Episode 6: Take Your Kids to Work Day Part 1

Description: Marco gets the opportunity of a lifetime when he gets to spend the day with Jackie on 'Take Your Kids to Work Day' alone. Meanwhile, Star tries to sell houses with Mr. Diaz.

Thanks to the following Betas for helping me:

PaintedPetrichor
MissSlytherinxoxo

Credit to kprovido from DeviantArt for the cover art

Enjoy


Officer Eddie Cordry's arms shook as he drove by the dilapidated buildings and over the cracked pavement.

He was the only person available to respond to a call about a disturbance in an abandoned apartment complex in Echo Palto; an impoverished borough outside the Greater Echo Creek area.

He sunk underneath the window when a few people turned their heads over to his police car. When he made it to the apartment building, Cordry parked his cruiser in broad daylight. He clicked the lock button twice out of safety.

A bush by Cordry's foot rustled. Reflexively, his hand wrapped around his pistol. A racoon popped out and scurried to the alley. He sighed as he holstered his weapon.

Inside the building, the floor was relatively spotless. Last time he came here, it was littered with piles of garbage and the occasional used needle. Granted, the wallpaper peeled off the wall, but at least he could walk freely on the cleaned-up floor.

In the 2nd floor, many of the apartment doors were opened, revealing no occupants in any of them. A glimmer of light flared underneath the door of the room at the end of the hallway. Cordry steadied his jerky, shaky strides as he approached the other side. He breathed in through his nose, clenching his sweaty palm into a fist.

He knocked on the door and announced, "Open up, it's the police." Cordry pounded the door. "Open up!"

A young man draped in a decorative robe opened the door.

"Good afternoon, sir," he said, tying a piece of cloth over his forehead, "to what do I owe the pleasure?"

After a false start, Cordry cleared his throat. "Officer Cordry here, I've been hearing reports of disturbances and suspicious activity from this building. Do you mind if I come in?"

"Well, I don't see why not, come on in."

Cordry plodded into the room, stepping over various piles of scrap metal and electronics scattered around.

"Can I have a name, sir?" Cordry asked.

"Oh, excuse me, where are my manners? The name's Percival Leopold Middleton the 3rd, but I reckon Percy will do."

"Right…" Cordry tripped over an inconspicuous toaster into a pile of scrap metal. Percy rushed to the officer and carried him up.

"I'm so sorry officer, I haven't been cleaning up recently." Percy shoved a pile of mashed-up electronics next to the wall. "Feel free to move around anything, if you feel uncomfortable."

Cordry meandered around the room, moving the piles out of the way. Something prodded his foot. He looked down and saw a small robotic figure poking his shin with a teddy bear paw. Cordry picked up and inspected it in greater detail. The robot was composed of a mixture of teddy bear and mechanical parts. He noticed the robot's arms; one was drawn from a teddy bear, while the other was a metallic, black robot arm.

Percy turned his attention over to Cordry and chuckled as the robot flailed its arms at the sight of him.

"Careful with the munchkins, they're fairly fragile." Cordry set the little robot down. It failed to maintain balance, almost tripping over itself. "So, what exactly do you mean by disturbance, officer?"

"Recently, we've been receiving complaints from people in the area about 'loud noises' and 'screaming' from this part of the borough." Cordry watched the munchkin attempt to steady itself on its robot and teddy foot. "There have also been reports of people missing in this area, all linked to you?"

Percy motioned his arms in a combination of a wave and a shrug. "Well, I ain't hear about no missin' people here, but I apologize for the racket I've been causing." He walked to the table on the other side of the room, picking up a blow torch. He twisted the knob on the bottom of the torch. A blue flame rushed out the top. "When you're focused on fixing things up, you tend to not pay attention to the noise." The flame pressed on the crease between two pieces of metal, welding them together. "I'll try my best to keep quiet at night. It's only fair, right?"

Cordry saw the shadow of the flame casted on the ceiling and asked, "Whatcha working on there?"

"Nothin' important," Percy said, turning off the blow torch. "You must have come a long way to get here, how's about I get you a glass of water. I've gotten the water working again, and it came out fairly clean, so no need to worry about any illnesses."

Cordry shrugged.

"I'll be right back."

The officer walked up to the work bench. He examined the objects littered across the table. On the side, two pieces of metal scraps were welded together. In the middle, there were two different models of guns still in the designing phase, judging by the hollow insides. Cordry picks up the blow torch. He noticed the Echo Creek Academy insignia and name plastered on the bottom of the torch.

Cordry remembered a recent theft reported from the school.

"Here ya go officer, one glass of relatively clean water. I would put ice on it, but I haven't gotten the ice maker to work yet."

"Sir, do you mind telling me why you have possession of Echo Creek Academy property?"

Percy turned to the officer and spotted him carrying the blow torch.

"Oh, well, I just sorta found it when I was rummaging through this place."

Cordry squinted his eyes onto Percy, evaluating the apartment and the stockpiles of electronics.

"Really?" Cordry asked, tilting his head to the side. "This looks like a brand new blow torch." He put on a sense of false bravado, wiping the sweat from his brow while leaning his body close to Percy. "This isn't something you would find, rummaging around a junkyard."

Something metallic peaked out of Percy's cloak. "What exactly are you trying to insinuate here, officer?"

"Me? Insinuating? Well, nothing really. Do you mind if we head down to the station together, to have a little—"

A mechanical arm popped out of Percy's cloak. It clutched its hand around Percy's neck. Cordry gasped for air.

"Excuse me for being a little brash here, but I would prefer to stay at home, if you don't mind." Percy placed the glass of water on the table and dragged the officer to the other room. He showed him the machine pressed against the wall. "I've gotten used to this place, and I don't enjoy being forced out my home, I've had enough of that. Now, I might have fibbed earlier, I do know about the recent disappearances." Percy grabbed Cordry by the back of the neck and slammed his face next to the chamber door. "I don't want to add you to the list of disappearances, so don't force my hand, Cordry."

The officer whimpered as Percy released his grip.

"Now, if there's nothing else of interest for you, I'll be happy to walk you out the door," Percy said, reaching a hand out to the officer. He helped Cordry up and together they walked to the exit. A munchkin slammed its tiny fists on the door. Percy picked up the tiny robot and opened the door for Cordry. "Good-bye now, have a pleasant evening." Percy slammed the door shut.

The munchkin reached out for the door, wailing against Percy's grip.

"Silly munchkin, dinner's in the kitchen, not outside," Percy said with a hearty laugh.


"And in 1917, the Russians pulled out of WW1 because of other obligations at home," Miss Skullnick said to an inattentive class. "It's funny, because that's the same reason Ricky left me at the altar."

The sounds of a ringing bell blared through the school. Everyone hopped out of their desks.

"Don't forget, tomorrow is 'Take your Kids to Work day', no classes tomorrow." Skullnick pulled out a bottle of blue nail polish and applied it on her toenails. She inspected the bottle, reading the instructions printed on the side. "To instantly dry, flash UV light directly onto the applied area."

Marco closed the classroom door behind him. He waved a hand to Ferguson, who walked the other way.

"What kind of obligation would lead you to leave 'The Great War'?" Star asked.

"Well, you know, a revolution."

"Oh."

Star and Marco waved as Jackie skated past them. Jackie swivelled back to the two, dragging herself to a stop.

"Hey B-fly, hey Marco." Jackie popped her skateboard up and held it by her side. "Marco, how's the manticore anti-venom working?"

Marco lifted his arm up in the air. "I can raise my hand again, so that's nice."

"Oh yeah, before I forget"—Star pulled out a syringe and bottle from her bag—"take off your sweater Marco, we have about one minute before your arm starts rotting again."

Marco unzipped his hoodie and pulled the sleeve of his shirt to his shoulder. A blackened vein pulsated on his biceps. A few onlookers ran, holding their puke in. He sighed.

"There we go," Star said as she pressed the syringe. The vein receded and disappeared into Marco's skin. "If I did that right, and I know I did because my mom had to do the same thing to me when I got stung by a manticore tail… you should be okay now."

"Sweet." Marco flailed his illness-free arm in the air.

Star, Marco and Jackie sauntered by crowds of students, some loitering around their lockers while others were walking to the exit. Star overheard various tidbits of other people talking about their parent's jobs.

"What is everyone talking about?" Star asked.

"Tomorrow is 'Take your Kids to Work Day'," Marco said, "so everyone is trying to figure where they're going."

"Is this another of your 'Earth-Holidays'?"

"Not exactly," Jackie replied, "every year, all the schools do this thing where kids spend a day at work with their parents." She placed her board on the ground and rode it on the pavement. "Basically, you spend the entire day shadowing your parents or any adult at their work."

Star's eyes lit up, "Does that mean we get to miss school?"

"Yeah," Jackie said, "but I'd rather be going to school than spend a day at the station with Dale. I swear, he's the only person I know that can turn policing into the most boring thing ever."

"You think that's bad?" Marco asked. "You haven't experienced true agony until you've spent the day selling houses with my dad."

"Oh yeah, I remember passing by you on last year's work day."

Marco face paled as his eyes opened wide. "Don't remind me.


Marco stood by the entrance to a street of finished houses. The black mariachi suit tightened around his body as he twirled his sign in a circle. His accompanying hat barely provided any shade.

"Todo el mundo es bienvenido a la casa abierta Díaz Familia." Marco forced a clenched, painful smile.

"More energy, Marco!" Mr. Diaz screamed through the megaphone.

Marco clenched his jaw while swearing in Spanish underneath his breath.

"Todo el mundo es bienvenido—"

"Marco?"

Marco scurried into the bush when he saw Jackie and Janna in the backseat of a police cruiser.


"The life of a sign-boy is one of misery and humiliation."

"How about you guys come to the station tomorrow?" Jackie asked. "Dale's cool with me bringing more people in, as long as they're not Janna."

Marco chuckled. "What'd she do?"

"Remember that news story last year about the maniac who stole a police car?"

"Oh yeah," Marco said. "How does she keep stealing people's keys?"

Jackie shrugged. At an intersection, Marco and Star waited at the stop sigh while Jackie swerved to the right. "Text me if you can come."

Star and Marco waved as Jackie skated farther into the horizon.

"Alright, I like the progress Marco," Star said, twirling her wand in the air. "But is Mr. Diaz fine with you ditching him?"

Marco rolled his eyes up in thought. "Yeah, he should be. Oh, careful Star, broken glass"—Marco lifted the princess over the pile of shards with ease, as he shuffled around the outskirts of the pile—"He may be a little eccentric but he's a reasonable guy."


The Diaz's and Star sat around the dinner table. Star preoccupied herself by fiddling around with her vegetables. Marco was in the middle of convincing his dad to let him spend the day at the station.

"No, Marco," Mr. Diaz said.

Marco flailed his arms in front of him. "Dad, you're being unreasonable."

"You can't go, Marco." Mr. Diaz grabbed Marco by the collar and stared deep into his eyes. "You're the reason I attract so many potential buyers. I need you, Marco!"

Mrs. Diaz gently pulled her husband's grip from Marco. "Raphael, you shouldn't force Marco to stay for your own selfish needs." She stared at the whimpering mass of muscles, and couldn't help but sigh. "Marco needs a new, exciting experience. He might not want to be a realtor. I say he goes with Jackie and her father—"

"Stepfather."

"—stepfather and see what police life entails."

"Well, you have a point, Angie," Mr. Diaz said, "but who's going to help me out tomorrow for open houses?"

Star's froze in place and perked her ears towards Mr. Diaz.

"Who's someone that can attract attention?"

The excitable princess boosted her arms and yelled, "Me, Me!" The floor shook as Star bounced on her chair. "I'm really good at attracting attention."

Mr. Diaz turned to Star. "I like your enthusiasm. But are you sure you want to spend the day without Marco?"

"Yeah, you two seem inseparable," Mrs. Diaz said.

Star and Marco turned their eyes to each other before looking back at Mr. Diaz.

"Its fine, Mr. Diaz." Star peered closer to Marco's parents. "Marco needs the 1-on-1 time with Jackie, if you know what I mean."

Mr. Diaz turned his eyes to Marco and back to Star. "Oh, I see." He snuck a wink straight to Marco, who tried to hide himself by covering his face. "Well then, it's settled. Get Dale to pick you up in the morning around eight, and you Star; get some sleep because we will be leaving early in the morning."

"Sounds good, Mr. Diaz." Star grinded the meat off the bone and teared the flank off her pork chop.

Marco carefully sliced the last bit of meat off the bone.


Marco opened his closet. He pulled out a copious number of red hoodies, and stacked them into a pile.

"What are you looking for, Marco," Star asked, bouncing on his bed.

"The Mariachi suit, dad asked me to find it earlier this morning." Marco sensed something resembling black fabric and pulled it out from the closet. "I was supposed to wear it for tomorrow, but since you're doing open houses, you'll probably need it more." He held the mariachi suit far away from him. Dried-up sweat and neglect drifted underneath his nose, making him gag. "Star, catch."

On her last bounce, Star somersaulted mid-air and swung her body to the floor, landing on both feet. Star stretched her arms out, catching the suit in the air. The stench from Marco's clothes made the bile rise to her mouth.

"Yeah, you might want to wash that"—the smell wafted underneath his nose once more—"twice, at least."

"Gotcha." Star shot a ray of blue light from her wand onto the suit. It vanished.

"Uh…"

"It's in my room."

Marco shrugged. He passed out on his bed, sinking his head into his pillow.

"You know, you don't have to suffer the entire day with my dad if you don't want to," Marco suggested. "You can just come hang with me and Jackie. She invited you."

The wand wedged itself underneath Star's mouth, as she gnawed on the head. Her eyes pointed upwards as she considered the thought.

"Nah, I'll be okay," Star said. "Besides, it's best if you two got some alone time together."

Marco lifted his head up and turned his attention to the princess.

"She's your future girlfriend Marco, not mine. If you ever want to have a relationship with Jackie, you have to start getting comfortable spending time alone with her. I can't be there to prod a conversation every time, you know."

"Yeah, you're right," Marco said, collapsing on the pillow and turning his head to the side. "With my luck, I feel like I'm just gonna mess up and say something stupid. And everything we've done 'til now will be pointless."

Star launched into the air with a blast to the ground, landing in front of Marco. "Don't be like that, Marco." She sat next to Marco and placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. "You've learned so much, in a short time. Even if you don't get Jackie, you can get a date with anyone else."

Marco smirked."Yeah, I guess…"

"Remember the three things I taught you?"

"Say it with confidence."

"That's one…"

"Follow the three C's"

"Two…"

"And don't try too hard."

"And there's three." Star began to march out the door, seemingly satisfied with her work. "If you can stay awake through Skullnick's classes, you can get a date with Jackie."

"I think you're the first person to put this much faith in me," Marco said with a chuckle.

"Eh." Star closed the door behind her. She pulled out her cellphone and texted Jackie that she won't be coming the station tomorrow.


Star Butterfly flew into the vast, empty sky on her giant Pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail. She tapped the pony with her heel. It blasted straight forward, doubling its speed as it rushed towards the twinkling stars. A pair of stereos materialized behind her. It blared out the Space Unicorn Song as Star and her Pegasus companion flew across the planets, the stars, and even a comet or two. Star's eyes widened as the lights in the galaxy shined to the princess herself. The universe stretched beyond the horizon, into an infinite distance.

A familiar face rose from nothing.

"Time to get up, Star!"

Star yelped as her eyes cracked open. Her spasms tossed the blanket in the air. Instead of staring into the infinite cosmos, Star recognised her bedroom and Mr. Diaz in the middle, holding a megaphone. The blanket landed on top of her head. She passed out in her cashmere pillows.

"Wakey, wakey, Star!" Mr. Diaz shouted through his megaphone. She turned to her bed stand where the alarm clock read 4:32 am.

"Mr. Diaz, it's only… 4:30." She yawned as her eyelids shifted downwards.

Mr. Diaz jumped onto her bed, bobbling her. "Which means we only have about 3 hours to clean the show house and wash your suit."

Star rolled out of bed and crashed onto the floor. She groaned as she forced herself up off the ground.

The princess didn't know how she ended up sitting on the table with a plate of syrup-drenched pancakes in front of her. She passed out, slamming her head into the pile of pancakes. Thick maple syrup covered her hair and clumped it into matted tufts.

Mrs. Diaz walked up to Star with a glass of rainbow-coloured liquid. She moved Star's head around to face her and stretched her mouth open.

The taste of candy spurred Star out of her slumber.

"Better?"

"A little…" Star forced a yawn out of her breath. "It's not as effective as the first time I drank… whatever that is."

"Good enough for me." Mrs. Diaz stared at the mashed up mess on the plate. "Here, let me get you a new plate." She grabbed Star's plate of pancakes and shoved them into the garbage bin. She poured pancake batter onto the griddle. The smell of sizzling batter emanated through the air.

Star watched Mr. Diaz shoveled down the last pancake from his plate before pushing the plate aside. "So, Mr. Diaz, what's the plan for today?"

"First, we clean the show house from top to bottom," Mr. Diaz said. "Every corner needs to be swept, I don't want to see a single crumb in my sight. Next, we have to…"

Mr. Diaz's words blended into a cacophony of noise; it was almost hypnotic as Star's eyes began to falter and she struggled to maintain her composure.

"… And you'll be standing outside for the next six or so hours."

"What?" Star perked up at once.

"As sign girl, your main job is to attract visitors and future homeowners. I'll show you how to do the sign twirl, and that's all you have to do. Marco perfected the technique, so you have a lot to prove today."

Star clenched her teeth. "I won't let you down, Mr. Diaz."

"Wonderful!" Mr. Diaz got up and pushed his chair in. "Finish your breakfast, then take a shower. Try on the suit first, it might be a little tight." He rushed upstairs.

Mrs. Diaz set a fresh plate of pancakes on the table. "Eat up, Star."

"Thank you, Mrs. Diaz." Star lifted a pancake with her fork and swallowed it whole.

All I have to do is spin a sign around, Star thought. Simple enough.

Mrs. Diaz turned on the radio. A catchy jingle played before a suave-sounding weather man began speaking.

"The heat wave has finally hit Echo Creek. Expect a high of 97 today, with humidex values reaching from 105 to 108…"

Star gazed upon her unfinished plate of pancakes. She remembered the thickness of the suit fabric.

"Yup, it's gonna be a hot one Echo Creek, so dress lightly folks."

Star considered texting Jackie to tell her that she changed her mind.


By the time Marco woke up, Star and his parents had already left. He went about the morning, brushing his teeth and taking a shower. Marco waited by the steps to the door.

He looked back inside, to see the plate of pancakes his mom cooked up, untouched.

Marco's foot twitched on the pavement steps as he pulled up his phone. He turned it on, and the time changed from 8:00 am to 8:01 am. He stared down both sides of the street; Jackie and her stepdad didn't appear on either side. With his phone in hand, Marco considered texting her. When he scrolled up through the dozens of messages he'd sent in the last five minutes alone, he decided not to text her.

Another ten minutes passed before Marco plucked his phone out.

I guess dad has to pick me up now he thought.

The sound of a police wail blared through the neighbourhood as a police cruiser parked in front of Marco's driveway. Marco covered his ears when a megaphone emitted harsh feedback.

"Put the phone down and put your hands in the air."

Marco dropped the phone and raised his arms towards the sky. A young, clean-shaven officer stepped out of the car and trudged towards him.

"Turn around, keep your hands where I can see them." Marco complied as the officer slipped on a pair of hand cuffs on him. The officer dragged him across the driveway. He opened the passenger door and threw Marco inside the cruiser.

"Hey, Marco," Jackie greeted, also handcuffed yet reacting nonplussed about the entire situation.

"What's going on? Am I being detained?"

"We're taking you down to the station…"

"To show you a day as a police officer," the man in the driver's seat said. He turned around as Marco recognised Dale's scruffy beard. Dale pointed to the man fastening his seatbelt. "This here is my partner, Officer Eddie Cordry."

"Nice to meet you, Marco." Cordry reached his arm out to Marco.

"Uh"—Marco batted his eyes to the cuffs—"I can't really reach my hands out."

"Oh, right," Cordry said as he reeled his hand back.

Dale shifted the stick-shift to reverse, moving the car back. "Diaz, how do the cuffs feel?"

"Is it supposed to chafe my wrists?" Marco asked as his wrists tightened.

"I like to call this part of the day, 'the prisoner's welcome'. This is to show the arrest process to teenagers. It's something that everyone needs to know."

"Shouldn't you have read my Miranda rights before you cuffed me?"

Cordry looked back at Marco, then turned to the windshield. Neither officer answered.

"This will probably be the most interesting part of the day, Marco," Jackie said, shifting her arms around her back.

Marco noticed the hairclip Jackie held as she struggled to push it into the keyhole.

"Press it into the hole, and turn it," Marco whispered. The cuffs opened, loosening its grip around her wrists. She caressed the cuff marks on her wrist.

"Thanks, Marco." Jackie shot Marco a smile.

"Don't mention it," Marco said, eyeing to the side with a grin. "Pass it to me."

Jackie slipped the clip behind her back. She hid both arms behind her back.

"Thanks," Marco said, fiddling with the hair clip. "By the way, if you got a bunch of messages this morning, my phone glitched out and resent the same message a hundred times."

Jackie tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. "Right…"

The cuffs loosened around Marco's wrist. He opened his mouth, but closed it again when something rose from his stomach. He laid back on the leather upholstery with a deep sigh.

"Marco, stop shaking the car."

He opened his eyes and noticed his foot twitching against the floor. The foot stopped twitching at once.


If you ever get curious as to how the story is progressing in terms of writing, check my profile to see what's been finished and what I'm currently doing. Right now, part 2 has begun.

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Thanks for reading.