The cacti monsters refused to travel any further, leaving Marco, Janna and Star to carry on alone. Thankfully it seemed that the spatial distortions were primarily around the perimeter, a defensive barrier used by the Colour. As they pressed on the plants around them grew grey and cancerous and even further ahead they could see abnormal flowers glowing dimly.
Star was growing increasingly fearful in response to the grim demeanour of her allies. In an attempt to relieve the pressure she decided to break the silence "So why does your arm transform like that?"
"Huh?" Marco turned to her "Oh. Well that's kinda a long story." he rubbed the back of his neck with his burning hand.
"Please?" Star put great emphasis on the lone word, stressing her need for some conversation.
"I'll take this one Diaz" Janna butt in "So you saw how our blood is that glowing blue stuff right?" Star nodded in response "that's the lifeblood, the source of our inhuman characteristics. As we use our powers we "flavour" the lifeblood within us, which goes on to saturate our bodies and change us. We call those manifestations. They are meant to help us use our powers more effectively."
"So my arm" Marco began "is like this because I use a lot of raw, unshaped power in order to create large scale effects, conjure elements and transmute substances. That's what this red "flame" is, allowing me to have a ready supply without needing to pull it from within."
"And my face" Janna moved close to Star as she activated her manifestation of a superimposed skull, causing the princess to scream and jump in terror. Janna began laughing hysterically at Star's reactions, having to fight through to finish her explanation "My face is...it improves my awareness. It's almost like having two sets of eyes and ears, and another mouth allowing me to do this"
"This" a second voice spoke simultaneously with Janna. "This way" she continued speaking in two voices "I can actually use multiple spells if I so choose."
"We both have a few other manifestations but these are the ones that we use most often." Marco added.
"What are some of your other manifestations?" Star was genuinely interested, even if Janna scared the hell out of her a moment ago.
"I got a couple more eyes, but not the seeing kind, and a pretty rockin horn." Marco replied.
"My limbs and digits elongate to creepy levels which also makes me like triple jointed. And I have a bunch of weird holes all over my body. They kinda look like honeycombs but flesh." Janna said the last bit in a sultry tone as she waggled her eyebrows.
Not wanting to dwell on why Janna decided to use that particular tone of voice, Star continued her line of questioning "What do you mean not the seeing kind of eyes? Isn't that what eyes are for?"
"They're sensors of sorts, and tools for manipulating more complex elements. I've never gotten comfortable with using them, a whole new set of senses can be disorientating. I guess if I was able to use them for prolonged periods I might acclimate but…"
"You're shitting me." Janna exclaimed, stealing Marco and Star's attention. They found themselves at what appeared to be the entrance of an empty mine. The boards that once sealed the passage were broken and splintered, the ground around around it was crystalised.
"Well that just figures. Star?" Marco turned to face the princess "You're gonna need to stay up here."
"What!? Why?" her voice exploded in panic.
"I don't know how your mind will handle the Colour." he placed one hand on her shoulder "It's safer for you up here. I promise we'll be back for you."
"Are you sure I can't help?" Star was still clearly anxious.
"Maybe you can, but it's not worth the risk. Don't worry, we'll be fine on our own." he tried to reassure her with a friendly smile but even Star could tell it was forced.
"Alright." She sat down next to the entrance "I'll wait"
Marco and Janna shared one last worried glance before heading down into the mineshaft together. Janna's electricity illuminated the crystalline tunnel, making visible the shifting geometries within the surface. The dizzying display added to the discomforting atmosphere and detracting from the duo's balance. Stumbling their way deeper they remained in silence.
Slowly though, the shimmering stonework grew luminous. The earth groaned and wretched around them.
"Well at least we'll have light to fight by, right?" Marco remarked.
"I don't know how much fighting we'll be able to accomplish. What are the actual odds of us even being able to harm one of these things?" Janna replied dourly.
"Ehh, I'd say 50/50. Some kind of energy must be able to effect it."
"You really know how to make a girl feel safe dontcha Diaz?"
"You're not the kind to be appeased by a comfortable lie."
"No, but I would appreciate you trying once in a while" Janna continued to lead them, until they came across the reason for their search. They found a ghostly pale Alfonzo and Ferguson curled up around a medium sized chunk of stone, a scintillating smoke emitting from its porous surface. The aberrantly chromatic substance bubbled and billowed in stilted, jerky movements. Upon their arrival it began whorling into a large cloud. Tendrils seeped out of the cloud and stabbed into the ground, causing the patterns in the crystal to begin flashing and moving at incredible speeds.
"Shit, looks like I might need those eyes after all." Marco strained as the light physically overwhelmed him.
"You mind hurrying that along then?" Jann fell to her knees, clutching her face. Marco fought the light as he attempted to focus. Irregular black lines extended from his eyes and small golden eyes formed along them: one below each eye and one above. A final seventh eye appeared on his forehead and together all seven began projecting a glimmering light. He clutched at the ground with his burning claw as he fought to counteract the work of the Colour.
Struggling against the eldritch light Janna fired bullets of air in an effort to dissipate the Colour. Her shots failed to disturb her target in the least. "Any ideas?"
"Kinda busy keeping this thing from… whatever that light is doing to us." Marco responded "I'm not sure what this is but my photokinesis is barely holding up"
"Roaring Rainbow Rage!" a kaleidoscopic deluge of intense prismatic light tore through the chamber, the Colour releasing a hissing cry in response. The flashing light faded enough for Marco and Janna to recover, turning to find Star standing there with a wide eyed stare grasping a still smoking wand.
"Are you kidding me?" Marco panted.
"I'm so sorry" Star's face immediately returned to a more shy expression "I just got so worried waiting and I…"
"We're not complaining. Now hit it again before it has a chance to act." Janna assured her.
"Oh, right. Ummm…. Strawberry Annihilation!" Star pointed her wand at the wispy entity and fired a pinkish-red blast marked with seeds like a strawberry. It exploded in front of the being causing it to discorporate further.
"Let's see how it likes this" Marco stood and held his flaming hand in front of his face. Focusing, he flooded the chamber with his own light which rapidly shifted through the colour spectrum. The remaining corporeal manifestation of the Colour began retreating into the stone from whence it came.
Seizing the opportunity, Janna leapt forward and grabbed the meteor. Focusing her power into it, the rock began to vibrate and crack before crumbling in her hands. "Finish it off" she called out.
"Glowworm blast!" Star shouted, firing off a barrage of massive glow worms that exploded into neon blue light, shattering the surrounding crystal and evaporating what was left of the colour. Soon the only light in the room was from Marco's eyes.
"You saved the day princess" he walked up and patted her on the back.
"Wow." Janna laughed "I'm surprised you didn't give her a congratulatory ass slap."
"Funnily enough that was my intention, but I thought better of it last second" Marco giggled. He watched as Star once more began to blush, something he was beginning to find quite cute. Just as silence began setting in the tunnel began to quake.
"Um, I think we need to hurry" Star was already past the previous comment. The imminent threat of a mine collapsing around you can have that kind of effect.
"Nah, we'll be fine." Marco returned his face and eyes to normal and placed his hand on the nearest wall. The rumbling gradually calmed. "Large scale effects. Remember?"
"Now what are we going to do with these two dumbasses?" Janna kicked the comatose Ferguson.
"Are they dead?" Star asked quietly.
"Nope. Just broken." Marco walked over to them, heaving each over one shoulder "Can't you do psychosurgery Janna?"
"If I had my mom's copy of the Pnakotic Manuscripts, but it's off limits after the invisible shoggoth incident."
Marco burst out laughing, and continued to laugh for an abnormally long time. When he eventually stopped he had to wipe tears from his eyes "Oh man, that was… whoo. Good times"
"What's a shoggoth?" Star innocently inquired, receiving looks of disbelief from her companions.
"A bad decision is what it was" Janna glared at Marco "and you know it had to real bad for me to admit it."
"I don't know about bad." Marco rolled his eyes "I had fun. Either way, we can't leave these two like this."
"Ummm" Star raised her hand "I might be able to use a cleansing spell."
"Alright, let me ask you this. Didn't you say that you just get your wand? How do you know all this magic?" Janna aggressively approached the princess.
"I just studied a lot growing up, and I made up those spells I just cast too!" She responded in a hurry, stumbling over her words.
Janna continued her threatening stride until she was nearly nose to nose with the princess before calmly replying "Okay." and began heading for the exit at a leisurely pace. Marco gestured with his head for Star to go first and the three made their way out of the mine.
Marco unceremoniously dropped the two unconscious nerds onto his living room floor. Morning was fast approaching and they all wanted this over and done with. Janna laid across the couch as Star kneeled at the heads of the Colours victims. Taking a deep breath she held her wand out above them and began castling softly under her breath. A thin transparent orange sheet extended from the wand and lowered onto them. "Done" she announced and stood up.
"That's it?" Janna looked at her confused.
"The healing will take some time to set in. If they are going to recover they'll do so by the time we awake."
"Good enough for me" Marco headed for the stairs "Sleep time now".
"Carry me" Janna whined, waving her arms in the air.
"Just sleep on the couch if you're too lazy to come to bed" Marco yawned and wiped his eyes..
"Nooo. carry me"
"Ugh. Fine." Marco grabbed Janna, throwing her over his shoulder like a caveman.
"Yay" she responded as they headed up the stairs "Night, Star.' she nodded at the princess behind them as they entered the bedroom. Tossing her on the bed, Marco purposefully crashed next to her. As the two settled into cuddling Janna spoke "One week living with a princess and you're going soft on me Diaz"
"No I'm not"
"When have you ever gave into my whining? Or tried to have big emotional talks? Hell, I'm surprised you didn't just leave Alfonzo and Ferguson at the mine entrance and collapse it on them."
"Maybe I've always been soft and I needed someone like Star to remind me." he mused.
"Good, sometimes I miss the sweet boy I originally teamed up with" she cooed.
"Really? That doesn't sound like you."
"It's just sometimes. I remember when I could make you blush like I've been doing to Star."
"I was a dweeb"
"My dweeb."
"Is that why you keep those two around?"
"Ha!" Janna snorted "Even if you were a human you'd probably still be worth ten of them."
"Careful there Janna. You're getting dangerously close to girlfriend talk."
"I'm just saying" She nuzzled in the crook of his neck "Jackie doesn't know what she's missing."
"I guess." Marco sighed.
"I know what she said hurt you, but I want you to get past it." Janna rolled over and cupped his face with one hand "Please. For me if you can't do it for yourself."
"Real talky for a girl too tired to walk up the stairs herself."
"Yeah well, near death experiences tend to make you think about these kind of things."
"I'm not sure that was a near death experience. Of course, I have no idea what that was at all really."
"It doesn't matter. Just try, okay?" Janna leaned in and kissed him before rolling back over "Goodnight Diaz"
"Goodnight Janna"
"You two idiots better have a damn good explanation ready!" Janna shouted, shocking Alfonzo and Ferguson from their sleep. Their confusion was evident as their heads swiveled around, realizing they were in Marco's house.
"What happened?" Alfonzo's fear stricken face locked onto the pair sitting on the couch, Marco and Janna.
"What happened was you two went and dug up a meteorite with a dangerous entity inside and released it. You're lucky we found you both when we did" Marco growled "If it had gone on any longer the entire town would have been in danger."
"Meteor?" Ferguson asked, his eyes slowly going wide as he began remembering.
"Yeah, a meteor. What in the world possessed you to go dig it up?" Janna scolded the nerds.
"Well.. you see… I… I mean we… we…" Ferguson was nearly hyperventilating.
"We thought we could use it to get real powers" Alfonzo shouted.
"Dude!" Ferguson turned to him.
"Sorry. I don't do too well with stress"
"Why is everyone shouting?" Star asked as she walked down the stairs, still dressed in pajamas "Oh, you two are awake. That's good" she covered her mouth as she yawned.
"Who are you?" Alfonzo and Ferguson asked in near unison.
"That is none of your business." Marco interjected "Now would you care to explain why you were trying to get real powers?"
"We're just getting tired of everyone bullying us." Ferguson explained.
"Guys, look. Magic is dangerous, especially for those who don't understand it. You tried to take a shortcut in improving your lives and nearly got yourselves killed. No more messing with magic. If you want to overcome your problems you'll have to do it the hard way" Marco admonished the two "Now get out of my house and go home"