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Chapter I.I:
Malevolent Moonlight Mambo
"Helloooo, ladays." Marco said, as he entered the living room. His arms were full of large chocolate bars and they immediately caught everyone's eye. "Ahh come bearing, a-gifts." he said. His cheesy suavitude made Jackie giggle, made Angie blush and cover her smile, and also made Star and Janna smirk with a single raised brow, as if they'd seen him go mad.
However, the girls' reactions towards Marco soon turned into cheerful appreciation, when he started to pass out the lovely, aromatic bars of confectionary love. Just as Marco was affected moments before, the ladies became absolutely entranced after they took a whiff or two.
"Woooow, Marco these are...mmmm...really nice candy bars!" Star nearly groaned her pleasure. "Where'd they come from?"
"Oh, that's right. Tom dropped by, just now, wanting to check up on you, Star, and, well, he didn't know if you wanted to see him, see him, so, he just asked me. I basically said we're all doing better."
Star managed a warm, little smile. "Aww. That's sweet of him." she cooed. "So? He gave us these to kinda loosen us up?"
"Nah...he, uh...he stepped on the actual chocolates we had set aside for the smores, 'n...melted them. These are...replacements."
Starting with Star, all the girls, at first, began holding in their laughter, sounding like a bunch of balloons that were spewing air under high pressure, then, they started howling like hyenas, unable to hold it in any longer.
"Heheh, yeah, I guess that is pretty funny." Marco floundered, somewhat regretting that he let the little bit of information out. "I'll, uh...go clean up his mess."
"Oh, could you be a toootal sweetie pie and bring back the marshies 'n graham crackies so we can start up our s'mores?" Star asked, bouncing where she sat.
"Sure. No problem." Marco replied.
After Marco wiped up Tom's mess, he recalled stuffing the small gaming device into his back pocket. He reached back and grasped it, trying to take it out to have a proper look, but, the strangest, eerie thing happened as he brought it forward. It seemed to lose its weight, even its very essence. It almost felt like it turned into jelly in his hand and lost any solid presence whatsoever. Then, just as Marco brought it into the light, it faded into nothingness. It was as if he brought the ghost of it up beside him, and, now, there was nary any scrap of evidence that it even existed, save for a few flittering magic embers that dissipated into the ether. He was beside himself then. He questioned if he had held it at all, but, he was certain he felt it and pulled it out. What's more, he definitely recalled Tom giving it to him and feeling the extra girth pressing against his rump, for the past few minutes. What in the world...
"Marcohhh! Ya bringin' the munchies or what?" Star called from the other room.
"Oh. Y-yeah! Be right there!" Marco replied, slightly shaken, but, he soon came of the mindset to get back to what he was previously doing. He set aside the happening, at least for now, as he began gathering some boxes of grahams and some bags of large marshmallows. What he'd just witnessed, he could not explain, without Tom's help...and he left it at that.
Now, back in the living room, they all began setting up a well oiled assembly line. Marco was manning the marshmallow toasting station at the fireplace (mainly because they all bumped heads when they all tried to roast at once), Janna was breaking up grahams into bite-sized bits next to Jackie, who was breaking up candy bars, and, at the very end of the assembly line, Star was found bussing the toasted marshmallows to their landing spot, where Angie and Star delicately placed cracker, chocolate, mallow, and cracker together to create a lovely, plate of edible candy islands. After Mrs. Diaz retrieved a tall tower of red plastic cups and a gallon of milk from the fridge, the evening was in full swing.
Marco felt a bit like a literal fifth wheel, as the girls chattered on, since they were mostly talking about things he didn't seem concerned with. He was happy for Star, of course, but, he began feeling like he should simply excuse himself to his room. On top of this, despite the ladies' praises of Tom's custom chocolate...Marco didn't seem to taste what they tasted, no matter how many s'mores he had. In fact, he could barely taste chocolate in the chocolate at all. His night felt a little cold shouldered, but, things began to change, when the topic turned to boys...and sex.
"So, Mrs. Diaz," Janna began, intensely curious, "what was your, you know...first time like?"
The girls began giggling like the schoolgirls they were, while Angie softly did the same.
Marco expected her to be a bit disgusted by the question, but, she in fact did the opposite.
"Well, girls. My first time was a little...lackluster." Angie began. "I mean, we both kinda didn't know what to do, so, we both expected something utterly magical to happen, which didn't, so, in the end, we were a liiitle disappointed."
"Awwwwooohhhhh..." the girls groaned, suddenly drooping.
"Ohh, but don't worry, girls," Angie continued, "the first time may not be the behhhst, buuuut...I'll put it this way...I don't keep my figure just to keep myself happy."
"Hehhyou mean, Mr. Diaz..." Jackie pushed, and the girls began giggling and blushing immediately.
"Oh...he's a looooove machine." Mrs. Diaz finally capped this measure of the conversation and the girls began kicking and screaming with laughter.
Marco, thoroughly and officially wierded out, felt like a colony of ants was crawling around in his jammies. "Ahhooookay, that's Marco's cue to take an early night." he said, as he jumped up and tried to leave.
"Awww! Marcoooooh, c'mahhhhhn!" Star pleaded with him, in her typical, puppy dog way...complete with quivering jaw.
"Yeah, Marco, why don't'cha stay?" Jackie encouraged, which practically froze him in place.
"You might be able to lend us some...insights." Janna then suggested, jarring him from his trance with Jackie and somewhat strengthening his resolve to leave.
Then, "Oh, Marco..." Angie said, gently pressing upon his shoulders and urging him to sit back down...which he did, "...come on, sweetie. You might learn something...and so might we!"
The girls giggled then, as Marco's heart filled with fear. Heaven only knew what the ladies had going on in their minds, when Mrs. Diaz was championing the cause.
Meanwhile, in the underworld...
Tom was furiously button mashing on his XXXCube666 when a notification popped up and chimed in on him at the bottom of the screen. 'Marco has signed in' it said.
"Wow. That was fast." Tom commented, as he quickly signed out of his current game and began reaching around, somewhere beside his chair, soon retrieving a VR helmet. "I guess I shoulda given him more credit."
His eyes began glowing and he spread his arms wide. He levitated the helmet down onto his head and chanted gibberish, casting a spell, stopping only after the helmet was secured upon him.
The screen in his helmet was displaying the XXXCube's home page, where several columns and rows of tiles were displayed. One tile in particular, which Tom nudged the screen's cursor over to, was entitled 'Candy Girls'. He clicked on it, and, immediately, the screen went blank, except for a small progress bar in the center screen, topped with the caption 'Initiating Uplink...'
"...Okay, let's see..." he said, talking to himself...for now. "...Whadawegot heeeerrrrrrr..."
Mrs. Diaz had somehow snaked the conversation into some kind of detailed romance novel about how Mr. Diaz likes to give it to her. It was getting so naughty and steamy that Marco swore he caught the girls rubbing and squeezing themselves in odd places, when they thought he wasn't looking. Of course, the fact that Angie had loosened up her robe and was nearly handing out roadmaps on how to please a sexually well adjusted woman's body didn't help Marco feel any better. He hadn't seen his own mom act like this before. Hell...he hadn't seen ANY women act like this before, and it was downright freaking him out.
Marco was in the middle of thinking up some excuse, ANY excuse, to get his butt out of there, when...
...BZZZZZZZZZZZZTTTT...
...It was as if he felt an electric current surge through his body. He wanted to look around at himself to see if something went wrong...but he couldn't. He couldn't move his head...he couldn't move his arms...and, most importantly...he couldn't speak.
"Helooooooooo, Marcohhhhh." Tom's voice rustled in his head like an old AM radio. "And I thought you didn't get around, buddy. Looks like you proved me wrong!"
'Tohhhm?!' Marco thought, his internal voice bouncing around his head as if he was in an empty chamber.
"Oiiiiyyyy...easy on the volume there, pal. I can hear you just fine."
'Tom?! What the heck is going on?!'
"It's just like I said, bro. We got this! I am gonna help you get some ladies into your back pocket, even if it kills me!"
'Wh...what?! N-no! Youg...you get outta my head, rrrright now! I do NOT want ANY HELP from y...'
Tom 'muted' Marco's 'mic', blocking out any thoughts coming from him. "Eeesh, Marco. Take it easy." Tom then said. "You're gonna love this, buddy. Trrrust meeeee."
Most of the girls around Marco were fairly entranced by Mrs. Diaz's graphic depictions on marital relationships, so, they didn't notice how Marco was oddly raising his arms and testing out his legs. This was Tom's doing, of course, as he was testing out 'his' new limbs.
Tom began casually scanning the room through Marco's eyes. "Lookee...lookee...what do we have here?" He said, all the while, Marco was screaming at him while muted. "Wellll...we have the lovely Star Butterfly, I think we're gonna have to ride that one out together, Marco. She's not exactly someone I'd just let you have to yourself, eheheh. Aaaaand, oooh, who is this hottie? Jackie Lynn Thomas, huh?"
Marco gasped. 'You keep your...my...OUR...WHATEVER! Hands off, pal!' Marco screamed...uselessly.
"Ohh, feels like you guys are into each other, huh? But haven't hit the sack yet?! Oh, we are gonna fix that, don't worry." Tom wickedly grumbled with a smile. He then caught a virtual image of Marco in the top corner of his screen, panicking in hysterics. "Ohh, don't worry, Marco. It'll be all you. I won't feel a thing." Tom then said. His words did little to console Marco's tortured soul, which was, by all accounts, reasonable. "Aaaaand, moving on...ooh, who's the little army brat, Marco? Mmm...Janna...history of torment and teasing with you, huh? Well, she's not as fine as Jackie, but, she's still pretty cute, herself. We'll see what we can do with her. She looks like she'd be into some pretty kinky stuff, if you ask me..."
Marco went wide eyed with that one. 'You're freaking crazy, Tom!' he screamed. Again, his cries fell upon deaf ears.
"And finally...ooh...speaking of kinky...check this hottie out. Definite MILF status, Marco. I have got to get you some of that!" Tom said, looking over Mrs. Diaz's large, fully developed, bubble busted figure.
Marco's eyes damn near popped out of his head at that. No matter how many times he screamed 'THAT'S...MY...MOHHHHHHM!", he still could not be heard.
"Lesseee..." Tom continued. Both Marco's and Tom's visions then phased into a strange type of vision. Everything was black and white, except for a strange sort of twine that connected the girls and Marco together. "Ohh, so you ALL ate the chocolate, huh? Well, I guess that makes it easier." Tom said. It took Marco a while to understand, but, he soon guessed what was going on. The chocolate was enchanted, and now, somehow, all who shared it were connected by some kind of string.
'What the heck is that thing, Tom?' Marco screamed into the silence.
Tom naturally couldn't hear what Marco said, but, he was keen on reading his lips. "Oh, that? Heheh, don't worry 'bout it, Marco. It shall reveal its glorious cause in time."
Marco could do nothing but shudder as a chill rippled through his spine.
After a few moments of flicking virtual switches, check boxes, and buttons, Tom finally said, "Alright, Marco! We're all geared up here! Don't worry, buddy. Your woman troubles are over!"
Tom reverted Marco's vision back to normal, save for a few strange, graphically projected meters and bars that remained in his periphery. Also, he could still see the strange, glowing yarn that connected him to the other ladies, heart to heart it seemed, and it certainly made him feel uneasy.
"Alrighty, bro. I'm gonna return control back to you now, and, I'll be checking up to see if you need any help, from time to time...oh...and, one other thing..." Tom's voice suddenly turned grim and demonic, "...NOT A WORD OF THIS TO STAR OR ANYONE ELSE...ORR ELSE. Don't forget...I can make Naysaya look like a Sunday school picnic."
Marco, who was ready to scream for Star's help, suddenly, mentally, clammed up...soon physically clamming his mouth shut, as control was restored to him. He was being held hostage in his own body, and there was nothing he could do about it. Just as well, for all he knew, as he stared at the strange, glowing string that tied him and the ladies together, he considered that they too might be at risk. So, he shut himself up and behaved, stifling any urge to try to give Star a hint to his current situation.
The night grew late and the slumber party progressed smoothly, save for the fact that Marco was doing his best to hide his paranoia. Despite the hot potato being passed to him several times, he managed to shrug off most of the awkward, sexual, teasing questions the girls tried to poke him with. He thought it was mean...they thought it was cute. It could have gone on forever, but, they all were growing a bit weary and they agreed that it was time to hit the hay. In all of this, Marco had somehow managed to forget the bit of malware corrupting his body. His flashy, new heads up display would have reminded him that Tom could chime in at any time, but, he was fairly distracted by a certain concern. His thoughts moved to Jackie and how she might not be so comfortable tonight, especially if she was one of three in Star's bed.
They had all made it up the stairs when Marco finally suggested, at the risk of being a little too forward, "Uh, hey, Jackie. If you want, you can use my bed, tonight."
"...Wah?" Jackie turned around, shocked at Marco's, what she thought, bold statement. Even Janna and Star stopped and stared a while.
"I mean, I'd hate to think of all three of you trying to share space in that one bed, and, I don't really wanna make you sleep on the floor..."
Jackie smiled. "Oh, that's sweet, Marco."
"...Does that mean that you're gonna put your mom's suggestions to...practical use?" Janna teasingly butted in. Both she and Star began giggling.
"Sugges...wah? NOHH!" Marco recoiled at Janna's words, as usual.
"Well...I wouldn't mind..." Jackie spoke, looking away. In all honesty, Marco couldn't tell if she was being serious.
Marco was about to say that he was planning on taking the couch in the living room, but...
...BZZZZZZZZZZZZZTTTT...
