Chapter 3: Fixin' The Interrogation
The morning sun rose on mewni, coating the sky in a pale pink setting. A ray of light peered through a single tower window of the healing chamber. The room itself looked like it was owned by a mad scientist. A variety of small caged creatures stacked haphazardly against one side of the wall, while the tables were covered in a variety of mixtures; towering books that touched the ceiling and scattered papers. The only sense of normality was a large painting of a royal queen, sitting on her throne with a large smile as she held her adorable daughter in her lap. The bottom of the frame was engraved with the title: Queen Comet.
Admittedly, this room was very interesting, and if it wasn't for the fact that the world around him was built like a cartoon. Jorge would've been panicking at this point. After being awaken for the last hour and finding himself stuck in a hay-filled bed with an impressive amount of locks and chains. He simply laid there, studying the room and humming old songs in his head as he passed the time. The one uncomfortable thing he did notice (besides the bed he was tied to) was that he was pretty much naked, except for the large amount of bandages that were wrapped around his head and the rest of his body. To anyone else, he probably looked like a mummy.
His thoughts trailed over the idea of this whole thing being a fever dream, but since he could still feel pain (pinchy chains) he knew this was all real. Which meant that his chance encounter with Glossaryck, and his mourning over Star's body were also genuine.
He closed his eyes and let out a soft groan at his idiocy. Just what was he thinking trying to copy what Star did? Originally, he was just going to try and give her the magic speck thing to try to revive her. But despite blue mage's warning, he went with his half-baked plan and nearly killed himself in the process. He could still feel the burning sensation of the mixture coating his skin and the sheer panic he felt from being dragged into the burning mixture. The worst part was he didn't even know where he was? Since he hadn't died, he could safely assume that the soup had transported him into some kinda castle room, and judging by the rooms decor, he was being held prisoner by some crazy scientist.
What he didn't know was why?
Maybe he accidentally intruded into someone's room and ended up a prisoner? It would make sense, especially if they were someone of importance. He could only hope that whoever captured him wasn't in the market for a kidney donation. He really liked having both of them. . .
His thoughts were interrupted when a muffled voice spoke from just beyond the doorway. His ear catching the faintest part of a story.
"Then I said to that dastardly Tobitt ' if you like corn so much, why don't you just marry it, you one-eyed goat!?' " The voice was met with plenty of muffled laughter, before the door opened, revealing a couple of chortling knights– one of them, a large dark-skinned woman with pink hair, and a normal soldier with no discernible traits except for the average knight suit that adorned the markings of the Butterfly family. Standing in front of them, holding his royal belly from laughing so much, was the crowned king of mewni: King River Johansen.
"Ahahaha! A one-eyed goat! Good one, your majesty!" The pink haired woman complimented, swiping a single tear of mirth from her eye.
"Oh, I've got quite a few more stories to share when it comes to that awful Tobitt, Lady Whosits." King River said, trying to resist the guffaws resting in his belly. "I promise to tell you more after we check on the prisoner."
"You mean me?"
The room turned dead quiet. The two knights and River turned to Jorge who was simply looking right back at the group. An awkward silence filling the room as the two groups kept up their staring contest, until one of them broke it up by clearing his throat.
"Um, hi?" Jorge tried to give a friendly wave, but since his arms were tied to the bed, he just wiggled his fingers at them.
"Err, oh yes. umm. . . Could you give us a second, old boy?" Flustered, River's group suddenly left the room with door slamming shut behind them. Jorge could only lay there, blinking as he listened to the hushed muttering going on behind the doorway. Despite the awkwardness of the situation, he was mentally relieved to see a familiar face. If King River was here, then it meant that he was in Butterfly castle! This was both good and bad for him. Good, because it meant he had a general idea of where he was, but bad, because–
-SLAM!-
His thoughts were rudely interrupted when the door slammed open once more. This time , revealing King River with a fierce-some warrior face as he ripped the clothes from his body– revealing his tribal undergarments beneath– and let out a warrior cry as he charged at Jorge.
"BWAAAHHH! Bwa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-AHH!"
The driver could only stared wide-eyed as the shorter king came barreling at him with a weird battle-cry, before hopping into the air with surprising dexterity, and land on the bed with both feet just barely missing Jorge's skull. The warrior king pulled out a wooden spear and held the pointy tip of it right against Jorge's bandaged nose (where did the spear even come from?!)
"AH-HA! Foolish assassin! Now you'll be contested with I! The mighty River Johansen, the King of the Butterfly Kingdom! Now if you value your life, you will tell me everything you know, right now!"
Jorge could see the sharpness of spear as it glinted with hunger aimed at him. The soldiers standing by the door, doing nothing but watch as their king seemed to take over the interrogation all by himself. Needless to say, this was the other thing he was worried about: being mistaken for the enemy.
"Umm, excuse me, sir, but. . ." He started, but the mighty River's glued gaze made him stumble over his words. He was not use to being put in a weird situation like this.
"Speak up, assassin, before my spear arm gets lazy." The king warned with a wave of his spear.
Closing his eyes and taking deep breath (resisting the urge to blanch at River's musky odor). Jorge carefully focused on his next words.
"I'm not an assassin."
Hearing this, River narrowed his eyes and tapped the side of Jorge's skull warningly. "I'm no fool, boy! We know all about you and your secret assassins group of 'Florida' Hor-hay Rivera!" Hearing the proper annunciation of his name, Jorge locked his eyes onto Rivers. "Your some kinda of secret multi-verse killer that wanted to do harm to my family, but obviously failed! Now speak th– "
"Wait a second!"
Being interrupted mid-speech, River stood stock-still with the spear still aimed at Jorge's throat, not expecting the assassin to yell at him nor give him an annoyed stare like he had just stepped on his pride as a man. The lack of tension was further broken up when Jorge continued, "First off, it's not Hor-hay, it's pronounced George, okay?"
The king blinked and curiously asked, "Well, why on mewni not? That's the proper way to pronounce it, isn't it?" He glanced at his guards for confirmation, but they just shrugged in response. Lowering the spear, River pulled a plastic card from his backside and glanced at it.
Sensing the seriousness dwindling from an interrogation, Jorge decided to follow through with the cartoon logic and drift to a different topic. "Yes, 'Hor-Hay' is the proper pronunciation to it, but because kids in my younger days always called me 'Hey whore' instead. I changed it to just Jorge (George)." He frowned. He always hated having to talk about his name. It made him feel childish to still rummage through the past over old wounds he should've grown out of. But words hurt, and he found himself preferring the English-version of his name much more than the Spanish one, but still spelled it the original way.
"Oh. . . Well, I'm very sorry to hear that," the king honestly replied with a touch of sympathy, much to Jorge's surprise. "No one should ever have to endure such a terrible nick-name at such a young age. A shame on them."
Taking advantage of the moment, the chained victim, nodded in understanding. "Thank you, I appreciate it. . . Also I'm not an assassin." He quickly added.
"LIES!"
The tension rebuilt as River stuck the spear back in his face, the moment passing all to quickly.
"If you're not an assassin then why was this assassin document in your pants!?" River thrust the card into Jorge's face revealing his drivers license. Though he was back to having a sharp tip pointed at his skull, this gave Jorge a chance to remember that this was a cartoon-land and if you wanted to be safe, then you just had to play on some of the tropes of this world.
So giving River his most deadpan expression, he explained. " That's just a drivers license. You know, to drive my car and deliver pizza to people?"
River harrumphed at this. " A likely story. But if you're just a pizza man, then how exactly did you use magic to break into my castle?!" He demanded.
Jorge groaned as he realized he was starting to wander into uncharted territories. Sure, he could explain to River about how he came through the void; met Glossaryck and found the dead body of Star. . .
"Star." He whispered to himself. Recalling the very reason he had taken the risk with the magic pot. This whole time he had been laying there trying to get back his bearings and worry for his safety, he had almost forgotten the very reason he was there in the first place. He was suppose to be there for Star Butterfly. He could still feel the ache in his chest when he remembered the cold feeling of her soft skin. The look of sorrow etched on her expression. How could he forget about her when her own father was standing right in front of him?
"Wait, what?" King River gave the mummy-suspect a surprised look. If he hadn't known better, he could've sworn he had heard his daughters name uttered just now. Despite the bandages, the look in the boys eye's seem to glow with pain and regret. . . ?
"King River." Jorge started, with a more respectful tone than before. "Is Star Butterfly. . . Okay?" He honestly didn't know how else to phrase it without giving the game away. Not only was he not sure if touching the magic did anything, but stick him in the middle of an interrogation room, but he wasn't even sure if Star had come back to life. This was the whole reason he had even bothered to try.
"What are you babbling about?" The king looked confused, holding his spear just a bit tighter than before. The gaze in the lads eyes throwing him off his game. "Of course, she's fine. In fact, I just saw my daughter this morning, heading to breakfast."
Hearing this, Jorge felt all the muscles in his body go lax. He didn't even realize he was so tensed up. Somehow, despite his stupidity and reckless decision making, it had all worked out in the end. But River continued. . .
"She's still getting herself ready for her upcoming 14th birthday party." Jorge's breath hitched.
The 14th birthday was when Star originally gained her wand and ruin a small village in her over-eagerness to learn the power of the wand. Due to this, she would proceeded to meet Marco and fight against the monster forces of Ludo's castle. This would begin the mark of season one 'Star vs The Forces Of Evil' series. If that was the case, then the magic he used didn't save her, but simply took him to a time when Star Butterfly hadn't died yet.
"Wait a moment, why am I answering your questions?!" The king realized his folly and grabbed Jorge by his bandage chest; pulling him up to his face with a shocking amount of strength that the pizza worker never expected from the short king.
"Why are you suddenly so interested my daughter?! Why did you use magic in my castle?! Answer me! No more distractions!" King River apparently had finally gotten tired of the run around and was going to gain some traction of his own. "If you don't start talking to me, then perhaps you'd like a word with Lady Whosits?"
Hearing her name, the large dark-skinned knight stepped forward with a savage grin and started to punching into her hand. The gesture alone was more than enough to get Jorge's brain to kick into over gear. He wasn't exactly sure how malleable his body was within this universes rule of physics.
However, before the interrogation could continue, another voice called out.
"I'm afraid I can't allow you to do that, my king." Hearing this, King River turned to his guards, who had stepped to the side; allowing a small figure (about River's height) to step into the healing chamber. The short knight appeared to be wearing a full suit of armor, hidden underneath the a forest green cloak that hung from his shoulders with a hood that hid most of his features, except for the iron mask that peeked from within the shade.
"Doctor Doom," River grumbled with disgust as he released Jorge from his powerful grip. "I thought you went to the market place for more tonics?"
The man glared at River through his iron mask and sternly replied in a tone that reminded Jorge of Alan Rickman from the 'Harry Potter' series. "I'm afraid that the owner of the store has come down with a poor case of the centaurian-mumps and so I had to return earlier than expected." The doctor walked up to the bed and stood before the King and the resting Jorge.
"Now, if you would kindly leave my patient to his recovery and allow me to work in peace. Then I just may forget to mention this folly to my queen." The warning was hardly subtle and while he was not one to bow down to such gross disrespect, even the slow-witted River knew of the consequences if his wife ever found it he had decided to interrogate the prisoner without her knowing. She had even made him promise to not do anything rash, until they could both set things back to normal and talk it out. But the desire to keep his family safe was a strong trait of the Johansen clan. If there was even the slightest chance someone was after his beautiful wife and his daughter, than he needed to find out. But if she found out about this. . . well, banishment from the castle would be a welcome compared to her other creative punishments.
"I-I've done nothing wrong! I'm merely giving this assassin a chance to explain his side of the story." River tried to explain but the doctor was not having it.
"I'm sure the queen already has that covered." He pointed out, crossing his gauntlets over his chest. "Her majesty plans to have a trial set for him, once the Magic High Commission gather to the castle. Whatever secret he holds now, will be taken from him then. For now though. . ."
He motioned to the doorway with the other guards standing. "I must ask you to leave, your highness."
The king pouted at this and jumped off the bed; dragging his spear out the door. "I shouldn't have to take orders, I'm a king not a baby. . ." He muttered under his breath as the doctor watched him leave for the door.
"Wait a second!"
River stopped and turned as Jorge looked back at him with a look of urgency. "Is it possible for me to talk to Glossaryck? He's one the reasons why I'm actually here!"
Hearing this, the room was filled silence. King River furrowed his brows as he tried to see if there was any deception in his eyes.
"Please, I just need to talk to Glossaryck! Maybe he knows something about the spell and how it worked?!" The reason Jorge had decided to spill the beans on the smurf's involvement, wasn't just because he remembered the little blue man and his mysterious nature, but because of his fear of the Magic High Commission. In the series, Jorge personally loved Rhombulus and his childish nature. But now that he heard he was going to be stuck in a trial with them. He was starting greatly fear the idea of being encased in crystal. For all he knew, they could simply get rid of him for the sake of peace; without ever giving him a chance to properly explain!
They had done so with Eclipsa, so why wouldn't they do the same with him? He was a nobody who had appeared out of nowhere and suspected of trying to kill the freaking leader of the High Commission! He needed to give something up to get out of this crazy trial. Hell, for all he knew, the book guardian might've had a spell to look into Jorge's past to see if he was telling the truth!
Unfortunately, King River shot down his idea. "I'm afraid that's impossible. Though hearing Glossaryck may be involved with your case. There really isn't any evidence except for your word. Not to mention, he is a guardian of Magical Book of Spells and only the queen or future queen of mewni may be allowed to handle the book properly." With that said, River turned back and proceeded to the doorway with his guards in tow.
Jorge could only curse as the door slammed shut and was left alone with the odd marvel-like villain.
The dining hall was filled to the brim with the sounds of hammering and brick laying by mewni's reliable construction workers. The burly men moved their heavy stones and equipment as they repaired the wall of the castle. Some went to work sweeping away the devastation of ruined foods and shattered plates, while others worked together to carry out the ripped paintings and have them replaced with new ones.
While this made the dining hall chaotic and rather noisy. It still gave Queen Moon the chance to settle in her seat and monitor the repairs. A small breakfast table had been set in the far corner of the room for Star and herself to enjoy their meals. The risk of debris falling into their food – Or on the Magical Book Of Spells, resting in the chair beside her– was kept to a minimum. Earlier, Glossaryck had been served his meal, but due to the noise from the construction, he chose to eat within the book for a more peaceful setting. Meanwhile, Star was adorning her more civilian outfit she wore whenever she was with her friends: A sea green dress with a white collar and white lacing on the sleeves and skirt. The picture of a cute pink octopus laid on her chest with her favored rhino boots settled underneath the table.
Normally, Moon wouldn't approve of it, but since Stars gown had been damaged and sent to the royal wash. She allowed her to wear the inappropriate garments, but made sure she still wore the tiara like a proper princess should.
"Woah, talk about a buffet." Star smiled as she watched the burly men at work. Her eyes locked onto one particular worker carrying several planks of wood with his shirt off, revealing an impressive six pack. "Oooh, a-a-a-bss." She drooled, lost in thought.
"Star, behave yourself!" Moon scolded, breaking the girl from her fantasy. "Sit up straight and focus on your corn pancakes instead. A proper princess does not ogle the common workers."
Star groaned in disappointment, but obeyed her mothers wishes. "I don't see what the big deal is. If you didn't want us to eat here and watch, then why aren't we eating somewhere else instead?"
Moon sighed, but replied for the sake of something other than listening to the dreadful noise, so early in the day. "I wanted to make sure that the job was being done right. Inconvenient as it is, I don't have any major plans for the next few days except to prepare for the upcoming trial as well as the traditional Stump Day following suit." She waved her wand to the side and motioned for a nearby servant to refill her empty tea cup.
Star couldn't help but feel an explosion of excitement bubble in her chest as she knew what would happen after her favorite holiday. "And after worshiping the stump! Then you'll finally let me have my turn with the wand!" Star could already imagine the super-fun magic spells she was going make when she got her hands on that bad boy. Already promising to herself that when she becomes the queen, everything was gonna be one big super sugar-filled paradise.
"The wand is not a toy, Star. It is a very old and powerful device that could endangers the universe if it fell into the wrong hands." Moon warned with a firm look, causing her daughter to turn away with a frown. "If you aren't careful with it. THIS could happen." She motioned to the giant hole in the wall that gave them an impressive view of landscape beyond their table.
"Is that why you haven't used it to repair the wall yourself?" Star asked, causing Moon to pause for the moment before replying.
" . . . It's true I haven't used it since the incident. But I don't really need to use it when I have such reliable staff on hand." She finished with a sip from her favored tea cup.
"Oi, watch out!" One of the workers in the background cried out. A loud crash and the sound of shattered glass and panic shouts filling the air.
Star just stared at her mother, who magically didn't hear any of the chaos that rained behind her as she focused solely on her tea.
Hearing that her own mother wasn't using the wand since the incident, left Star feeling rather uneasy by the whole thing. Yesterday, when she returned home and learned about the monster assassin, she originally wanted to talk to her parents about it, but since she didn't know if this could interfere with her ascension to the throne– and more importantly– her right to the wand: Star decided to keep her mouth shut. If her mother didn't want to use the wand, then what would happen if she decided she wasn't ready to wield it either? A part of her wanted to ask more, but another side of her didn't want to give her mother a better reason to think about keeping her birthright from her. So she clammed up and ate her corn pancakes as she took sneaky glances at the sweaty workers who were arguing about: who screwed up their safety record?
"It sounds to me like someone is getting the shivers."
Queen Moon sighed as the Magical Book Of Spells jumped on the table– knocking their drinks to the floor– and opened up to reveal Glossaryck. . . who was currently picking at his teeth with an oversized tooth pick.
"I thought you were eating in privacy due to the noise?" The queen stated with a deadpan look.
The floating smurf gave the older Butterfly a simple smile as he tossed the toothpick to the side. "Oh well, I decided to share the rest with my little pets. Stormy, in particular, since he has a personal love for hash-browns and corn." The tiny man patted his full belly in satisfaction.
"So what's this I hear about you not using your wand?" Laying on his side, he floated in front of Moon's view. "Not letting nerves get the best of you, I hope."
"I'm not scared of using it. . . I just don't always feel the need to have it when I'm governing my kingdom." The queen replied with an even look.
"Sounds to me, more like someone's just pouty over a simple magicident," he calmly replied.
"Is that a new word for 'magic' and 'accident?' " Star asked, having never heard of the word before.
"Well. . . yes. I decided I wanted to invent something new, so I figured making up words for people to steal would catch up soon enough," he said as he stretched his legs outward, cracking his back with a noticeable wince. " Oof. . . sounds like I need another trip to the chiropractor . . ."
Moon firmly placed her tea cup on the table and curtly responded. "As I said before, my magic is fine. I just need time to collect myself, nothing more, nothing less." The upper-class tone was something Star easily recognized as her mothers early warning sign to end the discussion. But Glossaryck, being as old of the universe itself, was hardly one to be intimidated, especially by a woman he watched grow from a small child with no confidence to the queen she was today.
"Look, all I'm saying is that there's no reason to be so worried," he explained with a shrug of his shoulders. " The wand is fine, and unless you decided to dip-down for whatever reason, then there shouldn't be anymore magicidents. That's it."
Though Queen Moon wasn't usually interested in talking to Glossaryck. Hearing these words from her reclusive teacher gave her some peace of mind. She hadn't liked the idea of letting the wand fall into her energetic daughters hands without a thorough check-up. But if Glossaryck felt like the wand would be safe, then perhaps should could sleep easier knowing nothing dangerous could happen? She'd still check, of course, but still relieved.
"Though, I will say that I'm not exactly happy with you either." The guardian suddenly said, making Moon raise a single curious brow.
"Whatever for?" She wondered.
Glossaryck let out his own heavy sigh and answered. " Well, it just so happens, that I heard about some dumb kids being invited to visit the castle. My kids in particular. Yours' is fine. A little slow in the head, like her dad, but fine."
"Heeey!" Star pouted.
Ignoring the jab at her family, Queen Moon knew the floating man was not the biggest fan of the Magic High Commission. Originally, they had been his creations that were made to help and serve mewni, but with their free-wills had chosen a different path from what the small guardian had expected of them. One that filled him with nothing, but disappointment for whatever reason.
"I wasn't exactly keen on them coming either, but you know of my responsibilities to the High Commission." Moon stated with a frown.
" True, true. . . But why are they coming?" He asked as he nonchalantly picked at his ear with his big toe.
"You remember the boy we found in the dining room?" She explained as Star played with her corn pancakes, but kept a careful ear to this. "Due the severe damage done to the castle and his strange appearance, there will be a trial settled in a few days once they arrive."
"Anything special about him, besides magically appearing from thin-air?" He asked with a bored tone.
"Some of the guards suspect he was an assassin from the monster tribe, pretending to be a mewman. It may even be possible he was a normal person hired to attack River and I." She looked into her reflection in the surface of teacup. Her gaze filled with suspicion and questions. "But I suppose the evidence should show itself tomorrow. For now though, due to his recovery, I'm keeping him chained in the healing chamber with Doctor Doom. Even if the boy is an assassin, their shouldn't be any way for him to escape or harm anyone else."
If there was anyone else she knew she could trust, besides her husband. It was her fair doctor. Or uncle 'dokkie' as she use to call him in her younger days. Whenever she was bored of her lessons back then, she would always search for the old potion brewer to watch him mix and brew his flashy mixtures and tell her stories of the amazing potions he made to help so many less fortunate mewmans. He had also been particularly close to her own mother and was one of the few people who could relate to her own sorrow.
"I still find it kinda weird his name is 'Doctor Doom,' " Star piped up, wanting to break the weird tension. "I know he's a nice guy now, but back then I thought he was really scary."
Hearing this left Moon a little disappointed. She knew her daughter had little patience for anything within the castle. Potion-making being chief among them. She had started wanting to try her own potions to show off to her friends, but due the sensitive and volatile nature of potion-makin, she left Doctor Doom with more than enough headaches, before she finally gave up the passion in favor of warnicorn riding.
'A Johansen trait, no doubt,'
She remembered him saying bitterly. It made the queen quite sad that despite the happiness she gained from her family. The doctor had begun to further isolate himself to his chamber with only his potions and caged animals to comfort him. One of these days, she would have to reconcile with him, but for now. . .
"Oh, no worries. He's actually quite well received medical officer of his field. The 'Doom' part is just an unfortunate sounding family name." Moon assured her daughter.
"Your majesty," one of the butlers approached with a fine dish of warm buttered corn cobs. "Will your husband be eating breakfast with you today?"
Moon suddenly remembered that River had mentioned something about grabbing his meat blanket from his room, but had yet to return. "Oh dear, I wonder where your father is? It's not like him to be late for breakfast."
Star shrugged. "Maybe he went to use the bathroom and change? You know how dad is when it comes to putting on his old outfits."
Moon sighed at this. "He always did have a knack for dressing up in his old tribal uniform. Even though his days as a warrior should be lost in the past, since a proper king is a man who allows his knights to do the fighting for him."
Star's smile fell at her mothers' words. She knew her mom was always one for tradition and a stickler for the 'proper' rules of everything. Sometimes it made her wonder if they were actually related? Star would never let any problem get in her way. She was sure that if she had that wand, she could simply make her them disappear. After all, if you couldn't solve your problems with magic, then how could you?
'Speaking of magic, maybe it's time I visit a certain somebody in the healing chamber . . .' She thought with an intense look, before shoving her warm corn pancake in her mouth and letting out a hum of joy from the intense sweetness from the syrup.
'Hmmm, sugar. . .'
After River had come and gone during the morning. The next several hours had left Jorge with the chance to spend his time talking to the doctor. Whether it was out of sheer boredom or because he just didn't care, the potion-maker turned out to be quite the chatty-catty. His full name was 'Mushy Stool Doom' and he was born under the year of the demon ( the 8th of Speelnax) on a normal farmland. Growing up as a as farmer, he learned many things about the plants and animals that were under his care. In order to further his ability to farm, he got into the rare habit of reading up on the animals in what few books his family kept from their old days.
But being a simple farmer, he didn't have the greatest start in life, since education wasn't that big of tool for the medieval days. Luckily, his family was supportive of his choices and sold a few pig-goats to help buy the books he greatly desired.
His knowledge on farming ended up extending into potion-making, and with his new found power. He spent what few coins he could scrounge up and bought himself his very own potion kit. Though expensive, he used his new found knowledge to help his family and the farm itself, to grow some of the biggest crops and the fattest pig-goats around the kingdom. Thanks to this, his family would find themselves living well enough to allow their son to explore the world of potion-making with his own abilities.
The more he learned, the larger the range of magical potions and spells grew in his arsenal. He even learned how to capture and cage the wild beasts needed for his experimental medicines. Though Jorge was against cruelty to animals, he kept his silence, after all, this was a world that worked on a different level of laws and ethics. For all he knew, maybe some of these magical animals liked being stuck in tiny cages? (Probably not though). It was about thirty years later of working as a doctor under the rein of Queen Comet, that his love of medicine and potions and the willingness to help others was eventually discovered by the royal crown. With great honor, he was royally invited to live in the castle and even gained the title: Lord of Medicine.
During his days in the castle grounds, the doctor had grown to personally know and love Queen Comet, and her baking prowess. He had even been there for her during the war effort, where his magical potions were most helpful in healing the sick and wounded. He, like so many others, enjoyed her famous baked pies and her generous nature of sharing not only those wonderful feasts, but hearing her clever jokes as well. He was even an ear for the woes and joy of the clever Princess Moon, who grew up under his watch– sometimes trying to explore his chamber– wanting to learn more about the animals and the magical potions he concocted. He knew his place was at the chamber, but he couldn't help but grow fond of the little girl and her curious nature. One that was remarkable similar to his own in his younger days.
Though as the years past, reality would soon fall once more as all good things would come to an end with the untimely death of her mother, and his best friend. It had all happened so fast, that by the time anyone could even get the chance to mourn for their fallen queen, the Septarian army had already marched there way up to the castle gates, preparing for the final confrontation.
Though Doom was just a man of potions and not a true knight that could fight. He adorned his personal armor he'd crafted for his personal use and prepared many types of potions that could be used in combat. A heavy weight that was a constant reminder of the loss he held and the dark days that his homeland would soon endure.
Luckily for the kingdom, while everyone was shrouded in fear and doubt of the upcoming battle, the newly ordained Queen Moon, had taken the reins upon herself and rushed to meet head on with the army of darkness. Despite being vastly outnumbered by so many indestructible monsters that flooded the field, Moon had somehow managed to send the evil army fleeing with a single dark spell. Though he wasn't happy with the way she had handled it, Doom felt proud at the sight of the young girl who had shouldered the responsibility of a whole world, even when her own mother had just past so soon. Doom was sure that if Comet had been watching, she would've been so proud of Moon's action during that fateful day. Since then, he had been working under the care of Moon and giving her the guidance needed, whenever she came up to visit him. . . Even if she ignored his early warnings of marrying the monkey noble, River Johansen.
"I'm sorry you had to go through all of that. It must've been hard for you." The chained one expressed his condolences.
"It is fine." Doctor Doom waved it away as he pulled one vial and swirled around to check for impurities. "It's been many years since that day, and the child has grown to be fit as a royal queen to the kingdom. . . and as a woman." He said the last piece with a bitter tone.
"I'm assuming you're not a fan of the king?" Jorge mentally winced at his callousness, especially when the doctor planted the potion down on its rack a little more firmly than necessary.
"I care little for the barbarian." He spat out as he turned away to look at Jorge. "King he may call himself, but the Johansen's are honestly nothing more than a pack of wild hogs that run rampant in their own lands; spreading their nauseating culture barbarism."
Jorge wasn't really use to the hate speech. He could only assume this was a matter that was more personally related to how Doctor Doom saw Moon as a daughter figure and didn't like the idea of his kid, getting knocked up by someone he didn't approve of.
But he was damned if he was the one to keep poking at that issue and moved onto a different subject.
"Uuh, anyway, do you mind getting these chains off of me? It's kinda getting cramped in here." He asked, wiggling in his place. "Not to mention I've been starving since I woke up. Is there any food for me?"
Hearing this, the doctor stood up and approached. "I suppose I can do that. I've been needing to check your wounds anyway to see if you've healed enough. Though I shouldn't have to warn you, but if you try anything funny, I will be prepared." When Jorge nodded in agreement, the doctor took a single key out and opened the several locks attached to his chains.
During this, Jorge decided to ask. "So, how long have I been stuck in this place anyway?" Though he didn't feel as bad as he should've. He was starting to notice that his bladder was more full than usual and wasn't exactly keen on the idea of peeing in a different dimension, especially one he knew as a kids show. Thinking too much on it, made it feel weird. . .
Continuing his lock opening, the marvel man nonchalantly mentioned. "Oh, not too long. . . Probably about two days if I remember right."
Jorge's eyes widen in shock. "Two days?! How bad off was I?" Suddenly aware of the bandages wrapped around his entire figure like a mummy. He was hoping that whatever lied underneath wasn't the skin of a burn victim. He already had problems with acne, he didn't need ugly burn scars ruining what little confidence he had in his looks.
"There were surprisingly few burns on your body." Doctor Doom admitted with a hint of interest. " Mostly, you were in here for magical exhaustion, first-degree burns and dehydration."
Jorge felt relieved on hearing this, but had to ask. "So why am I all bandaged up like this, if it's not that bad?"
Doctor Doom reached the final lock and left threw it to the side, allowing the chains to slacken, much to Jorge's relief. "In all honesty, the other two were only the minor parts of your issue. The main problem you had was the incredibly large amount of temporal residue you had coating every part of your skin."
When he noticed Jorge was giving him a strange look, the doctor sighed and answered. "Basically, you just had a lot of 'time slime' covering your body. It's rather rare and can have unexpected consequences, including death if your unlucky." He took the chains off and allowed Jorge sit straight up. Taking the chance, he carefully started to stretch his limbs out and enjoyed the relief of his joints popping.
"Now let's see how you look." The doctor started with the bandages around Jorge's head and began to unwrap them.
"So what did the time slime do to me?" The pizza boy asked as he enjoyed his minor freedom again.
"Well. . . Temporal residue has the affect of doing multiple things, depending on the amount discovered on the victim." He explained as he balled up the bandages and threw them to the side.
"Memory loss, gray hair, baby arms, limb replacement, extra teeth and. . ." He paused as he examined Jorge's face with a curious look.
Sensing something amiss, Jorge asked. "What's wrong?"
Doctor Doom kept his silence for another moment before finally replying. "Jorge. . .how old are you?"
Blinking at this, the man felt a sense of dread as he answered truthfully. "I'm thirty. . . why?"
The doctor awkwardly scratched the back of his big metal head and let out a deep sigh. "I was afraid of that."
From Jorge's imploring look, the good doctor continued. "Temporal residue also has a surprising affect of reverting age. Basically, what I'm saying is. . ."
"I'm a kid again!?
Hit with this bombshell of truth. He hurriedly examined his bandaged hands and started to take them off in order to discover if doctor really was just pulling his leg. But upon taking them off, he let out a soft gasp. The thick patches of hair that were once on his arms were barely there. The scars and his acne were either absent or far less noticeable than before. He pulled at his chest and even saw the thick pack of chest hair and large belly were non-existent (well, he did still have a pudgy belly on him, but not the 260 pounds worth he was use to seeing in the mirror).
"Doctor, how old do I look right now?" He asked with a serious tone.
The cloaked man took a moment to scratch his metal chin and think. "Well, if I were to hazard a guess, I would dare say around. . . thirteen, maybe fourteen years old?"
Hearing this, Jorge slapped his forehead and let out a groan. "Oh my go-o-o-o-o-d, what the fuck is my life right now?!" He started to breath heavily as he felt around his face and hair. He was a freaking teenager again!? How was he suppose to go back home looking like this? Would his family even recognize him? He was fucking child again!
"Calm yourself," the doctor said in a commanding tone. A firm steel hand holding Jorge by his shoulder as he noticed man/boy's panic attack. "You need to take a deep breath. . . Take it all in slowly and process it."
The Severus Snape tone did its job as Jorge proceeded to take long and deep, calming breaths. He couldn't start freaking out. If he did that, then he might just start to lose it with so much other stuff that had been piled on top of this plate of bullshit. Then again, what could be worse then being stuck naked in bed with only some bandages and a blanket, trapped inside the body of a teenager going through puberty again?
-SLAM!-
The door was viciously kicked down as the figure of Star Butterfly stepped into the room with a very large mace that shouldn't have been so easy for her carry with her noodle-like arms.
"AH-HA! I finally found you monster assassin/ prisoner. . . person!" She awkwardly declared with her mace held high and a proud grin on her face.
Jorge sat there with dumbfounded look as the doctor face palmed in frustration. "Why won't you people stop kicking down my door?" He motioned to the door laying beneath her feet.
"Uuh, sorry about that. I just wanted to make sure I made a scary entrance." She apologized.
" Princess Star, why are you here?. . . And where are those idiot guards that were suppose to be guarding the doorway?" The doctor wondered.
"Well, it's funny story." Star nervously giggled as she hid the mace behind her back, tilting form side to side like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "They may have heard something about the market place having a sudden sale on baby warnicorns, so-o-o-o. . ."
". . .They ran off to buy them?" The doctor rubbed his metal forehead in frustration and muttered, "if it wasn't for the Solarian army, this kingdom would've been finished forever ago."
"So-o-o-o. . . is he the intruder/monster guy?" Star pointed to the still form of the teenage boy.
Doctor Doom looked between Star and Jorge, who currently had a wide-range of emotions flashing over his face.
"I'm afraid that's not important right now." The tone of Severus Snape kicked in as Doctor Doom stood as tall as his height (4 foot, 10 inches) allowed him to and stepped away from the bed to meet with Star's gaze. "You, however, are not suppose to be here, princess. If your mother were to catch you standing here, talking to a prisoner, she'd tan both our hides with her royal wand for putting you in a potentially dangerous situation."
Star mentally winced from the tone, recognizing it as something her mother would've done. She hadn't expected to meet much resistance, besides the royal guards and the prisoner. But Doctor Doom was one of the few people in the castle who could get away with scolding her. She knew him as one of the oldest men in the castle, even during the years her gram-gram ruled, before she went to live on the grandma farm with all the other grannies. He had been her mothers teacher and friend, just as he had tried to teaching her about his style of potion crafting. Sadly, she never had the talent (nor the interest) needed to develop potions without something setting ablaze ( or creating monsters, but that's wasn't important).
Her duty as princess reminded her of her original mission and after having come this far, she wasn't about to back down.
Shaking the worries away, Star's eyes' became firm as she stepped off the door and moved past the short doctor. "Well, what mom doesn't know won't hurt her. So just let me talk to him, and then I'll leave without anyone catching on."
The doctor frowned from behind his mask and went to reach for her as she hefted her mace in the air for an intimidating pose.
"You're Star Butterfly."
The two mewmans paused as Jorge finally got his words out. A soft smile settled on his expression as the princess stared at him with a perplexed look.
"Uuh, duh? We've established that already." She glowered as she held the mace in both hands; pointed right at him.
"So what do you have to say for yourself. Monster-man? Are you here to take out my parents or are you just some mewman who wanted to try and make a quick coin?"
Jorge– not really expecting to be stuck in another interrogation scene after the jaunt with River– couldn't really respond as well as he wanted to. His mind was already processing so much baggage with his world being turned upside down, and now he was stuck face-to-face with the very same girl whose body he had cried over just a few days ago. He wasn't sure how to feel about it now.
On one hand, he wanted to hug her, but other other hand, he was nearly naked and in front of a surprisingly strong girl with a mace that was cartoonish-ly large for her size. No sorrow, no regret. Just an angry little girl who wanted nothing more than to bean him with her mace for trying harm her parents. A feat he hadn't even known about until this very morning.
"I'm sorry." He spoke without thinking. His chest compacting as he looked right into her glaring eyes, which narrowed further at his words.
"Sorry for trying to hurt my family? Will you bett– " Star began, but was cut off.
"NO!" He firmly shouted at her. Making her jump back in fright. The doctor, who stood at the side, tensed up and seemed to reach for something as he watched quietly, waiting to see what would happen next.
Jorge knew he was standing on thin-ice at this point, but couldn't control himself as he spoke out. "I never wanted to hurt anyone. . . ever. I came here in order to try and save someone. Someone important to me." He felt himself tearing up as he looked at her, but turned away to wipe it off, clutching the blanket tighter to himself.
Star lowered her mace to the side as she watched the boy tried to hide his sullen expression. Her guard was still up in case he tried something funny, but she could see how weird he was acting. The very fact that he was claiming to be protecting someone, brought out her inner duty as a princess.
"What do you mean, you were trying to 'save someone?' Just who were you trying to save?" She suspiciously asked, trying to search for any deception from him. He suddenly looked at her with worry, as if he wasn't sure whether he should answer the question or not.
"I-I can't say." He finally answered, looking away from her. Star gave him a firm look and tighten the grip on her mace.
"Look. . . you're in a lot of trouble right now. If you're trying to protect someone, then you should just tell me who it is, so I can help." She told him, wondering if he was just trying to trick her into pitying him with some half-baked story. She may not be a big fan of books, but she was hardly stupid.
"I know. . . everyone's been telling me that I'm some kinda assassin that tried to kill the king or queen, but I'm not," he said, thinking back to the void.
"Glossaryck is one of the reasons, why I'm even stuck here. . ." He admitted. Star's eye's widen from this.
"Wait, wait, wait! Glossaryck, sent you here?" The familiar guardian of the book and his quirky nature gave Star the suspicion she needed to listen further.
Jorge, on other hand, was starting to realize he was standing a little too close to blurting out the full story to her. So he carefully tread on his next set of words. "Well, to be fair. . . He actually warned me against touching the magic soup. But. . . I didn't have much choice, except to spend eternity with him in the void. I don't even know how I originally got there." He looked back to Star, who he noticed had set the massive mace to the side as she studied him for the truth.
"I know it sounds insane, and stupid, but. . . I wanted to save not just myself, but the person that died. . ." He trialed off, he was saying too much.
Meanwhile, Star was super confused by the information dump: magic soup, the void, Glossaryck, and something about trying to save someone? None of it made sense. The story was so dumb, and full of more holes than swiss cheese, but from what she could tell, he didn't sound like he was a bad guy, nor did it sound like he was lying to her.
'But still,' she wondered, 'who was he trying to save and why won't he just SAY it?' If there was one thing Star hated. It was when people wouldn't just give her a straight answer.
"What's your name?" She suddenly asked.
Jorge blinked and responded naturally. "My name is Jorge. . . Jorge Rivera."
Star rubbed at her heart-shaped cheek and sighed. " . . . . Okay Jorge, honestly, I don't know what to think or say about you. Everyone in the castle is up-in-arms saying your either a monster or an assassin or both!. . . but you're not really acting like the blood thirsty killer monster that I thought you were."
Jorge gave her a small frown, but nodded. "I know. . . a lot of people have been saying that. Even your dad kinda did this whole interrogation thing. Scared the crap out of me." He admitted, rubbing his neck where River had grabbed him. Maybe mewman's were just a super strong race compared to normal humans?
Star was taken aback by this. "Seriously? Is that why he wasn't at breakfast until later?"
Doctor Doom piped up from the side-line, having taken a more relaxed pose. "Actually, yes. Your father also decided to act like an animal and knock down my door, while I was out trying to collect new ingredients. . . Thanks again, by the way." He muttered the last part with a bit of mockery.
Star groaned as she threw her in hand at the ceiling. "Fi-i-i-i-ine! I'll buy you a new door already, just let it go!"
The doctor nodded and crossed his arms over his chest as he asked. "So are you satisfied with your interrogation?"
Star gave him a soft glare, and shook her head. "No. I still need to know who he was trying to save, and whatever Glossaryck had to do with him being sent here."
But Jorge knew he couldn't fully answer her. While he didn't want Star to die and would do what he can to prevent it. He didn't want to risk ruining her time-line and her romantic relationship with her future human friend, Marco Diaz. He always found their pairing to be pretty adorable. But his main priority was to make sure Star didn't realize what had happened to her in the future, even if she grew to dislike him for it.
"Look, I can't tell you much without something dangerous happening," he spoke, gaining their attention. "All I can tell you is that I know something bad is coming and I can't say much without ruining the. . . time-line." Okay, now he was starting to realize he was just really bad at keeping secrets.
Hearing this, Doctor Doom cursed, while Star's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her skull. A large piece of the puzzle being put together as she dropped her massive mace to the floor; her mind riddled with a flurry of new questions.
"Wait! You're from the future?!" Star seemed pretty giddy as she started to ramble. "Oh-oh-oh! Do I become Queen? Do I get a big fancy crown like my mother? Do I have kids? Oooh, I'd love to have a little girl named Luna!"
While Star was rambling about her future. Doctor Doom was looking over Jorge with a cautious gaze. "I had suspicion you were a time traveler, judging from the amount of temporal residue coating your body, but now that you've admitted it. I don't think I can allow this interrogation to continue, not without the queen's permission at least."
Hearing this, Star gave the doctor a rather mean look. "Wait a second! I haven't finished– "
"Star Butterfly!"
Doom had not said that.
Star blanched. There was only one person in mewni who could screech her name and still sound like royalty doing so.
Standing at the broken doorway was Queen Moon, holding one of the royal guards by the ear as she stared straight at the group with a fiery gaze that only a mother and queen could hold. The silence in the room was deafening, until a certain patient decided to unwisely open his gob.
". . . Can I have my pants back now?"
End.
DON'T READ AUTHORS NOTE
Glossaryck doesn't have a side, just like pudding. Pudding has no sides, it's just a goopy sweet mess. Which is why he loves it so much. Also the whole Jorge/George thing was a true story. Kids are friggin mean. So if you see the name Jorge in here just think of it as the same as saying "George". Also, also, lot's of boring talk, talk, talk. . . maybe the next chapter will be more fun? Probably not if the High Commission is there. Buncha jerks.
