First attempt at writing anything for the SVTFOE fandom. It's one of my favourite shows, and Toffee is my favorite villain in anything ever. I wanted to write something about him, so I ended up writing this. It's basically how I imagine his childhood went and how he got to be the villain we know him to be and what drove him to want to destroy the butterfly family.

I'm not trying to excuse his actions, but I see where he comes from. I mean, if someone killed my family and destroyed my home for no reason, I'd be pretty hateful towards them as well. I just think there's a lot more depth to his character than most people see, and that's what makes him a great villain to me.

Also I might be a fan of Toffee/Rasticore, romantically or not. So there are a few hints at the pairing here, but it could be seen as just friendship if that's what you want it to be.

Well, hope you enjoy!

The pleasure of winning does not come from the victory itself – to think so is to be foolish. The true pleasure of winning comes from knowing you've destroyed your enemy.

Toffee knew it the moment he saw Moon crying in despair over the loss of her daughter.

Winning is not enough. For it to be worth it, someone else must fail.

There is nothing more sickeningly satisfying than seeing your opponent writhing in agony and pain, whether be it physical or emotional; as hopelessness takes over and destroys whichever other emotion they might have had in them. Leaving nothing but a shell of what once was. A useless, empty, broken shell.

And to know that you caused their demise, ah, that's the best part.

However, such content for destroying someone doesn't come spontaneously; unless the perpetrator of the crime is some sort of sick psychopath – the only kind who seems to enjoy causing random pain. For everyone else, it seems that the pleasure of defeating your enemy comes from one of the strongest, most powerful emotions ever known to mankind (and septarians).

Revenge.

To anyone who's met Toffee as an adult, it may be hard to imagine – impossible even – that there was a time when Toffee wasn't who we all know him to be now. But the truth is, there was. Like everyone else, he too was a child once. Innocent, lively, happy.

Because monsters like him are not born. They're made.

And before Toffee was made into the monster he became, he was someone else entirely. Before it all changed. Before the war; when he was only a little kid, he was what most people would call 'good'.

When he was but a small septarian boy, things were different.

Toffee was the youngest and smallest of twelve eggs, thus being the runt of his clutch. He was also one of the few of his kind to ever have been born with hair sprouting from his head, something that he was both envied for and made fun of; depending on whether the other lizards thought it was neat or just bizarre.

"I think it's pretty neat," His friend Rasticore would tell him with a smile and a quick blush many times when they played together in the woods without a single care in the world. He was the only friend Toffee had in those days.

Toffee's siblings were alright, most of the time. By his standards anyway. But they still didn't really care much for their youngest sibling. For Toffee was different from the other septarians, his own family included. He was, for lack of a better word, an outcast.

While the other lizard creatures would spend their time training and fighting and practicing regeneration – because yes, that is an ability that needs to be trained and improved, contrary to what popular belief would have you believe – Toffee was more interested in literature and math.

The stars were his favorite subject to study. He could be found on the roof of his family's house almost every night, notebook in hand, as he looked up with his eyes sparkling in fascination and wrote down everything he noticed.

"And that one," He'd whisper and point up to a bright star, "Shows us where the North is."

Rasticore would nod his head so that Toffee thought he was listening, when in fact he couldn't be more distracted and bored. Rasticore was like the other lizards, not like Toffee – it was a wonder how they became friends in the first place, considering how different they were. Still, Rasticore would go stargazing with Toffee almost every night to see him happy.

Now it must come as no surprise that a species known to be mostly brutish would not produce much material that was not related to fighting, leaving Toffee with very few options as to what to read and study and do in his free time. He didn't want to know how to make a sword or how to regenerate his arm, that honestly sounded gross to him. The lack of options lead Toffee to end up writing his own studies through his own observations. Mostly because of that, at the tender stage of childhood, he was already a genius in every sense of the word.

When he began getting into his teen years however, he did find a book that he had not written himself but that still caught his eye: a guide to the several species and universes to be known by Septarian-kind, written by many septarian explorers over the centuries.

He stayed up several nights in a row reading the book until he knew it by heart. And then he'd reread it, such was his fascination with it.

Due to him never leaving his birth planet, he always assumed Septarians were the only species to have ever developed a sense of rationality and civilization, but he was wrong. There were more like them out there, there were more scientists, more writers, more fighters, more monsters and creatures than he ever thought possible.

Out of all the creatures described in the book, humans amazed him the most. According to the book they were quite knowledgeable, with abilities to control fire and mold metal, making them strong war opponents even if they lived in a magicless dimension and did not possess any kind of magic; not even to regenerate themselves.

Toffee shivered at the thought of being unable to regenerate a lost limb. He wondered if that meant that there were humans who lost body parts in battle who now just walked around without them. Maybe there were humans living with no legs, no arms, no head – could they survive if their head was severed off? Septarians could. It took them longer to regenerate it than other body parts, but it was possible for them, and not for humans. It was amazing that a civilization without magic could get that far on their own.

"Toffee!" Rasticore would call, snapping the young grey lizard out of his reading.

"Uh?"

"You were supposed to be looking for me!" The green septarian groaned as he came out of his hiding spot in the bushes, "You're reading that book again?" Rasticore sighed in annoyance as he approached his friend, who had not moved an inch ever since their game of hide and seek had started.

"Oh, sorry Rast, I needed to check on something," Toffee gave him an apologetic smile, but instead of letting go of the book and giving his friend the attention that he demanded, Toffee merely kept on reading.

"You're such a nerd," Rasticore teased him and ruffled his hair, "You should have been born a boring ruman instead."

"It's called a human, Rast," Toffee corrected, "And they're not boring, quite the opposite."

"Quite the opposite," Rasticore mimicked him mockingly and Toffee showed him his tongue.

"They are!"

Rasticore rolled his eyes. "How can you find them interesting? Just look at them!" Rast pointed at the illustration on Toffee's book, "No fangs, no sharp teeth, no wings, no scales, no tails, no claws! They're useless and they look weird and weak."

"Not everything has to be about combat, you know," Toffee raised an eyebrow, "Humans are intelligent, creative and diverse. I mean, just imagine their society! Warriors and fighters working alongside artists and scientists, the perfect balance between strength and brains! Unlike us septarians and our brutish ways." He groaned and pouted.

"Our ways are much better," Rasticore folded his arms over his chest, which was already muscular and toned despite his young age due to the intensive training he submitted himself to, "We need to defend our home and our species. We don't need to spend precious time with fairytales and drawings."

"Rast," Toffee shook his head in disapproval, "They're not fairytales, they're studies. Hard facts supported by evidence. Science, important knowledge! Much more useful than fighting at times."

"Sure!" Rast laughed, "Damnit Toffee, if you like them so much, you should go live with them." Rast teased, hands on his hips.

"Wanna know?" Toffee's eyes widened with a sparkle and he smiled, "I should!"

Rasticore's eyes widened as well, but he gasped instead, "What?"

"I mean," Toffee shrugged, "It's not like I'm stuck here. I could just leave this place once I'm old enough. That'd be so cool! To travel between different universes, getting to know new species, I could even go live among humans! Can you imagine the amount of study I'd be able to do there? How much I'd learn?" His eyes sparkled as he spoke of his dreams.

"Calm down there, Toff, I was joking," Rasticore held his hands out, "You can't just go live among humans!"

Toffee's smile faded, "Why not?" He asked defiantly.

"Are you crazy?" Rasticore raised an eyebrow, "Have you never listened to what the elders say? Our species has been attacked by every single other species we've ever met. They just don't like us," He sighed, "Only septarians accept septarians, we must stand together. The humans would destroy you! Especially since you have no idea how to defend yourself."

"I'm not that bad at fighting!" Toffee looked appalled.

Rasticore raised an eyebrow and tilted his head.

"Fine, maybe I am," Toffee groaned and looked down in defeat, "But still! I wouldn't need to fight, I'd just want to join them for their studies. Oh, oh, or I could go live with the Mewmans instead!" He flipped the pages until he found the one about them, "They look a lot like humans, except they're much smarter. And they have magic! So, they'd probably be alright with a magic lizard like me living with them."

Rasticore pouted, moving to sit beside his friend on the fallen tree he was using as a chair. He stayed quiet for a while, fidgeting with his fingers before he turned to look at Toffee, who kept reading his book as though he was alone with it in the world.

"Are you serious? About moving away when you're older?" Rasticore asked carefully.

Toffee shrugged without raising his eyes from the book, "I don't know. It's a possibility. I don't think this planet is the place for me. I should try to find somewhere else, to find where I belong without being an outcast like I am here."

"I see," Rasticore sighed, "But... I'd miss you." He whispered.

"What?" Toffee asked.

"Nothing!" Rasticore held out his hands, cheeks warming up.

"Hey," Toffee smiled, finally closing the book and sitting it aside, "You could come with me!"

"What?" Rasticore's heart sped up a bit.

"I mean, you don't have any family here," Toffee gave him a smile, "And like you said, I'm not very good at fighting, but you are!"

"Oh, so you want me to be your bodyguard," Rast laughed and ruffled Toffee's hair again.

"Don't think of it as a bodyguard," Toffee laughed and pushed Rasticore's hand away from his hair, "You'd be my… Safety assistant," Toffee snapped his fingers.

"That's a fancy way of saying bodyguard," Rast laughed as well, "But it could be fun. I mean, I've thought of traveling the universe before. But I don't know, I like it here. Can't see myself moving away. This is our home, after all."

"Humph," Toffee shrugged, "Home can be anywhere, but I don't think mine will ever be here."

Rast shook his head, "You're a weirdo."

"Maybe. But you're the one who willingly hangs out with me. So, who's the biggest weirdo, the weirdo himself or the one who chooses to stay with the weirdo?"

"Touché," Rast shrugged, "But going with you doesn't sound like a bad idea... I mean, you do need someone to defend you. Heaven knows you'd be lost on your own."

"I would not! It's just that I could… Use some assistance occasionally." He straightened up his clothes.

"Sure," Rasticore smiled, "I will just fight off the humans while you study their stuff."

"Only if they start fighting first," Toffee pointed out, "I don't want my bodyguard starting random unnecessary fights."

"Wow, and here I thought I'd have the honor to be your safety assistant, but I guess I'm back to a mere bodyguard." Rasticore took the back of his hand to his forehead in a dramatic pose.

"You get it," Toffee laughed and playfully punching Rasticore's arm.

"Yeah," Rasticore sighed.

They stood in silence for a while, just watching the town they lived in from afar as the other septarians went on with their daily activities.

"Hey, Toffee?"

Toffee looked at Rasticore to signify that he was listening.

"Even if we do travel and go far and all… At the end of the day, we're coming back here, right? After we're done, we'll come back to our planet. To our home."

Toffee just shrugged and sighed heavily.

...

The sight was like that of hell itself.

Everything in town was covered in flames, which spread quickly as it engulfed more and more houses, trees, and even septarians – their cries filled the air as their flesh and bones were consumed by the fire. The ones who escaped the fire found a similar fate when they attempted to fight back their attackers, the Mewmans. Arrows, swords and weapons worked quickly against the lizards who stood no chance with their inferior weapons.

"Mom! Dad!" Toffee ran through the warzone, smoke and tears making it hard to see as he called for his family. His throat and eyes burned with the heat, and his cold-blooded nature made it almost impossible to endure the warmth around him.

"Toffee!"

Toffee's head snapped to the side, but it was not his family calling. It was Rasticore and a few other young lizards who were running away from the war towards the trees to seek shelter from the war as their parents and the other adults attempted to slow down the attack.

"We have to go!" Rasticore held onto Toffee's arm and tried to pull him away so that they could run together, but Toffee fought against his grasp.

"No!" He shook his arm away from Rasticore, "I have to find my mom, and my dad, and my siblings and-"

"Watch out!" Rasticore yelled when an arrow flew towards them. It would have hurt Toffee if Rasticore hadn't pushed him away. Toffee fell on the ground, coughing with the dust that went up from the ground with his fall.

"Toffee!" Rasticore ran to him and helped him stand up, "We have to get out of here!"

Toffee's lungs were filled with smoke and his energy had been drained from him, "No," He cried out, his tears almost immediately drying up when they came out due to the absurd heat around them. "I have to find my…"

"Boys!" A tall and strong general approached them and lifted them both in his arms almost effortlessly as he ran and took them away from the war, dropping them near the part of the forest that still hadn't been devoured by fire and blood, "Get out of here!" He commanded before he went back to the frontline to keep on fighting, sword on hand.

"Toffee," Rasticore pleaded, "Please!"

"No, I have to…"

When Toffee looked back at the town, he saw his house – his home – being burned down to the ground until nothing but ashes remained. His family was nowhere to be found, and they hadn't responded to his calls.

His eyes filled with tears once more as he gave in and let Rast carry him away to safety, away from his house, away from his family. A few days before he was talking about how he never considered that place a home, but now that it was all gone, it hurt more than he thought it ever would.

Everything he ever had was gone.

...

"Mewmans?" Toffee gasped, appalled.

"That's what I heard," Rasticore sighed and sat beside Toffee. They were hidden in the middle of a dense forest, where a few septarians that survived the attack took shelter around a fire they'd set up.

"But…" Toffee's lip trembled as his knees went up to his chest and he hugged them, desperate for any kind of comfort. "But… Why?"

"They want our land," Rasticore stretched his legs, his eyes watering as well as Toffee's, although Rasticore did a better place at hiding that, "And apparently they got it."

"So… it's theirs now?"

Rasticore growled as he nodded.

"And what about us?"

Rasticore and Toffee locked eyes for a few seconds as Toffee waited for an answer, but it never came.

"I don't know, Toff. I honestly don't."

Toffee took a deep breath and stared into the fire in front of him.

"But we aren't safe here," Rast continued with a sigh, "They will kill us if they find us."

"But what can we do?"

"Well, we were planning on traveling around the universe. Maybe we can do that sooner than we thought we could."

"Yeah," Toffee sighed, thinking of his family. "Maybe we could."

Toffee walked away from Moon slowly, no emotion on his face. He now knew better than to let them show, whether they were good or bad. Don't let your enemy see how they make you feel. If you lose and you show your tears, they'll relish on your suffering. If you win and you let yourself show the happiness it brings you, it could be used against you in a battle since it makes you let your guard down.

Emotions distract you. Just don't let them happen.

The queen of the Mewmans now knew how he felt all those years ago when the then leader killed his family and destroyed his home. They had taken everything away from him, now he'd taken everything away from her.

It was only fair.

Toffee didn't know what he'd do now. But he finally could rest – his life goal ever since he was 14 was now accomplished, done, over.

And as awful and tired as he felt, he also felt good. As much as he wouldn't let it show.

As he walked away, he looked up at the sky. The night hadn't come yet, but the day would be gone soon, then nighttime would take place. Which meant that a lot of stars would show up. Maybe he could go back to studying them. Maybe he could try to find Rasticore and they would resume their traveling.

He could do whatever he wanted now. His family could finally rest in peace and Toffee could finally resume his life – the life he wanted for himself before the need for revenge took over him.

Now that he was done with Star, he could go back to his stars.

So this is just filled with my headcannons: Toffee was the runt of his family, having hair is rare for septarians, he was a nerd and an outcast. I think Rasticore is an orphan who lost his family before the war, for several reasons. Also, WHY DOESN'T RAST HAVE A CHARACTER TAG HERE? I DEMAND IT!

Well, writing this was fun. Hope you liked it! Please let me know your thoughts, if I should write more about this or for SVTFOE. Thank you, see yah next fic!