Sorry for the wait, I was mid-chapter when I had to stop and focus on a school paper.
Part 4 of 8 of the arc, halfway done!
I really want to upload some art I've done for the story, mainly character and outfit designs. Thing is, I draw all my art traditionally, I have no way to color it digitally except Microsoft Paint so I stick to colored pencils. Not to mention I don't have a scanner at the moment so the pics would have to be taken by my phone. In spite of that, would you still like me to upload it to Tumblr, Twitter and Deviantart?
Replying to SugarQueen97: Yeah, despite their portrayal in canon, I aimed to write Mina and Seth as Team Rocket like villains instead of major threats. Originally it was only going to be Mina working for Ragnarok, but when I started thinking about Seth I found potential comedy gold teaming them up against their will.
"Alright, are we ready to commence the secret meeting?"
"Yes we are, but Star I have to ask you something?"
"What is it Kelly?"
"Why is our secret meeting being held in a breakfast restaurant?"
Star, Pony Head, Tom, Janna and Kelly currently sat at a booth table at EPOF (Earthni Place of Flapjacks) with several stacks of pancakes between them. Tom and Janna sat on one side across from Star and Kelly, Pony floating over a chair on the end.
"We've been meeting in my room every time before, plus theres pancakes!" Star lifted a forkful of syrup covered pancakes to make her point. Kelly shrugged and accepted her point, taking a bite out of her own pancakes as well.
"Flapjack's aside, do we have any idea where the next seal thingy is?" Janna poked at her breakfast with a fork, trying to ignore the loud slurping to her right as Tom endlessly sipped on his chocolate milk.
Star sighed sadly "Not a clue, I went to ask Alphonse and there was a sign on his boat that he was 'out fishing'" she used air quotes to illustrate her point.
"Bummer, I haven't even gotten to see what one of those look like." Janna sounded disappointed.
In between bites of breakfast, Pony grabbed her phone "Here, I took a selfie with that last one." She turned her phone around to show a photo of herself posing in front of the previous seal on the floor of the ruins. Star stared at it in disbelief "When did you take that?"
Upon seeing the picture, Tom began choking on his chocolate milk and let out a comically large spit take, spraying the beverage all over Kelly's breakfast "I've seen that before!"
Everyone stared at the demon in alarm as he grabbed the phone away from Pony Head "That symbol thing on the floor, there's one of those in the Lucitor ballroom!" he pointed to the seal in the photo "It has a different design on it, but it is definitely another seal!"
Janna sat up and fist bump "Aw yeah, we're going to the underworld!"
Star sat uncomfortably silent "I-I can't go with you." She felt a sympathetic hand fall on her shoulder, Star looked to see Kelly beside her "Star, I know it isn't easy, but you have to face Marco if we're ever going to bring him back home." "No I mean I literally can't go, I'm sort of banned from the Underworld at the moment." Star answered casually.
Remembering that Kelly was stuck in her dimension when it happened, Tom decided to clarify "OK, so you know how I broke up with Star right? Well before that there was this incident at my family's lakehouse and Star got my mom's blessing for us to be together. Unknown to me, she started getting ahead of herself and started making plans for our future. She was devastated when she heard we broke up, and even though I was the one that did it, she put all the blame on Star for the breakup."
Once Tom was finished, Star added in "So she said if I ever set foot in the underworld, that's where I'll be spending the rest of eternity."
"Don't worry about it Star, me and Tom are gonna take care of everything down there." Janna pulled Tom to her side; making him blush profusely "You should check in with the Diaz's today and make sure they're holding up."
Star got visibly sadder at the mention of Marco's family, while she did tell them that Marco had been kidnapped and they were searching for him, she couldn't bear to tell them he had been brainwashed into evil. Star had instead told them that Mina and Seth were always moving and that's why they couldn't find him yet, it could be why they couldn't find them but she couldn't be certain that was the reason.
"OK, but you two need to be really careful. Marco's magic is very strong and very dangerous; I don't want anyone else I care about getting hurt." Star warned the duo.
Janna rolled her eyes "Pssh, you got nothing to worry about. After all, I have a secret weapon." And with that, Tom and Janna rushed out of the restaurant, leaving the other three to finish breakfast in peace. Kelly watched them leave nervously "Yeah I think we should worry even more after that last sentence."
OXOXOXOX
Every morning seemed the same; Marco would wake up after a night of dreamless sleep, walk through the old castle corridors and come into the main room to find Mina and Seth at each other's throats. He truly questioned why those two were chosen over literally anyone else, they were just two empowered racist old people. Reportedly they had been threats long ago, but with the loss of their original power and strengths they had become more of a nuisance than a threat.
Taking a seat at a table, Marco used his magic to conjure up some dark colored cereal, eating spoonful after spoonful as his coworkers bickered in the background.
"Would you let me get a word in Loveberry?"
"Oh is someone speaking? Cuz all I hear is air!"
"You can't hear air!"
Figuring that he would get no peace until all was resolved, Marco turned from the table and approached the two elders "What's wrong today?" his tone of voice carried that he couldn't care less. Seth looked at him first "Answer truthfully, does pineapple belong on pizza or not?"
Marco stared in disbelief "Seriously?! Pineapple on pizza?! How stupid can you two be?!" he pushed them apart with his hands "We have been given a crucial mission by Lord Ragnarok to set him free from his prison, we still need two more seals and we have to deal with that other magic user and her allies. But all you two care about is arguing over the universe's most insignificant problems!"
Seth and Mina blinked at him "So does it go on pizza or not?" Mina asked.
Marco let his arms fall to the side and groaned in frustration, walking back to his breakfast "Hopeless, both of them are hopeless…"
Before he is able to sit back down, the door opens up and Ragnarok's orb comes in on a Roomba "When I asked if there was a way to move my sphere without relying on you three, I expected something with a little more…class." He moves himself beside Marco's leg; the boy picks him up and sets the orb on the table "Nonetheless, it is effective. On that note, what is the progress on the fourth seal?"
"At the moment, nothing." Marco motioned back to the other two facing away from one another as they pouted. Ragnarok's eye twitched as he saw his other minions behavior "Ugh, this is why we can't have nice things." He mumbles to himself "Mina! Seth! Will the two of you be serious for a single moment! There are two more seals to find and that list of yours still has another thirteen places you haven't searched yet. For evil's sake could you just try to get along for one day?"
"Fine." The two of them sulked as they walked over to the door. Before leaving Mina turned to Ragnarok and Marco "I cannot wait until this is over, it will be so nice when Mewmans won't ever have to be around monsters anymore!" she gave a not so subtle wink to her boss, earning a facepalm from Marco. Seth looked to them as well "Yes, the sooner we finish, the sooner I won't have to see a Mewman again." He gave a similar wink.
Once the two had left, it was just Marco and Ragnarok in the room "Do we really need to keep those two for much longer? I can handle this all on my own." Marco voiced his thoughts.
"Patience my dark one, it's easier to let those two do the dirty work. No sense wasting your energy on trivial matters." Ragnarok spoke to Marco, letting the boy hold his orb in his hands "Still, I can't wait to see the look on their faces when they find out what you're really planning." Marco grinned in anticipation, walking the two of them to the stain glass window in the back of the room.
Touching the glass, darkness spread from out of Marco's hand as it devoured the artwork "Those numbskulls actually believe you're on each of their side and planning to betray the other and kill off their species."
Ragnarok's eyes began to glowing even deeper red than usual "Well It's not a complete lie, I do plan to destroy their opposing species…along with everything else across the dimensions." He looked up to the boy holding him, Marco's own eyes glowing red in turn "My boy, you truly are the only one I can count on." Marco's face twisted into an evil grin "I live to serve you my lord."
OXOXOXOX
The tranquil sky/ceiling of the Underworld was shaken as a flaming figure burrowed down from the surface. The flames stopped in front of the castle, blowing away to reveal a very dizzy Tom and Janna "Did we have to take the fast way?" Janna leaned against a brimstone pillar to balance herself, Tom did the same "Yes, because it's the fast way!"
Regaining their balance, the duo walked through the front gates of the Lucitor castle, passing black obsidian columns and flaming torches as they continued into the throne room. Arriving inside, the pair was greeted by Tom's parents sitting atop their thrones.
"Well isn't this a rare occasion, your hardly ever in the throne room Tom." His father mused.
Tom rolled his eyes "Yeah, yeah, but I need to ask you-""Sup, I'm Janna!" the girl beside him interrupted, a cheeky smile on her face.
At the mention of her name, Tom's mother Wrathmelior squee'd and came over to greet her (So you're the Janna my little Tommy's been talking about! It's nice to finally meet you!) Wrathmelior spoke in her demon tongue. Unexpectedly, Janna nodded and send Tom a grin "Aw, you talk about me at home, how sweet."
"You-you understand demon language?!" Tom was floored; his mom was happily surprised "Yep, you really didn't think I'd borrow a dictionary from your room when you weren't around?" Janna shot back before going up to Wrathmelior and shaking her hand, well Janna's hand to her finger (I've never met a human that can speak the language, well considering your interest in the dark arts it doesn't surprise me.)
While his best friend and his mother were making small talk, King Dave approached his son and whispered to him "Now this girl seems like a keeper. Anyone that can learn demon tongue must be better company than the Butterfly princess." Tom flinched as his dads tone became more passive aggressive, Wrathmelior ceased talking to Janna and stood up slowly. When she turned in Tom's direction, there was an intense glare in her eyes (Honey, I thought we agreed never to speak of that heartbreaker ever again!) he tone was controlled yet obviously enraged.
Tom's father took a few, slow steps backwards, inching back to his throne as he left Tom's side. The queen remained silently fuming until a cough from Janna reminded her of the company in the room "Uh, so Tom didn't you have something to ask your parents?" she aimed to change the subject.
Remembering why they were here, Tom looked to his mom and dad "Right, right, so dad I came to ask you if I can borrow the royal ballroom for a bit?"
Dave looked surprised "Whatever for?"
"Well…Janna wants to learn some traditional Lucitor ballroom dances!" Tom slung his arm over Janna's shoulder "And hey, what better place to learn than in the Lucitor Ballroom!"
Staring at her friend in total confusion, Janna started to protest "Wha- that's not-"he placed a hand over her mouth, nervously smiling at his parents.
(Building monster trucks, summoning dead spirits, ballroom dancing, your friend has so many wonderful interests!) Wrathmelior gazed at the two affectionately. Removing the hand from her mouth, Janna actually looked surprised "Wow, you really do talk about me a lot." She was genuinely flattered.
(Of course he does, after all he has a big cru-) "OK WE ARE LEAVING NOW! THANKS FOR LETTING US USE THE BALLROOM, BYE!" Tom grabbed Janna's arm and pulled her out of the room as fast as he could, all the while trying to hide the immense blush on his face.
Once they were further down the hall, Tom let go and walked a few steps in front of Janna "What was that about?" Janna tilted her head in confusion.
"Nothing! It was absolutely nothing!" Tom quickly answered in a panic.
"Not about what your mom was gonna say, why did you tell them I wanted to learn dancing?" Janna sped up her pace so that she was directly next to Tom now. The demon avoided looking her in the eyes, instead preferring to watch the ground as they walked "Short answer, they can't know about this."
Janna raised her eyebrow "Alright, give me the long answer."
Letting out a heavy sigh, Tom stopped in his tracks and turned his head to meet Janna's interrogating gaze "If we were up against anyone else, I would tell my parents right away. But we are fighting Marco, who in my mother's eyes is the reason I'm not with Star anymore. My mom's wrath extends to him too."
"Ah, that explains why you always shove him into some hiding spot whenever the two of you are hanging out and she comes in." The memory of Marco being shoved into a tiny drawer never ceased to make her laugh. Tom stared in bewilderment "How do you even know about that?" "I'm Janna, I see all…and I hid a camera in your Christmas present."
Tom wasn't even surprised "Yeah should have seen that coming. Back on track, if my parents knew it was Marco trying to steal the seal, they would not hesitate to use lethal force." Peering over his shoulder, Tom locked eyes with a nearby portrait of his mother "Demons always tell our mothers everything, if my mom knew I've been hiding things from her…" he couldn't find it in him to finish that sentence.
"Dude, it's gonna be ok." Janna reassured him, leaning her elbow on his shoulder "Between your demon powers and my secret weapon, we'll have them out of here and take Marco back with us in no time at all."
Janna expected Tom to agree with her, to just give her a nod that he was on the same page as she was, but all he did was stare at her in concern "Tom?" "Janna, what is your secret weapon?" giving a devious grin, Janna poked her finger into Tom's chest "If I told you then it wouldn't be a secret now would it?"
Holding her wrist, Tom pushed her hand away and gave her a serious look "Look, you have to tell me what it is before we go in there. Do you have like, some secret voodoo magic? A powerful weapon? I need to know that you can defend yourself."
At those last few words, Janna scowled at Tom "Hey, I can defend myself just fine!" she pulled her arms away and crossed them in front of her chest. Tom wasn't convinced at all "Janna, from all that Star has told me about Marco's current state, he is a serious threat. You don't have powers or a weapon or training of any kind to fight him. I can't fight Marco if I'm too busy protecting you!"
"Protecting me?! I'm not some princess in a tower that needs rescuing; I can handle things on my own!" Janna pushed Tom out of her way and angrily stomped off in the direction of the ballroom. Tom growled and let some flames shoot from his horns, struggling to keep his flames from engulfing his body as it shook in anger. He silently walked behind Janna, not saying a word to her as they approached their destination.
OXOXOXOX
It was hard to miss the seal in the ballroom; it covered most of the dance floor. Tom and Janna stood in the center of the floor, over an ominous eye that was surrounded by a sun shape. On the ceiling above them, stood the blood moon crystal inside the hand that had chosen Star and Marco at the Blood Moon Ball.
"I can see why it was hidden here; it blends in with the décor." Janna spoke aloud. Tom ignored her as he moved down to the ground "Alright, let's crack this baby up!" he flexed his arms to an unamused Janna. Digging his nails into the ground, Tom was set ablaze as he attempted to lift the floor.
"This…this is really heavy!" Tom choked out.
"What did you expect?! It's a giant stone floor!" Janna reminded him. The demon continued pulling, even shifting into his most demonic state to raise the ground. Regardless of how hard he tried, the floor failed to budge.
Dropping his form, Tom fell back on his butt and took deep breaths "That (Gasp) is one stubborn floor!" in return, Janna rolled her eyes "There has to be a switch or something around here." She had only begun walking a few steps when she noticed something amiss.
"Uh, Tom? I think we got company."
The demon boy lifted his head up to see a portal beginning to form, one that swirled with purple-black energy. Rising to his feet, Tom stood ready for anything to come out. Seconds later, one aged lizard head poked through "Please be a seal, please be a seal." He chanted under his breath. Laying eyes on the scene before him, he found himself staring at two confused teenagers "Uh…" Seth couldn't think of any other way to respond, just letting the one syllable hang awkwardly for a few seconds.
Shoving her way through the portal, Mina stepped out as Seth tumbled to the ground "You know, an 'excuse me' would be nice every once in a while." He grumbled. Lifting himself up, Seth took note of the floor and grinned "Finally, a seal!" he poked his head back through the portal, saying something on the other end that Tom and Janna couldn't make out.
Taking his head out of the vortex, Seth stepped aside as Marco emerged and closed the portal behind him "Took you long enough." "I'd like to see you do bet-"a glare from Marco shut Seth up quickly, the lizard backing away as he let the boy handle the rest.
Seeing their good friend again, Tom and Janna felt conflicted. Being told what happened to Marco was hard, but actually seeing him made their blood run cold "Marco..." Janna stared in awe "That outfit actually makes you look hot!" she blurted out; her demon companion gave her a look of disbelief.
"Flattery will get you nowhere girl." Marco brushed off her comment "I'm here for the seal."
Before Tom could do anything, Janna walked past him and right up to Marco "Well, looks like it's time to break out the secret weapon." She cracked her knuckles in preparation. Both sides waited in tense silence, Marco prepared magic in his fist as he prepared for anything.
"Chicken Butt."
Janna snapped her fingers with a smug grin. She waited a moment for Marco to fall unconscious…but he never did "Huh?" she snapped her fingers a few more times, repeating the trigger each time. Tom facepalmed in embarrassment, Mina and Seth stared in utter confusion, Marco simply rose an eyebrow at her "Just what are you trying to do?"
Janna grunted in frustration, snapping her fingers nonstop "Chicken Butt, Chicken Butt, Chicken Butt-why isn't this working?! Don't you feel anything at all?!"
"I'm feeling a little tired, but mostly I'm feeling ticked off." Marco answered "But this does give me an idea." He shot out a beam of magic right at Janna, who was pushed back several feet "Janna!" Tom cried out. Gathering more dark magic into his hands, Marco formed it into a large shape "Muerto de Pollo!" the magic solidified into a sixteen foot tall evil chicken made of darkness, which proceeded to let out a deep clucking noise that shook the air.
Staring up at the evil chicken, Janna just shook her head "Why is it always giant birds?"
Pointing to the human girl, Marco commanded the chicken "You, deal with this girl. Mina, Seth, go with it." The Solarian and Septarian grinned as they rushed to mount the creature "I'm calling you Sebastian 2 chicken boogaloo!" Mina affectionately petted the top of the chicken's head.
The chicken turned its attention to Janna and let out a threatening cluck "Yeah, I should probably start running." Janna noted. The dark chicken slammed its beak into where Janna had been mere moments ago, the girl having jumped to her feet not a second to soon "I've got this, you take Dark Marco!" Janna called to Tom as she sprinted out of the ballroom, drawing the chicken's attention as it followed her away.
Now on his own, Tom was left standing across the room from the boy he knew as his best friend, who sadly did not see him the same "So, you're the only defense against this seal? What can you do?" Marco taunted. Wordlessly, Tom conjured a wall of flames behind him, letting lost souls entangle themselves in the flames as he showed his power. There were many who would fear this display of demonic prowess, Marco however felt excited "Finally, someone who can give me a challenge."
Tom ceased his power as he directed the flames to his hands "Yeah? Well come and get me."
The two rushed at each other with magic and demonic fire surrounding their bodies, their powers clashing against each other as they traded blows. Punch after punch, blast after blast, and the two matched moves and kept on going as they tossed each other around the ballroom. Marco released his monster arm spell and lashed at Tom, who caught the appendage in his hand and proceeded to burn it with his flames, getting a pained noise from Marco in turn. The corrupted boy recalled his spell and rubbed his singed arm, causing Tom to drop his guard for a moment, only to be blindsided by a flurry of shadow shurikens. Tom sent up a flaming barrier as the spell disintegrated against the heat, then pushed it outwards in a massive fire blast.
Barely shielding himself from the fiery inferno, Marco grinned wickedly "Glad to finally meet someone that can give me a proper fight." He held a ball of pure darkness in his hands before shoving it at Tom, the blow hitting him right in the cheek "Agh!" he touched his hand to his face, cauterizing the wound with his flames. Marco flipped in the air and aimed a powerful kick to Tom, who caught his leg and swung him in circles before letting him go.
The way Marco fell to the ground, the room they were in; it hit Tom with a sense of nostalgia. The demon bitterly chuckled to himself, causing Marco to stare at him "You know, this whole thing is really ironic." Tom gave a pained smile "When I first met you, I hated your guts. I wanted nothing more than to destroy you for taking Star's attention. This very same room, two years ago I shoved you across the dancefloor just like that. But now…" he felt tears stinging his eyes, he thought back to keep them inside "Now you're my best friend. After everything I did to you, you forgave me and buried the hatchet. But the tides have turned, your trying to kill me exactly where I tried to kill you." He let one tear leak from his eye "This is a real reversal huh Marco?"
Marco stood blankly, trying to make sense of what the demon was saying "I have no idea what you're talking about. I've never seen you before in my life!" he readied more magic into his hands "And soon, I'll be the last thing you ever see."
Unleashing a huge beam of energy, Tom shot out flames that pushed against it, the two exploded on contact as smoke filled the room. Marco coughed before performing a wind spell, clearing the smoke to find Tom nowhere in sight "Where…" black chains burst out behind him, pinning his arms to the side and rendering him unable to move.
Squirming around, Marco caught Tom behind him, holding the ends of the chains "This ends here Marco! Stop now before you hurt more people!" "Like you?" Marco smirked, pointing his finger at the demon as best as he could "Lightning Javelin!" a massive burst of electricity shot from his finger and made a direct hit with Tom.
The demon crouched over in pain, dropping the chains and letting Marco free. Working through the pain, Tom approached Marco again "I don't care what you do to me! I am taking you back and protecting this seal!"
A scream from outside caught the attention of the two.
Part of the upper wall burst open, with Mina, Seth, and the chicken peering through. The chicken held a squirming figure in its grasp "Janna!" Tom cried in alarm. Seeing an opportunity, Marco turned to his creation "Drop her in the lava!"
"What?!" Tom gasped; the chicken obeyed without question and flapped its tiny, but somehow functional wings and carried the human girl above the boiling lava. Tom turned to Marco in a panic "You wouldn't!" Marco just snapped his fingers, and the chicken dropped Janna.
The second it happened, Tom flew faster than he had ever gone before, soaring right through the hole in the roof and over to his falling friend. Janna couldn't help but scream; even she couldn't survive being covered in lava. She braced herself for impact, but felt a pair of arms instead of a molten death.
"Wha-Tom!?" she took a glance at her savior, Tom looking back to her with a look of relief "I got ya!" she swung her arms around his neck as he flew them back into the ballroom, just in time to see Marco finish opening the seal with his magic and grabbing the disc decorated with a pair of scissors. The boy opened a portal and quickly ushered Mina and Seth inside, going in after as the portal closed.
Landing besides the hole on the floor, the two could no nothing but stare, Janna hung her head in disappointment and Tom punched the wall, gritting his teeth. Neither thinking it could get any worse…
(What is going on here!?) The voice of the queen echoed through the room. Tom and Janna peered up to see Wrathmelior looking in through the hole in the wall.
OXOXOXOX
Tom and Janna stood back in the Lucitor throne room, with the former's parents trying to wrap their heads around the situation "So that Marco boy, came into the underworld and stole something hiding in the ballroom floor so he could unleash some great horror?!" Dave summed up what he had been told. His wife slammed her fist against her throne (I knew that boy was trouble! I should have slain him when I had the chance!)
"No! It's not his fault, he's been brainwashed into doing this!" Tom reasoned with his mother "This is exactly the reaction I was afraid of." He muttered under his breath.
(Tommy, why didn't you tell me about all this?) Wrathmelior was genuinely hurt that her son had kept a secret from her. Her son ran his hands through his hair in frustration "I didn't tell you because you would have killed him!" He glared directly into his mother's eyes "Marco is my best friend-" "Hey!" "Present company excluded." He rolled his eyes to Janna "We want to save him and bring him back to his senses, but all you care about is getting revenge for something that was my own choice! Me and Star were never meant for each other, can you please just accept that and forgive them already!?"
No one said a word; neither of his parents was willing to say anything in return. Hurt at their silence, Tom turned his back to them, leaving the castle with Janna by his side.
Not having the strength to burrow to the surface, Tom and Janna took the long way back through the Underworld. The silence continued for miles, until Janna finally broke the quiet "Hey, thanks for saving me back there." She walked behind him, unable to see his face "You were right, I did need someone to protect me…"
Tom started to turn around "Janna…"
"I hate it." Janna clenched her fists "I hate being so useless in a fight! All I do is drag the rest of you down! You could have stopped him if I had been able to fight that giant chicken on my own!"
"Hey, look at me." Tom calmly said, brushing his hand against Janna's cheek as he nudged her to look at him. Tom gave her the most heartfelt gaze as he spoke "I'm sorry for earlier too. I didn't mean to set you off, I just…if anything were to happen to you, I would never forgive myself."
Janna listened in shock; a blush spreading on her face "Tom…" her brain couldn't come up with a response. Her heart was beating a mile a minute, her face felt hot, she always made others flustered but until now hadn't felt it herself. She snorted and pushed him away, trying not to show her reddened face "Wow, you sound like Marco right now!"
Mentioning their friend's name, they both fell somber again "What now? We had one job and we failed at it." Janna asked.
"There's still one more seal, we have to get this one…and we'll get him back too." The demon answered, staring at the underworld sky lost in thought. They still had a chance, and they would not waste it.