happy together, but so the other can be happy! I've crossed realms and risked my life for the fairy queen! What have you ever done for adeleine?”
Daroach let out a furious cry and dropped his star rod. He held out his paw which he was glowing red in his eyes and tightened metaknight. He lifted the nutcracker into the air with a murderous growl
“Don’t you compare your love for the fairy queen and mine for adeleine!” he snarled “I may be a liar and a fink, but i mean it when i say that i love adeleine more than life itself!”
Metaknight glanced between daroach and adeleine, who still frozen against the wall. Then he glared defiantly at the squeak king as he raised his sword
Using all his strength, he thrust it past his enemy. Daroach spun around when he heard adeleine’s scream and dropped the nutcracker. The golden blade was hurdling towards adeleine, and thanks to him, she was unable to move!
“Metaknight, are you nuts?!” elline hollered
“adeleine!” daroach shouted “NO!”
Two voices argued in daroach’s head:
Let it stab her. She caused you nothing but trouble
Don’t do it! she’s the only one who understands!
She pretended to like you just to save her friends
She cares for you! She wants to help you!
adeleine looked up at him and gazed into those eyes that were once filled with sympathy. now They were filled with terror, adeleine closed her eyes, waiting for the blade's impact, and it broke his heart.
Go on. Kill her. Don’t you want ultimate power?
Daroach narrowed his eyes in determination
Once the decision was made, he let the blade fly
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