A/N: I'm back with another update as promised. I'm thankful to all of you who have stuck with me so far, and I hope you'll continue to do so! Also, for those of you reading my Phineas and Ferb fanfic 'Fear in Resonance', I'll update it tomorrow; had to take a little break from it, since I'm just enjoying myself with this fanfic much more, hope you understand. Now, on to the reviews!
ElleFreak: Everything that happened in the prologue will happen, I promise!
Rock Raider: I did plan on making some tension between the two, but things will soon get mpre hectic than this.
fan: King Marco Diaz? Huh, doesn't sound too bad actually ;). He'd make a fine king, except that he'd probably replace all the country's weapons with pillows or something like that...
RetroNick: Thank you! Glad to head that you like it. And no worries, I will continue it!
Disclaimer: All characters from Star vs. The Forces of Evil belong to the creators of the show. The plot of this story and any original characters that may appear in it, however, do belong to me, and I would kindly ask you to inform me should you want to use anything from this story in your own fanfic.
Cover by Cutiecat1001. Check her out on DeviantArt!
Beta read by ElleFreak.
Star vs. The Forces of Evil: My Star
Chapter 9
It's a (obvious) trap!
"Stupid Marco! What on Mewni is his problem!?" Star angrily shouted, mad at Marco for acting the way he had towards her just because he didn't like the fact that she had ber own opinion; seriously, what was his issue!
Tom, meanwhile, followed her lead but refrained from commenting on the whole situation, not wanting to spite Star even further. Not that he didn't like the idea of rubbing Marco further into the dirt, it was just that the boy had done a good enough job on his own, so Tom felt no further need to do so.
'I mean seriously," Star continued, not really caring whether Tom was listening to her or not "What's always so important about having a stupid plan anyway?"
"I'm guessing this happens often then?" Tom finally asked, trying to get Star to at least talk to him instead of just ranting to herself.
"Don't get me started!" Star angrily warned him "Every time I try to do something by myself, Marco always has to butt in and make me do it his way, and it's driving me crazy! It's like he has zero faith in me!"
Tom chuckled lightly at her statement. "Well then, you finally have the chance to prove him wrong and rub it in his face" Tom stated with a confident smirk.
Star put a hand on her chin and smiled: "Hey, you're right!" She cheerfully exclaimed, "This should finally prove to Marco that I can do things on my own!"
"You know," Tom began "I don't quite understand why he's so overprotective of you..." Tom commented.
"Oh, that's easy" Star replied "We're best friends! He's been like this since the day we first met" she explained, her bad mood replaced with a bright smile.
Tom raised an eyebrow at her sudden mood swing "Very intriguing..." Tom muttered to himself in a low voice.
"Did you say something?" Star curiously asked.
"Hmm? Oh, I just said that we're almost there" Tom replied.
Indeed, the two were only about a hundred metres away from where Ludo was supposedly hiding, the footprints also leading inside the building.
"Oh, you're right!" Star agreed.
The two made their way over to the building, practically running the remaining distance. Soon enough, they were standing in front of the entrance.
Star was about to put her hand on the handle, but Tom quickly grabbed her hand and pulled it away before she could. This caused Star to look at him questioningly.
"Doesn't it seem a bit odd to you that the front door isn't guarded at all?" Tom more stated than asked, doubting that Ludo would simply let them walk in.
Star rolled her eyes and removed his hand. "It's Ludo!" She exclaimed as she reached for the handle a second time and turned it. "Do ya honestly expect him to-" she was cut off when a trap door opened underneath the two, causing them to fall into it.
Instead if hitting the floor, however, they landed onto a slide that took them for a little joyride, looping around and even going upwards at some point.
The two were soon ejected through a hole in the wall and landed in the middle of a long hallway, Star landing on Tom's back.
She shook the feeling of slight dizziness off, stood up and analyzed her surroundings, not even bothering to help Tom up, so the daemon was forced to stand up by himself.
"Where are we?" Star asked him.
Tom took a few moments to recuperate from the fall, then took a look around for himself and replied: " Looks like we're inside the building" he then, to Star's shock, shot her an angry look. "You know, I'm starting to understand why that earthling insists on keeping an eye on you all the time..." he commented.
"Not funny Tom!" Star sharply replied. "Now, where do we go?" Star asked, seeing that had two ways the could go, either down the long hallway or try a door that was located behind them.
"Um, let's try the door first" Tom suggested the idea of just walking down a long hallway without even knowing where it leads to seeming silly to him.
Star nodded and walked to the door and tried opening it, but to no avail; it was locked.
"Hmm..." she pondered, then smiled deviously and took out her wand. "Magical lockpick!" She exclaimed while pointing the wand at the keyhole and a small, pink, glowing lockpick appeared seemingly out of thin air and went inside the keyhole.
Star expected it to unlock the door, but to her disbelief, and Tom's surprise, the lockpick snapped and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Huh?" Star uttered while scratching her head in confusion; this was a first!
"Let me try" Tom spoke up and stepped over to the door, then aimed his hands at it, which began to glow a bright red colour and shot a red beam of energy at the door. Hey, why bother picking a lock when you could simply destroy the door, right?
Wrong! The beam of energy deflected from the door and shot back at them, forcing Star to duck to avoid it. She shot Tom an angry glare, and he chuckled nervously in response.
"Hehe, whoops!" He uttered.
Star stood back up and looked at the door, but failed to notice so much as a single scratch on it.
"Well, so much for using the door" she stated, seeing that it was pointless to try anything further to open the door since it had obviously been made magic-proof. "Looks like we're just gonna have to go the other way and see where this hallway leads"
Tom nodded in agreement and the two began walking down the long hallway.
The two walked past several doors on their way, but no matter which one they tried, none of them would open, and after the 5th one or so, they stopped trying altogether, assuming that none of the doors would open.
After about 15 minutes of walking down the hallway, and making several turns along the way, the two spotted an oddly shaped door at the very end. They didn't really know why, but for some reason both of them got a very ominous feeling while staring at it; Star gulped.
Meanwhile
"Oh, hello!" Ivgeny cheerfully greeted Marco and Pony Head the moment he was close enough for them to hear him normally.
"Um, hi?" Marco awkwardly greeted him, not really sure what to make of this whole situation. I mean no offence, but the dude was a giant talking frog who used to work for Star's arch nemesis. Come to think of it, what was he even doing here? Didn't he quit working for Ludo? And wait... was that a fountain on his back?
Marco was surprised when Buff Frog suddenly pulled him into a bone-crushing hug that forced all the air to escape from Marco's lungs. This is even tighter than Star's hug! The biy thought.
"Can't... breathe..." Marco choked, which finally caused Buff Frog to break the hug and give Marco a chance to fill his lungs with much-needed oxygen. Wait a minute, aren't we underground with no sun or plants? How is there even oxygen here?! it suddenly dawned on him.
"Should I give you two lovebirds a few moments? Hehe..." Pony Head mockingly asked, taking advantage of the opportunity and resulting in Marco giving her an unamused glare.
The boy finally managed to catch his breath and fully recover from the bone-crushing hug. "So, long time no see, I guess..." Marco stated, unsure how to start a conversation with the giant humanoid frog.
"Very long! How have you been doing?" Ivgeny asked with his usual russian accent.
"Fine,I guess..." Marco replied while scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "Um, what exactly is it that you are doing here and... is that a fountain?" Marco asked him, wanting to know the answers to both questions.
"This is where children are growing up" he happily replied while pointing at the fountain on his back.
"You have kids?" Pony Head asked in confusion. She didn't know the giant frog-man that well, but Star had mentioned him a few times and also explained how he had helped her. She didn't, however, mention any children.
Ivgeny eagerly nodded "Ludo give them to me as apology" his mood then turned sour "Before treating my like trash again!"
"Speaking of Ludo," Marco began "We're kinda looking for him right now. Have you, um, seen him by any chance?" The boy asked. Buff Frog nodded and pointed at the building Star and Tom were headed to, indicating that the little evil not-so-mastermind was inside.
"Well, at least we now know he really is in there" Marco stated, then looked at Ivgeny "But why are you here with him? Didn't you get fired?"
"I agree to cooperate with him again, but not anymore! Little girl has been kind to me, so trapping her and brainwashing her is something I will not take part in!" he explained.
Marco and Pony Head widened their eyes. "Brainwash?" Pony Head curiously asked.
Buff Frog nodded "Yes. He will trap her using giant magic-proof fire-doggies, then force her to marry him and take over throne" the frog-man again explained in a grim voice.
Marco exchanged a worried look with Pony Head, and the later spoke: "Oh no, this means Star and that hothead are headed straight into Ludo's trap! We gotta catch up with them before it's too late!"
Marco agreed with a swift nod and turned his attention back to Ivgeny "Will you by any chance help us?"
Buff Frog shook his head and frowned. "I am truly sorry, but I cannot. I am with children" he explained with a heavy heart, not willing to put his new family at risk. "I hope you understand"
" *sigh* It's alright. Anyway, thanks for giving us a heads up I guess..." Marco thanked him. Marco and Pony Head were about to depart, Marco waving Buff Frog goodbye, but he stopped them before they could.
"Wait! There is important thing I forgot to mention!" Ivgeny exclaimed. Marco and Pony Head both stared at him in anticipation. "The reason Ludo is here is because liza-" Buff Frog began, but was cut off by the sound of his own stomach growling. He blushed slightly, embarrassed by the situation.
Marco chuckled, then opened his fanny pack and took out two sandwiches and handed them to a confused Buff Frog. "I packed them for me and Star to eat, but things got a little... complicated, one could say" Marco explained, deciding that he didn't really need the sandwiches now.
"But I cannot just take food from you!" Buff Frog protested and attempted to return them to Marco, who refused to accept them.
"It's alright, really! I mean, it's just two sandwiches, plus your, um, 'kids' seem to like the idea!" Marco explained and pointed at the small tadpoles that were jumping up and down in an attempt to get a better view of the food.
"Thank you but, I have nothing to offer in return right now" Ivgeny stated, feeling uncomfortable with just taking something and giving nothing in return, even if it was just two regular sandwiches.
"No need. I wasn't gonna eat them anyway, so no harm done at all" Marco explained, then looked at Pony Head "Anywho, we gotta get going if we wanna catch up to those two. Come on!' He exclaimed, and the two ran off towards the building Ludo was confirmed to be hiding in.
Buff Frog watched the two and smiled warmly, then made a thoughtful and somewhat confused expression. "Hold on!" He began "Wasn't I about to tell them something really important?" He asked nobody in particular.
...
Marco and Pony Head ran, or in her case flew, as fast as they could in an attempt to warn Star about the trap she was headed into. Oh, and also Tom.
"Hand it to Ludo to come up with a crazy idea like this! I mean seriously, even if he manipulates Star to marry him, how does he plan to convince her parents? They aren't exactly dumb-" Marco paused for a moment, "Her mom isn't exactly dumb ya know; she 'll never fall for it!" Marco exclaimed.
Pony Head shot him an angry look. "Um, hello! He has the mirror genius! He'll probably use her wand to power it and disguise himself. He gets the wand, the mirror and the throne, three birds with one stone!" the princess replied, then added: "Although I doubt he has any real chances of success..."
"That... sounds about right..." Marco admitted.
"Look!" Pony Head exclaimed, "There they are!". Indeed, Star and Tom were standing in front what they assumed was the door of the building.
Marco smiled "Great. I'm glad we got here before anything bad-". His relief was soon put to an end when he saw Star and Tom fall into a trap hole after Star had tried to open the door. The two stopped in their tracks and stared at the spot in confusion, their minds unable to comprehend what their eyes had seen.
"Well," Pony Head broke the silence "That just happened" she finished, her voice completely normal.
Marco slapped himself on the forehead and shook his head "See, this is why I can't leave her unattended!"
"Now what?" Pony Head asked.
"I dunno, go in there and save them I guess"
"Alright, but how are we getting inside? Do we break through the wall? I could fly you in... or maybe-"
Marco didn't respond with words, but instead walked over to the door, careful not to fall into the hole, put his hand on the handle and opened it. "Or we could just use the front door" he suggested.
Pony Head frowned "You're telling me that that fool set up a trap but forgot to actually lock the door!" She exclaimed.
"Well, to be fair, it is Ludo we're talking about here, now c'mon" Marco finished and walked inside. Pony Head followed him and the two began their search to find their beloved friend. Oh, and Tom.
Star and Tom exchanged quick looks before Star walked over to the strange door and turned the handle, only to find that, to her negative surprise, it was unlocked just as she had feared it would be. This only furthered the ominous feeling that they both had had a few moments ago.
"Convenient, isn't it?" Tom commented with a suspicious voice.
"Yeah, a little too convenient if you ask me" Star added. Of all the traps she had seen in her whole life, this one was by far the most obvious one. Then again, it was Ludo she was dealing with, so she hadn't really expected anything too clever.
Tom walked over to her and carefully took a look inside and noticed that it led to a big and an empty room that was littered with dust and even cobwebs in the corners of the room, both upper and lower.
The only thing that stood out in the room was a medium-sized mirror hanging on the far side of the wall opposite the door. It was easily noticeable due to the fact that it was the only thing inside the room that was properly lit, the rest of the room being dark and damp in comparison.
"Look!" Tom said while pointing at the said object. Star followed the direction his finger was pointing at and spotted the mirror as well. "It that what we're looking for?" Tom asked her.
Star shrugged. "I think so. I mean, it does look kinda magical-ish" she stated.
She was about to step inside, but Tom quickly pulled her back by the shoulder "Um, hello? Obvious trap!" He exclaimed.
"Oh, I know" she bluntly replied, "But what other choices do we have?"
"Alright, I'll give you that" Tom admitted, "But are you sure that just blindly walking in there is a good idea?"
"Well we can't just stand here and do nothing now, can we?" She argued, then took at step through the door and motioned for Tom to follow her.
Once both were fully inside, the door slammed shut behind them and when Tom tried to re-open it, it didn't budge an inch.
"I wouldn't bother with that" the two heard a high pitched voice speak up, Star recognising it as Ludo's. The small evil villain stepped out from the shadows "It's sealed with magic even you can't undo, Butterfly!" He concluded
"Ludo!" Star exclaimed with resentment in her voice towards her arch nemesis
"Indeed, it is I, the all powerful Ludo!" He smugly proclaimed. "How nice that we could meet again, wouldn't you agree?" He then eyed Tom, raised an eyebrow and pointed at the demon "Um, who's he?"
Tom frowned and crossed his arms "Um, Tom! Ya know, the mighty daemon prince of the Underworld?"
"Right right! Whatever..." Ludo bluntly replied, not really caring who Tom was, which further upset him.
"So, since you are here, I am assuming that you are after-" he pointed at the wall behind him on which hung The Mirror of Lies "-this?"
Star laid her eyes upon it and the moment she did, her head began to hurt as she sensed the mirror's dark magic, which was being emitted like crazy. This object was dangerous and very powerful, she could tell.
Star quickly recovered and looked at Ludo "Yeah, I'm taking back what you stole! Now, will you hand it over peacefully, or do we have to kick your butt and take it the hard way?" Star taunted.
"Please, choose the 2nd one!" Tom added, his anger from Ludo disrespecting him having piled up. To be fair he is rather hot tempered.
Ludo chuckled a few times and took out a remote with a button on it "I'm afraid that you'll be the ones receiving a beating, this time, Butterfly and... err... um... sorry wha- what was it again?"
"Tom! T,O,M! It's not even hard to remember for Pete's sake!" Tom angrily shouted.
Ludo shrugged it off, not really caring, and pressed the button and the wall on one side of the room started opening like a garage door. Once it was fully raised, Star and Tom both heard vicious growling followed by the sound of footsteps, then saw a huge three-headed hellhound walk out, its hulking appearance startling them.
"I think you've already met?" Ludo asked Star, who recognised the beast as being the same one from yesterday. "Now then, how about you play with him a little!" Ludo shouted, and the hellhound barked viciously.
Star and Tom both took up battle stances, ready for what was about to come, and Tom raised his hand and fired a red beam of energy at the beast...
To be continued...
Chapter end notes: And another cliffhanger! Don't you just love them? Making you wonder what'll happennext and all. So, next time: Star and Tom will be taking on the hellhound, while Marco and Princess Pony Head wander around the building in an attempt to find Star and save her. Oh, and Tom. But, how will they defeat this mighty creature? Will Ludo finally win? Why am I asking all these pointless questions that will be answered anyway? Find out next time!
Until then, bye!
Expected update: Next Saturday, 25th of June.