It's over. I can't believe I did it. Now, I need to get back to Anubis.
“Anubis—” Star didn't get to finish his words when his throat was grabbed, surprising him, and he was pushed back. A grotesque face appeared in front of him.
“You didn't really think it would be that easy, right? I told you that you're weak as fuck.”
Star held onto the spirit's wrist, struggling for breath. He tried to bang on its chest, feeling his hand sink into what felt like nothingness. Star was losing consciousness as the doppelganger's fingers tightened around his neck. The phrase fighting with oneself was not lost on him, but he was in a battle for his soul at the moment. Star felt his feet lifted off the ground, and he was thrown against something hard.
“You're such a fool to think you could get rid of me, when I'm the one controlling everything in your mind. Everything you feel and see is all because of me. I need you to disappear so that I can make it completely mine. Did you really think you were talking to lover boy?” The doppelganger leaned close to Star's ear. “That was me.”
“No, it's not true.” Star had a new determination. He had to return because he had yet to tell Anubis how much he loved him and that he was pregnant.
“Fine, believe what you want, but I'm done arguing with you. It's time to eat your soul, and I'm sure those two little ones will taste absolutely delicious.”
Star felt weak, but he knew that he couldn't stop fighting. He was tired of being lost, confused, and of being pushed around by people who meant nothing to him. The spirit opened its mouth wide, ready to bite him. But Star felt power surge through him, and he knew where it was coming from. He could feel the presence of his friends and, most of all, his lover pulsing through him.
“You're wrong,” Star said through ragged breath. “You're not the one in control. I am.” Without thinking, Star shifted into a cat, easily slipping from the spirit's hold and growing to the size of a mammoth lion. Raising his large paw, Star swung it hard, hitting the spirit and sending him flying.
Star roared, feeling a strength he had never felt before. The spirit coughed, getting his attention, and Star moved faster than he thought possible with his body so big and repeated the action of swinging his large paws, hitting the doppelganger over and over until he felt the weight of his anger, his sorrow, his guilt, and anything else that he had held onto from his past seep away.
Star stared down at the spirit that was bloody, broken, and almost recognizable. It reminded Star of how he was in his past life. Weak-minded and unable to fight for himself. However, he wasn’t that person anymore. Something had awakened inside of him, and he wasn’t going to let it go. Not wanting to see the broken spirit any longer, Star raised his large paws and lowered it heavily on the doppelganger.
Splat!
Walls started breaking around him, and the world around Star brightened instantly, and he saw two small bright orbs before him. Star shifted back into his human form and touched the orbs, but they flew inside his stomach, and warmth filled his body.
Star touched his midsection, smiling. “One day soon, babies, we'll meet.” Just as he spoke the words, Star closed his eyes as he heard Anubis’s voice whisper in his mind.
“Well done, Star. I’ll take it from here, baby.”
* * *
Anubis satbeside Star’s bedside and waited for hours as he watched Star fighting an internal battle knowing and hating that there was nothing he could do but wait for his lover to expel the spirit from his body, and the second he did, Anubis would be there to snatch it and deal with it neatly. Anubis grabbed the cool rag and wiped the sweat from Star’s forehead, sending encouraging words and strength to him any way he could. Just as he set the cloth back down, Star’s back bowed and it looked like something tried coming out of his body. Anubis smirked, seeing the weak and trembling spirit trying to flee.
“Well done, Star. I’ll take it from here, baby,”he said, sending a message telepathically to Star.
Reaching out a hand Anubis grabbed the spirit by his neck and pulled it from Star’s body completely.
“Got you,” Anubis growled.
The spirit screamed in fear and struggled in his grip. “I’m sorry,” he said.
“I don’t want to fucking hear it.” He was so angry and wanted to burn the spirit, casting it from existence, but thought that was too nice of a death and thought of the perfect place. “You fucked with the wrong person.”
“Please,” the spirit begged. “I won’t do it again. I’ll leave him alone.”
“Do you really think I will let you live a comfortable life after what you’ve done to him?”
“Second chance,” the spirit shouted. “You’re the god of death, and if I sacrifice something, I get a second chance.”
“Denied,” Anubis said. “I’ve judged you and found you unworthy of any more lives.”
“No,” the spirit cried. “I didn’t mean it.”
Anubis grew tired of hearing his voice. He needed to be by Star’s side when he opened his eyes. “Dark Raven!”
Just as he spoke, the young goth boy entered the room. “If you truly are Star’s fan, I will trust you to deliver this spirit to the place where no one can ever escape.” Anubos threw the spirit to Dark Raven who by all appearances might seem weak but was strong enough to catch the spirit by the face, muffling his protest. Dark Raven turned to leave but stopped.
“Once he wakes up, leave and do not darken my doorstep again, if you do, I will not forgive your rudeness to me and my companions.”
