Quitetly, Quiggly stepped into the darkness as he stealthily approached and steeled himself for the fight to come. Caleb stood silently, staring down at the little creature with its big, curious eyes. It was no bigger than his knee, with short arms and a little bit of hair on its head. It was sitting in his lap, petting his chest with its big, soft fingers. He was playing with it, making the little creature giggle. “Do you like playing games, Puppy?” he asked. The little creature blinked and raised its little paw with a grin. They were not strangers to each other. “He's going to destroy her,” warned the other voice. Caleb turned around and looked into the dark. The small being that was in his lap was an adult version of the little creature. It had the same big eyes and a friendly grin. It blinked at him again, raising one small paw, the gesture almost identical to its owner. Quiggly was right. It was only a matter of time before this little puppy would become an adult. “You need to listen to me, Puppy. You can't defeat Mewni's princess. I had to make a deal with her. I had to get rid of the people who could get between us, but now I'm going to take care of them. I will get rid of Mewni and my little pet will be safe again. And after that, I can do whatever I want. But you can't stop me.” “I made my own deal,” said the one who looked like Caleb. He was staring down at Quiggly. His heart was beating a million miles a minute, but it didn't matter. He didn't care about anything else but that creature right now. “I would never stop you. You're everything to me, little guy. There's never been anyone else in my life who understood me, who made me feel like you make me feel.” “Come and play with me,” said the Puppy, as he lifted one of his front legs, and gestured with one of his little paws. Caleb didn't hesitate. He scooped the creature up in his hands, and set off after it into the trees. When he looked back, he saw the Puppy and the other Puppy chasing after him. “Quiggly! Come on!” he said, laughing, and he sprinted off into the trees. The Puppies and Quiggly screamed and whooped along with him, dancing and barking happily. Caleb looked back once more, and saw that all three of them were dancing and jumping as they played. “I've never been happier in my life,” Caleb said to himself. He felt like he could fly. As Caleb and the other Puppy leaped and swatted at each other in the dark of the night, the man in the white cloak approached his brother-in-law. “This doesn't look like the kind of fun I was hoping for.” “No? Well, I'll show you how it's done. Your children won't even know what hit them. And who knows? Maybe you could help us with an important family matter. We could use all the help we can get.” Aria and Star woke to the sound of a dog barking. “What?” Star said, her voice groggy. Aria turned over to look at her husband, and saw that his eyes were closed. She sat up, and then her eyes fell on the strange, pale-skinned thing that she'd been dreaming about ever since they met on Earth. “Hey!” Star said. “What are you doing here?” The thing grinned. “Hah. You don't recognize me?” he said. “That's what happens when you've grown up. You forget everyone you ever knew. Well, I can't blame you. My name's Caleb. Who are you?” Aria just stared, dumbstruck. “How... Did you get into our apartment?” “Oh, I just walked in, darling. Don't worry. I'm not going to do anything to you.” He looked at Star and gestured, “Unless you want me to.” Star turned to Aria. “Aria, he's a monster! He's been killing our friends and family for months! You have to do something.” “It's alright, Aria,” said Caleb. “I don't want to hurt her. I just want to talk to her, and...” he looked a little sad. “I think you might help me. I think that maybe you know how to find the monster that killed my friend. So I made a deal with you, a deal that will help both of us. I'm not here to make any more deals. I'm here because I'm a changed man.” “And we both know that's a lie, right? We just can't let you anywhere near the princesses or anyone else on this planet.” “Come on, Star. You don't need anyone else. All you need to do is give me a chance. Then you'll see. I know you like to think that you're in control of everything, but you're not. I can be a better you than you ever were. And you want to know why? You were never a real friend to me. You weren't honest with me. You never had my back when I really needed you.” “My friend isn't going to let you get away with this.” “You're scared. You're always scared. That's why you can't be who you are. I can see it in your eyes. You're a scared little girl in an adult's body. You can't be who you're meant to be, darling. Why don't you give me a chance? What do you have to lose?” “What if I don't want to take the chance?” “Then you don't have to. But you should at least try to trust me. Because I'm not your enemy, Star. I want nothing more than to help you, just like you wanted to help me. So just listen to what I have to say and we can stop all this fighting. All I want is to have my old life back.” Star was struck silent for a long moment. Aria nodded. “Alright, Caleb. Let's talk.” Caleb watched the Star Puppy walk down the hallway and into the bathroom, looking for the first person who had any kind of power. Aria and the other two Puppies went with her, and for the first time, he felt a little intimidated. This was Star, after all. Everyone knew that she was a powerful, badass hero, but that didn't stop him from feeling intimidated. He turned to look down at the other Puppy, the one that was still leaping and whapping around him like he was a fly-away balloon. “What are you doing, little guy? Trying to convince me again?” Caleb looked down at the Puppy, and patted it on the head. The little thing just grinned at him. Caleb patted it on the head a little harder, but he didn't seem to mind. He was all talk and no action. Caleb's Puppy started to giggle, and leaned into his shoulder. He hugged it in his arms. He looked back over to the Puppy that had gone into the bathroom with Aria. “Listen to me, little guy. You have a friend in this world, and she's going to be even stronger than you ever were. She's going to help you, I promise you that. But you have to stop being scared. You're going to need to trust me to help you with this, because I'll be able to protect you better than you ever could.” His Puppy leaped onto his chest, and looked him in the eyes. “You want me to help you to kill everyone?” Caleb turned around, and held the Puppy in his arms. “I want to help the ones I care about. That's all I want.” “Okay,” the Puppy said. “I trust you.” Caleb smiled. “Good. And I'll help you.” He took the small, white-furred creature in his arms, and went out into the hallway. He walked towards the sound of the bathroom door being opened and closed, but when he got to it, he looked back, and saw that the Puppy had gone. He looked at the other two Puppies. “What happened to my Puppy? Where did my little guy go?” The blue one looked up, and he nodded. “He went with you. He didn't want to be here anymore. I'm sorry. You do a lot for all of us, Caleb. I know you're trying to help, but the only reason we're here is because we're your friends, and you'd do anything for us. I know that. So you should do the same for him. You know?” Caleb nodded. “I do. I do know that. Let's go see the man in the hall, shall we?” Caleb turned