Bully.
It was a peaceful day in Echo Creek. A day too peaceful. It was so peaceful, that it could even be considered boring. And especially if you had to assist to the boring Echo Creek School.
The bell rang and the students went out of the classrooms almost immediately. Star and Marco came out of their respective classroom and started to make their way to the lunch room as well as the other students.
"Ugh… This is taking forever!" Star said in an annoyed way as she walked alongside her bestie.
"For once… I agree with you… This day in school is being eternal…" Marco added with an exhausted tone before letting out a yawn and stretching his back.
"Huh? Are my ears tricking me or the Safe Prince just said that the school is actually boring?" Star asked with a teasing tone.
"Don't get me wrong, Star. The school is cool and all. But this day in particular has been really tired…" Marco said before letting out another yawn.
"Thank god is lunch time already!" Star said happily while rubbing her belly.
"Yeah, I am starving…"
"Then we better hurry up! We might still be able to get a good place to seat.
"I can't still believe we had to sit on the floor once…" Marco stated as they hurried their pace.
…
Once in the cafeteria, Star and Marco went to receive their food in the bar and started to search for a place to sit.
"Man, this place is such a mess…" Marco said, trying to find a place in the middle of all the students that were also doing the same.
"Yeah, nobody wants to seat in the floor. So we all are fighting for a spot."
"Well, I don't want to be fighting for a place." Marco quickly changed direction and turned to face Star. "I will go over here and you will go over there. Whoever finds a place first will call the other one. You understood?"
"Crystal Clear!" Star stated before going the other way.
Marco started to walk in the opposite direction to find a place for him and his friend to sit.
But someone got in his way.
"Hey, Safe Kid!" The voice of the big bully called Lars called the attention of the young prince.
Marco turned around to see the local bully walking towards him.
Lars stopped right in front of him. "What is the most important meal of the day?"
"Huh?" Marco asked with confusion before Lars answered his doubt.
Lars quickly pushed the food into his face. "Breakfast!" He then burst in laughter.
"Lars!" The voice of an angry adult was heard from the entrance of the lunch room. It was the Principal Skevees.
Everyone's attention turned to the principal.
"To my office. Now!" Skeeves shouted with an angry tone in his voice.
Lars looked angrily at Marco as he show him his closed fist.
"LARS!" The principal called for him again.
Lars just walked into the direction of Skeeves and left the lunch room with him.
The room felt in complete silence for some seconds before everyone resumed their lunch.
After processing what had happened, Marco cleaned the food from his face as best as he could.
"Marco, what the heck just happened?" Star approached at her, asking with a confused tone.
"I… I dunno… Lars just kinda did what he usually does. And then the principal arrived." Marco said, even more confused than Star.
"Well… That just happened. Anyway! I found us a seat over there!"
"Then what are you waiting for?"
"We are waiting for you to go and cover your cheek marks." Star stated as she cleaned away his right cheek, revealing that the food had messed up his makeup.
Marco let out a tired sigh. "Be right back…"
…
Lunch time was over and the classes had resumed after some time. The day passed on until it was time for the last class to take place.
The bell rang and all the students walked to their final classes.
"Just one more! C'mon, Marco! You can do it!" Star cheered to her exhausted friend.
"Yeah… Just one last…" Marco yawned once again before resuming. "Push…"
"Then come on! We are gonna be late for Art Class!"
"Actually, Star… I'm not going to go to Art Class…" Marco stated tiredly.
"What?! Why not?!" Star asked with shock.
"Because I quit that class and signed up in the Spanish Class."
"And why did you did that?!"
"Because art isn't really my thing. Also, I want to learn the language of my fake nationality." Marco explained and Star was forced to yield.
"Alright, see you after class then!"
"See you later."
"Don't fall asleep during this one!"
"I will try not…" Marco yawned again. "To…"
Star rolled her eyes with a smile before getting into her classroom.
Marco just kept walking through the corridor, too tired to pay attention to his surroundings and to the person following him from behind.
Marco arrived at the classroom of the Spanish Class and was about to go in. With a loud yawn, he grabbed the doorknob and flipped it. But a hand quickly pulled him away from the door and another one was placed over his mouth. He was pulled into the darkest corner of the school as he tried to struggle his way free.
"So you did told the principal, huh?" Lars asked while still having Marco in his grasp. "You know what happens to the ones that doesn't have their mouth shuts?" Lars threw Marco against a nearby wall.
Marco tried to get in his feet and call for help, but a punch was landed on his stomach before he could do one of those things. Marco fell to the floor in pain.
"That's what they get! A fist sandwich right in the belly for a satisfactory breakfast!" Lars let out a laughter before noticing something hanging from Marco's belt. He spotted the cover with the wand inside. "Oh, look! You brought me an apology gift! How thoughtful of you!" Lars said as he extended his big hand and grabbed the cover.
Marco, with all his might, grabbed the cover as well and tried to get it away from Lars. "N-No! S-Stop!"
"C'mon, Safe Kid! You owe me this one!"
Lars pulled harder from the cover, making Marco to be slowly losing his grasp on his wand.
Marco was about to let go. In a desperation, his cheek marks began to glow, cleaning up the makeup from his cheeks. "No!" Marco shouted before a string of light came out of Lars and Marco.
The wand absorbed the two strings and exchange them.
The two of them let go, making Lars to fall on his back. "Owch… W-What was that…?" Lars spotted Marco lying on the floor as he rose into his feet. "H-Hey! Safe Kid! Are you… alright…?" Lars asked with a worried tone as he knelt by his side.
Suddenly, Marco grabbed Lars by the neck of his shirt. "I'm fine…" Marco slowly stood up and balled his right hand into a fist. "But I'm afraid you will not!" Marco said as he prepared to launch the punch.
Lars shut his eyes tight before the punch landed right on his face, sending him flying against some lockers. He landed roughly on the floor before Marco approached at him with an evil grin on his face.
"That's what you get when you mess with the Prince of Mewni, you fool!" Marco look at his surroundings and a disgusted expression came to his face as soon as he remembered where he was. "Ugh… I can't believe I am still on this dump."
Lars tried to stood up, with no success.
"Well, I'm leaving now. Don't get me wrong, brute. I'd love to stay here and beat you up into a pulp! But there are people more worth of my time." Marco turned around and started to walk towards the exit. "Consider it as my parting gift. See you never again, brute!" Marco said before leaving Lars there in the floor.
…
The last bell rang, finally letting the free students to go back to their homes.
Everyone went to the exit, except for Star that went directly to the classroom of the Spanish class to get her friend.
Star reached the classroom and opened the door, finding just the teacher that was cleaning up the blackboard. "Hi there!" She greeted cheerfully, like always.
"Oh, hello there, Star! How are you doing?" The teacher asked in reply.
"I'm fine, but I am looking for my friend Marco. He was supposed to be here in your class!"
"Marco? Hmm… Let me see…" The teacher said as she took her list and checked it before answering Star's question. "I'm sorry, dear. But Marco didn't assist to this class."
This caught Star off guard. "What? He didn't came to class?"
"The list doesn't lie, dear."
"Alright… Then see you later, Miss Guerrero!"
"Nos vemos luego, Estrella." The teacher waved goodbye as Star left the classroom.
"Marco didn't got into class? That just doesn't make sense!" Star asked herself in her thought as he walked through the corridors, looking for her missing friend. But ended up finding a very upset Brittney instead.
"I'm going to kill him next time I see him! And then he will be apologizing for ever calling me that! Just wait and see!" Brittney muttered to herself while walking through the corridors.
"Hey, Brittney!" Star called her attention with the friendliest greet she could manage.
But Brittney just turned around, irritated to see her. "What do you want?!" She asked furiously.
Star backed off a little at this reaction. "Uh… Are you feeling alright?" She asked with hesitation and expecting the obvious answer of…
"Alright? Alright?! Of course I am not alright!"
"Nailed it." Star thought to herself as she relaxed a little. "What happened? You look really up-!"
"Your stupid friend is what happened!" Brittney shouted angrily, interrupting Star.
"My stupid friend? Wait, you don't mean Marco, right?"
"No, I mean the beanie head…" Brittney said sarcastically. "Of course I am talking about that Safe Jerk!"
"Gee, Britney! Calm down! You are literally spitting fire right now!"
"SHUT UP, BUTTERFLY!" Brittney shouted with rage.
Star and Brittney stood there in silence until Star broke the silence.
"So… Did you saw where did he…?"
"He left school already. Just do the same and get out of my sight!" Brittney yelled as Star quickly made her way to the exit, trying to avoid Brittney's wrath.
…
Marco walked its way home with a hurried pace. Desperate to leave to Mewni. But he got stopped by a group of four teenagers.
"Hey, isn't him the Safe Kid we have heard?"
"Yeah, it sure is!"
The group surrounded Marco.
"Hey, where are you going all on your own? Are you lost? Do you want us to call your mommy?" The teenagers mocked Marco for some time, with no response of the annoyed Marco.
"If you are done mumbling nonsense, then get out of my way!" Marco said with an irritated tone.
"What? You want to leave so soon?"
"But we still haven't got any fun yet?" One the teenagers said as he cracked his knuckles.
Marco looked at them with disgust before an evil grin appeared on his face once again. "You know what? You are right."
…
Star walked through the streets of Echo Creek, looking for her friend. But her search was interrupted by the greet of a friend of hers.
"Yo, Star!" Jackie called out for her, stopping just in front of Star.
"Hi, Jackie! Hey, have you seen Marco?"
"I was about to ask you about him as well. Is he alright?" Jackie asked with a concerned tone.
"Well, he was really tired last time I saw him. Why do you ask?"
"Well… I saw him some minutes ago and he didn't look tired at all!"
"Wait, you saw him?"
"Yeah, I saw him beating up some dudes in an alley!"
"Marco did what?!"
"Trust me, I didn't believe it at first either."
Now Star was worried. "Where did he go?"
"He started to walk to your house as soon as he finished the fight."
Star immediately ran towards her house. "Thanks Jackie!" She shouted before leaving her friend.
"No problem!" She shouted back before skating away.
Star was so focused on getting home, that she didn't noticed when she ran pass an alley with four beaten teenagers laying on the ground.
…
Star arrived at her home, opening quickly the door of the house.
"Take me to Mewni! Now!" Marco's shout was heard through the house as soon as Star stepped inside.
She quickly ran upstairs and into Marco's room.
"I think you should calm down, Marco." Glossaryck said calmly, trying to rationalize with the angered teenager.
"And I think you should stop playing the mentor! Now, take me to Mewni! I know you can!" Marco shouted back angrily.
"Marco!" Star shouted as well. Calling the attention of the two magical beings.
"Oh, it looks like I don't need your help after all, Glossaryck." Marco stated as she turned to face Star. "Star! Thanks for joining to the party!"
Star was now genuinely confused. "Marco, what is happening?"
"I must go to Mewni to gain the respect I deserve, but the little blue jerk behind me is not helping." Marco said as he pointed at Glossaryck. "But now, I don't need him. I only need you to use your scissors! As simple as that!"
Star looked with doubt at the evil look in Marco's eyes and then at Glossaryck.
Glossaryck shook slightly his head in dissaprovement.
"Uhh… Sorry, but I remember I lend my scissors to… Pony Head…?" Star lied, hoping for Marco to fall for it.
"Who do you think you are kidding?" Marco asked with an annoyed tone.
"Well, I tried…" Star thought to herself.
"I know you have them in that mess you call a room! So stop stalling!" Marco said angrily.
"Marco, I don't know what is happening, but-!"
"What is happening is that you two are not doing what I'm saying!" Marco exclaimed angrily. "And if you aren't going to help me, then I will make you help me!" Marco shouted as he reached for the cover of his wand, only to found it empty. "Wait… Where's my wand…?"A sudden realization came to Marco. "That cretin!" Marco shouted with rage before leaving the room and exiting the house, leaving the Butterfly residence.
Star and Glossaryck stood in complete silence for a moment.
"So… What the heck just happened?" Star asked with a confused tone.
Glossaryck thought his answer for a moment before replying. "Well, it seems like Marco casted the swaperson spell on himself."
"The what now spell?"
Glossaryck sighed. "The swaperson is a spell used previously by queens that were not ready to rule yet. So they used the spell to swap their personalities with someone that was ready to rule instead of training."
"So… You are telling me that Marco changed his personality with someone else?"
"It would seem like it."
"And you can fix him, right?"
"With the chask of my fingers, yes."
"And why didn't you fix him when he was yelling at your face?!" Star asked while yelling at his face.
"Because magic is not simple!"
"But you just said that you could have fixed him with the chask of your fingers!"
"Star, calm down." Glossaryck stated with a serious tone, bringing Star back to her senses.
"Oh! Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Sorry about that."
"Don't worry about it. But, as I was saying, this magic is really simple to undo, but we can't just take everything to normal with just Marco. We have to get the other person as well for the spell to work."
"And… how exactly are we gonna find the right person?"
As soon as the question was planted, the ring bell of the door was heard through the house.
Star walked downstairs and received the unexpected guest. Lars.
"Um… E-Excuse me…"
"Lars?! What are you doing here?!" Star asked with confusion and surprise.
"Oh, s-sorry! I didn't mean to interrupt anything!" Lars said nervously as he retrieved something from his backpack. "I was just here to give this back, is the Safe Kid home?" On Lars' hand, the wand of the prince was being held.
"Hang in there for one moment!" Star said before accidentally slamming the door with hurry. "Found him!" Star exclaimed happily while facing Glossaryck.
"Yeah, I noticed. And he also brought the wand while Marco was out, which is relieving." Glossaryck added.
"Now all we have to do is to find Marco and we can wrap up this whole mess!"
"That's easy to say. But we still need to find a way to get them both closed enough for the spell to work."
"How close?"
"Like, really close." Glossaryck said while pinching his fingers almost together.
"Then we better find him quick! Before he does something Lars would do!"
"Umm… Star?" Lars asked from the other side of the door. "Is everything alright?"
Star quickly opened the door. "Yeah, everything is alright! But Marco is not here right now. Why don't we go to look for him!"
"W-We?"
"Yes! Don't you want to give him his wand?"
"Wand?"
"I mean, knife?" Star corrected herself before raising any suspicion from Lars.
"I… I dunno. He was really mad at me last time I saw him…"
"Mad? Oh, no, no, no, no! He was a little upset! But everything is fine now!" She lied with a big smile.
"Y-You think so…?"
"I know so! And I also know that he will be really glad when you give him back his wand!"
"…Okay." Lars said as he moved aside to let Star out.
Star stepped out her house and closed the door behind her. Immediately after that, she began to run and Lars ran behind her.
Glossaryck exited the house and started to follow them as well.
"Besides, Marco is not a gruesome person! I bet he is looking to apologize with you right now!"
…
"Come out, wherever you are!" Marco shouted in blind rage as he walked through the empty corridors of the school.
"He doesn't look calmed! At all!" Lars exclaimed in fear as he and Star watched the enraged Marco from behind a wall.
"I know, but I need you to get him back to normal." Star stated while looking at her bestie, looking furiously for Lars.
"You need me for what?!" Lars exclaimed with concern.
"Just go and apologize with him! I will take care of the rest!" Star told him, almost with authority.
"But-!" Before Lars could complain, Star pushed him out of their hiding.
"Hey, over here!" She shouted and went back into her hiding.
"H-Hey!"
"Well, well, well…"
Lars froze at the words, slowly turning into the voices direction.
"Look who it is! Just the jerk I was looking for!" Marco exclaimed while walking towards the trembling Lars.
"I hope you are ready, Glossaryck." Star said to the little blue man that was floating behind her.
"More ready than you could ever be." Glossaryck said while giving Star an indifferent look.
Marco walked toward the bully, and despite Lars being taller than Marco, it was clear who was the intimidating one of the two. Marco stopped right in front of Lars.
"Are they close enough?" Star asked, not losing them from her sight.
"Not yet." Glossaryck replied while preparing his fingers to chask and revert the spell as soon as he could.
"Hand over my wand, now!" Marco demanded angrily.
"Y-Yes! Of course!" Lars said nervously while looking for the wand in his pocket, just to find nothing.
Meanwhile, Star took a look at the wand in her hand. "I'm sorry…" Star whispered while looking back at them.
"You took the wand?!" Glossaryck asked, genuinely surprised by Star's actions.
"What I was supposed to do? Let Marco to take the wand from Safe Lars?"
"Safe Lars?" Glossaryck asked while raising an eyebrow.
"Hey, Marco is the Safe Prince! So I shall as well call Lars as Safe Lars!"
"That's a good point. But I have another point. Have you ever see Marco facing this "Lars" guy directly?" Glossaryck asked while making air quotes.
"Umm…"
"AAAHHH!" The sudden scream called their attention to the corridor.
Lars was running for his life with Marco chasing after him.
"Come back here!" Marco shouted while following after the cowardly Lars.
The two of them turn in a corner, getting out of Star's sight.
Star jaw dropped to the ground before she came out of her shock. "Hey! Wait!" Star yelled as she came out of her hiding and began to run in their direction.
Glossaryck looked at the scene before adding. "Marco's going to murder that poor guy. Oh well, at least Marco already made a memory spell." Glossaryck said as he retrieved Marco's notebook of spells and began to read it.
…
Lars ran through the corridors for dear life while a rampaging Marco was chasing after his prey.
"Stop running!" Marco shouted as he began to run faster, getting more close to Lars with every step.
Star got into the corridor just in time to see the two teenagers running towards the playground. "Huff… Well… Time for a shortcut…" Star said as she entered the detention classroom.
…
Lars ran into the playground and was about to climb a tree before Marco grabbed him from behind and dropped him to the floor.
"No more running away!" Marco yelled as he walked towards Lars. "Are you going to give me back my wand? Or am I gonna have to make you?" Marco asked while preparing his fists.
"I-I'm telling you! I dunno where it is!" Lars pleaded while backing off.
"You told me you had it! So I will not let you go until you hand it over!"
"B-B-But-!"
"Or else!" Marco interrupted with a shout.
"Stop!" A shout interrupted.
The two teenagers looked at Star, that was running towards them.
"Ah, Star! Perfect timing! I was about to get the wand from this jerk. As soon as I get it back, we can go to Mewni." Marco stated with a rather happy, but still arrogant mood.
Star stopped in front of him. "The only jerk right now, is you!" Star, in a blind rage, shouted at his face.
Marco was surprised by this at the beginning before snapping back. "What?!"
Star's eyes went wide as soon as she realized her mistake.
"After all I've done for you, this is how you pay me?!" Marco yelled. "You are just like the others…" Marco mumbled under his breath.
Star stepped back, expecting the worse.
"Then fine!" Marco shouted as he stomped furiously on the ground, leaving a crack under his foot. "I don't need you! I only need your scissors! And after I get the wand from this dead man, I will take them away from you!" Marco yelled as he turned around and proceed to approach Lars once again.
Before Lars could react, he was lifted from the neck of his shirt by Marco.
"Last chance! My wand, now!"
"I-I-I don't know-!"
"Wrong answer!" Marco yelled as he turned his free hand into a fist.
"Wait!" Star shouted.
The sound of the snap of fingers filled the air.
As soon as the sound emerged, two strings of lights came out of Marco and Lars. The strings of light exchanged themselves, getting back into their correspondent owner.
After the magic show, Marco came back to his senses, shaking his head. He watched his current situation. Grabbing the school bully by the neck and about to punch him. "Wh… What am I doing?" Marco asked himself with a doubtful tone as he let go the bully. "What have I done?" Marco asked himself with regret. Soon, he was startled by a hand being placed in his shoulder.
"I'll explain later…" Star said in a comforting way.
Lars approach at the two friends with the same angry look he usually had.
Marco looked at him and sighed. "Look… Lars… I'm sorry for all the trouble. If you want to punch me, I understand…"
Lars look at him with disgust for some seconds before picking up something from the ground. "Here, take your stupid knife." Lars said while handing the wand back to Marco.
Marco received it with a little of hesitation.
"I'm out of here." Lars said before turning around and walking towards the exit.
The two teenagers stood there in complete silence for some seconds.
A sad sigh broke the silence.
"I'm sorry… For the things I said… And the things I did…" Marco paused for a moment. "I was just so… mad. I couldn't think well, at all…"
Star patted her back. "That's alright. Things ended up really well in the end! But, don't go fury crazy again."
"I'm sorry…"
"Hey, stop being sad already! After all, what kind of Friendship Thursday would it be if my bestie is sad?" Star asked with a happy tone and a big smile.
A smile formed itself in Marco's face, pushing the stress away for the moment. "Heh… I guess you're right."
