In the depths of the Underworld, everybody who was anybody was getting ready for one of the biggest, if not the biggest, event in living memory: the Blood Moon Ball. It was one of the most sacred events in all of Mewni and held a special place of reverence for those in the Underworld. Those long-lived demons who were lucky enough to be witness to previous Balls spoke of the grandeur of the night. The sacrificing of pig-goats and other animals, the dancing and music, all leading up to the moment when the Blood Moon would shine its light down on the Underworld to bind two people together for all time. The dance had yet to start, but already demons, goblins, and denizens of the Underworld were beginning to arrive with "party favors" (by which we mean axes, knives, and torture devices).
Much to everyone's dismay, though, the event taking place tonight was a far cry from what they grew up hearing about. Instead of the riotous, bloody, and chaotic ceremony of old, this year's Blood Moon Ball looked more like the school prom you would find on Earth. There were punch bowls, places to get photographs, the whole nine yards. And everyone had Prince Tom to thank for it!
Everyone had heard about how he had gotten dumped by the Princess of Mewni some time ago, and knew that he was using the Ball as a means to win her back. Some of the braver demons even joked about Tom couldn't take no for an answer, albeit out of earshot of the Prince. It was worse than many thought, though. When one torturer had finished hanging up a skeleton, preparing to smash it with his mace, the Prince stepped in.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, guys! Can we ease off on the violence? I'm trying to keep it low-key for Star, okay." Tom remarked as he held his hands up.
"Of course, your majesty. Would you also like us to put up balloons and streamers and giant cupcakes while we're at it? Because if we're going to turn this awesome, sacred event into a damn Hallmark greeting card, let's go the extra mile." A gruff voice said in the most sarcastic tone it could make.
"All right, who said that?" Tom asked.
"Uh, that would be would me, Mr. Triclops. Down here." Tom looked down to see a tall, bald man who seemed to be in his fifties with a thin mustache running down the sides of his mouth and dressed in a formal business suit.
"Hi."
"And you are?" Tom asked. He had no idea who this guy was, but he was already starting to wear thin with his patience.
"Oh, you don't need to know who I am. Just know that I am hilarious and you will quote everything I say. And I'm a producer working for these guys on Earth."
"And you're here, why?"
"Well, it turns out the higher-ups were impressed with my business acumen and invited me to this shindig. But, I'm going to be honest, starting to think I should have stayed home and played video games with my co-workers." The big man said, placing a hand on Tom's shoulder.
"Don't touch the threads, dude." Tom coldly said, glaring at the man all the while.
"All right, all right, I'll get out of your hair. Have fun watching your plan to win back your ex go up in flames!"
Seriously, who was that? Tom thought.
"Excuse me, Master Tom, but Princess Butterfly has arrived," one of his family's horned demon servants announced. Sure enough, the 'elevator' had reached its destination, opening its doors to release its lone occupant and the guest of honor for tonight.
All right, Tom. Just remember to keep your cool, make sure she has a good time, and after tonight, she'll know that we're meant to be.
His musings (and imagining their wedding) were interrupted by an approaching guard. "Master Tom, the Princess Butterfly has arrived."
"And the human?"
"No sign of him, sir. The Princess is alone."
Perfect. One less problem to deal with. "I'm going to go greet my date. See to the rest of the guests. And remember, under no circumstances are you to let that human inside. GOT IT?" Tom almost growled that last part to emphasize his point.
"It will be done, sir."
As the elevator arrived at its destination, Star was trying her best to forget the argument she had with Marco. It wasn't working.
I can't believe that Marco lied to me about his injury. We're best friends. Best friends don't lie to each other! Especially since I could have hurt him!
She stopped thinking about that, though, once she felt the elevator come to a stop and opened to let its occupant out.
Just forget about him, Star. Enjoy yourself tonight, and see if Tom has changed for the better.
As Star climbed out, she got out and admired the view. Same fire-lit corridors, same shades of red, same subtle indications of years of mental scarring.
"Wow, every bit as beautifully gloomy as I remember. Glad to see some things never change."
"Star Butterfly. Don't you clean up nicely?" Tom said as he came over to greet her, now clad in a white tuxedo with a red bowtie.
"Uh, thank you, I guess?" Star wasn't sure if she should have been flattered or offended by that comment. Given its the Underworld, maybe both.
"Oh, here, I got you this," Star said, holding a (hopefully) dead spider. "It's a hair thing for your hair, so you'll fit in." Unfortunately for the young Lucitor, all his gift managed to do was weird Star out. A dead spider alone would freak her out, but ever since Marco had shown her that adorable talking one on his "compootor," she hated seeing spiders hurt.
"That's really... sweet Tom. But I kind of got my own thing going here, so I'm just going to go inside and meet you. Okay, bye." Star then quickly made it inside.
Tom, on the other hand, felt his anger growing again. He had already gone out of his way to make sure she would love this dance. If he wanted her to wear a dead spider, then was that too much to ask?!?
"Hey, Tom?" Brian said, appearing next to him. "You can be positive, but remember that your anger is negative," he said, holding his pink bunny.
Smiling after petting his fluffy bunny, Tom felt his anger subside as he got control of himself again. Just keep it together, Tom. All you have to do is make through the dance, and everything will be golden.
"By the way, Brian, make sure that Mark-"
"Marco, sir."
"That that Marco doesn't get anywhere near here. I don't want him ruining everything."
"Relax, sir. I doubt that he's even thinking of coming to this dance."
"I need to go to that dance!" Marco said while groaning in frustration. After Star had left, Marco had gone back to his room to try and fix his arm again. Try as he might, he couldn't focus due to the argument he had had with Star.
After about half an hour or so, Marco had given up and decided to return to Star's room. Since he kept the sombrero, he decided to change his outfit into a black mariachi tuxedo, complete with gold shoulder pads and tips. After that, he just sat in her room, watching the Blood Moonrise as he stuffed his face with nacho chips and listened to Mexican music. None of which had done anything to help with the pain he felt in his arm, but he stopped caring about that.
"Let's stay here and have our own Blood Moon Ball, in Star's room, where it's always fun. Whoo-hoo." Marco tried to sound positive, but if anyone were to walk in on him right now, they could tell how defeated he must have sounded.
Unfortunately for him, that was precisely what happened, as his dad started knocking on the door to Star's room.
"Marco, mijo. Are you all right in there?"
Marco wanted to tell his dad that everything was fine and that he was immature. However, he couldn't lie to his father, so he just said the truth: "Not really."
Mr. Diaz then opened the door and walked next to his son before sitting down on the floor.
"So, why are you sitting in Star's room all by yourself and looking so sad?"
"It's Star. Her jerk ex-boyfriend showed up out of the blue earlier today and asked her to this fancy dance he's throwing tonight called the Blood Moon Ball. And even though I thought she was making a big mistake, she decided to go anyway."
"Well, Marco, she is more than capable of making her own decisions, and you have to respect that. But I don't think that's the whole story now, is it?"
"No. Right before she left, we got into an argument about something that happened recently." Marco then went on to explain the Mewberty Incident, how he had to use his powers to fight off Star, and how he had to lie to Star about what had happened to him. He even showed him the crack on his arm.
"...and the day after, I found out this had appeared on my arm. I tried to hide it from Star, but she found out anyway. And now she's upset because she thinks she hurt me, and mad because I lied to her! And I don't know what to do right now!"
Rafael Diaz quietly listened to his son and waited for him to finish before he finally spoke up. "Well, I didn't expect this to happen so soon, mijo."
"Expect what to happen, Dad?"
"This," the Celestial said while pointing to the crack on Marco's arm. "It means that you are in the early stages of your Awakening."
"Awakening?"
"It's...hard to describe, Marco. The Awakening is the process in which a Celestial begins to tap into the full extent of their powers. They begin to get stronger and more capable. Like a dormant part of themselves is starting to awake, hence the name."
"Really?"
"Yes, my son. In order for our physical forms to prepare for this eventual increase in power, they begin to build themselves back up from the inside. That crack on your and the glow leaking out of it is the result of your body adapting in order to handle the full power of a Celestial."
"So, what your saying is that I'm going through Celestial puberty, these are just growing pains, and I have nothing about."
"Not quite. Marco, our people are incredibly rare throughout the universe, and Celestial hybrids are thought to be next to impossible. There really is no telling what could happen to a hybrid during an Awakening. Heck, I was hoping that if you did go through it, you would like already an adult. That's usually when this happens."
"Well, if that's true, then why is it happening when I'm only 14."
"I'm not fully certain, but it's possible it's happening because you've been using your powers more and more in a short amount of time. Tell me, how often have you had to use them since Star moved in?"
"A lot. I've been keeping it to a minimum so no one would notice, but during the Mewberty Incident, I think I started to go all out."
"That would explain why it's happening so soon. My advice is to try and avoid using your powers for now. The crack will hopefully begin to subside, and your powers will begin to develop at a more natural rate."
"Thanks for the advice, Dad. There's a bigger concern I have: Star."
"Ah, yes. Deciding whether or not you should tell her the truth about what you are."
"Exactly," Marco said while standing up from his folding chair. "Ever since I was born, you've taught me that I should try and not let anyone know about my powers. And I was fully prepared to do that! Living here on Earth, there was never really any need to use them, much less to this extent. I figured that once I graduated from High School, or maybe even college, I could travel the universe. See all it has to offer, and test how far my powers would go. And I could always come back to Earth if I wanted to!"
Rafael silently nodded while Marco began to continue.
"But then, Star comes along in our lives, like a wild and energetic bolt of lightning, and just like that, I'm stepping into a whole new world. I'm getting to experience all the wonders, excitement, and horrors of the universe sooner than I ever thought possible. And I love it! I can already defend myself without relying on my powers so that I can enjoy myself—most of the time. But ever since the Mewberty thing, I haven't been able to get what Glossaryck said about putting myself in a dangerous position out of my head? What if I'm eventually forced to use my powers in public?"
Marco then turned to look at his father. "Dad, I know that in the past, horrible people wanted to use the Celestials for their power. It's why you and the others went into hiding. What if others try and do the same to me? What if they try to hurt those I care about to get to me? What if they try and hurt Star and I can't keep her safe. She may think she needs to protect me, but it could be the other way around!"
At this, Rafael stood up and placed his hands on his son's shoulders. "Marco, these are all things that you will need to be concerned about one day. From the moment you were born, I knew that I was risking letting the universe know the Celestials still existed. And I was fully prepared to deal with that? And do you know why?"
"Why, dad?"
"Because I knew that you could handle it. You're a strong young man with a sharp mind, a good heart, and that you would never let anyone take advantage of your powers for their own ends. But above all, I saw that you had the potential to do so much good for the universe; and I still think that. If you decide to reveal who you are to the cosmos, then I will support you."
"But what about Star? What if I tell her about who I am, and she wants nothing to do with me?"
Rafael chuckled softly at this. "Marco, how well do you know Star?"
"Probably better than anyone I've ever met."
"Does she seem like the kind of person who would turn her back on someone because of something like this?"
"No. Yeah, she would never do that!"
"Exactly. I'm not sure if I ever told you this, mijo, but I went through the exact same dilemma when I fell in love with your mother."
"You did?"
"Oh, yes. For all my cosmic power, I was terrified that this simple, compassionate, beautiful Earth woman would think I'm a monster. But when I finally told her, she said that it changed nothing. That I was still the man, she fell in love with."
"Why are you telling me this, Dad?"
"Because if Star is anything like I think she is, and how much you mean to her, then I know she'll accept you, as well."
It took Marco a few moments to understand what his dad was implying. Then his face began to turn so red that it almost matched his sombrero.
"D-DAD! IT'S NOT LIKE THAT! SHE'S JUST MY BEST FRIEND, NOTHING MORE!!!"
At this, Rafael began to laugh. "Of course she is, son!" This only made Marco blush even more, which he didn't think was possible.
"All right, son, I'll get out of your hair. If you need me, I'll be making myself some tortas in the kitchen."
Marco, finally relaxed his face and smiled. "Okay, dad. Thanks for listening to me."
"That's what dads are here for, Marco." Rafael then began to whistle to himself as he left Star's room, leaving Marco along with his music.
You know, I don't know what I so worried about. Dad's right: if Star really is my best friend, then I shouldn't worry about telling her the truth. Newfound confidence began to course through him as he set back in his chair.
"All right, Marco Ubaldo Diaz! I'll tell Star everything as soon as she gets back from the Blood Moon Ball! Besides, what's the worst that could happen to her there?"
Blood Moon Tonight
What was that? Marco could have sworn he heard someone else talking in the room right now. His dad was long gone, and only Marco was in the room, along with a portrait of an old sea captain.
You just hear things, Marco. Star can take care of herself.
The Moon of Lovers
It was the same gravelly voice from before, leading Marco even more confused. He looked at the portrait of the sea captain, which he swore was looking back at him.
No matter how much he wanted to deny, Marco couldn't shake the bad feeling he had just now about the Blood Moon Ball. Without even thinking, his eyes rested on the little black bell and hammer that Star had left behind. He wanted to trust Star, but there was something about tonight that left him uneasy.
"I'm already on thin ice with Star. If I do this, she may never trust me again!" Dozens of images began to flash through Marco's head of possible outcomes for tonight. Most of them didn't end well for his friendship with Star. One, though, wasn't even of what may happen. It was of Star while in Mewberty when he had her restrained. She managed to get one word out of her mouth:
Marco
In that one moment, it felt like she was genuinely asking her best friend for help. Suddenly, any other outcomes became irrelevant to him.
Marco made his decision.
Okay, maybe coming here was a mistake, after all.
It's not that the Blood Moon Ball was some horrifying occultist event. Quite the opposite, it was more like one of those high school dances she had seen on some shows she watched with Marco. It's just that, considering that this was the Underworld, the whole thing seemed... kind of boring.
Indeed, Tom's efforts to sanitize the dance to win back his ex had taken most of the fun out of the event for everyone else. When they were out of earshot of Tom, people were grumbling about how lame the ball had become. Right now, though, she and Tom were in line for some sort of picture taking thing. There was a demon covered in a red cloak taking a photo of a young couple in front of them.
"Keep your eye on the birdie."
The two demons posed before proceeding to get dumped with blood from above as the camera took the photo.
"Beautiful. Next, please."
"Star, I can't tell you how happy I am to be covered in blood with you."
Star, who wasn't paying attention until then, suddenly perked up. Wait. What?
"Don't worry, though; it's not real. It's from a unicorn."
"Tom, my best friend, is a floating unicorn head."
"So? They're not related," Tom said, failing to understand the problem she had.
"Tom, I'm not getting covered in unicorn blood."
Tom then got in close and began to whisper to her "I figured you'd say that. So I swapped it out for fake blood when no one was looking."
"Yeah, still don't want to spend the rest of the night covered in fake blood."
"Fine," Tom said, trying his best to suppress a groan as he reached behind his back. Star couldn't help but look back out of curiosity and saw Brian standing there with Tom's bunny in his hands so that Tom could pet him.
"Wait, Tom. You're not getting angry, are you?"
"What? No, no, no, no! What would make you think that?" Tom hastily said, trying to deny it as he pet his bunny even harder.
Star picked up on the fact that her host was in denial, and decided that it was best to give him some space.
"Well, Tom, how about you, do you. I'm going to get some punch," the princess said before making her way over to the punch bowl.
Star didn't know how long she was by the bowl, and truth be told, she didn't really need a drink. She just wanted some space to herself. Now here she was, standing next to a steaming punch bowl, watching a skeletal fish swim around in it.
"Hello again, Henry!" Star said to the fish, even if that made nearby demons give her weird looks. "His name is Henry," she said, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Speaking of looks, Star couldn't help but notice that a lot of the party-goers were giving her glares ever since she arrived. It couldn't be because she was Mewman. Yet she couldn't shake the feeling that they did not want her there.
At that moment, a tall, bald man in a business suit came over to the punch bowl.
"Well, now, I take that you must be Tom's date, huh?"
"Um, yes. And you are?"
"Someone who got talked into attending by his family when he clearly should be at his friend's house playing Mortal Kombat."
"Mortal..."
"It's a top-rated video game series. Look it up when you get home."
Star made a mental note to use Marco's laptop to look that up when she got home.
"Well, as expected, this legendary dance has become a total snooze fest. And I bet that all the looks your getting from the party-goers must not be helping, huh?"
"Well, I mean, I wouldn't say it's boring, just not what I expected."
"Trust me, Princess. This may be the most boring Blood Moon Ball in the history of the Underworld!" A new voice suddenly said, causing Star and the other guest to turn around. Two demons, one with bat wings on his back and the other short and stubby with horns on his head, were glaring at Star.
"Look at this! A punch bowl that doesn't melt your flesh off? Boring! Pieces of garbage that don't try and eat you? Snoresville! And all the party-goers are way too attractive!" The shorter one said in what was pretty much a rant. Finally, the little demon held his hands to his temples and started screaming before running off. "AHHH, I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!"
Star could only stand and ask herself, Um, what just happened?
After a beat or two, Star finally decided to ask since no one else would: "Hey, should someone go make sure he's okay?"
"Don't worry, I got this, people." The bald man said. "I majored in child psychology in college, and teens aren't that far off." The man then calmed walked after the stubby demon, leaving Star alone with the bat-winged one.
He seemed nice. Star had to admit that she felt a little guilty, though, since she seemed to be the reason why Tom made the party look so dull.
"So, you want to dance?" The bat demon asked her, holding out his hand, which helped Star feel more comfortable being there.
As if on cue, Tom floated down using his firepowers and put his hand up to keep the demon away from his date.
"Sorry, pal, but her dance card's full tonight."
"Oh, I get it. I bet you think that, like, your soul and her soul will get chosen and will go mmmmm!" To emphasize the last part, the demon slid his fingers together while giving a knowing smile.
"What exactly is Mmmmm?" Star said while copying the demon's actions.
"Uh, it's a surprise, Star," Tom said. And if he wasn't lying about it either. He was hoping to salvage this night with the celestial event that inspired the Ball in the first place.
At that moment, everyone's attention was then directed to the sound of a finger tapping a microphone, courtesy of a demon in a black robe standing on a podium near the entrance to the ballroom. Now that everyone was focused on the podium, the demon, who appeared to be the organizer of the Ball, began to speak.
"If I may have your attention, please? It is with great pleasure that I welcome you all to the Blood Moon Ball. Now I request that you all direct your attention skyward." Above, a giant hand moved on top of the ceiling, revealing a crescent-shaped hole in the middle of the roof. At once, blood-red light from the Moon above began to flood the room.
"When the light of the Blood Moon drubbles down and picks two lucky souls, binding them together for eternity in its hypnotic, ruby brodum."
Wow, that actually sounds pretty...romantic , Star thought to herself . And Tom's actually keeping himself under control. Maybe this night won't be a disaster, after all.
As the light of the red moon began to creep closer to the ballroom, the music coming from the organ started to change, telling everyone present to grab their dance partner and start dancing, with everyone silently hoping that they would be picked.
Tom, though, couldn't see the romantic atmosphere, as he was too caught up on the fact that that wasn't the right music!
"That's not the right music. Alright, Star, I'll be right back, so don't go anywhere." Tom then ran off to the organ.
"Yeah, sure, Tom." Truth be told, Star wasn't listening anymore. She was too caught up in the red moonlight that seemed to be compelling her to go somewhere.
Unknown to either teen, another familiar face had used the opportunity to enter the ballroom undetected.
After thinking it over, Marco had decided that he was going to have to take a risk: he rang the bell and rode the carriage all the way to the Underworld. The ride was a few minutes, so it gave him some time to think about some things. Chief among them, how he was going to apologize to Star for what he was doing and for earlier!
I'm sorry, Star. For lying to you about Mewberty, for keeping secrets from you, and for following you to this dance. But you were right: if we really are best friends, then we shouldn't keep secrets from each other, and we should always have each other's backs.
"Thanks for the advice, Dad," Marco said to himself as he buttoned up his tuxedo, making sure that no one could see the cracks on his arm. As an added precaution to help him blend in, Marco decided to use a small portion of his powers to conjure up a disguise. Within a moment, he was now wearing a mustachioed Dia de Los Muertos mask on his face. Perfect.
The pain in his arm began to return, but Marco was determined to see this thru to the end. With that, he got out of the carriage and made his way to the ballroom.
Marco had suspected that Tom would post guards to keep him out, but he already had a plan to deal with them. Sorry, Dad, but I'm going to have to use some more of my powers tonight.
Marco had been practicing with his Celestial powers and shapeshifting a lot since the Monster Arm incident. While he could already transform parts of his body into animal limbs, he found that with enough concentration, he could take it even further. He could have his body mimic the traits of individual animals. In this case, he wanted two things: first, he had the hairs on his body secrete an adhesive that would allow him to stick to any surface, like Spider-Man. Second, he changed his skin to reflect light, allowing him to become near invisible. The transformation hurt his body, but it was too late to back out.
Marco jumped as high as he could until he stuck to the wall and crawled on the ceiling until he was right in front of the entrance. All he needed was a second to get inside. Sure enough, the tapping of a microphone inside drew everyone's attention, including the guards.
Now's my chance! And with that, Marco moved as fast as he could, making it inside the ballroom before finding a secluded spot to turn his powers off. Unfortunately, the pain from using them seemed much more significant than Marco anticipated.
I don't think I'll be able to use my powers for the rest of the night. I just need to find Star. She'll be able to get us out of here. Marco scanned the crowd, not listening to what the demon on the podium was saying. After a few seconds, Marco found who he was looking for: Star. She was just wandering around by herself as other people began to dance.
"Star!" Marco said, trying not to attract attention as he worked his way towards her, ignoring the looks others were giving him.
Star had no idea how long it had been since Tom had left her side, but she was never the kind to wait around for anything. So she began wandering the ballroom as couples began to dance, still unsure what the purpose of this whole thing was.
"Star! Star!" Star kept getting confused, as she swore that she heard someone calling out her name. Okay, maybe this weird moon magic is calling out to me or something, she thought as the voice kept getting closer. Suddenly, she felt a hand pull on hers, making her turn around to see a masked stranger in a black tuxedo having pulled her uncomfortably close. For a split second, Star had half a mind to Narwhal Blast this creep. She never got the chance, though. Suddenly, the crimson lights enveloping the ballroom turned a deep blood red. Everyone present began to gasp, as the red glow of the Blood Moon had centered on one spot: the spot where Star and this stranger were standing.
Before anyone could say anything, a new song began to play: a lighter and statelier song.
Begin playing Blood Moon Waltz: /watch?v=gCFCDFq3Wss
As if by instinct, the masked stranger pulled Star even closer and began to dance with her. If it were at any other time, Star would have slapped the guy for this. Yet she was too lost, too hypnotized by the music and the beautiful moonlight overhead. Which neither realized seemed to follow them with every move they made as they danced across the ballroom floor.
And man, could this stranger dance! Star would know: her mother had made her attend enough balls on Mewni to understand what it meant to be a good dancer. Yet this man before her seemed to outshine everyone she had ever danced with. Every movement he made, every step, every twirl, every swerve was entirely in sync with hers! Star was utterly captivated by this mystery guest before her. For a moment, she almost forgot to breathe, she was so entranced.
The effect was not only on the Princess. All of the guests were in awe of this grand, indescribably beautiful dance. For a moment, the fact that the Ball itself was lame was forgotten. It was all worth it to see this magical, historic moment with their own eyes. Some guests even began to take out their UPhones and cameras and recorded it for posterity's sake, though no video could capture the majesty of the Blood Moon Waltz.
As the dance continued, Star got a tiny glimpse of her partner. His mask reminded her of one of the Dia De Los Muertos masks she had seen in the Diaz house, obscuring his face. Underneath, she could make out two chocolate brown eyes that she felt like she could stare at for all eternity.
"Star." Star? Oh, right, that's my name. Star was so on cloud nine that it was a miracle she remembered her name. All she could think about was, "Who is this handsome stranger? Why does his voice sound so familiar, and when's the legal age I can get married?"
At last, Star's brain worked enough to get her to respond. "H-how did you know my name?" She managed to get out, never losing the dreamy smile on her face.
At that, the stranger lifted his mask, allowing Star, for the first time, to see the face of the person who had swept her off her feet:
"It's me, Marco!" the stranger whispered. Sure enough, it was Marco Diaz, her best friend, and the person that she had told not to come.
Oh, no. And with that, Star snapped out of her lovestruck daze, yet she didn't stop dancing. "Marco?!? What are you doing here, Marco? I thought I told you not to come." She whispered as their dance continued.
"You did, and I'm sorry, but I had a horrible feeling about this, and I couldn't let you handle this alone. And I wanted to say sorry for lying to you about Mewberty. Not the best timing, it seems."
"I told you I could handle this. You can't if Tom finds you."
"You're wrong about that, Star. I'm far more capable than you give me credit. Now let's get out of here, and I'll explain everything to you. This place is the worst."
Sadly, the dance of the Blood Moon came to a sudden and abrupt end, as Marco found himself violently shoved away from Star, causing him to fall to the floor, making his arm hurt even more. When he looked up, he saw a very, very, very livid Tom.
End Music
Oh, crud, Marco thought.
At that moment, the crimson light of the Blood Moon began to dissipate from the spot where they were just standing. The room briefly went dark before returning to normal. The Blood Moon dance had come to an end. And Tom was not happy about that.
For a moment, Tom just stood there, trying to process what had happened. His best chance to win Star back had just been ruined by the same, worthless human from before.
Who does this little nobody think he is? Trying to take what's mine? Getting in the way of my happiness? With every millisecond, Tom's rage began to boil over, until finally, his eyes began to glow with a murderous red.
"Oh, no," was all Star could say
Marco could barely process what was going on. One minute he was holding Star's hand. The next thing he knew, he was leading her in a moonlit dance across the ballroom floor, all while trying to ignore the pain in his arm. Which, for some reason, now seemed to spread to his shoulders. Now he was facing down Star's demonic ex, who was not happy to see him crashing the Ball.
"That dance, WAS MEANT, FOR ME!!" With that, Tom rose into the air on a pillar of flames shooting out of his hands and feet. "YOU'RE DEAD, YOU LITTLE PUNK!!"
With that angry declaration, Tom began to hurtle fireballs at the boy. Fortunately, despite having to refrain from using his powers any further, his Celestial nervous system and reflexes let him dodge the fiery blasts in time. When Marco looked at where he was a moment ago, there was a scorched crater.
Oh, man. This guy's really trying to kill me! And for the first time in a while, Marco was actually worried that he might die.
"JUST WHO IN THE NINE CIRCLES OF THE UNDERWORLD DO YOU THINK YOU ARE??" The demon prince roared as he threw blast after fiery blast at Marco, causing him and the guests to duck for cover.
Star, however, was following the two boys around the ballroom, trying desperately to keep her angry ex from killing her best friend. This is why I didn't want Marco here! He can't fight Tom on his own!
"TOM, STOP IT! LEAVE HIM ALONE!!" She yelled, hoping that her ex would listen to her.
"STAY OUT OF THIS STAR!" Tom yelled at her. "I WORKED SO HARD TO MAKE SURE THIS DANCE WOULD BE PERFECT FOR US, ONLY TO HAVE IT RUINED BY THIS LITTLE NOBODY!!!"
"THAT NOBODY IS MY BEST FRIEND, TOM!"
At this point, Marco was exhausted, not just from the heat of the fireballs, he was narrowly dodging, but because the pain had only gotten worse. As he looked up, he saw the angry demon standing over him as he grabbed him by the collar and hauled him to his feet. His eyes were no longer glowing, but they still had all the fury of before.
"Well, Star, your best friend should have known better than to MESS WITH ME!!" With that, Tom threw Marco as hard as he could, causing him to hit the nearby wall with a dull *thud*
"MARCO!!"
Marco could barely make out Star's screams as he felt his mask fall off. He was now in more pain than he had ever felt. It felt like his body was on fire. And once again, Marco looked up to see Tom standing over him, filled with rage.
"GET UP. SO I CAN FINISH THIS!!"
This can't be how I die! I wanted to do so many amazing things in life! I-I wanted to see how far I could push my powers. Instead, I may end up dying here and now, and all because I was too stubborn to let Star handle things on her own.
At that moment, though, something happened inside of Marco. It was like someone had suddenly turned on a light inside of him. In the corner of his mind, a familiar sphere of light briefly dimmed, before flaring to life with the intensity of a star. It felt like Marco's body was being torn apart and put back together from the inside out. Yet Marco somehow knew that he would not die. Instead, he never felt more alive, more powerful than ever. And all he wanted to do was direct it at the jerk in front of him!
Begin Playing Music: A Moment of Shuddering /watch?v=bKNHCOjQjAQ
As everyone in the ballroom watched, Marco's eyes began to glow white-hot. Glowing cracks seemed to erupt from his hands and face. And to make things even stranger, the boy suddenly seemed to be floating in the air! Everyone was taken aback by this harrowing transformation. None were more shocked, though than Tom or Star. Tom could only take a step back, fearful of what he was now witnessing. Star, though, was looking like her entire world was falling apart. Her mind was racing a thousand miles a minute, trying to figure out one thing:
What's happening to my best friend?!?!?!
Before Tom could collect himself, the now glowing Marco looked down at him, before shouting three words:
"LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!!!"
Suddenly, a giant fist seemed to form out of the wall, sending Tom flying back until he hit a pillar, causing him to fall to the ground.
Marco was on him in seconds, following his first strike with an uppercut that almost sent the stunned demon into the roof of the ballroom.
As Tom struggled to get his bearings, a dozen guards began to stand in front of him. "PROTECT HIS HIGHNESS FROM THE INTRUDER!"
Unfortunately for them, Marco was in no mood to deal with them. With a wave of his hands, he dealt with each guard. Half of them he restrained using their own weapons, twisting the spears around their arms and legs so that they couldn't move. Another three, he morphed their armor into shackles, binding them to the floor. For the last three, he simply turned the floor they were standing on into quicksand before dragging the lower half of their bodies before hardening the floor again leaving them stuck there.
As Tom finally regained his composure, he launched a massive fireball at Marco, who didn't even bother to dodge it. Instead, he simply held his hand out, and right as the blast of heat hit him, it turned into confetti.
Tom's rage began to hit a breaking point. Now livid that this nobody was able to stand up to him, he flew into the air, shouting one thing:
"JUST WHAT ARE YOU?!?"
End Music
Before Tom could even get off another attack, though, he was suddenly encased in a block of ice, courtesy of Marco.
"I'm Marco Diaz." the teenager confidently said, relishing in being able to put the demon in his place. Before he could begin to revel in his new level of power, though, he heard a familiar voice from behind him.
"M-Marco?" Marco turned around and what he saw was one of the most painful things he had ever seen in his life. There, standing before her with a face that seemed to be a mixture of horror, fear, and worry, was his best friend in the universe, Star Butterfly, on the verge of tears.
As he looked into her eyes, he could see everything that she thought of him at that moment; and none of it was good. She was Star Butterfly, the fearless Princess of Mewni who battled monsters for fun and tamed wild unicorns. Yet she was now terrified at the sight of what Marco had become.
W-what am I doing?? I didn't want Star to find out like this!
The sight of Star, and the realization of what he was doing, made Marco lose the adrenaline rush that he was going through. His eyes stopped glowing as he slowly returned to the ground. Once the power had left him, though, he felt his body begin to sway, and his vision grew dim. All he had time to say was one name: "S-Star" before consciousness fled him altogether.
Star ran over to catch Marco in her arms, any fear over what she had witnessed eclipsed by the concern she had for her best friend. She had so many questions going through at that moment: What had Marco done? What was that he turned into? But above all, she wanted to know if he was going to be alright. To her relief, he was still breathing.
Oh, thank corn. Star then grabbed the unconscious Marco and hauled him his feet as she left the ballroom. Though not before using her wand on the frozen Tom to change his "Anger-free for fifty-three days" pin to a "0".
"Come on, Diaz. I'm taking you home."
As Star walked to the elevator, everyone left was trying to process what had just happened. Brian, who had been hiding under a table after realizing he could not snap Tom out of his anger, peeked out to see if everything was all right. The silence was then broken by the tall, bald man from before, who held up his phone after recording the whole thing:
"This is going on my Instagram."
Mr. Diaz was sitting downstairs in front of the TV watching telenovelas when he heard Star return. He had suspected that Marco would follow her to this dance, so he decided to wait up for them and help Marco explain anything he most likely told Star.
What he didn't expect, though, was to see Star carrying an unconscious, bruised, and possibly bleeding Marco by the arms. Nor was he expecting the severe look on her face. Rafael already knew what it meant, though. Star had found in potentially the worst possible way. As he got up to help his son, Rafael only said one thing to Star.
"We need to talk."
Celestial Journal
Awakening- an important event in a celestials life. This can be compared to Star's mewberty where a celestial also goes through some form of transformation where they start growing cracks on their bodies. Once over they gain access to their latent power which was previously unavailable to them.
Chapter notes:
RJWritingInk's messages will be written like this
While Rothem's messages is written like this.
And there you have it, folks! My version of the Blood Moon Ball! I certainly hoped that you enjoyed it. Put together; this would have been the longest chapter in the story with more than 13,000 words! Which is why I had to split it up in the end, so you guys could enjoy it as much as possible.
At any rate, I knew that ROTHEM wanted to have Star learn about Marco's powers eventually, and we both agreed that the Blood Moon Ball would be the best time to reveal them. It's one of the pivotal moments in Starco and in the show as a whole, so I wanted to make sure it was perfect.
Special thanks go to 616MCU and Blackwolfwrites, whose own chapters about the Blood Moon Ball helped give me the inspiration to write this. And for those who are fans of Team Four Star or Dragon Ball Z, you should know who the guy in the suit was. I thought it would be funny to include him since he's hilarious, and we will quote everything he says. Along with the reference to a certain adorable spider on YouTube
Anyway, I'm going to turn this over to ROTHEM now so he can say a few words. Ciao, everyone! Make sure to wash your hands and stay safe from COVID-19!
Hey guy's so Blood Moon Ball is not yet over since there is still one more chapter before it's conclusion which is titled Revelations instead of Blood moon ball part 3.
Anyways as usual thank you for reading this story of mine as well as following and favoriting(i dunno if this is a word). Feel free to review and critic as they are always appreciated.
By the way when I posted the revised version of my earlier chapter(specifically Star comes to earth part1) I realized that I forgot to add the new author's note for it which contains some of my plans for the story.
So anyway this story of mine will be based on season 1,2,3, and 4 of the show albeit diverging more as we progress into the story. However important events like toffee and meteora will not be removed(or altered too much) as they are important even though I have a new villain along with a few OC's for this story of mine.
Also, chapters that are based on episodes that are supposed to happen before Mewberty and Blood moon ball have not been removed they were just rearranged to fit what I have planned for them.
Review Responses!
HayamiHinata - hope this chapter was as awesome as you were hoping for.
Starco4everr- thank you for your continued support.
OMAC001- looks like star now got half the picture(lol)
Masked Freak- yeah I also enjoy stories like those as well.
Anyway, see you guys next time in Revelations. Keep safe from the virus by the way.
