Where's my fucking book?!
A better question would be, why did you bother to give it to me for safekeeping? Specially considering that I could have given it to anyone.
You gave it to Marco, didn't you?
How did you know?!
Only a jackass like you would think of doing something so stupid! Now they can get another clue about the prophecy, and we need to change our plans accordingly!
Relax, buddy, as long as the harbingers do their job, we're going to be fine. The olgapocalypse will go smoothly, and they can't do anything to stop it!
Why do you say that like it's common knowledge?
Because IT IS common knowledge to us!
Oh...right. Well, I guess I'll go spy on the school before checking on Marco and Star.
Have fun! And if you spot them doing something naughty, please bring me and the guys a souvenir of that!
I'm definitely not going to do that.
Fuck you.
Returned.
Episode 27: Calm Before the Brawl
(Star and Marco's bedroom)
Marco opened the book and quickly searched for the page about his mom. Once he reached it, he quickly read the summoning ritual and then nodded. "Okay, Star, is the circle ready?"
Star, who had finished drawing a circle with some chalkboard on the ground, gave Marco a thumbs up and ate the chalkboard as the boy went to her side and stated, "Alright then, let's summon my mom!"
(Miss Heinous' office)
Miss Heinous watched as a little "X" appeared in the sky, and from there a couple of shadowy figures watched. The woman could only look shocked for a second before Shadow Squad arrived. "You called us, Miss Heinous?" Mrs. Diaz asked.
The humanoid quickly regained her composure and turned to see the squad. "Shadow Squad, I need you to watch the players and the princesses, then return to my office and tell me how they're doing."
"Yes, ma'am!"
The squad left and Hope came out of the shadows and walked to the woman's side.
"Can I count on you to protect me once the endgame begins?" Miss Heinous asked somewhat worriedly.
Hope put her hand on Miss Heinous shoulder and the duo turned to a mirror, where Hope-now with a horse's tail and ears-and Miss Heinous were inside a a green force field.
"That's my job, Miss Heinous. My job, as the Orobas ex Goetia."
(With Tom)
The demon went to the hallways and opened the room to Pony Head's bedroom. The flying head noticed the demon immediately and hissed as she aimed her horn at him. "What are you doing here?!"
"Miss Heinous told me to watch the players and the princesses, and see how they were doing," Tom explained before scratching his head and adding, "and seeing that actually seeing them would probably be suicidal, I thought that checking you first was a good idea."
"Did you not notice that I'm aiming my horn at you?" Pony Head growled as she got ready to shoot an energy blast at the demon.
Tom remained silent as Pony Head grew impatient and got slightly closer to the demon. "Noticed and ready to counter it if needed."
Believing Tom was BS-ing her, Pony Head shot an energy beam and Tom swiftly dodged it and went to the. "However, I want to discuss something with you, and after that I'll leave you alone: what is bothering you?"
"Everything! The fact that I'm in St. Olga's, the fact that I wasn't given a choice in whether to be in this game or not, and the fact that my friend is now considered a rapist by the rest of the princesses!"
Tom frowned in sympathy at the head's predicament, but he soon changed to surprise when she turned to face him and added, "And I get the feeling you're the reason behind the last one. Am I right, or am I nuts?"
Tom chuckled and answered, "I'm guilty as charged."
Upon hearing that, Pony Head's eyes turned into dead skulls before she tried to stab Tom with her horn, only for the demon to effortlessly grab it and stop the flying head on her tracks.
"However, it was not entirely my choice." Tom threw the head away and went to the door as she continued, "Yes, I could have just ripped off Star's wings and not make her rape Marco, but that would be going against the game master's wishes."
Pony Head's rage instantly turned into confusion once the game master was mentioned. "Why would the game master want Star to rape Earth-Turd?!"
"Because, in her own words, "Star must learn that her actions have consequences." Pony Head raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, I don't get it either, but it's the game master: her sense of logic makes absolutely no sense to...just about anyone, really."
With that said, Pony Head looked away and tried to think of a plausible idea to the game master's thinking as Tom reached for the door and got ready to leave.
"So, before I leave and go check on the others, I want to ask for a request," Tom paused as he saw Pony Head give him an angry look, "Do the one thing I was never able to do, and be by Star's side in her darkest and most vulnerable moments. This "game" is about to get darker, not just for her, but for everyone."
The flying disembodied head nodded in reluctant agreement and the demon left and closed the door.
(With Brittney)
The officer walked around the school, taking notice of the surrounding player-princess interactions in the background: Ferguson and the merfish princess swam leisurely on a pond, Alfonzo and the pixie princess talked a bit like they were father and daughter, the minotaur princess enjoyed Justin's company, and so on.
As she walked across the room to see the relationships, the players and princesses briefly reacted to her presence before continuing to act like friends. "Okay, most of these are getting along pretty well," Brittney thought as she walked back to the doors, "And they don't react to my presence at all, which is also good."
Just as she started to leave, however, Brittney crashed with a familiar witch player, who quickly apologized for it and helped the officer get up. "Sabrina?"
"Yeah, it's me. I'm sorry for crashing with you, I was busy taking care of something and I didn't want to keep the minotaur princess waiting."
Brittney turned to the tables and saw the minotaur princess, though she was looking at the officer with rage and anger. Once she turned back to Sabrina, the princess waved the redhead to come to her. "What are you two planning to do?"
"I'm sorry, Brittney, but I can't tell you anything, it's private."
Brittney frowned and looked at the ground. "Hey, don't let that bum you out, I'm your fan but I can't just let you know everything about what I do!"
Hearing that, the girl immediately shut up the witch and exchanged looks with her before uncovering her mouth and saying, "You are my fan? Even after all the things I did to you?"
"Yeah, even after you tried to hurt me, or mocked me, or threw my birthday gift for you back in my face," Sabrina explained before spotting the minotaur princess angrily gesturing her to come, "Anyway, to be brief, I'm still your fan even after all that."
With her mind spoken, Sabrina ran to the minotaur princess and Brittney watched her go and sit next to the royal. She took a closer look at Sabrina, and for a brief instance Sabrina was replaced by StarFan13, who was looking at Brittney with a disappointed look as she whispered, "save her from my fate," making Brittney flinch as Sabrina turned back to normal.
(With Chantelle)
The officer walked around the hallways and stopped when she spotted a familiar figure leaning on a wall: Janna. Chantelle went closer to Janna and the first thing she noticed was how badly the girl looked, almost as if she had beaten herself with a blunt object several times. The next thing she noticed was the star half in Janna's chest, which switched between glowing pink and green at the blink of an eye.
Chantelle reached for the half, but Janna hissed and swung her arms against Chantelle in a pathetic attempt at an attack. The officer simply ignored Janna's try and grabbed the star half, making Janna flinch and her eyes to "glitch" between Toffee's and her own. And as Chantelle ripped off the star half, Janna screeched and screamed in agony.
Then, with the star half finally ripped off, Janna remained stunned for a moment before releasing a soul that looked like Toffee's from her mouth and hitting the ground. Reacting to the event with utter indifference, Chantelle looked at Toffee, who gave her a furious look and groaned before leaving through the ceiling.
With...whatever just happened, Chantelle took a look at the star half and immediately got an idea. "I need to show this to Miss Heinous."
Just as she got ready to leave, though, she heard Janna whine in pain as she crawled away from the monkey girl. Chantelle stopped Janna on her tracks, saved the star half in her pockets, grabbed the girl...and took her back to her own room, where Chantelle started to treat her wounds.
"But first, I will take care of you."
(At the kitchen)
Jeremy walked around and tried to pass time doing random shit while Mrs. Diaz watched the hallways as Star and Marco's bedroom let out an intense blue glow. "Miss Marco's mom, what are we even doing here?" Jeremy complained just as Angie's eyes glowed red. "Hey, I'm talking to you!"
Mrs. Diaz slowly turned around to give Jeremy a...rather disturbing smile and crazy-looking eyes, making the boy flinch and hit the ground. Then, before he could escape, Angie quickly grabbed some knifes and used them to forcefully pin Jeremy to the ground, stabbing each of his arms and knees to the ground before Angie grabbed another knife and slowly approached the boy.
The boy cried and sniffed as the woman lifted the knife, and the last thing Mrs. Diaz heard before turning back to normal was Jeremy's pained screaming and pleading for her to stop as he was repeatedly stabbed. With the murder done and now back to normal, Mrs. Diaz simply looked at Jeremy's corpse and chuckled before reaching for it...
(Meanwhile, back at Star and Marco's bedroom)
Star and Marco, on top of each other with the other's crotches being in front of their faces, got off and looked away in embarrassment before hearing someone laugh. This one was the summoned Angie Diaz, who flew to the duo as they got up.
"Well, if it isn't my little Marcolate and my potential daughter-in-law!" Mrs Diaz exclaimed, her voice echoing as she added, "How is everything going?"
Star opened her mouth, but she immediately shut it when she heard laughter that sounded like Angie's somewhere nearby. "Did you hear that malicious laughter too?"
Angie got defensive and went face-to-face with Star as she sternly stated, "I didn't hear anything, and you didn't hear anything either, it's just your growing paranoia fucking with you, got it?"
Star gulped and nodded. This made Angie calm down and turn to her son. "Now, how about we discuss something we'd like to know? Like, for example, why did you summon me?"
"Well, we wanted to know your-Why do you have a number three on your chest?"
Angie looked down and saw what Marco was talking about.
"Oh, that is really easy to answer: most of you remained as players, and others were taken by the Game Master to become something else." Angie seemingly broke through the wall and landed on Marco's back before adding, "If you wanna know more, you'll need to convince me to give you the juicy details."
"You'll just tell us anyway, aren't you?" Star asked.
"Fine, if you insist! A selected group of people who have either dead or been specifically picked by the game master were taken out of the game and taken to the Debug Room, where they were. I am among those people, and I became the Vassago ex Goetia."
Once having processed everything the woman said, Marco opened the book and surfed the pages as he said, "Okay, it says in this book that-"
Angie effortlessly snatched it and looked at the contents. "So this is where that jerk StarFan13 took it!" she then turned back to her son and smiled before giving it back, "Well, she made the right choice and gave it to good hands at least, so I expect you to do what she didn't even bother to do, son. Anyway, what were you going to ask me?"
"Whatever, so the book shows some other people became Goetians, what demons are they supposed to be?"
"Ooh, that's a toughie, the master himself told me to never tell anybody about the nature of the ex Goetians."
Star and Marco mentally counted from 3 to 1 with deadpan looks before Angie added, "But I'll tell you anyway: your friend Hope became the Orobas ex Goetia, StarFan13 used to be the Morax ex Goetia, Janna is the Marchosias ex Goetia, that demon Tom is the Forneus ex Goetia, Chantelle's the Sitri ex Goetia, Brittney is the Labolas ex Goetia, Jeremy will soon be the Gusion ex Goetia and Jackie is-"
"Jackie's part of the ex Goetians?!" Star and Marco yelled in unison.
Angie immediately shut up and looked around before blushing and giggling like a little girl. "I've said too much. Oh my gosh, I'm in so much trouble!"
"Mom, you got to finish what you were saying! What ex Goetian is Jackie supposed to be?!" Marco pleaded.
"Sorry son, but the master's going to have my ass if I tell you anything else. Anyway, you probably got more than enough information from me right now. I'll be leaving, but remember the demons I told you about and you should be fine! Hopefully."
With that said, Angie disappeared into a cross in the sky and everything turned back to normal as Marco closed the book and threw it in frustration. "Great, what do we do now?!"
Star shrugged and hit the floor while Marco suddenly stopped and pondered, "Come to think of it, mom said that Jeremy's going to be a former ex Goetian...You don't think it means..."
(Miss Heinous office)
"Another officer dead!?"
Miss Heinous grabbed a cup and throw it away, almost hitting an undisturbed Andrea in the process, and the cyborg girl simply answered, "I'm afraid so, Heinous, I found Jeremy's corpse in the dining room under the table of Sabrina and the minotaur princess. Perhaps they're the one who killed him?"
"It doesn't matter who committed the murder, what matters it that we lost another officer!" Miss Heinous whined and slammed her face on her desk repeatedly, "First StarFan13, now Jeremy, who will be the next one to die?!"
Andrea smiled and chuckled. "Clearly, it has to be the rest of Shadow Squad, mistress."
"Why are you so calm about this, and why are you so smug about the next death?!"
"Look, Heinous, as long as the endgame prophecy never happens, who gives a shit about the officers deaths?" this made Miss Heinous narrow her eyes in seemingly disgusted anger, "This is just a game after all: everybody is liable to die, as long as the most crucial and important part of the game is accomplished-"
Miss Heinous' eyes sprung wide open and she blurted, "The wand..."
"Yes, the wand, as long as the objective concerning it is accomplished, nothing else matters." with that said, Heinous looked away and tapped her desk as she thought about it, "Anybody can die, and as long as the one destined to get the wand gets it, we shouldn't give a fuck, don't you think?"
The last sentence helped Miss Heinous reach a conclusion, and she smiled and gave Andrea a pleased look. "You know what, Andrea? You're absolutely right! Nobody here had a reason to...be here, they just appeared and are fodder for the games, they're not worth a thing!"
"That's the way I was hoping you would see it, Heinous! Now, if you excuse me, I was going to go get drunk at the bar downstairs, but if you want me to stay here-"
"No, please, be my guest, go get drunk and enjoy the night. After all, you only get to live once, right?"
Andrea smiled and gave Heinous a thumbs up before bolting out of the room. "And I'll make sure you regret living your only life as a drunk whore."
Immediately after she left, the remaining members of Shadow Squad, minus Angie, arrived and went to Miss Heinous. "Oh great, shadow squad, just who I was expecting to see. Give me your status report."
"The players and princesses are getting along pretty well, and nobody has shown suicidal thoughts yet." Brittney explained.
"So nobody's wishing this game ended sooner? That's a relief."
And then Brittney reluctantly added, "Actually, I get the feeling a couple of them might be planning to make the game end prematurely."
"They what?!"
"Yeah, apparently what happened at the stampede, along with the revelation that death is now permanent, has made most of the players really afraid of dying." Chantelle added, "That being said, I got this information from Janna, so maybe we shouldn't jump to conclusion just yet."
"I'll deal with that later, go back to the rooms and stand sentry."
"Yes ma'am!"
The squad left and Miss Heinous internally cursed to the heavens before slamming her face on her desk again. And from the shadows Hope came out of the shadows and went to the frustrated mistress' side.
"Nothing's going according to plan, isn't it?" Hope asked.
"The players wish this ended sooner, we lost one of the officers, Star and Turdina-I mean, Marco-have found out about the prophecy." Miss Heinous suddenly realized something, and she got up and turned to Hope as a pair of club-shaped symbols on her cheek suddenly appeared. "Do you think that, eventually-"
"Miss Heinous, you got something your cheeks."
The mistress turned to the mirror and saw her club-shaped cheek markings. However, unlike last time, she simply ignored them and turned back to Hope. "I'll deal with them later, for now, do you think it is possible people will start looking for.."it"?"
"That is a possibility, but not only do people have to discover that "it" exists, but we have more urgent matters to deal with right now."
Hope put an upside down photo on Miss Heinous' desk and this got the woman's attention. She looked at the photo, then turned it up to see it was a picture of Andrea.
"Like, for example, getting rid of the rotten meat."
Miss Heinous gave the photo a scowl and remained calm and composed as she stated, "Oh, I know how to get rid of the rotten meat. With extreme prejudice."