Chapter 3: Exploring Middleton (The Bueno Nacho Experience)

"So this is the famous SmartyMart," Marco said as he looked up at the huge building. "Looks normal enough."

"Where smart shoppers shop smart," Ron repeated the catchphrase with his trademark goofy smile, "Now it may not have black hole chargers and crazy bad guys who try to take Star's magic wand, but it has everything else."

"You have no idea how much of a relief that is," Marco said as they walked into the superstore.

~~~SVTFE*KP~~~

"So what do you think?" Kim said as she and Star walked around Club Banana. "Spankin', isn't it?"

"Uh...it's okay, I guess. I'm used to bright and colorful clothing!" Star shrugged, "These all look kinda boring to me. Marco would love it here, though."

"Hmm," Kim rubbed her chin as she picked up a pink shirt with a heart on it off the rack, "What about this?"

Star looked at the shirt and shook her head, "Nah. I kinda got the dresses and pants thing going for me here, it's my signature look."

"Nothing wrong with trying something new. How about this?" Kim picked up a blue and pink floral sundress, "It's colorful." She shrugged.

"Maybe Club Banana just isn't my store, Kim," Star sighed as she looked over the shoe section. It was absent of her preferred colorful footwear. I could use some brown shoes though...hmmm... "Not that here isn't a great place to shop...it's just not me. Not my style."

Kim nodded, "You're right Star. I shouldn't push you into liking this store if it doesn't fit your style...for now, anyway. How about choosing a mission outfit?"

"Why would I need a mission outfit?" Star asked. Kim walked over to the cargo pants section and pulled off a pair, "You and Marco are joining Ron and I on missions, aren't you?"

"Yeah, but we just fight in our normal clothes. It's pretty easy and we never fight for too long." Kim tossed the pants to Star.

"On our first few missions, Ron and I wore normal clothes too. The problem is they kept getting ruined so we decided to buy some and spares just in case."

"Ohh, you make a good point," Star examined the pants, "These look okay, what about a shirt? Can it be pink or purple?"

"Hmm, those don't really blend into the background," Kim said, pulling out a gray crop top with three-quarter sleeves. "How about this?"

Star frowned at the exposed midriff, "Where's the rest of the shirt?"

"This is the rest," Kim asked, confused. "You don't wear crop tops?"

"Clothing like that was forbidden on Mewni, at least according to my mom," She looked at a blue shirt with a similar design. "I can work with this, though."

Kim looked at Star's ensemble with a smile, "I think you have a spankin' mission outfit!"

~~~SVTFE*KP~~~

"So what are we doing again?" Marco asked as Ron took him through the Men's section of SmartyMart, "I thought we had everything picked out?"

"That was just the normal, everyday stuff. What you need is a mission outfit. Since, you know, you and Star are joining KP and I on missions." Ron took a pair of Prussian blue cargos and tossed them to Marco. "Whatcha think of these?"

"This is great! And in my favorite color too," Marco replied as he caught them then pulled a dark gray shirt with full sleeves off the shelf, "These definitely go well together."

"I gotta say I agree with you. Now we just gotta get a couple more pairs just in case they get ruined and we're all set." Marco put them in the cart and they headed towards the checkout.

"Hey, can we afford all this? Kim's dad only gave us $50 to buy everything. I left my wallet back in my dimension since Star was paying." He asked as they waited in line.

"Not a problem, Marco. See I get a royalty check every month and I withdrew some money from my account."

"You get a royalty check? How?"

"Oh don't worry my good man, you'll see as soon as we get to lunch."

"Speaking of lunch, I better call Star. She and Kim might want to join us," Marco pulled his phone out.

"No need for that, Marco. Kim and I already set everything up. We're all meeting up at Bueno Nacho at 2 and then we'll head back home."

"Oh, well okay. I'm assuming it's Mexican?"

"Only the best!" Ron exclaimed as the checkout man rolled his eyes before continuing his job, "You're okay with that, right? If not we can go to Cow n' Chow."

"No-no! I'm fine with it. Actually, I'm more than fine with it. I'm Hispanic after all."

"Really?" Ron asked, "I had no idea."

Marco rolled his eyes, "Hello, Marco? Diaz? Marco Diaz? My dad's Mexican. My super awesome nacho recipe runs in the family."

"Well, I'm something of a chef myself. I managed to get a 5-star restaurant going in Middleton High last year before it got shut down. We definitely need to collabertate on some recipes." Ron paid the bill and they carried the bags into the parking lot.

"Uh, don't you mean 'collaborate'?"

"Eh, same difference. Now we gotta get going, the lunch special ends at three and it's already 1:40!"

~~~SVTFE*KP~~~

"Wait, you actually put sugar on a burrito? That's sick and wrong!" Ron said as he took a bite of a chimerito. "Star, how you taint the deliciousness of a burrito?"

Kim, Ron, Star, and Marco all met up at Bueno Nacho as planned and had their orders in front of them. Sodas, salad, nachos and nacos almost covered the booth with Rufus popping on the table to snack on his own naco.

"That's exactly what I thought! It was sacrilegious! Not to mention how crazy you went afterward!" Marco took a sip of his soda.

"I wasn't tainting it, I was making it better," Star rolled her eyes as she took a cheesy Nacho chip. "And how was I supposed to know how sugar would affect me like that? It was still tasty, though."

"By not trying crazy combinations?" Marco replied evenly, "You ran away for 2 days, I was so worried about you!"

"Oh Marco, you worry about everything expect fighting monsters and Jackie." "Hey!" "Speaking of fighting, when do we start those world-saving missions you were talking about?"

"Yeah, how does this 'saving the world' thing work exactly?" Marco said as he took a bite of Ron's famous creation, the Naco. "Wow. I have to say Ron, these aren't half bad."

"Chef Ron pleases once again!" Ron proudly tapped his chest.

Kim chewed her salad, "Well I started a website around four years ago and for the last three and a half Wade, our tech guru, has been running it. As soon as the website gets a major hit, Wade calls us up and we get a ride."

"That's it?" Star asked, "We just wait around for villains to try and 'take over the world?'"

Kim and Ron exchanged a look.

"Yeah pretty much," Ron hand waved, "But sometimes the missions come in the middle of class and we always get excused. Perfect for when you don't study for a test."

"Pff, like Marco will ever have to worry about that," Star said as Marco bit into a chip, "He's a straight-A honor student."

"That's good, at least someone is serious about learning," Kim shook her head is disbelief at Ron's laziness, "Not that you should rely on that to get out of a test, Ron."

Ron ignored her, "Or dealing with Bon-Bon tyring to steal your captainship during cheerleading practice?"

Marco almost choked. "Hold up, you're a cheerleader? But you're so...so..."

"Nice." Star finished.

"So not the drama guys," Kim waved as she poked her salad, "It's just what I do."

"But if you want to see a mean cheerleader, Bonnie's got you covered. Has been calling me mean names since Kindergarten. Calling her Bon-Bon will tick her off though if you want her to leave," Ron sipped his drink as Rufus finished the last bit of his nachos. "Yum!" Rufus patted his stomach.

Beep beep bee-beep!

"What was that?" Star exclaimed, pulling out her wand and pointing it towards the sound.

"Chill Star, it's just the kimmunicator ringing," Ron said as Kim answered.

"Oh..." Star put her wand away. "Go Wade."

"Well, I've finally managed to figure out how these scissors work. They rip a void into space-time and take the user (or users) wherever he or she wants to go."

"Sooo you fixed them?" Star asked hopefully, hopping over to Kim.

Wade sighed, "Not yet. The metal alloy used for the blades are extremely rare and hard to get at the moment. Luckily I know a few people but it could take a while."

"Aww," Star said dejectedly.

"Don't worry, it's only a matter of time Star," Wade said as he continued typing, "Jim and Tim examined the scissors' gemstone, which hasn't suffered too much damage but that'll be fixed within the next couple of weeks."

"Finally, some good news," Marco commented, picking up his bags, "Thanks for helping us out Wade."

"And thank you for helping me access this technology, it's the least I can do to help you guys out."

Kim cut the connection and turned back to the group, "Well we got to get going. I don't wanna miss Agony County!"

Marco and Ron rolled their eyes while Star grinned.

Next chapter is the first week of school. Since at this point in SVTFOE Marco and Star are 15 (Quest Buy gift card was given for their 6-month friendship celebration and went unused for another 3-6 months so it's safe to say they aged up. Kim and Ron are 16. All will be juniors in the next chapter.