Star vs The Forces of Evil

The Ballad of Earth-Mewni

Disclaimer: Star vs The Forces of Evil was created by Daron Nefcy and is owned by Disney. I own no part of Star vs.

Episode 15: Double-Laced Butterfly (Part 2)

Episode Summary: Marco's journey for closure with Jackie brings him to places he wasn't sure if he could go. Meanwhile, Star's big test of coaching abilities and emotional endurance begins.

Original Release Date: April 29, 2020

A/N: Given how the writing for this turned out, it's obvious that what's mentioned here is going to sort of retcon some things mentioned in "Beautiful Christmas," a story that's supposed to take place six months after the start of this fanfic. I suppose that's what I get for writing a time skip story before I even finish the sequel to my original post-finale fic. XD

The sun rose gently and shined unto the Earthni surface the following morning, glistening it with a gorgeous, shimmering light. Star & Marco were still snuggled tightly together, encased in a a beautiful, loving embrace that would melt even the coldest lands. The boy was the first to rise, slowly opening his eyes and gazing at the beautiful girl laying before her. Her mere presence elicited a smile and a soft chuckle him; her snoring, the stream of drool going from the corner of her mouth to the puddle formed on the pillow, her glowing skin...he was positively enthralled. His sexual needs didn't make any more sense to him now than they did when they first started to hash it out, but he no longer cared. If Star loved him for that, then so did he.

He leaned in and gently kissed her on the lips. As careful as he was, it was still enough to wake the girl up from her slumber and allow him to join in the kiss. "Hey," She said softly, beaming at the smiling face looking back at her.

"Hi," He responded before kissing her again. She remained quietly starring at him for a moment, huge grin on her face and a twinkle in her eye.

"...Thank you...for last night..." She finally said after the prolonged silence. Once again, he knew exactly what she was referring to. At the very least, her warm smile made it much easier for him to stomach. She gently kissed her gentleman. "You were wonderful."

"You mean you knew what was happening? E-Even though you were asleep?"

She nodded gently. "Yeah, I did."

"And I didn't hurt you in any way?"

"Nope. I told you, you know how to relax me. That was the most relaxed I've ever been."

"Well, I'm glad." He gently caressed her face. How soft her skin was. How shiny it gleamed.

"And you? Were your needs satisfied?" She shot a flirtatious smile his way. Sure, Marco wasn't always proud of his...sexual needs. But she never thought bad of any of it. It was made him her Marco. Any teasing she did of him was always out of love, and nothing was going to change that.

"...Yeah...although with you, I'm never really "satisfied," because I always want more."

"I know the feeling." Another kiss, this time coupled with a gentle but firm squeeze of the boy's rear end.

"You haven't taken your hand off my tush since last night, you know."

"Well what do you want me to say? It's relaxing. It's like squeezing a stress ball."

A moment of silence from Marco, pondering the metaphor and ultimately agreeing with it. "Yeah...that sounds about right." He responded with a flirtatious wink, imitating her gesture and squeezing her rear end. "Hey...we still have a lot of time before we gotta get moving. You think you'd be up for a round? Or...five?" His face turned a dark shade of red, drawing a wide smile from her and a laugh.

"Only five?" She brought herself even closer to him & again locked lips. "Come on, I think we can do better than that."

It wasn't like he needed any extra prodding. "Oh we totally can." And you can infer the rest.

Eventually it was time to arise and begin the day. They showered & dressed, their minds racing with contemplation; Star had her big game today & had no intention of letting Katrina's Cornball team down, while Marco was off to support Jackie and her skating competition...and potentially get off his chest some lingering baggage. "You sure you're good to go?" He asked his girlfriend as they departed the castle, taking note of the booklet in her hands.

"Totally." She responded without hesitation. "I got the playbook, I got my brain, I got the will to win, I got-" She was interrupted by the sound of her stomach rumbling. "-a slight case of indigestion. Greeeeeeat..."

"Just don't think about it and you'll be fine."

She nodded and pecked his cheek. "Thanks. And what about you? You ready?"

The boy silently gave it some thought. Was he ready for this? Surely it couldn't be that bad. This was Jackie they were talking about. The last time they had an extended conversation they seemed to leave off on good terms, but maybe she was being overly nice to him? "Ready as I'll ever be, I guess."

"Just breathe, Diaz. It's Jackie. She's cool!" Star urged him proudly. Whether or not he wanted to admit it, there was something there for her, just like Star had something for her. He was gonna have to deal with it sooner or later. "Whatever happens...just be honest. Just be you. That's all you can do. She wouldn't want it any other way."

He slowly nodded and smiled, agreeing with her logic. "You're right. It's just Jackie..."

"You got this, Marco. I believe in you."

"And I believe in you." The two lovebirds shared one more kiss before going their separate ways. It was unfortunate for them that today was the day they had to venture off on their own, but they promised themselves that come the end of the day, they would come out even better than they were before.

Star made her way to the field where the game was to be held, meeting up with the team. She was greeted by the team, Katrina & Buff Frog leading the charge. "Star!"

"Hi guys!" She greeted them all with a hug. "You ready to kick some butt!?" She was met with a very loud, synced cheer. "Alright! Go get yourselves ready! Do some stretches or something." They all scattered back to their bench, taking the time to warm themselves up in preparation of the impending game. This left Buff Frog & Star to themselves. "So, you excited to see your daughter in action?"

"Of course! I am proud sport father!" He declared loudly. "I am like those loud buffoonery human men that vicariously live through their offspring!"

She curiously raised an eyebrow. "...I don't think that's necessarily something you want to gloat about."

"Oh calm, young Butterfly. My love for children not tied to sport success. Am just delighted to take part in creation of new Cornball!"

"Yeah, this is g-wait time out. Time out. "Creation of new Cornball," what the heck are you talking about?"

He looked down at her like she had three heads, all of them melting. "You not know? This is not mere exhibition game. It is trial run."

"Trial run?"

"Yes, for new iteration. Old rules for game were extremely convoluted & confusing." He directed her attention towards a spot adjacent to the bench Katrina's team was gathered around. Adjacent there was a spot where a campfire was burning. This campfire had been produced by burning several dozen books that were meant to explain the old rules of Cornball. Sitting around said campfire were Tom, Janna, and Kelly, the latter of whom was a guest of Tom's, having used one of their Dimensional Laser Guns earlier in the day to invite Kelly to the game. All three were snacking on roasted marshmallows.

"Hi Star!" Kelly shouted, waving joyously in her direction before taking another bite of her marshmallow. Star waved nervously towards her before turning back to Buff Frog.

"Those books were eye sore. Rules were far too complicated & head-hurting. New rules will be simpler, easier to understand."

Talk about a curveball being thrown her way. "...okay, so let me get this straight. Earlier this summer you guys held a Cornball practice that I attended with the original rules in place. Now, with the season-opening exhibition match just a few weeks away, the Cornball league is scrambling to simplify the rules using this onepractice as their testing ground? And when were you people going to tell me about it?"

"Apologies. Communication has been blind spot for all involved in process."

"That seems to be a common theme surrounding everything affected by the Cleaving." She loudly sighed and momentarily buried her head into her hands. It was going to be one of those days, wasn't it? "Okay, so...where do we start?"

"Um, excuse me!?" One of the players from the opposing practice team raised their hand and got Star's & Buff Frog's attention. "I have a question! So like...are we allowed to, like, kill our opponents or what?"

And it was starting already. "I'm going to hate today, aren't I?" Star asked rhetorically to Buff Frog, who responded with a weak shrug & sigh.

On the other side, the skating competition was well under way. Marco was in a front row seat and had the best view of the action. The bleachers were filled with either bystanders who wanted to watch, or skaters who had already taken their turn. This meant that Chloe, Jackie's girlfriend, was among the people in the audience. They had the best view of anyone to watch Jackie Lynn Thomas shred the competition, just like they all expected she would. Chloe might've had talent on the board, but even she would tell you she was no match for Jackie's skills.

She finally finished her run and was greeted with rousing applause from the fans in the bleachers, Chloe & Marco included. Once she was cleared to leave, she made her way to the bleachers & greeted the two of them.

"That was amazing!" Marco blurted out. "Where'd you learn half of those moves?"

"Self-taught." Chloe explained. "Nobody knows how to invent a trick better than her."

"Best rule of life that Chloe taught me: sometimes there's no rules in life, so just make your own." Jackie responded, chuckling as she took a seat in between Chloe & Marco. "Thank for coming out, dude. Means a lot."

"Oh, uh, i-it was no trouble." He stumbled, trying and failing to hide his sudden blush. "Star sends her love, she knows you two are gonna win. What's the prize anyway?"

"Okay, so get this. The top two finishers get an exclusive modeling contract for a new brand of skateboards. It's called the ProMaxis, it's supposed to be the latest trend in durable, hard-hitting skateboards. Not only that, but they'll be gifted an exclusive set of boards for their own collection. They're not even hitting the shelves until next year!"

"Whoa-ho, now that's a neat prize! You two gonna show off those kicks when you win?"

"If we win. Still a long day ahead." Chloe corrected him. Marco scoffed.

"Please, nobody can measure up to you two. You've got that prize under lock and key already!"

Jackie leaned over to her girlfriend, whispering. "Told you he was a gentleman." Unfortunately she was still loud enough for Marco to hear, and the compliment caused his face to go an even darker shade of red. Even a nervous laugh and look-away couldn't stop Jackie from taking note of it. The last thing he wanted to be was nervous around her, today of all days, but unfortunately he couldn't stop it from happening. If Jackie was off-put by it, however, she wasn't showing it. "Hey, you know, we don't have to stick around. We already had our runs, we can bail at any time. The winners won't be announced until tomorrow."

"A-Are you sure?" Marco was figuring out on the fly how he wanted to handle this. "I-I don't mind staying for you guys."

"Actually, I should go. I want to keep working on this new trick I taught myself." Chloe answered, grabbing her board and preparing to leave.

"Aw, no, y-you don't have to leave. Don't leave because of me, I mean-"

"Oh it's not you, dude. Chloe's kind of on a competition frenzy right now. She's got two coming up in the next town over tomorrow, and then one in San Diego next week."

"Hoo boy, that's a lot of skating!" Marco remarked nervously. Chloe shrugged.

"You have to be...how do you Americans say it? "In it to win it?" She gave Jackie a goodbye kiss and then set off.

"Good luck!" Jackie waved her off, blowing another kiss her way before turning back to Marco. "Sup."

An uncomfortable moment of silence from the boy. "Hey."

"You wanna go take a walk or something? It's a gorgeous day and we really don't need to be here anymore."

"Oh, uh...s-sure, that sounds nice." He nervously but happily agreed, so Jackie grabbed her board & set off out of the park with Marco.

Their walk took them to a park bench quite a bit away from where they left. There were very few people around, meaning they essentially had the bench and the area to themselves. That was awkward enough for Marco. Add in the fact that the bench wasn't very big, with meant they had to sit pretty close to each other lest one of them sat on the ground, and it was like ten additional layers of awkward were added. "So how're things with Star?" Jackie asked right away. "She...doin' okay?"

That wording could've meant anything. Was she doing okay in regards to her own attraction to Jackie? Was she doing okay in regards to the mental anguish that she was fighting so hard not to let consume her during the summer? Was she doing okay after suffering a concussion the last time Star spent extended time with her? "Uh, s-she...she's doing fine, I guess. You know, hangin' in there, I guess." And of course Marco gave the most Marco non-answer he could.

"How about you? How're you holding up, ya big lug?" She gently ruffled his hair, hoping to stir a laugh out of him. And it worked.

"Oh, you know...same, just trying to chug along." If there's one thing Marco still hadn't learned by now, it's that he couldn't get one over on Jackie, no matter how hard he tried.

"Dude, you gotta relax. It's just me."

"Yeah..." He tried to feign a laugh, but it wasn't meant to be. "That's...that's the problem..."

As Jackie suspected. She was well aware of Star's growing physical & sexual attraction to her, coming with the territory of discovering her bisexuality. She wasn't certain about Marco, however. She made the assumption that he had gotten completely over her ever since hooking up with Star. Heck, it was an assumption Marco himself had made. And they were both wrong. "Aww, Marco..." But somewhere inside of her, she was actually quite flattered that he was still attracted to her.

"I'm not proud of it, okay?!" He quickly sputtered out before turning away in shame. He considered it a cardinal sin for him to be having any sort of feelings for Jackie - or anyone else for that matter - while he was committed to Star. Sure, perhaps it was to an extent. But ask him, and he'd tell you he had no interest in actually leaving Star to return to her. "I'm not proud of the fact that I still see you as physically attractive." He said before burying his head in his hands. He was truly ashamed of himself, a feeling that Jackie didn't agree with at all as she would soon demonstrate. She brought herself in even closer to him & embraced him, her cheek squishing against his. Her gesture brought him temporarily out of his funk, revealing that his face had gone a completely dark shade of red.

"Hey...you're not doing anything wrong." She assured him, smiling warmly. "It's...okay that you still feel that way about me."

"...It is?" He asked; she responded with a quiet nod, getting him to chuckle nervously. "I-I think I understand what Star means when she talks about how she feels about you."

"What do you mean?"

"Well...she says stuff like 'she knows her feelings for you are only physical.' She...she doesn't want a relationship, at least...at least not a romantic one. She just thinks you're super hot...I...think you're super hot. Not for nothing, but I almost kind of agree with Star, maybe you should've been the one to trademark Bubble Butt." And as quickly as he blurted that out, he covered his mouth in shame.

It was one thing to talk like this with Star, someone he's had almost 2 years of time to get to know and grow close to, someone he was dating, having a sexually active relationship with, and had plans to marry. But it was completely different with Jackie. Despite having "known" Jackie for over a decade, he didn't know nearly as much about her as he did Star, and he wasn't nearly as comfortable with her as she was with Star. Why was that so? Was it because Marco was actually friends with Star first before any romantic attraction came about? Was Jackie just too hot for him to handle? Was it a combination of both? For crying out loud, it took him years - literally years - just to be able to say "hi" to her.

Jackie noticed his obvious plight and brought him in for another hug. "Hey, hey...you don't have to be like that."

"No, this isn't right. I'm not..." He loudly groaned and facepalmed. "For years I thought that my crush on you meant that I liked you, I mean the real you, the things that make you Jackie. But...I guess that wasn't true. The truth is I don't really know you as well as I want to, I just saw you as a pretty face and a hot body. A really pretty face & hot body, but that was it. I guess Star was right, puberty was extremely good to you."

This was actually the most honest Marco had ever been about his feelings for Jackie, and the more he talked, the more it made sense to him...and to her. Marco wanted to like Jackie. Very badly. He wanted to have her in his life as a good friend. But in order to get there, he needed to be honest with her and himself about his true feelings for her. Lying about it was only going to hurt him. "I'm sure you're gonna hate me for this, but..."

She patted his shoulders encouragingly. "It's cool, just go for it."

Like Star, Jackie just had a way of making him feel better about himself. "I've...stared at your butt...a lot. Both before we were dating a-and then while we were dating."

Her eyes opened slightly; she appeared surprise. "Oh, really? I...never noticed." She lied. And she wasn't even being subtle about her statement being a lie, but Marco was too caught up in his own head to notice. The truth of the matter was that Jackie did notice. She noticed every time his eyes wandered and every time he tried to cover himself. But she never called him out on it. It was sweet, in her head, that he noticed her like that. She figured Star felt the same way when it happened with her. And while Jackie had always considered herself to be someone who was attractive, she couldn't in her wildest dreams ever think that someone would look at her like this, let alone two people - both Marco and Star.

"I don't even know what else to say. Jackie, you're...you're insanely attractive. You've got amazing curves, a beautiful body, a gorgeous butt, pretty face, and..." It was time for Marco to devolve into almost incomprehensible rambling. Almost. "I-I love your freckles. I know that's a weird thing b-but I love them. They just...they make your face feel full & complete & beautiful a-and I-I love how your butt fills those jean shorts you always wear. I-It just looks absolutely breathtaking, and the more I think about how hot you are the more I ask myself "How did a skinny, scrawny dork like me get the coolest, sexiest girl in our high school to ever go out with me!?"

Once he was done he buried his head in his hands and sat silently, which allowed for the weight of his words to sink in for Jackie. The two of them may not have been together, but she was still incredibly flattered. The poor boy thought she would think lowly of him for looking at her in this light. Especially since Jackie had a girlfriend. While that may or may not be an issue going forward, it was mitigated by Marco's insistence that he wasn't looking for Jackie to "take him back." He just wanted to clear the air between them.

She responded in kind by embracing him yet again and then planting a gentle kiss on his cheek. He was always a sweetheart to everyone. "Hey, look at me." She gently rubbed his shoulder until he found the courage to look her right in the eye. "It's okay."

"It...it is?"

She nodded. "I had no idea you had these kinds of feelings for me."

He shrugged. "Well, to be honest...neither did I...until recently, I mean."

"What do you mean? What...made them come out?"

He didn't want to get into specifics. He didn't think it was his business to divulge said specifics, but it was also the only real explanation he had. "Star and I are...I don't have to say it, do I?'

"Nope."

"Okay. But, you know, it just got me thinking. It's made me think about...you know, what it would've been like if it were you instead of Star, a-and we were..."

She didn't need him to get into the specifics for her to catch on. Safe to say, that wasn't the answer she was expecting to hear. "Oh, I see..."

He looked away and began unconsciously scratching his head in discomfort, mimicking Star's nervous arm-rubbing tick. "Sorry..."

"No no, it's okay! You're fine." Despite the awkward nature of his admission, it was touching to her that something like that had even crossed his mind.

"It's just that the more thought I've given this, the more I realize...well, I think the reason it's worked so well with Star and why I'm just so comfortable with her is...I got to be friends with her first. Okay, s-sure I felt something for her when we first met, s-she was really cute and I kinda dug the idea of a princess and stuff, but I was able to talk to her like we were buds without it being weird. I never really had that with you. I got to be your boyfriend, and that was amazing. But I never got to be your friend. And I'd like to rectify that."

Jackie did what Jackie did best; she chuckled lovingly, overcome with such a mixture of positive emotions that she barely knew where to begin. "Oh Marco...you are such a dork. Did you just make that long-winded speech just to ask me if we could be friends?"

Marco was left stammering momentarily. "Oh come on, Jackie! Don't do that. That was rally hard for me-"

But of course it was all in good fun, proven when she yet again embraced the boy. "Do you feel better?" He nodded carefully, the weight on his shoulders slowly dissipating. "I'm glad."

"So you're...not weirded out by anything I've said here?"

And now a head shake. "I know it's all coming from a good place. I know what it's like to be conflicted about your...sexual feelings."

"You do? Wait, have you and Chloe...?"

A sly smile slowly started to come on to Jackie's face. "Okay, not nearly as much as you and Star, but..." And she finished her response with a silent nod. Marco felt an overwhelming sense of pride consume him.

"Wow, congratulations!"

"Thank you!" Now it was Jackie's turn to have her face go red. "It was so nice."

"You're lucky."

"Hey, so are you, dude. Star's a great catch."

"Yeah, but so are you." As soon as he finished saying that, his eyes popped wide open. Don't screw it up, Diaz! He thought to himself. But he needn't worry. Jackie took it as a compliment.

"Aww, thanks, Diaz."

"I hope Chloe knows what she's got in you and doesn't take you for granted."

"Don't worry about her. She's great. She has her fun and I have mine but at the end of the day we're happy together." Jackie had herself a firm smile on her face, but she was taken aback by Marco's confused stare.

"...what does that mean?"

"Oh my gosh, tell me you're kidding." Nope, he wasn't, prompting yet another laugh from her. "Tell you what: Why don't we blow this park and go to the arcade, and I'll let you in on a little secret of ours." She stood up & grabbed her board, extending her hand as an invitation, which Marco gladly accepted.

"Sure. That sounds awesome!" He helped himself up, wrapped an arm around Jackie's shoulder, and followed her as they headed to the arcade. "So...about that secret...?"

"Oh, right. So, Marco, do you happen to know what the phrase "Friends With Benefits" means?"

Meanwhile, across town, the convoluted & unnecessarily confusing "exhibition match" of Cornball was well under way. What was originally intended to be a straight forward casual game turned into a cadre of absolute madness, shifting at the 11th hour into a trial run of new rules for the intended Cornball season. The original rules were beyond incomprehensible, even to anyone that's studied the game long term. So the rules were scrapped of reworking the game from the ground. Considering it was a new world and all of Mewni's past was essentially erased, it made sense to treat this as a completely new sport. Unfortunately, the prospect of actually testing out new rules was proving to be quite exhausting.

"No no no!" Star exclaimed, racing over to one part of the field, confronting two of her own team and two of the opposite team. "This is all wrong!"

"But she has to kick it like that." One of the opposing coaches - a Mewman - protested. "If you carry the cornball through the fiery ring with one hand, you kick the ball into the goal zone with your left leg. If you carry it by mouth, you kick it with your right leg! Anything else and you have to head butt it in!"

"Who's the moron that came up with that rule!?"

"How should I know? That's just how it is!"

"Well it's a stupid rule. You wanna simply the game? Fine, let's start here."

"No, you can't start here! You're gonna ruin the sanctity of the game!" The loud rumbling of this coach's voice drew the attention of Tom, Janna, and Kelly from the sidelines; they traversed and gravitated towards Star.

"You can't preserve the game while changing the complicated aspects of it! Either you want it preserved, or you want it simplified! You can't have both!"

"What would you know about that?" One of the other opposing coaches - also a Mewman - blurted out angrily. "You have no room to talk about "preserving the sanctity of anything! Or do you expect us to forget that you're the one that's put us here in the first place!"

Again with the cheap shot. It prompted Tom to step forward with an angry glare emanating from his face. "Not cool, man! That's a cheap shot!"

"Well it's true!"

"Why don't you just lay off her?" Kelly interjected as well. "It doesn't even have anything to do with Cornball!"

"She's right." One of the other opposing coaches spoke up. "There's no reason to be doing this here and now."

"Stay out of this! She knows what she did!" The second opposing coach was not having it. But while they were bickering, the two players for Star's team took the Cornball all the way over to the goal zone and hesitantly spiked it into the ground. Did they score? Was that a penalty? Nobody had any idea.

"Uh...score?" One of the said in such a nervous manner that one would think they were about to start crying.

Star contemplated the events that just unfolded in front of her. The poor girl was so confused and this wasn't even a regular Cornball game. "Um...I don't think that's right..."

"Well I don't see anyone else doing anything!" That same player said in a bout of frustration. Star herself responded with a loud groan and by turning herself around. A brief moment looking away from the field was bound to do her good, especially with Katrina & Buff Frog approaching her. "This is going greeeaaat." She said with an exaggerated eyeroll.

"I disagree, young Butterfly. Process going very poorly."

"...Sarcasm, Dad." Katrina corrected him with an arm nudge. Buff Frog did not understand sarcasm.

"Oh, of course."

"I just don't understand. So these people were the ones that complained about the rules of Cornball being overly convoluted-"

"WHICH THEY ARE!" Kelly shouted in agreement.

"-but then they're resistant to even the tiniest change to the game's structure. It's like they want to have their cake and eat it too. Which doesn't even make sense as a metaphor..."

"Mewman culture has been condition to resist change for longest time. Led to believe that admitting viewpoint may be wrong is sign of weakness."

"It's why so many refused to accept Queen Eclipsa when you gave the throne back to her." Katrina added. "Their minds were shaped to believe in one line of thinking, and the revelations that came out shook everything up in a way that they were just were not up to dealing with. I think that's why a lot of them have...mixed feelings for you. Some of them blamed you for..."

"Ruining everything?"

Katrina nodded calmly. "Us monsters are grateful for everything you've tried to do for us. But...it really shouldn't have been a surprise how many of your people willfully gave themselves over to Mina. Not to mention your mother..."

Star groaned. "Okay, yeah, point taken. We...really don't need to go into that right now." She still needed to deal with the demons surrounding her mother. And she wasn't ready. Not yet. "But I guess I get it. Their ancient ways of thinking really have infected a lot of old Mewni traditions, and their refusal to change even one iota of these traditions is just a reflection of how they can't admit that maybe, just maybe, their old ways of thinking were wrong. But you know what? They're just gonna have to get over that. It's not like Earth humans have this proble-" Exaggerated coughs by Janna put an abrupt end to Star's spiel. It was her way of letting her know that she was wrong. "...really?"

"Yeah, don't give us that much credit, kid." Janna responded. "We're just as bad at it as your people are. Just look at our elected officials."

"You mean at the state level or federal?"

"Yes."

"...ohhh." Star turned back to Buff Frog. "So what should I do? If their hostility towards any changes to the game is more about their hostility towards me, then...maybe I should just leave."

"Please don't." Katrina begged. "We don't want you to go."

"I agree! Do not let bigoted, pig-headed people deter you. Your presence here is most welcome."

"Did I hear her say she was leaving!?" One of the opposing Mewman coaches blurted out, blatant in his joy. "Alright! Now we can actually Make Cornball Great Again!" The coach turned to his players, almost none of them happy about the idea of Star leaving. The rage dwelling inside of the girl began to bubble, and with it came a huge sharp pain in her heart. She did her best to hide it but the wincing on her face made it obvious she was in pain. "Alright, kids. All that stuff about the rules changing? Not gonna happen! So get back in formation and let's run some plays."

But none of them moved. They all looked at each other, then at Star, whose down-trodden frown infuriated them. One of them started shaking her head rapidly. "No!" She yelled. "That's not right."

"Excuse me!?"

"Why are you picking on Star? She hasn't done anything wrong."

"Not since the who world-merging thing, maybe. But if she's willing to do that, there's no telling what she's capable of ruining!"

"Always gotta go for the low blows..." Star whispered to herself, prompting Tom to approach her & console her.

"But the rules for Cornball are confusing as all get out!"

"No they're not. You guys just aren't getting it!" Classic. Blame the players. That'll go over well.

"To be fair, you have to be quite the intellectual to understand Cornball." One of the other coaches smugly said towards the players. This was not going over well with anyone, most especially Star.

"You know what?" She took a deep breath. There were no tears. There was no rage. There was no fury. Only disappointment. "I'm gonna go."

"Star-"

"No, Butt Frog. No. I'm leaving. I'm clearly not wanted here by the people who claim to be the adults."

"Hey, there you go! Finally, the last horse crosses the finish line!" The Mewman coaches were absolutely delighted, but the delight didn't last long. Every single player on the opposing team - both on the field and on the bench - simultaneously started walking over to Star. They were joined by the players on Star's side as well. "Wait w-where do you think you're going!?"

"With Star." One of the players - a younger Mewman - said angrily.

"Pfft, you can't. We forbid it." As if that was going to work.

"Too bad. We're still doing it."

"Excuse me!? You don't speak to us like that!"

The team all turned to the coaches and crossed their arms angrily. They were beyond done with their crap. "Then you don't get to speak to Star like that."

"W-"

"Up-bup-bup. Our turn." One of them stepped forward and glared at them with daggers. If looks could kill, all of the opposing coaches would be bleeding internally right about now. "I think it's pretty sad you're using something as trivial as Cornball to throw the Cleaving in Star's face like that. And it's pretty funny how you drone on and on about personal accountability when every single one of you was responsible for joining Mina's ranks to try and eradicate the Monster race!"

A confused gasped came from Star's mouth, but indeed, it was true. Every single one of the Mewman coaches on the opposing team were in fact part of Mina's last-resort Solarian army, the army that pushed Star to the brink where she made the choice to destroy the magic. And apparently they resented her for this? Why hadn't they been locked up for their actions? That was really a question Star had to start asking herself.

"Star's not perfect and has made a lot of mistakes, sure!"

Janna wanted to speak up in objection, but Star stopped her silently. The little ones weren't wrong, after all.

"But she's still trying! Trying to do right by everyone, not just her own people. If you have a problem with that, then you have a problem with us."

"Oh, is that right!? Well just what are you going to do about it!?"

"We could make our own Cornball League!" Katrina blurted out unconsciously. But that wasn't the most surprising development.

"I second that!" Buff Frog endorsing said idea was the most surprising development, indicated by Star's jaw nearly hitting the ground.

"...W-What's happening?" She asked nervously.

"You?! Make your own Cornball League? One that'll rival the Cornball League!? Ha! Good luck!" One of the coached yelled smugly. "You have no chance!"

"Oh no?!" With every word that came out of their smug mouths, Star could feel her confidence & self-esteem growing. "If this is the game, no pun intended, that you want to play with us, then we'll play. And you'd be fools to bet against us!"

"Is true! Star Butterfly has determination of young, unstoppable rapscallion! No roadblock can halt moving train from exploding into righteous fury!"

And now Buff Frog was just rambling. "...Translation, please?" Star asked Katrina, who responded with a meek shrug.

"You know what? Whatever. We don't need this and we don't need you!" The coaches were rather furious now.

"You know, maybe if you guys didn't always walk around with sticks up your bums this wouldn't be happening." Kelly yelled out.

"Just get off our territory!"

"...Your what!?" Ooh, that deeply struck a chord with Star. Not really a word that you'd want to use unless you were involved in something such as a turf war. Or even a regular war. Star had to be restrained by Buff Frog & Katrina just to stop her from going after that, all while she felt another huge jolt of pain in her chest which inevitably stopped her.

"Oh look, now she's feigning a heart attack! Classy, Princess."

Why were some Mewmans just straight up douchebags? It was a mystery to everyone involved. Eventually Star calmed herself down enough and regained her composure. "You know what? Let's go. It's not worth it to put up with these airheads any more."

And with that - ignoring all of the continuing yelling from said Mewmans - Star - alongside Katrina, Buff Frog, Janna, Tom, Kelly, and the rest of the players - took her leave. "I apologize, young Butterfly." Buff Frog lamented. "I truly did not expect attitudes to be so poor & unappealing."

"Are you guys really going to make your own Cornball League?" Tom asked. "Is it even doable?"

"Doable? Absolutely!" Star exclaimed excitedly before her attitude soured slightly. "Doable before the big playground build & the exhibition match that's supposed to accompany it? That's...another question."

"One step at a time." Buff Frog reassured her. "We want Cornball League to be launched right, even if it takes time."

"And let them get the last laugh?"

"Does it even matter?" Janna asked her. "Look, here's what I say: if the game really is as convoluted, confusing, & impossible to keep straight in its current state with the current rules, then people watching are going to pick up on that. And naturally, they're going to complain about it & demand that something be done to make it more streamlined & easy to comprehend."

"What make you so certain?" Buff Frog asked.

"Personal experience. I see it all the time in our own sports. In football, it's so bad that "What the heck is a catch" is a legitimate question."

"...But I thought you weren't supposed to use your hands in football." Katrina asked, clearly confused.

"American football, sweetie." Star corrected her.

"Ohhhh that makes more sense."

"So what's your point?" Tom turned back to Janna.

"It's like with anything in life: if a product or service is proving to be unsatisfactory, and consistently so, then people are naturally going to want an alternative. That could be where this new Cornball League comes in. If it hits the ground running, and it's streamlined & easy to follow, people are going to flock to it in droves if and when the original Cornball League proves itself to be incompetent. But that's why it's critical for you guys to get this right, if you really wanna do this."

"Oh I do!" Katrina yelled triumphantly.

"Again I second!" Buff Frog joined in.

"Star? What about you?" Katrina turned to Star. The girl had to give it a serious moment of thought. It sounded like such a wonderful opportunity. And she was incredibly flattered that they wanted her to be a part of the experience. "It's totally okay with us if you don't want to-"

"No! I-I mean...I do want to help. It sounds like a fun idea. I just don't know how much help I can be right now because of..." She gestured broadly towards herself. "Everything."

"We will take all help you can provide." Buff Frog reassured her with a shoulder pat.

"And you guys have my full support, no matter what." She and Katrina embraced; their hug was quickly taken over by the other players as well as Buff Frog. "Thanks everyone! I love you guys." Soon after they all parted, allowing Star a moment to breathe on her own. "Hey, do you guys mind if we hold off on the planning until tomorrow? I'm kinda..." She winced and grabbed at her chest again. Poor Star. "I'm kinda wiped in all honesty."

"Are you okay?" Katrina asked, a sudden exasperated look of concern crossing her face.

"Yeah, y-yeah I'm fine. Totally. Sorta. Not really. I don't really wanna talk about it, I just...need to remember when to take it easy, that's all." Another massive pain in her chest; she winced and clutched her chest, gently sitting herself down on the ground, careful not to completely faint. It was odd how this was starting to happen more as she confronted the demons. Every time she felt a twinge of guilt or anger over stuff like this - such as during the confrontation with the Mewmans - her heart acted up and the physical & emotional pain returned. Could they somehow be connected?

"Hey hey, take it easy. Chill." Janna urged, heading over to her and consoling her on one knee. "You're gonna be okay." Star was able to open her eyes slightly and see Janna kneeling there.

"S-Sorry..."

"Stop apologizing. It's not your fault...none of it is..." A statement Star still refused to believe.

"Come on, we'll take you home." Tom & Kelly helped Janna stand Star up and - with the former magical princess slightly slumped over their shoulders - started the trek back towards...oh yeah. "Which house are we taking you to?"

"O-Oh, right...um...I think tonight's Marco's house..." She said, her voice slightly slurring from the exhaustion her sudden cardiac episode brought her.

"Oh, so she's sleeping over at the boyfriend's house now, huh?"

"Yeah, but only every other day." Janna winked at Kelly, which left her a bit confounded.

Star, meanwhile, weakly tried to turn her head back to the others. "Sorry you had to see that, guys..."

"What is matter!?" Buff Frog exclaimed in a clearly worried tone.

"Nothing I can't handle. I'll be fine, promise." She started to close her eyes as Tom & Janna started heading out. "See you guys later..."

Katrina waved goodbye to her, nervously looking on. What she just saw unfold was horrifying to her, and yet it wasn't even the worst of what's happened. "...Bye, Star."

That evening, Marco finally returned home triumphantly from his day out hanging with Jackie. The time spent with his former ex just as friends proved to be exactly what he needed, but he was eager now to return to his girlfriend and shower her with affection and then some. He had met up with Janna, Kelly, & Tom, with the three of them explaining in general what had transpired on their end, including the pledge to create their own Cornball League somehow. They also had the unfortunate task of explaining Star's cardiac episode, which understandably almost sent him into a panic.

Now it was just him, his family, & Star left in the house. He took his baby sister Mariposa up with him to his room and opened the door. He found his wonderful girlfriend peacefully sleeping under the blankets, where she had been for the past several hours since being brought home by Janna, Kelly, & Tom. An answer for her continued cardiac woes couldn't come soon enough. He carefully approached the bed and placed Mariposa down right next to her, allowing the child to cuddle up next to the sleeping Star. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be.

As soon as Mariposa touched her, Star shot up wide awake with a loud scream and sat there panting loudly & sweating. It was another bad dream. "M-M-Mar-Marco...?"

He sheepishly smiled, the concern blatant on his face. "Hey." He then proceeded to climb in next to her, embracing her with all of his strength. "You okay?"

"...W-Wha-"

"Tom, Janna, & Kelly told me you had an...um, "episode" at the Cornball thing, so they brought you here to sleep."

"Yeah...it's a long story..."

"They pretty much told me all of it. And you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

She smiled at him. He was always considerate. "Thanks." She groaned and put a hand on her chest. Most of the pain from earlier had subsided...but not all of it. "I guess I'm stuck in this bed tomorrow, huh?"

"It's probably for the best"

"Ugh! An answer for these woes can't come soon enough."

"I feel you." He planted a kiss on her cheek and rubbed her shoulder. "So...you and Buff Frog & Katrina & the rest of the players are gonna make your own Cornball League? Is that right?"

She laughed cautiously as she picked up Mariposa and held her in her arms, kissing her repeatedly & getting her to giggle. "Well...I don't know. Do you think we can?"

"Star, you can do anything you set your mind to. I have no doubt at all that you'll pull this off."

His constant encouragement of her never ceased to flatter her. "Thanks, Marco." They brought themselves in closely for a hug, with Marco being extra careful to not cause her any extra discomfort. "And how did things go with Jackie?"

"Jackie? O-Oh, uh..." Marco's blush returned, but not nearly as strongly as it had earlier. "Actually...it went really well."

"Really?"

He nodded with a smile. "Yeah, I...I opened up about how I felt about her and about...how things went down, and then we went to the arcade & played a bunch of games & had fun. I even managed to win her a stuffed teddy bear somehow."

"Aww that's so sweet!" She gently punched his arm. "Way to go, honey! I'm proud of you. So things are cool between you two?"

"Yup. We're, uh...we're okay. I think I'm gonna be a lot more comfortable being friends with her now."

"D'aww...just friends? And not "Friends With Benefits?" And of course a smug, sly smile crossed her face when she said this. Goodness what went through her head at times...

"...Okay how do you know what that even means?"

His girlfriend snickered at him. "I'll never tell..." Followed by a flirtatious wink. The boy turned his face away from her in shame, his blush growing stronger. He knew she was only lovingly teasing him, but he still felt weird about the entire ordeal. "Hey hey, look at me..." He turned back to face her, finding a loving smile on her face. Not only was she incredibly sympathetic to his plight, but she was also eager to encourage him to follow through on this...if he wanted to, of course. "You know, you don't need my blessing for something like this. But if you'd feel more comfortable, then you have it. Full stop."

"...what? You mean...no no, Star, p-please, it's not like that. I don't-"

"Come on, Marco." Her smile never wavered. "You can't seriously tell me that after all of this it hasn't crossed your mind even once."

"Of course it has. Why do you think I'm so ashamed?" And there it was.

"But you don't have to be ashamed. They're your feelings, you're allowed to have them. I know that it'll never take away from what we have. It's just the nature of being a teenager. Besides, if it had to be anyone, I'm glad it's Jackie. She's a physical specimen of hotness, dude. We both know that."

A brief moment of silence passed them. "That might be the understatement of the year."

"More like "of the decade." And then the two broke into laughter. Never could anyone understand just how easy they made it look to have a casual conversation over something as intimate as "Friends With Benefits." It was awe-inspiring. "I mean, I'm sure it would a little weird for her if you wanted to broach the subject to her, but-"

"Actually..." Now it was his turn to have a sly smile on his face.

"Oh gosh, no."

"It's a long story, and I promised her I would not break her confidence, but let's just say...she knows what that phrase means and...well..."

"Well what?"

"When I told her that I started to think about, you know, what it might've been like if she and I had that kind of intimate relationship I have with you, she...she didn't outright dismiss it."

Star's face lit up instantly. "Oh really?" He nodded. "Well well well, looks like you and I aren't the only ones with a devilish side to them, are we?"

"No we are not."

"YEAH!" Came the adorable happy scream of the little baby that was sitting quietly next to Star. The two teens picked Mariposa up and smothered her in kisses, causing her to break out into hysterical laughter.

"Look, Marco, this isn't me pushing you into going down that route with her." Star said, putting the baby back down. "I'm not going to push you into doing anything you're not comfortable doing. All I'm saying is...if this is something that plays out, a-and you want to go for it with her and she wants to go for it with you, I'm okay with it. I'd be so happy for you."

The boy leaned in & kissed her again. "You don't have to worry. Right now I just want to be friends with Jackie & actually get to know her better. But...thank you. That does mean a lot." Their intimate conversation was interrupted by the sound of fierce knocking on Marco's open door. The two turned to see that standing in the open doorway were Moon & River. And they both looked like they had just seen a ghost.

"STAR!"

"PUMPKIN!"

They dashed into the room and nearly ambushed the bed, hugging Star with all their might while still being careful not to cause her further distress. "Are you alright, my love?" Her mother asked her, desperately trying to hold back tears.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine..." Star's voice trailed off slightly, fatigue setting in rapidly. "I just had a little scare, but that's all." She wished internally that they wouldn't stress over her as much as they did now. As flattered as she was over their increased concern for her well being & happiness, she now spent time worrying that they were making themselves crazy just for her, and she didn't like that thought.

"We came over as soon as we heard the news!" River proclaimed. "Buff Frog and his strapping young children told us everything."

"...They did?"

"We are so sorry, sweetheart. I promise you if I ever find those Mewmans I will sit them down and I will give them hell-"

"Mom!" She hoarsely wheezed out, followed by a cough. "You don't have to do that. Please, not for me."

"Nonsense! They were completely out of line."

"Yeah but you're just gonna put yourself in harm's way a-and I don't want that..."

"Star, they said you were faking your heart problems!" Marco shouted angrily, almost upsetting Mariposa in the process. "That alone should be grounds for getting a swift kick in their-"

"MARCO!" Moon quickly cut him off before he could finish his sentence, despite the fact that she agreed with her overall sentiment. "Star..." She turned back to her hurting daughter. "We're here for you now, don't you worry."

"You have our full backing. Especially if the rumors of you and the lads starting your own Cornball League are true!" River winked happily her way.

"They're right. We're all here for you. And we're all pulling for you."

"...I know you guys are." The girl said somberly, momentarily lowering her head in an act of shame. Tears slowly started to form out of the crescent of her closed eyes. "...So why are my own people not?"

It was a somber, depressing question that nobody could provide an answer for. All they could do was embrace her & reassure her that they loved her & had her back every step of the way. And now if only they could find a concrete cure for her continuing heart woes...

End of Episode 15!

Turns out that freelance gig I mentioned in my last post didn't even last long. Not gonna go into major details, but let's just say: if you're hiring someone for a project, don't set a price for them that you can't pay long-term. Setting an initial fixed price for the first project and then proposing a more than 80% cut in pay for all future projects is a bad look. Sorry, had to rant. Anyway back on the job hunt.

But I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. And please read & review, the feedback is greatly appreciated! ^_^