"Hey jinx girl."
The words caused Sabrina Backintosh, the unluckiest girl at Echo Creek Academy, to freeze in her tracks. A creeping dread washed over her body, as it had many times before. She knew to expect this, and it wasn't like she didn't at least somewhat look forward to what came next. She slowly turned around to see the school's resident delinquent: Marco Diaz.
"Hey" she replied meekly, unable to meet his predatory gaze "It's that time of the week, huh?"
"Don't act like you weren't waiting here for me." His voice gradually taking on a hollow, ringing quality "You're supposed to be at cheer practice already."
"Oh, I am?" her voice shook.
"Mhm, I passed by on the way" He assertively moved closer, herding the girl into a nook between rows of lockers. He grabbed her chin and twisted her face, forcing her to look directly into his lavender eyes "Ready?" he asked, Sabrina swallowing hard and nodding in response. Marco gingerly wrapped his hands around her throat, her veins beginning to glow where their skin met. She closed her eyes and gasped for air as the sensation of drowning overtook her. He could feel her start to sweat and shake under his grip. Eventually it became too much for Sabrina and her legs fell out from beneath her, Marco slowly lowering her to the ground before letting go.
"Done playing with your food, Diaz?" the voice of his partner in crime, Janna Ordonia, rang out from down the empty hall.
"Just about" he answered, rising to his feet but not taking his eyes off of the girl in front of him. The sight of Sabina, dazed in the afterglow of his feeding fueled him in a way no amount of magical energy could. While his hunger was easily sated by the overwhelming black magic of the Backintosh family curse, the source of poor Sabrina's bad luck, it was the view of his prey in such a wrecked state that had him coming back time and time again "Alright" he finally turned away "Let's bounce" he knew it was safe to leave Sabrina like this, the feeding would have temporarily dispelled said curse.
"So your place or mine?" Janna asked as he approached.
"Mine. Mehen's tree needs harvesting" he replied as he wrapped his arm around her waist.
"Well then, what are we waiting for" She smirked, returning the intimate gesture as they headed for the exit.
Marco and Janna's arrival was met with the silence of an empty house. She quickly kicked off her shoes and hopped on the couch, grabbing the remote and flicking on the tv. Marco sighed, making his way towards the kitchen. He still had no idea where his parents were, something that served as both a blessing and a curse. It afforded him great freedom and privacy. Freedom and privacy enough for Janna to stay the night more often than not. Still, it also came with the need to maintain the charade of normalcy twice as hard and evade the worst of trouble at school.
"You gonna just lay there or are you going to help me?" Marco shouted from the kitchen. He popped open the fridge and retrieved a single pomegranate.
"Come on" she groaned "I didn't get to feed today."
"Where was Alfonzo and Ferguson?" Marco asked, a hint of confusion in his voice. The two nerds were scared to death of Janna and had enough innate magical energy to make them her preferred victims.
"The hell if I know. They weren't at school."
"Huh. Why don't you call Daron over then?" he readied to head out the backdoor.
"Didn't you feed on her yesterday?" Janna sat up, looking over the back of the couch at Marco.
He shrugged "Yeah but she recovers fast. Besides, she never turns us down."
It was true Janna thought. The brace-faced girl was always willing to let the two of them feed on her. Too willing, It kinda creeped her out. "I don't know. Don't want to accidentally kill her" It was an excuse made less from actual concern but more from just not wanting to deal with the girl.
"Whatever" Marco headed into the backyard. He cautiously approached a small tree with pearlescent rainbow leaves. He placed the fruit in his hand at the tree's base and stepped back. He watched carefully as a similarly colourful serpent slithered down the trunk and began biting into the pomegranate. "Hey Mehen" Marco greeted the creature. Stepping around the feeding snake, he began plucking the brightest of the leaves from the tree and placing them in a nearby bucket. Once he had enough, he walked across the yard to a table that had a glass pane laying across the top. He lifted the glass off and began laying out the leaves on the table. Once he had covered the table he carefully placed the glass pane on top of them.
His work done, Marco headed back inside. Walking into his living room he found the couch surprisingly Janna free. He chuckled to himself. "Playing games again Janna?" he called out. With an ounce of focus the whites of his eyes turned gold and he began the search, looking anywhere a small object could hide. She loved showing off her skill with the technical end of their abilities which included a strong grasp of shapeshifting, something Marco had no talent for. The sound of movement under a nearby table caught his attention, and when a pen flew across the floor he pounced on it. "Aha!" he held up the writing implement only to realize that he had been fooled.
A pair of scissors leapt out from beneath the table, changing into Janna mid air and landing on Marco's back. "Gotcha" she wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
"You just can't help yourself? Damn show off" Marco teased.
"That's not showing off" She smiled, revealing rows of shark-like teeth which she summarily sank into his shoulder.
"Argh." Marco instinctively reached back to throw her off before stopping himself "You need to warn me when you're gonna do that."
"Where's the fun in that" her words were muffled as she held the bite for a moment longer before releasing him. Luminescent blue blood dripped from her mouth and his wound, both of which she quickly licked up.
"You're seriously messed up." he shook her off and stood up straight. She laid on her side, propping herself up with her hands. She looked up at Marco, biting her lip with the same razor teeth. "Though, I guess I'm not one to talk." He grinned wickedly before pouncing on her for real this time.
Night fell over Echo Creek, Janna exiting the Stop & Slurp with an energy drink in each hand. Marco was sitting leaned up against the front of the convenience store, rolling glimmering dried leaves into a cigarette. Janna handed Marco one of the drinks and he retrieved a rolled cigarette from behind his ear and gave it to her. Placing the one he just rolled between his own lips, Marco snapped his fingers forming a spinning wheel of flame in his hand which the pair simultaneously lit their smokes on. Shaking his hand to dispel the fire, Marco cracked his energy drink open with one hand. The two then began leisurely making their way back to the Diaz residence.
"Help me!"
Marco and Janna turned to face the source of the plea just as a girl about their age with long blonde hair and wearing a blue formal dress nearly crashed into them. "What the hell?" Marco yelled in response, the girl swiftly attempting to hide behind him.
"Um, Diaz?" Janna tapped his shoulder, returning his attention to straight ahead.
"Well you don't see that everyday" he jokingly remarked as a hoard of monsters barreled down the road in their direction. As they closed in the group fanned out to surround the three teenagers.
"Give us the girl" a blue skinned man with deer-like antlers addressed them "And you get to live."
"Wow" Janna hollered "You believe this guy?" she turned to Marco
"I know, talk about rude." he responded "Well listen here. I don't know why y'all are here or why you want this girl. I don't care. But you don't just walk up to us and start talking about letting us live." He threw off his red hoodie and t-shirt, revealing a toned and fit body more befitting a grown man than a teenager. "Not that any of that matters. I don't know how long it's been since we got to let loose and I'm itching for a fight. How about you Janna?"
"Damn straight. Let's dance freaks." She cracked her knuckles, a sound accentuated by a loud echo. Her face took on a skeletal countenance, as if her skull was superimposed over it. Marco stood tall beside her and pointed at the deer-man with his right arm. From the tip of his finger a crimson flame spread, skin and muscle evaporating as it ran up his arm to just past his elbow. It left a skeletal arm and hand tipped with crystalline claws covered in bright red flames which flowed like ink rather than flicker like flames are supposed to.
"Have it your way" the antlered monster replied "Attack!" he commanded and the monsters charged. Marco was off in a flash, hitting a clearly inhuman speed from a standstill. The only tell of his location was the blur of light from his burning arm.
"And you call me the show off?" Janna shouted after her companion. She calmly snapped her fingers as she waved her hand horizontally. The massive chicken monster in front of her was suddenly perforated, pierced by numerous invisible bullets of air. The sight shook the two-headed red creature and warthog man that stood on either side of the chicken. Shock tactics were a favourite of hers and this one bought her enough time to ready her next move. Flensing whips of air rapidly lashed from her fingertips at the two-headed one, leaving him bleeding out on the ground. The howls of pain as his ally slowly died urged the warthog to charge Janna with all his strength. She managed to grab him as he closed, bringing him to a hard stop. Without letting go she supercharged her body's electricity, frying the pig monster. "Shock tactics" she giggled to herself.
Marco slid across the asphalt in front of a buff giraffe man and three-eyed potato monster, running his skeletal hand along the surface. The street beneath the monsters quickly converted into a black, tarry fire that spread to their bodies. As they panicked, Marco seized the opportunity to double back and slice the giraffes throat with his claw (an easy target all things considered). Before he could deliver a fatal blow to the triclops he was attacked from behind. A bear with a unicorn horn attempted to slice him with a sword, a move Marco had no difficulty evading. He quickly turned and grabbed the blade, changing it to a metallic flame in the bear's hand. The bear began to freak out and stumble away from the young man. Marco snickered, snapping his fingers and firing a flaming wheel to his side where the three-eyed monster was still struggling. The spinning flame sliced through the creature as Marco rushed after the bear. Catching up to his fleeing enemy, the teenager drove his clawed hand through its chest.
Returning to each other's side, Marco and Janna looked on at the deer monster who was battering a forcefield that surrounded the blonde girl.
"Ahem" Janna cleared her throat.
"What?" The monster turned around to see his forces had been slain "Oh."
"Yeah, oh." Marco responded, once again pointing at the monster. Janna joined in on the gesture and they both snapped their fingers. A slicing wheel of flame and a single bullet of air crashed into their enemy, who slumped over onto the forcefield. Janna approached the sphere of energy and found the girl within clutching a magic wand with her eyes shut. She was repeatedly muttering something Janna couldn't make out. Turning around, she shot Marco a questioning look. "Hold on one sec" He replied. Stepping back he looked over the battlefield and waved his burning arm across it "Invocation override: Battle Erasing Mantra" he enunciated the words. The remains of their foes ignited with a blue flame, rapidly turning to dust. All damage inflicted on their surroundings was also quickly repaired in a burst of blue fire. Once it was done he flexed his hand, returning it to its normal state. He nodded towards Janna as he gathered his shirt and hoodie.
Janna knocked on the bubble "It's all clear" she nearly screamed at the girl within. Opening her eyes, the blonde slowly looked up to see Janna standing over her. The forcefield popped like a balloon, startling both Janna and the girl.
"They're gone?" she spoke softly.
"Yup." Marco announced as he zipped up his red jacket and moved to join the girls.
"Thank you" she clutched her wand even tighter, looking to be on the verge of tears.
"You mind telling us what that was all about?" Janna probed.
"I…My family…" the strange girl broke down crying, falling to her knees. Marco and Janna exchanged a wide eyed look in response.
With a heavy sigh Marco moved even closer, taking a knee and wrapping his arms around the girl "It's going to be alright" he shot a look up at Janna, clearly communicating that she should refrain from mentioning this. He continued to hold her for a while until she calmed down. "Feeling better?" he pulled away to arms length in order to look into her crystal blue eyes. She nodded and he let go, offering her a hand as he stood up. She cautiously took it and he pulled her to her feet. "So what just happened?" he began "who were those creatures and why were they after you?"
"I'm Princess Star Butterfly of Mewni." she stared at the ground as she spoke "We've been locked in a war with the forces of Toffee the Immortal for a long time. Today was my fourteenth birthday, the time for me to receive the royal wand." she shook the magic wand in her hands "The ceremony went off without a hitch but somehow monsters got into the castle. They waited for night to fall and everyone to leave before attacking. My father…" her breath hitched, she sounded as if she was about to cry again "My father ran to my room to make sure I escaped with the wand but…." she began to sniffle "he pushed me through the portal just as the monsters burst in. It closed behind me and then those monsters showed up and…" She held her head in her hands as she began to wail "he's dead. He was supposed to come after me and he died trying to save me. I can't do this. I'm not a warrior like him or my mom...I.." she was hyperventilating.
"Whoah, whoah, whoah there" Janna grabbed her "Everything will be alright. You don't know he's dead. You just need to calm down. Breathe"
Marco watched as his compatriot tried her hand at calming the princess. He had heard stories of other worlds, mostly from his parents, but never gave them much thought. He always had much more pressing supernatural matters in the form of understanding his own nature. Maybe his dad has a book on Mewni sitting in his office. He saw Janna motion for him to join her as she broke away from the girl. "Let me guess: no way home?" he asked quietly as he approached Janna a short distance from Star,
"Nailed it. But tell me, did you notice it?"
"Notice what?"
"Use your other eyes, dipshit"
Marco gave an exaggerated eye roll before activating his sensory powers, the whites of his eyes once again turning gold. He looked at Star and she lit up like the night sky on the fourth of July. He salivated at the sight, nearly drooling. Returning to his normal sight he responded to Janna "Alright. I see the case for keeping her. How should we handle it?" he crossed his arms.
"Didn't your family used to house exchange students? I'm pretty sure I can fake the paperwork, so you just need to help her settle in"
"You say that like you have the hard part." he retorted "I gotta teach a magical princess from another world about earth. Find her new clothes. Feed her."
"You can make her your famous nachos."
"Normal people can't survive off of nachos, Janna."
"Come on. It can't be that hard to learn how to cook."
"I know how to cook. You need to learn to though, i'm not doing it all on my own. We'll alternate days."
"Deal" Janna offered Marco her hand, he took it and they shook on it.