The whole Diaz family was sitting at the table plus an extra guest.
"So Jackie, Marco told us that you were now on law enforcement? You know the only thing Marco told us about our guest" Angie shot her son a glare that he tried to avoid and Jackie saw all this with a giggle.
"Yep, that's right, I've been an officer for three years now, with the whole business of monsters and stuff the guys in blue were accepting anything they could get, even train a fifteen year old" Jackie said a bit too casually and Rafael had to inquire.
"But Jackie, why did you chose that path?"
"Oh, about that, with that worlds colliding shebang all that I was interested in, kinda got thrown to the wayside, turns out that in a world where survival is actually a concern extreme sports are not that high on the priority list, so me and my girlfriend at the time enlisted trying to learn how...well...how to survive instead of being afraid all the time" Jackie had finished her meal before starting with the story, the second Marco finished his, he gave her a knowing nod.
"WE'RE DONE!" Both young adults stood up and ran for the dragoncycle waiting outside, as soon as the sound of the unconventional bike faded away Rafael and Angie looked at one another.
"Do you think they'll find Janna?" Rafael said putting a spoon full on his mouth.
"I'm sure of it honey, neither of those girls are delicate little flowers...much less Janna" Angie gave a little laugh.
"Also our boy has certainly come on his own hasn't he? If Janna is still out there to be found and I hope in my heart of hearts that is the case, then there will be no problem" Rafael swallowed his food and with an awkward look he said.
"Do you think those tw-" Mariposa who has just been eating her meal peacefully through the whole exchange now raised her voice.
"Mommy, Daddy, why does Marco and that lady together, look like Marco and big sis Star together?" Big curious eyes stared intently at the two adults who were sweating bullets trying to come up with a satisfactory answer for the child.
"Does that answers your question?" Angie whispered through a nervous smile to her husband.
*With Marco and Jackie*
They were high up in the sky, Nachos was enjoying the weight of two people on her back, Jackie was the one on the handle while Marco was hugging her midriff from behind.
"Boy, isn't this the best? I think I can feel abs under there" Greedy Heart was thrilled about the situation, Marco didn't even grunt.
"What? Silent treatment? Ahahahaha" Marco kept his stoicism.
"Ok big guy, continue this, I will just keep talking, it's going to be a treat to see you blow your casket again, but for now...our priority is Janna" Marco kept all his attention to ignore that incessant voice in his head, so when Jackie finally spoke he jumped in surprise.
"Woah! Hey there dude, don't go falling down here, I just asked if you were curious?" Jackie was surprised of the other's passenger sudden jolt.
"Huh? Curious? About what?" Marco said on a haste nervously.
"Come on Marco, there is no need to play dumb about it, after the little pitty party I had yesterday it would be hard to not want to know" Marco was still stumped, Jackie was getting a bit agitated.
"Chloé, you dunce" Greedy Heart chimed in.
"Well, if you don't want to tell me, I won't force you" Marco went for the safe, Jackie felt a little patronised.
"No worries, it actually wasn't messy or anything, she just thought the world would be exciting and new now, I thought it would be suicide to try...that was about it" Jackie said hiding her rising turmoil.
"Really?" Marco once again forced by Greedy Heart talked, it seemed that whenever he stopped paying attention to it, it just took control for short spurts.
"Hehehe, yeah I know seems like little for the reaction I gave, didn't it? It's just, it's been pretty lonely lately" Jackie now added a bit of sadness on that boiling pot on her stomach.
"Hemmm, humm" Marco wasn't sure what to say.
"Ça c'est la meilleure!, It's ok Marco, I mean it, I'm single, My parents thought that since I went to France they should also go on a trip and got stuck over in Europe thanks to this Mewni fiasco and I couldn't go look for Janna even though it's my job, BECAUSE I WAS BUSY WITH MY FUCKING JOB! AND HOLD ON TO ME I ALREADY TOLD YOU NOT TO FALL!" A few years worth of frustration left Jackie on that rant.
"Yes ma'am, absolutely ma'am, whatever you say ma'am" Marco had let go as to not frustrate Jackie further, it had the opposite effect but Jackie had already pulled over on a tall office building and as soon as she touched the ground Jackie seemed to straighten herself out.
*On the Wong building*
On the front of the building a short woman with a bowl haircut and dressed in a business suit with a tight skirt that stopped just above her knees was waiting for them, as soon as she saw them approach she stopped checking the paperwork she had on her arms to address them.
"Hello officer Thomas, I was informed that you'll come to suck us dry again today" The woman that Marco swore he knew said.
"Come on, I don't treat you guys so badly, do I?" Jackie said while being mocking and menacing at the same time, the welcoming party just gave a snort.
"Hey I love how the boss gets after one of your visits, if you could go a little harder, I wouldn't mind" She extended her hand to Jackie who high five it, Marco was now growing desperate, who was this woman?
"God damn it! I have it on the tip of my tongue!" The knight heard his cursed heart being just as frustrated as he was.
"Come on in" The short woman beckoned them in and when they stepped in the professional woman turned around to guide them further in, but what Marco saw after she turned around was the clue he needed.
"CHANTELLE?!" It finally hit him, Marco screamed in surprise and the woman in question stopped in her tracks and he could swear she hissed at him.
"Sir. Diaz, I usually welcome the stares but being recognised by my derriere alone is SOMETHING ELSE!" Chantelle didn't even turned to glare daggers at him, Jackie filled in for the glare portion though.
"Really dude?"
"I swear it's just that it hit me when she turned around" Jackie's glare deepened while Chantelle finally turned around and yes she was also glaring daggers at the latino.
"Nice way to phrase it, look Sir. Diaz, I don't have all day to discuss if you are either deprived or depraved, so can we get going?" The infuriated woman turned around once more and kept going without waiting for an answer.
"Huh? I would say a little bit of both, she may be on to something, by the way, I know you are staring at it right now, so here is your scale, Star rates flat, Jackie rates junk in the trunk and Hekapoo rates OHHHHH MAMA! Where do you think this, by your own experience, hypnotic booty rates?" Marco clenched his teeth and fists.
"Sir. Diaz, are you enjoying the view or is it frustrating you? You are really incomprehensible" Chantelle dead panned.
"I'm sorry, I'll stop now" Marco said in defeat.
"If I got a nickel every time I've heard something like that"
They finally arrived at a door labeled "BRITTNEY WONG", when they entered the woman in question was glaring at the door, her black hair still reaching her waist and her make up perfect, she was wearing a pantsuit and was sitting on an enormous leather chair in front of a mahogany desk.
"Officer Thomas...Barfo" The asian woman was pretty much grinding her teeth at those words.
"She loves you huh?" Jackie turned to Marco.
"The price of fame" Marco responded, some of his good mood returning.
"Ok, Wong, any luck?" Brittney was visibly shaking with anger but after a deep breath she responded.
"No, not even a little, I put an assistant to check since you called the past week and we came out clean, not a single recent thing on Janna Ordonia, not our security cameras nor our records, I don't know what you where expecting to find, she just worked here for a month, two months before she disappeared or whatever" The anger came back to the boss of the building full force after she finished.
"Damn it! This might be a crapshoot but can you remember anything she said before quitting?"
"I. Don't. Interact. With. The. Plebs" Brittney put her foot down.
"Ok, ok, thanks for your time Wong" Jackie said while her and Marco left the room.
"Sorry about that one Marco, I just found out that Janna used to work here, thought I would get a lead, but who is going to remember something from so far away?" they started going back with Chantelle guiding them again.
"But Brittney was way too angry just to see you, what was that all about?" Marco changed the topic with great curiosity, Jackie seemed surprised.
"Oh yeah! That would be weird isn't it? *Giggle* it's because with the landmarks and buildings from Mewnie just falling into our world, many illegal moves by companies were cracked open, you know, like a lake of Mewnie appearing on an illegal landfill or stuff like that, and we've been taking some more donations than usual since" Jackie gave a mischievous smile, Marco has been learning a lot of new sides of Jackie on these 3 days.
"Yep and she is usually the one that comes to collect them, that's why the boss gets so prickly whenever Jackie is involved, I was looking forward to you bullying some more money out of her, but it was about Janna being missing, you know, I actually liked Janna" Chantelle decided to chime in and offhandedly remarked that last part.
"She was a total bum, showed up late, made all her assignments with the minimal amount of effort and made my life a living hell by making Brittany get up my ass whenever her shit started to affect her team but when the boss finally wanted to fire her...she just strolled into her office and told her nonchalantly that she quit, Brittney's face was priceless, I will never forget that day, if I remember correctly, Janna said something about only wanting enough money for a new beanie, that's all I've got if that helps you" Chantelle turned to show a small smile to the the two people following her, Marco's eyes pretty much screamed "EUREKA".
"That helps plenty!" Marco had gotten overly excited and picked up the short secretary on a hug, the confused woman just stood frozen by this.
"Hurry Jackie, we need to go buy tennis balls" Marco let Chantelle down on the floor gently and started running towards the exit.
"Wait, tennis balls?" Jackie followed the bolt that Marco had become with some confusion, while Chantelle just remained frozen from the surprise.
"Ok...back to work then" Chantelle said as she straightened herself out, on her hands a folder labeled "Butterfly trade plan".
*On a back alley*
"Marco, dude, I hope you know what you are doing, this place was a red zone even before the merger" Jackie said a bit nervous.
"I'm sure" as they entered through a knitted curtain, the welcoming party revealed itself, about two docen people, humans and monsters alike all with the commonality that they were wearing hand knitted clothes.
"Oi! Lookie here, a knight in shining armor!" a tall and lanky man walked towards them, hunching over to look Marco straight on the eye all the way through.
"What's a celebrity doing here? If you want something nice for the side ho, we could make you a nice deal" The man leaned over to look at Jackie, Marco meanwhile was scanning the room.
"Where is Needles? Is he still here?" Marco asked, that seemed to trigger everyone on that alley into fight or flight mode, as everyone took their knitting needles and brandished them as knives.
"Oi! The knighty knows a thing or two! Too bad he doesn't know a smart way to pick a figh-" Marco extended his hand towards the man, his expression serious and unflinching.
"Those who give, shall never need" Marco said, every person on the alley had a surprised expression plastered on their face while they lowered their weapons, the tall man took a second look at the hand outstretched to him and with a sigh he took it.
"Those who take, shall forever bleed, I hope you understand we aren't going all buddy buddy with some pig on a different uniform" The man beckoned for them to follow.
"never expected you to" Marco and Jackie followed the man to a hand knitted tent, inside was a burly man wearing pants and a vest both hand knitted, with a scar going from his forehead to his right cheek passing through his glassy right eye and his hair was fashioned into a bun that was stabbed by knitting needles making it look like a ball of yarn.
"Hey! A celebrity! SUP?!" the man said all on one go.
"Hi Needles"
"What do you need knight? You will look great on that tv armor you have and a scarf as blue as the sky" Marco gave the man a smile.
"Nah, I usually wear red, a light blue would not do, but I'm here for something else though" Marco took an unopened tube of tennis balls from his hoddie's pocket, as soon as he opened it about seven little pugs appeared from under hand knitted blankets or entered the tent on a frenzy, Marco let the three tennis balls fall on the floor and even before they hit the ground the little dogs had already snached them and where playing with them.
"There's plenty more where that came from, now, have you seen Janna?" Needles looked dejected from the question.
"Little crazy girly would come here about once a week, I haven't seen her in a while" Both Marco and Jackie were disappointed, frustrated and ready to leave but Needles continued before they could even hang their heads down on dejection properly.
"I mean it's been two months since I last saw her, what's up with that?" Needles finished, Jackie quickly got near Needles.
"Two months is great! Did she said anything? Do you remember where she go? Anything at all?" Jackie was desperate.
"Well she asked for 2 beanies that time, the same as usual and a bigger one with a hole on the front, I would be asking why did she need that but" Needles got outside the tent where the rest of the gang was, getting near a humanoid crocodile currently knitting a leg warmer while sitting on a crate, as soon as he saw Needles approaching he got off the crate and continued his work sitting on the floor.
Opening the crate, Needles started to throw out dark green beanie after dark green beanie, some were scorched, others were ripped by claws, others were worn out and finally he took out one on his hands.
"Janna was something special, our knitting is the best there is, I've been wearing this outfit for 5 years now and it's still as good as new but that girly could destroy even our most careful work on a week but the last time she came in...Was weird even for her, so I decided to keep my mouth shut" Needles showed the beanie, it had a big hole as if something had burst off it, it was also dusty and had lots of black fur stuck to it, Needles gave the destroyed hat to Marco, with a nod and four other cylinders of tennis balls used as payment the duo left the street.
"So I bully corporations for donations and you have connections with street gangs, anything else to confess?" Jackie said while inspecting the beanie closely.
"You drive me as crazy as the first time I saw you, I'm just less of a wuss that's why I'm talking to you" Marco went on a panic thinking he said that out loud again.
"Woah! Ok, no more secrets you want to confess right now" Jackie said taking her eyes off the beanie.
"Ahahaha, got you" Greedy Heart laughed vociferously without stop.
"So about this beanie, I recognise the dust at least, it came from the outskirts of town, specifically that mountain from Mewni with an abandoned mine in it" Marco stopped death on his tracks and Greedy Heart stopped his laugh as if a switch was flipped.
"You mean the one filled with TERRITORIAL, giant spiders?" Marco knew that place well, keeping it corded off and safe was one of his first assignments as a knight, also it was like half a mile from Sabrina's clinic he could always see it from there.
"Yep the one where the weak and starving spiders crawl down from to eat civilians here because the strong ones horde all the food in there" Jackie said solemnly, they both gave each other a resolute look and both gave a whistle, Nachos came diving at the sound, both Jackie and Marco mounted her on a leap as she changed direction to avoid the pavement.
As they were going max speed directly towards the mountain Marco could hear Greedy Heart repeating like a mantra.
"Please be ok, please be ok, please be ok"
*At the mountain*
Nachos took them to the entrance of the mine and left, both looked at Nachos as she left.
"You sure you don't want her here?" Jackie asked.
"One giant spider almost ate both of us in an open plane, I don't want her anywhere those things especially where there is almost no room for her to scape" The pair took a calming breath before entering the mine.
*Author's Notes*
Ok...I'm really not a policeman, nor a businessman, nor a gang member either, this story so far seems just like a big go to point A to point B on crack, so I'll see if I can slow down the pace as this continues.
Thanks everyone who has read this story.