WATCH THE SERIES FINALE OF STAR VS. BEFORE READING THIS STORY!


Chapter 28: Fondue for Four

"Why do I feel like this is going to end up badly?" Marco asked as he looked at himself through a small mirror on the wall in his room, straightening the tie on his gray suit. Star was in the bathroom brushing her hair, wearing an orange-cream color knee-length dress with a white kitten patch on the bottom corner of it.

"Well, it's not! I mean, come on! Tom and Janna haven't been on an actual date!" Star told him.

"Uh-huh. Okay. And what is your definition of an 'actual date'? We've had dates in private before." Marco told her.

"Yup. But we've also had dates in public places! And we weren't so secretive about it!" Star said, putting her hairbrush down. "They need to go PUBLIC!" Star said excitedly, slamming her fists on the bathroom counter, accidentally spilling a ton of stuff out of her medicine cabinet hanging on the wall. "Aw, darn it."

"Well, I still think you're trying to meddle again." Marco said as Star put all the fallen objects back on the medicine cabinet shelves. "Why don't you just let their relationship grow on its own?"

"Woah. Hey. I'm not trying to meddle!" Star replied, pointing at Marco. "I just want to be a witness to the growth of something…" Star wiggled her fingers, pretending magic was coming from them. "...magical." She spoke in a high-pitched voice.

"Ohhhh boy." Marco replied, face-palming. A doorbell suddenly sounded. Star's eyes lit up.

"It's tiiiime!" Star happily sang as she ran out of the door and down the steps.

"Star! Wait up!" Marco said as he started to run before falling flat on his face, realizing his shoe was tied to the leg of his desk chair sitting next to him. "What the-...Glossaryk!" Marco shouted, realizing that Glossaryk was the one who tied his shoelace to his desk chair when he wasn't looking. Glossaryk peeked out from the door, snickering as he witnessed his prank in action.

Star happily made her way to the door, opening it, revealing a normal-acting Janna and a nervous Tom. Star's pupils turned to hearts as she saw the couple standing at the door. Janna was wearing a jade green dress while Tom was wearing a black and white suit with his jacket unbuttoned.

"Hey." Janna said in a monotone voice.

"Uh...hi." Tom spoke as he pulled on his collar, acting a little nervous for some odd reason.

"Oh my gosh you guys are sooo cuuuuuuuute!" Star squeaked, not even taking a breath as she placed her hands on her cheeks. Marco came down the steps, seeing Janna and Tom at the doorway.

"Hey guys!" Marco said. He then noticed Janna's attire. "Woah. Woah. Hold up. Janna? Are you wearing a dress?!" Tom suddenly started flailing his arms about, trying to warn Marco not to say anything about what she was wearing.

"Don't...mention...the dress." Janna said in a deep, almost demonic voice. Marco swallowed in fear, knowing not to mention that dress ever again. She obviously didn't like wearing it. "Anyway, where are we going exactly?" Janna asked.


"Fondue Palace!" Star proclaimed with her hands up in the air as they all stood in front of a restaurant in the middle of town.

"Fon-...what?" Tom asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Fondue, Tom. They put food on little swords!" Star told him.

"For the last time, Star. They're skewers, not swords. Besides, I promised Star a while ago that I would bring her somewhere that serves fondue. Star and I did plan to go by ourselves but it was Star's idea to take you guys with." Marco said, looking at Star as her eyes lit up while having the biggest smile on her face.

"Wierd. I don't remember a restaurant in Echo Creek serving fondue." Janna spoke.

"Oh, this place is new. Apparently it might become 'the next big thing'." Marco told her, using air quotes.

"Pfft. Like it can beat out boba tea." Star chuckled, rolling her eyes as they walked to the door. Marco stepped in front of her, opening it for Star.

"After you." He spoke with a smile.

"Why thank you, Marco!" Star replied as they both walked in, closing the door behind them. Star leaned her head close to Marco as they slowly walked forward.

"Why didn't you hold the door for them?" Star whispered.

"I want to see what Tom does." Marco said.

"Now who's the one meddling?" Star asked, smirking.

"Zip it." Marco spoke.

Tom and Janna stood outside, near the door. Janna crossed her arms, waiting for Tom to open it. She looked at the door, then Tom, then the door again, realizing that Tom isn't getting the hint to open the door for her. She cleared her throat.

"Uh...door?" Janna asked.

"Oh!" Tom said loudly before opening the door...shattering the glass as it swung open. Tom and Janna stood there with their eyes wide. Tom began to sweat, shedding a guilty smile.

"No way I'm cleaning that up." Janna said as she walked through the doorway. Tom stood there as she watched her walk in, looking like a hot mess.


Skywynne sat in the living room of the Diaz residence, watching a soap opera on the television. She was the only one home since Marco's parents and Mariposa went to see a movie. She decided to stay behind to give her four friends some alone time. It was a double-date after all and she didn't have anyone to take with her. Besides, she had a soap opera to watch! Skywynne held the remote while her eyes were glued to the screen. She leaned closer to the television, watching some drama unfold. A man and a woman stood on a grassy cliff near a beach.

"Ricardo...I'm afraid we can't be together." The woman said.

"Alicia, no! I love you no matter who you are! Whatever it is, we can work this out!" Ricardo replied, holding his hand out toward Alicia.

"You don't understand, Ricardo! I...am allergic...to cats!" Alicia replied.

"But...but you said you love my little Truffle! You lied to me Alicia! Why?!" Ricardo said as he held a white persian cat.

"I'm sorry but...it's not meant to be. I must go...and move on." Alicia spoke.

"Alicia! Noooooooo!" Ricardo shouted to Alicia while Truffle meowed along with him.

"You're making a mistake, Alicia! Look beyond the hives and listen to your heart!" Skywynne said as she placed her hands on her heart. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. "Who could that be?" Skywynne asked herself as she got up, walking towards the door and opening it. "Hello?"

Skywynne gasped.


Star, Marco, Janna, and Tom all sat at a table, silent as they waited for their food to come to the table. Marco drank some water out of his glass while Tom cleared his throat. There was a fondue pot in the middle of their table already. However, they were told not to touch the boiling contents inside it though. Suddenly, the candlelight on the table went out. Everyone stared at it as a small bit of smoke came from the wick. Tom made suave eyes at Janna.

"I got this." Tom said as he snapped his fingers, making a little flame appear from his pointer finger. He hovered the small flame above the candlewick...and made the entire candlelight up in a 5-inch blaze.

"Ah...AH! FIRE! FIRE!" Marco screamed. Janna took a pitcher of water from a waiter walking by, dumping it on the fire. Everyone stared at the charred candle in shock.

"Would you like...um...another candle brought to your table?" The water asked, raising a finger in the air nervously.

"Nah. We're good." Janna replied before the waiter walked away. She glanced at Tom. "Dude, you're destroying everything in sight. You good?" Janna asked.

"Uh...yeah! Yeah. Yeah. Just peachy." Tom said, nervously.

"Peachy?" Star repeated, never ever hearing that word come out of Tom's mouth before.

"Yeah, who says 'peachy' anymore?" Marco asked.

"I do! Okay!?" Tom spoke loudly, irritated as his hair lit up just a little bit with fire. Star and Marco looked at him with wide eyes, wondering what his problem is. Tom then quickly glanced at Janna, who gave him a raised eyebrow, almost as if she was used to this and didn't want him acting this way in public. He immediately calmed down to avoid further issues. "I mean...uh…" Tom noticed the waiter coming over, pushing a cart carrying multiple plates of food. "Oh, look! The food's coming!" Tom spoke, derailing from the situation. The waiter stopped at their table, placing plates of meats and veggies on it.

"Enjoy your meal." The waiter said before leaving the table, pushing the now empty cart away. Star looked around at all the plates of food.

"Okay, Marco. Lay it on me. How does this work?" Star asked, extremely focused as she took a skewer and started poking the tip of it, flinching as the tip of it poked her finger. "Ow!"

"Actually, I have the same question...because you know...there's no such thing as fondue in the underworld so-..." Tom nervously chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, what you do is take one of these-" Marco started as he took a skewer from the fondue pot.

"Little swords!" Star said excitedly, holding one of them in front of his face. Marco made a straight face, pretending to ignore what she just said. He gently lowered her hand from his face.

"...you pick up a piece of food…" Marco took the skewer and stabbed a slice of potato with it, "...and you stick it in the pot of broth until it's fully cooked through." Marco explained as if he was a chef teaching inexperienced amateurs. He then took the potato out of the pot, showing that it's been cooked.

"Oh...that's easy!" Star said. Marco grabbed an empty plate, about to put the potato right onto it. Star put a hand on his arm, stopping him. "Marco...what are you doing?" Star asked with a solemn look.

"I was uh…I wasn't sure if you wanted me to-..." Marco started, frozen in place.

"Marco. My man. We're dating. Just feed me the potato slice. It's a normal thing couples do." Star told him. Marco relaxed his posture a bit.

"Okay." Marco said gladly before feeding Star the potato slice. Star shed a smile as she tasted the fondue goodness. On the other side of the table, Tom observed Marco's and Star's behavior. He decided to try to imitate it so he could impress Janna. He took a skewer and stabbed a carrot before putting it into the pot of boiling broth. He took it out not too long after and observed it, making sure it was fully cooked through. Tom offered it to Janna. Janna raised an eyebrow, looking at the carrot in disgust.

"You do realize I'm allergic to carrots, right?" Janna asked him. Tom immediately retreated the carrot, sitting stiffly in his chair, sweating up a storm. He didn't think this double-date could get any worse. He took a look at Marco, observing his behavior towards Star one more time.

"Like it?" Marco asked Star as his arm was placed behind her. Star had about five skewers in her hands. Her mouth was full of food.

"Mmmhmm!" Star muffled. She swallowed her food. "Who thought fondue could be so much fun! Hey, hey. It should be called 'fun-due'! Huh? Huh?" She told him with her mouth full, nudging Marco.

"Very clever, Star." Marco chuckled before giving her a little kiss on the cheek. Star giggled at the feeling of the kiss. Tom then thought to himself.

"Wait a minute...a kiss! One of the best ways to a woman's heart!" Tom thought to himself. He turned to Janna, who was messing with a skewer.

"You know, these could make some good ninja daggers." Janna spoke as she poked the sharp tips of them. Tom swallowed anxiously before leaning in, about to kiss her cheek. Janna turned her gaze to Tom, seeing that he was going in for a kiss before immediately pulling away from him. She got up out of her chair in a hurry.

"Hey Star want to go to the girl's room great okay let's go." Janna said without stopping to take a breath. Star and Marco's eyes went wide, wondering what in the world was wrong with Janna.

"Oh! Uh, okay. If you insi-WOAH!" Star sounded, feeling a pull at her arm as Janna brought her along. Marco and Tom watched as they saw their dates walk away from the table. Once they were out of sight, Marco turned to Tom, who was sweating profusely.

"Okay. What's going on, man? You're acting...insecure." Marco told him.

"Pfft...what? There's nothing going on, okay? Nothing." Tom told him.

"...really Tom?" Marco spoke with a raised eyebrow. Tom looked over to his side.

"I'd uh...rather not talk about it." Tom replied.

"Tooooom?" Marco spoke with a raised brow. Tom tried holding back from talking. He couldn't hide it anymore after a few seconds.

"Look, I'm just scared, okay?! You happy now?!" Tom replied, frustrated. Marco froze, wide-eyed before leaning back in his chair. He smirked, crossing his arms.

"It all makes sense now." Marco said.

"What makes sense?!" Tom asked.

"You're worried about messing up with Janna." Marco replied.

"...what makes you say that?" Tom asked, irritated that he was even in this conversation.

"Oh, come on! You shattered a glass door and lit an entire candle on fire. It's obvious." Marco told him.

"...so?" Tom said, embarrassed.

"And then you tried copying how I was treating Star..." Marco started.

"Okay, yeah. I still don't see your point. All I see is you trying to make me feel even more humiliated than usual." Tom told him.

"That's not what I'm trying to do, Tom." Marco said.

"I know. I know." Tom said. "It's just…" He groaned. "I really don't want to lose her, okay? I mean, I messed up with Star and, like, one or two other girls before her and…" Tom hesitated. "...I really like Janna." He let out a sigh. "You know when you see a girl and you know in your heart that she's the one? I know it sounds cheesy but do you know what I mean?" Tom asked Marco. Marco looked over at Star's chair, smiling softly. Memories began to flood through his head of all of the fun times he's had with Star. Marco looked back at Tom.

"Yeah. I do." Marco said to him. "You know, here's what I think." Marco leaned on the table. "Janna likes you for you, right? Well...if that's the case, don't pretend to be someone you're not. Just be yourself. If you do that, then nothing should go wrong." He told Tom with a smile. Tom thought about what Marco told him for a second before smiling back.

"You know, those are some true words of wisdom, dude." Tom said before he and Marco fist-bumped. "Thanks."

"Hey, anything to help a brother out." Marco said with a smile. "Now to figure out what's going on with Janna." Marco said as they both looked towards the bathroom.


Janna and Star walked into the girl's bathroom. As Star looked in the mirror, checking her hair and dress, Janna paced back and forth. Star watched as she walked from one side of the bathroom to the other.

"Sooooo...what's up-" Star started.

"I can't take it, Star!" Janna spoke loudly.

"Woooooah okay. What now?" Star asked, holding her hands up in front of her.

"Tom! He's not acting like himself! Did he act this way with you when you guys were dating because I don't know what to do or-...or how to respond to it or-...anything!" Janna exclaimed, freaking out. "I mean, you and Marco might like to be all...you know...affectionate in public but I don't! I hate that!" Janna spoke. Star stood there stiff.

"Well, Tom did act this way on our first date. You know, he could just be nervous." Star shrugged. Janna looked at her feet, thinking about what Star just said.

"Geez. I'm not good at all this romantic stuff. I'm not used to being at restaurants and getting all dressed up. I mean, I like dead things." Janna replied. Star smiled at Janna's misknowledge of romance. Star came over to her, placing her hands on Janna's shoulders. Janna looked up at her.

"Look. Tom might not know how to treat you in public. You guys haven't had a date here before...or at any place like this for that matter. So you don't know how to act." Star said before slightly frowning. "I guess it's my fault for setting up this double date, huh. You're not a fan of these kinds of places, after all." Star spoke.

"Woah, hey. Don't put yourself down like that. You were just trying to help us with our relationship. I would've done the same thing if I saw you and Marco needed help with yours." Janna said. Star's eyes opened wide.

"Really?" Star asked. "Huh...and I thought I was the only one who meddled."

"Wait a minute. I don't meddle. I only get involved if I see there's a problem. You? You get involved no matter what the case." Janna said before they both laughed. Star wiped a tear from her eye from laughing.

"Anyway, it's your call, Janna. What do you wanna do?" Star asked. Janna thought to herself for a second. She hummed to herself before snapping her fingers.

"I got it." Janna spoke.


Marco and Tom continued to wait for Star and Janna until they caught sight of them coming back to the table.

"Everything okay?" Marco asked.

"Yeah. Everything's allllllll good." Star said before raising her hand up. "CAN WE GET A BILL PLEASE?!" Star exclaimed. Marco's eyes grew wide.

"Wait. Did I miss something? What's going on?" Tom asked.

"We're ditching this place and going somewhere else." Janna said.

"Okay...and that would be…" Tom spoke.


"The pier!" Marco and Tom said in excitement. Everyone was back in their normal outfits. Good thing they all brought a change of clothes in the back of Tom's car.

"Wow. It's been forever since I went to a pier." Tom said. He turned his gaze to Janna. "You know, this place is perfect. Good call." Tom smiled. Janna smiled back as he and her boyfriend gazed into each other's eyes. Star and Marco watched as they fawned over one another.

"Well, turns out this double-date kind of worked after all." Marco said. He suddenly heard heavy breathing in his ear, turning his head, seeing Star fangirling over the pairing like crazy. "Star...you know how I hate it when people breathe in my ear." He told her.

"But Marco!" Star grabbed his shoulders and started shaking him. "THEY'RE

SOOOOO CUUUUTE!" Star exclaimed. She stopped shaking him. Marco held his head, feeling dizzy. "Hey! Tom! Janna!" Star shouted.

"Sup?" Janna asked.

"Starco versus...uh...Jantom! Whoever wins the most pier games wins the night!" Star spoke.

"Wait, Jan-what now?" Marco asked.

"Jantom! It's their new ship name. I just made it now!" Star squeaked.

"Wow." Marco said sarcastically as he facepalmed.

"...you're on, Butterfly." Janna replied with determination

"Wait, what are we-AH! OKAY!" Tom exclaimed, feeling Janna pull him by the arm as she ran to the games.

"Wait! This isn't a race!" Star said before doing the same thing to Marco.

"Woah!" Marco sounded as they all ran into the pier, about to have some fun.


Star, Marco, Tom, and Janna were seated comfortably in Tom's convertible as he drove it into the parking lot at Marco's house. They all opened the doors and hopped out of the car, laughing while carrying a ton of pier game prizes.

"I cannot believe we tied." Marco said.

"Seriously, how did we tie at every single game we did?" Tom asked, astonished.

"Oh, who cares! We got prizes!" Star exclaimed as she held about 10 stuffed animals in her arms. Marco, Tom, Janna stopped as she continued to walk.

"S-...Star?" Marco spoke.

"What?" Star asked before looking at the house.

The door was ripped off its hinges.

"Oh no." Star spoke. They all dropped their pier prizes right on the ground before running over to the doorway, being extra careful and investigating everything in sight. As they walked in, the house looked as if it was ransacked. Chairs were knocked over, little rinky-dink objects were scattered all over the floor, and picture frames were crooked as they hung on the walls.

"Mom! Dad! Mariposa!" Marco called out, desperately hoping that his family was okay. Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming from the stairs. Marco turned his head, seeing his parents standing on the steps as his mom held Mariposa.

"Marco! Oh my goodness!" Angie spoke before running down the steps, hugging her son. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"No no! I'm fine! We all just got here!" Marco told her as he let go slightly, pointing to Star, Janna, and Tom, who were looking around for any clues as to what happened here. "What about you guys! Are you okay?"

"Yes! We're fine!" Rafael said to him. "We just got home not too long before you did."

"What about Skywynne, Marco? Is she okay?" Angie asked. Marco gasped.

"Wait...you don't know where she is?" Marco asked. Star suddenly turned her head in concern, hearing what was just spoken. She ran over to Marco and his family.

"You haven't seen Skywynne since you've been home?" Star asked.

"We thought she was with all of you." Angie said.

"Uh...no. She wanted to stay here." Marco told them, concerned.

"Then...where is she?" Rafael asked. Star looked around the ravaged living room one more time before realizing what happened.

"Oh no." Star spoke.

"Star?" Marco called. Star walked away from Marco and his family.

"No no no no no no. Oh no no no nooooo." Star said in a panic as she paced around. Marco came over to her, placing his hands on her shoulders.

"Star? Talk to me. What happened?" Marco asked.

Star took a deep breath.

"I think Skywynne's been kidnapped."

CHAPTER 29 COMING SOON!

Happy spring everybody! Just to let you all know, I'm going to need at least 2-3 weeks for the next chapter. It's going to be an exciting one for sure! I hope you guys liked this chapter though! I've been wanting to write about a double-date for AGES! Anyway, more is coming soon!