Fun fact: when writing the draft for this story, I only had two chapters planned for the field trip, but that would've run long, and I wanted to avoid that. Hope you guys enjoyed the references because now it's time for the fighting!
"You know, with the benefit of hindsight, I should've kept my interest in those escape artist courses," Jonah deadpanned as he continued to dangle from the ceiling. "Really regretting leaving my alchemy stuff at home today."
After Ludo's band of marauding Monsters managed to nab most of their class, they hauled everyone to an exhibit labeled "Universe's Most Coziest Pre-Historic Cave Dwelling." True to the sign, the cave was, indeed, rather cozy, complete with a gigantic fireplace and shelf. Unfortunately for all the students, the place only had one way in or out: the entrance, guarded by Spikeballs, Man Arm, and Boo Fly. The students had their wrists tied behind their back and kept under guard in the far end of the cave—everyone, that is, except for Jonah. Because of how much trouble he'd given them in the past, the Frog Man in charge ordered him kept separated from the others. And to insult to injury, they hung him from the ceiling like a pinata.
"Come on, Frogger," Jonah called out to Buff Frog down below. "Don't tell me you guys are so scared of me that you won't let me spend time with the other students. Tell you what, if you let me down from here, I promise not to try anything."
Buff Frog took one look at the beanie-wearing boy and said, "No. You stay right where you are, psycho boy."
"Yep, they're scared," Jonah said, upset that he couldn't get them to fall for his taunts but amused at the fact that he'd become the Monster's boogeyman.
Buff Frog, though, had much bigger concerns to deal with. He had had the others do a headcount, and they were missing two students. One was the loudmouth from the party bus that karate girl had yelled at. The other was the karate girl herself. Buff Frog specifically told his comrades not to go after a karate girl unless she was alone; otherwise, she was too dangerous. Now Boo Fly reported that they and the Prince were headed straight for them, so everyone in the cave was anxious for the fight to come.
"Hey, uh, Buff Frog?" Beard Deer asked, pulling their commander aside. "Do you really think that we can pull it off this time?"
"Da. This cannot fail, comrade. We have secret weapons on our side," Buff Frog reassure his ally before turning to Bearicorn, who was, at the moment, currently operating a Meseeks Box and generating Meseeks after Meseeks.
"I'm Mr. Meseeks!"
"Oooeeee!"
"I'm Mr. Meseeks! Look at me!"
The Meseeks all began to cry out as they were poofed into existence, waiting for someone to give them the orders that they so desperately craved. It was a stroke of good fortune that Bearicorn's group had happened to come across the Meseeks Box after capturing the demon child and the skater boy. Even in the far reaches of Mewni, people were aware of the capabilities of a Meseeks Box, and Buff Frog was not going to let an opportunity to bolster their forces pass them by.
Toffee may have come up with plan, but I will be one to see it through, Buff Frog thought as he approached Bearicorn and the growing number of Meseeks. Ever since the Septarian had joined their ranks, Buff Frog had been wary of Toffee. He was good at what he did. Too good, in fact. Years of espionage had taught him to be mindful of people such as Toffee, yet he could not bring his concerns forth to Ludo yet. He needed to prove to his master that he was better than the Septarian, and succeeding in this mission would be the key to doing so.
Shaking off his concerns, Buff Frog raised his hand, ordering Bearicorn to bring a halt to creating more Meseeks. Once he had done that, Buff Frog then turned to address his new troops. "Comrade Meseeks, you are to follow our orders until we say you are dismissed." He then pointed towards the school children. "Now, half of you go and guard prisoners, while other half waits at cave entrance to ambush enemy with others."
"Can do!" "Yes, sirreee!" "Look at me!" The Meseeks all chirped out at once before going to follow their marching orders.
"Now, we are ready for Prince," Buff Frog confidently said to his allies, who let out a cheer in response. As for their captives, though, they were beginning to sulk as they felt their odds of rescue continue to dwindle.
"Guys, I don't know about you, but I am freaking out right now!" Sabrina nervously confessed to the rest of the class.
"Yeah, I know what you mean, Sabrina," Justin agreed. "This looks bad. Really, really bad."
"I'm starting to wish that we had stayed at the paperclip museum," Francis admitted. "At least there, we could call the cops to help us."
"Aw, don't be like that, you guys," CometFan13 said to keep everyone's spirits up. "I'm sure that Comet and Marcia will come to rescue us any minute now."
"How, though," a girl by the name of Hope Hadley asked. "They'll be crazy outnumbered. There's no way they can get to us."
"Well, the odds of them alone reaching us are indeed very slim-" Alfonso (who was still fused to Ferguson) calculated.
"-We've learned that Comet's really good at fighting overwhelming odds," Jackson calmly asserted. "Plus, it's not like he's alone. He's got Ms. Skullnick, Marcia, and Brittney to help. I'm sure they'll come up with a plan."
Sabrina loudly scoffed at this idea, though. "I doubt that Brittney, of all people, would be willing to help us. She's probably cowering back on the bus as we speak," she bitterly noted.
"Hey, girl. I wouldn't underestimate just how much of an impact Comet can have on people," Karla wisely noted. "Maybe what he said to her ended up getting through."
Sabrina was about to further argue when suddenly, they could hear large amounts of yelling coming from the front of the cave. Out of curiosity, the teens craned their necks, trying to look past the ring of Messeeks now guarding them in place of Monsters. Truthfully, though, none of them needed to look to know who could be standing there.
"Sup, Buff Frog?" the familiar voice of Comet rang out as the Prince of Mewni was now standing at the entrance to the cave, with Marcia faithfully at his side. "So, is Ludo going to make his idea of a grand entrance or what?"
"Our Master is at his castle, waiting for us to return with his new Wand," Buff Frog sternly responded before holding out his hand. "Now hand it over if you ever want to see friends in one piece."
"Really? You expect him to hand it over just like that, Buffy?" Jonah taunted from his unfortunate vantage point. "I think we all know that Hell will freeze over before that happens."
"Jonah, is that you?" Marcia called out as she saw her frenemy dangling from the ceiling.
"Yep," Jonah calmly replied. "They decided to give me the VIP seats for this little smackdown. Could definitely use some popcorn, though."
Yeah, he's fine, Marcia told herself before returning her attention to the army of Monsters. "Buff Frog, we all know how this is going to go, so you may as well just let our friends go and save yourselves the medical bills," she told him as she got into a combat stance.
"Nyet. We are more than ready for two of you this time," Buff Frog simply said. "MESEEKS!"
"Uh-oh," Jonah said as he watched whatever Meseeks that weren't guarding the students appeared front and center on Buff Frog's orders.
"Uh, Comet? What are these things supposed to be?"
"Heck if I know, Marcia," Comet said. For once, he was clueless on this.
"Mr. Meseeks, seize the boy and bring me his Wand," Buff Frog commanded the assembled Meseeks, who all responded with "can do!" before charging straight towards the two teens, alongside the rest of the Monsters. Right before they reached the duo, though, they were stopped dead in their tracks, courtesy of a small, magical dome emanating from Comet's Wand.
"Thanks for the save," Marcia told her partner in crime. "But where did Ludo get all these new guys?"
"I don't know, Marcia," Comet grunted as he struggled to hold up the dome against the Monsters and Meseeks currently punching away at it. "But I think that this situation calls for our own secret weapon. You know what to do."
Marcia nodded before getting out her phone and quickly dialing a number. "Archimedes to Ymir, requesting cavalry, over," Marcia said through the phone.
"Acknowledged. Cavalry is on its way," Ms. Skullnick's voice said on the other half of the line. Moments later, the distinctive rumble of a school bus could be heard as the vehicle approached the cave. Except, it wasn't the same yellow school bus that the students had arrived in. Thanks to Comet, the bus had been given some extensive modifications. It had monster truck wheels in place of the regular ones, a bulldozer's plow on the front, which had also been painted black save for a few sections meant to resemble yellow flames. Plus, there was a giant shooting star magically painted on the roof of the thing. All told, it looked less like a bus and more like something out of Mad Max, and it was headed straight for the cave entrance!
"OUT OF THE WAY, YOU HOOLIGANS!" Ms. Skullnick called out from the driver's seat as she got closer to the cave, prompting everyone, Monsters, Meseeks, Prince, and best friend alike, to duck for cover as the bus made its way towards the cave. Only moments later, the bus plowed through the entrance with a thunderous crash, tearing rock and stone apart and turning it into debris that threatened to hit the occupants. Thankfully, no one seemed to be injured as the bus continued to advance further into the cave before finally coming to a stop a few yards from where the students and their Meseeks guards were.
"Oooeeee, that was a very cool entrance," one of the Meseeks commented, not even phased by what had just happened. In fact, none of the Meseeks seemed phased at all. Everyone else in the cave took a few moments to recover and get their bearings, with Buff Frog the first to recover. He had not expected the Prince to resort to such drastic measures to rescue his comrades, but he refused to let panic take hold. His forces still outnumbered the Prince and karate girl, and whoever had the bus would be dealt with. That was what Buff Frog was thinking; at least, until the doors to the bus swung open and he saw who came out.
"Whoa," one of the students said in awe as they saw who their would-be savior was. Most of the students, though, were so dumbfounded that they couldn't say anything. Ultimately, it was Justin who broke the silence and asked what everyone was thinking.
"Ms. Skullnick?"
Even though the students couldn't believe it, the one standing before them was, in fact, their teacher, Ms. Skullnick. She was clad head to toe in battle armor and wielded a halberd so massive that it went up past her head!
"Oh, shit, she's packing heat!" Jonah commented from his perch above, though Skullnick paid her no mind.
"All right, look," Skullnick scowled at the Meseeks. "I'm leaving this place with my students whether you blue weirdo's like it or not. So you can either step aside and let me do my job," Skullnick then brandished her halberd menacingly at the Meseeks, "or you see what happens when you mess with me."
"Hey, isn't that Emmitt's ex?" Bearicorn asked off to the side, which only served to piss the teacher off even more than she already was.
"Da, it is," Buff Frog noted before realizing that things were about to get harder. "Meseeks!" he shouted to the Meseeks guarding the students before pointing at the teacher. "Keep her away from the students!"
"Caaan do!" The Meseeks replied before charging forward at the troll teacher.
"Oh no, Ms. Skullnick!" Sabrina cried in concern as the blue creatures zerg rushed their teacher...
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Only for Ms. Skullnick to swing her halberd at the oncoming enemies, cleaving several of them in half, spilling pure white liquid on the floor that the students could only assume was their blood.
"WHO WANTS SOME OF THIS!?" Skullnick cried out to the horde of Meseeks, who didn't even seem scared as they continued to follow their orders, including the ones cut in half. Ms. Skullnick, in turn, proceeded to press the attack, wielding her halberd in one hand and using her free hand to pick up and throw any unfortunate Meseeks across the cave, while her students could only sit and watch.
"...Holy shit, dude," was Jonah could say. Not even he could see this coming. Meanwhile, everyone else in the cave began to recover from their initial shock enough to resume what they were doing: beating the snot out of each other.
"Narwhal blast!" On Comet's command, half a dozen or so narwhals came shooting out of his Wand, heading straight for the Monsters, who either moved to dodge or hid behind their comrades with natural armor.
Buff Frog was quick to rally his allies. "Focus on the boy and getting that Wand! Let the other Meseeks deal with the troll!" he shouted at them as Marcia charged right into their ranks with a lightning-fast roundhouse kick, hitting Beard Deer squarely in the side and sending him falling to the ground.
"I hope you guys know that you ruined a bet I had with Jackson. Now you're gonna pay," she told them in a very menacing tone that made a few of them step back. They had fought Marcia many times now, but this was the first time she looked so mad before! However, they would not let their fear deter them!
Comet immediately joined his best friend by jumping into the fray alongside his best friend. Despite being more outnumbered than normal, neither of them was that worried. They already had a plan in place before they came here. The two of them would distract the Monsters while Ms. Skullnick took care of the people guarding the kids, giving Brittney enough time to get them on the bus and out of there. And while they were facing more enemies than they usually did, Comet had a new spell he'd wanted to try out that that would even the odds.
"You ready, Marcy?" Comet asked his partner in crime.
"As ready as I'll ever be," Marcia responded. "Hit me, Comet."
Before any of the other Monsters could react, Comet pointed his Wand at Marcia.
"RADIANT RAINBOW MECH SUIT!"
In a flash of dazzling lights and colors, the magic began to envelop Marcia until she was, much to everyone's surprise, clad in a rainbow-colored suit that looked like something that Iron Man would wear.
"Oh yeah, this is gonna be fun," Marcia smirked as she got into a battle stance. "So who's first, guys?"
"Don't let her scare you guys! She's still a little girl underneath all of that!" Spike Balls shouted as he led Tyler and Lobster Claws in a three-on-one assault. However, that proved to be a mistake, as Marcia's newfound armor proved to be very durable, able to shake off their hardest punches and kicks. And to make matters worse, he made her own attacks hurt twice as much as they usually did. In other words, Lobster Claws and Tyler were able to feel the pain in places other than their eyes and faces!
Meanwhile, Comet was having a blast, shooting out narwhals, giant floating fists, and even shurikens made out of nachos that would explode into really sticky cheese on impact. As usual, most of the Monsters were having a hard time trying to get close to him. However, the Meseeks were a little bit different. No matter how much they got banged up, narwhal blasted, or attacked them, they wouldn't stop. They just kept coming right at him. In fact, it seemed like there more of them with each passing second.
In the far end of the cave, Ms. Skullnick was running into a similar problem. She was tearing into the Meseeks with her fists and halberd, but they wouldn't stop trying to keep her away from her students. She was pretty sure a few of them were missing all their limbs, yet they wouldn't die.
"All right, what the Hell are these stupid things?" She asked, voicing her thoughts. Fortunately for her, somebody knew the answer.
"They're called Meseeks, teach. And you might as well keep chopping away at them because they won't stop." Jonah yelled out from his spot, dangling from the ceiling.
"Jonah? How did you get up there?"
"The Monsters decided to give me the VIP treatment since they're scared to death of me," Jonah said with his usual, half-lidded smile. "Get me down from here, and I think I can help you end this madness."
Skullnick groaned. The last thing that she wanted to do was admit that she needed help from Jonah Ordonia, but beggars couldn't be choosers. Reluctantly, she broke off her fight with the Meseeks and, using her considerable muscle, managed to jump up onto the roof of the bus before leaping into the air towards Jonah. Once she was close enough, she used her halberd to slicer open his ropes before grabbing him in her arms and throwing the boy over her shoulders as they fell to the ground.
"All right, I saved your sorry ass. Now tell me what you know about these things and how to stop them. Otherwise, we're not getting out of here."
As tempting as it was to mess with her, Jonah knew how serious the situation was. So, he quickly explained everything he knew about the Meseeks box and how these guys worked.
"So we just gotta find the Monster that's carrying the box and take it from them," Jonah finished. "That won't get rid of these guys, but it will stop more from being spawned."
"Good enough," Skullnick simply said. "So, where is the one responsible for all of this?"
Jonah looked through the chaos unfolding in the cave, looking for the one holding the Meseeks box. Then, he managed to spot Bearicorn in one corner of the cave, busy spawning more and more Meseeks from the Meseeks Box.
"Target sighted, teach. I'll handle him," Jonah said before heading to pursue Jonah. "You focus on keeping the Meseeks at bay long enough for Brittney to free the others."
"Wait! How do you know about that?" Ms. Skullnick asked in confusion. There was no way he could've known about their plan; he wasn't even with them when they came up with it!
"Well, Brittney wasn't with us when we got captured. So I'm assuming she's hiding on the bus and waiting for an opening," Jonah casually said before heading off to have some fun-stop Bearicorn. That's right, he was gonna stop Bearicorn.
As for Ms. Skullnick, she didn't have to worry about heading back to fight the Meseeks. Still following Buff Frog's orders, they actively tried to keep her away from the students, forcing the teacher back into the heat of battle once more.
"All right, you freaks, bring it on. I haven't even begun to fight!" Ms. Skullnick cried out before returning to the fight.
Unfortunately, due to their single-minded nature when following orders, the Meseeks had made a fatal mistake. By fighting Ms. Skullnick to keep her away from her students, they left the students in question unguarded. And this was the moment that Brittney, who had been hiding on the school bus, had been waiting for. After quickly double-checking to make sure no one was watching, the Wong girl carefully slipped out of the bus and dashed towards her classmates, who were all more than a little surprised to see her.
"Brittney?" Sabrina whispered in disbelief. "What are you-"
"Shh, don't talk," Brittney whispered. "I'm getting you guys out of here," she explained before brandishing a dagger Ms. Skullnick had given her from the Troll exhibit. In one swift motion, Brittney proceeded to cut the ropes binding Sabrina's wrists behind her back, freeing her. "Come on. Help me get everyone out of here."
"I don't get it, Brittney. Why are you even helping us?" Justin asked as Brittney worked to free his wrists.
"Because it's the right thing to do," Brittney told him. "And in case you guys haven't noticed, I'm trying to change myself for the better. Now quit talking and get on the bus. It's our ticket out of here."
At a complete loss as to what was going on, Sabrina simply nodded her head before motioning to the rest of the students to follow her and Justin onto the bus before their guards noticed what was happening. However, those who were among Comet's close circle of friends lingered behind with Brittney, unsure of what they should be doing.
"Brittney, please tell me that there's a plan going on here," Jackson asked in a tone of voice that made it clear that he wasn't going to take no for an answer.
"Um, yeah," Brittney nervously said. "So, while Ms. Skullnick and I freed you guys, Comet and Marcia were supposed to keep them busy or something. Then once we're all back on the bus, we get out of here and go home."
"Uh-huh, uh-huh, good plan," Ferguson noted. "Except there's one problem: THESE BLUE FREAKS ARE OUT TO GET US!"
"I'm Mr. Meseeks! Look at meee!"
As if to prove Ferguson's point, another Meseeks appeared right behind the kids, making them jump in panic.
"Relax, guys. He's on our side," said the voice of Jonah, who was approaching the group with a strange-looking box in his hands. "I was able to pry this thing out of Bearicorn's claws and used it to summon one of these guys." Jonah then turned to his Meseeks. "All right, Mr. Meseeks. Help us get this bus out of here while we go grab our friends and teacher. We'll wait for you by the entrance to pick us up."
"Can dooo!" the Meseeks dutifully said before heading onto the bus. "Attention, all students," the Meseeks told to the students. "I'm your new bus driver, Mr. Meseeks, and I'm not here to hurt you. Jonah sent me to get you all out of here."
"Well, now that that's been taken care of, let's go help out Comet."
"Can doooo!" Alfonso said in response, which only served to earn him a glare from the others. "What? It's a catchy phrase," he said while sheepishly shrugging his shoulders.
As for Comet and Marcia, things were not looking so good for either of them. At first, they'd just been fighting the usual Monsters, which wasn't that much of a problem on its own. However, as Comet had noted, the number of the creatures calling themselves Mr. Meseeks had steadily grown, and no matter what they did, the blue guys just kept coming at them. Eventually, Ludo's Monsters stopped fighting the pair outright and let the Meseeks handle the teens, content to sit back and watch as this, and a similar scene, played out with Ms. Skullnick.
"You know," Spike Balls said, "It's actually fun to watch when we're the ones not getting our asses kicked."
"Oh yeah."
"Totally."
"This is very cathartic." the other Monsters said.
"Comrades," Buff Frog said as he approached the other Monsters. "While I understand how this seems, in very dark sort of way, entertaining, we still have job to do. Be ready to fight when time comes."
"Ooooh, we got him, Buff Frog!"
Buff Frog and the assembled Monsters were yanked out of their conversation to see an unbelievable. Laying there, pinned on the ground by the combined weight of several dozen or so Meseeks, were Comet Dragonfly and his human companion. Despite being the better fighters, the sheer weight of numbers had finally overwhelmed the duo.
"You were saying, Buff Frog?" Bear Deer snarked. However, any irritation the Frog Man may have felt was overshadowed by the fact that they had just got their enemies! Victory finally seemed to be in their grasp! As the other Monsters began to celebrate, though, Buff Frog maintained a stern face.
"Nyet, my friends. Let us not celebrate until we have delivered the Wand to Master Ludo," Buff Frog said before motioning for the Monsters to surround Comet and Marcia.
"Get off me, you Blue Man Group ripoffs!" Marcia yelled as she tried to pry herself free from the dogpile.
"What she said," Comet said, making a mental note to look up whatever she was talking about when they got home. At the moment, though, they had much bigger problems to deal with. Comet was currently trying his damndest to raise his Wand and cast some sort of spell. However, the Meseeks kept him from doing even that, holding down his Wand arm like there was no tomorrow.
"Well, at least things can't get any worse." The moment he said that, though, Comet felt a large shadow looming over him. Daring to look upwards, he found himself looking at the triumphant form of Buff Frog.
"I vill be taking that," Buff Frog said as he reached down and yanked Comet's Wand out of his hand.
"NO! MY WAND!"
"We got it. WE ACTUALLY FREAKING GOT IT!" Ludo jubilantly cheered as he watched everything back at his Castle alongside Toffee. "WE'RE SO CLOSE TO VICTORY I CAN ALMOST TASTE IT!"
"GIVE ME BACK MY WAND, YOU BASTARD!" Comet yelled at Buff Frog as he began to walk away, leaving the other Monsters to surround him, Marcia, and the Meseeks.
"Make sure he stays where he is, comrades," Buff Frog said. "Your job is now done, Meseeks. You are dismissed.
"Okay!" the Meseeks all said before promptly bursting into blue dust.
"OH MY GOD, DID THEY JUST DIE?!" Marcia screamed in horror as she finally managed to get to her feet, only to find that she and Comet were now surrounded by Monsters. And without the Wand to help them, their chances of getting out looked very slim.
"They're actually fine with it, kid," Spike Balls said in response. "Though I would worry more about yourself right now."
Buff Frog couldn't help but smile proudly at his comrades. Despite things not going entirely to plan, they had still pulled this mission off. Now, all that remained was to deliver their prize to Ludo. Reaching for his belt, Buff Frog pulled out the interdimensional mace. Comet and Marcia could only look on in horror as Buff Frog pressed the button...only for nothing to happen.
Buff Frog looked at the device in confusion and tried pressing it again. Still, nothing happened.
"What is that idiot doing!?" Ludo yelled as he continued watching everything onscreen.
Exactly what I wanted him to do, Toffee thought to himself as he watched events proceed as he had planned.
"Buff Frog, what izzzz going on?" Boo Fly asked in concern over the fact that the Wand was still in his hands.
"I do not know. This device isn't working!" Buff Frog said, the panic now beginning to creep into his voice. If he delayed any longer, the Prince and karate girl could get to him and ruin everything! At last, Buff Frog lost patience and put the mace away, pulling out his dimensional scissors instead.
"New plan. I'm delivering Wand to Ludo in person. Keep Prince and allies off of me for few more seconds!"
"Too late! Game over, pal!"
Before Buff Frog even had a chance to react, he was swiftly kicked halfway across the ran by a pair of cloven hooves, courtesy of the still-fused Alfonso and Ferguson, causing him to drop the Wand into the hands of the waiting Jackson.
"Buff Frog!" The Monsters cried out in fear as their commander hit the stone walls of the cave.
As for poor Boo Fly, he found himself blinded by a horrible burning sensation the likes of which he had never experienced before.
"AAAHHHHHH! MY EYES! WHAT IS THIS HORRID STUFF!?"
"Pepper spray, you overgrown insect," answered the smug voice of Brittney Wong. "You never know when you have to deal with stalkers or unwanted party crashers."
"All right, you guys made it!" Comet couldn't help but cheer even though he was still surrounded.
"And we're not the only ones," Jackson called out.
"GET AWAY FROM MY STUDENTS!" a familiar voice roared, making everyone, sans Jonah's group, look around in confusion. Then, Ms. Skullnick came diving in from up above, smashing the group of Monsters away from Comet and Marcia before keeping them at bay with her halberd.
"Dios mio, Ms. Skullnick. That was amazing!" Marcia couldn't help but feel impressed by her teacher.
"Thank you, Marcia," Ms. Skullnick said sweetly before letting her face turn serious once more. "When I say now, get ready to get on the bus."
"Wait, wha-?" Comet started to say, only to realize that they were still sticking to the plan.
Just then, Bearicorn ran up to the others, looking completely battered and bruised. "Guys, we got a problem."
"Oh, my corn!" Dave said. "What happened to you, Be-"
"That can wait!" Bearicorn abruptly told them. "The psycho kid jumped me and took the Meseeks box. Now we have no way to get reinforcements!" he frantically told them.
Three-Eyed Potato Baby grunted something along the lines of "Uh oh." Just then, they heard a very loud horn honking, prompting the group to scan the cave in search of the cause. That's when they saw, to their horror, the school bus barrelling right at them at top speed.
"Buck-bagawk," Big Chicken whimpered, which meant something along the lines of "Not again," in Chickenese.
"SCATTER!" Beard Deer shouted, prompting all of the Monsters to get as far away from Comet and the others as possible. The bus continued to careen towards the group before it finally came to a stop and opened its doors, revealing a Meseeks to be the bus' driver.
"I'm Mr. Meseeks! Look at me!"
"And that's our cue to leave, people. Everyone, back on the bus!" Ms. Skullnick shouted. Without a second of hesitation, the remaining students clambered onto the bus as Ms. Skullnick kept watch. Though not before Jackson pulled Comet to the side.
"I think that you might need this," he said as he handed his friend back his Wand.
"Thanks, bro," Comet nodded before boarding the bus. Once everyone was on board, Ms. Skullnick followed them and approached the driver's seat.
"All right, buddy," she said to the Meseeks. "Your job's over."
"Okay!" The Meseeks said before poofing out of existence like all the others, letting Ms. Skullnick take the wheel. "All right, kids, field trip's over. Let's get out of here before anything else bad happens!" For once, none of the students complained as Ms. Skullnick put her foot on the gas and drove them out of the cave and towards the portal they came through, leaving the Monsters in the dust. It was only once the cave was far enough away in their rear-view mirror that the students dare to start cheering and celebrating their escape.
"Oh, Mewni, that was a close one!" Comet said as he relaxed into his seat beside Marcia. "I almost lost the Wand there!"
"Yeah. We got lucky," Marcia admitted. "But still, shouldn't we be worried about them trying to follow us?"
"I wouldn't count on that, Ms. Diaz," Jonah smugly told them from his seat.
"And why is that, Jonah?" Marcia asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.
"I used the box to make another Meseeks and had them go free something that would help cover our tracks."
"Release what, exactly?"
"You don't want to know, Marcia. You don't want to know," was all the boy would tell her. Realizing that it was a lost cause, Marcia decided to drop the subject and wait for the group to make it to the portal.
Buff Frog was not in good shape. One minute, he had been on the verge of achieving victory for his Master Ludo. The Wand was in his hands! All he had to do was use the mace and send it straight to him! Yet, it had failed. It had failed on him! He was so worried about that that he let his guard down, allowing the Prince's friends the chance to retrieve the Wand and send him crashing into a wall. After that, he vaguely remembered watching the Prince and other students get on the bus and escape just as he got to his feet. Then, the other Monsters ran over to him to make sure he was alright.
"Urgh...the Prince is getting away," he said, brushing off their concerns. "We have to...pursue."
"Are you sure, Buff Frog?" Ping-Pong spoke up. "Maybe we should leave now while we still can."
"Nyet. We must not fail Ludo!" Buff Frog insisted. However, it seemed as though the Universe was determined to keep him from getting his hands on his prize. At that moment, a loud, unearthly wail came from the entrance to the cave, revealing a giant, twisting abomination made out of yarn blocking their path. The yarn creature looked at the assembled Monsters for a moment before roaring again, this time even louder.
"YARD BEAST!" Lobster Claws screamed in panic, causing all of the Monsters to lose what semblance of order they had and scatter as the beast made its way into the cave.
"Oh, nyet." Was all Buff Frog could say as he knew that, once again, victory had eluded their grasp.
As soon as the bus had returned to the parking lot of the paperclip museum, Comet got out and used his scissors to open another portal, this time taking them directly back to Echo Creek Academy. He didn't want to take any chances of the Monsters following them, and he doubted that they would attack him at school. After that, everyone proceeded to exit the bus so that Ms. Skullnick could do a headcount. As for Comet, he used magic to return the school bus to its original form at the teacher's insistence. He also separated Alfonso and Ferguson back into two boys, much to their dismay.
"Ah, man. I liked being a conjoined centaur!" Ferguson complained once it was over.
"Don't worry, Ferg. I'd be happy to turn you guys back into one whenever you want," Comet told them, making the two boys giddy with excitement. As they began to do a little dance between themselves, Comet turned to look at the rest of the class, who were listening to Ms. Skullnick very carefully for once.
Here comes the hard part, Comet thought to himself as he walked towards his teacher. "Excuse me, Ms. Skullnick?" Comet nervously said once he got close enough to the teacher, still clad in her battle armor.
"Huh? Oh, what is it?" Ms. Skullnick said once she realized that she was talking to Comet.
Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Comet braced for what would likely be his toughest battle yet.
"I'm sorry."
Ms. Skullnick's eyes widened. "Huh?" she dumbly said, not sure how to process what she just heard.
"I said that I'm sorry, Ms. Skullnick." Comet reiterated. "I thought that I could do a better job at leading the class than you could because I was born and taught how to be a leader. But that was just me being full of myself. In truth, I failed to keep everyone safe and allowed them to get taken hostage by my worst enemy, and it almost cost me my Wand in the process. You were right," he admitted. "Being a leader is harder than it looks."
Ms. Skullnick didn't say anything, nor did the rest of the class, as Comet continued. "When I realized everyone got captured, my first instinct was to try to solve all of this by myself. I didn't want to have to ask for help from you. But Marcia and Brittney made me realize something: a real leader needs to know when they're in over their head and be willing to ask for help. And if it wasn't you for them, or you, then I doubt that we would've gotten out of there in one piece."
Comet let out a weary sigh. "So, again, I'm sorry for putting everyone in danger. And, I'm sorry I turned you into a troll. It was an honest mistake, and I wish I knew how to fix it, but I don't. I'm sorry."
For a moment, no one said anything as they tried to process what they just heard. Then, after what seemed like an eternity, Ms. Skullnick spoke up.
"You are right. You did screw up. Big time. You let the class leave your sight, you wanted to recklessly charge in after them without any sort of plan, and you put everyone at risk with your decisions." That was about as much as Comet was expecting. "But you did make a good leader."
"Huh?" Comet tilted his head in confusion. "I don't understand."
"Comet, I saw how you handled the class before they split up, remember?" Ms. Skullnick explained. "You gave them a list of rules and expectations to follow and made sure they knew to come to you before doing anything potentially dangerous. And from what everyone's been telling me, you put your money where your mouth was."
"But I didn't have any money on me. And I didn't kiss it," Comet said, not getting the metaphor, much to the classes' amusement.
"Look, the point is, you weren't just goofing around. Everyone's been telling me that you were actively helping them out, telling them what they shouldn't do." Ms. Skullnick pointed to Francis. "Like how you kept Francis from jumping into that mini black hole."
"There were dozens of signs in multiple different languages warning people not to," Comet exclaimed. "Not even I'm dumb enough to do something like that!"
"And you helped Sabrina when she got trapped on those floating stairs," Ms. Skullnick went on, making Sabrina blush. "The point is, you were actually a pretty good leader."
"But the Monsters-"
"Weren't your fault, Comet," she said, brushing his concerns off. "You had no way of knowing that they were going to show up. And when they did, you swallowed your pride to ask me for help, and you came up with the plan to save everyone," she reminded him. "You were a better leader than what I gave you credit for."
"Really?" Comet asked, his face momentarily beaming with pride before quickly shutting it down.
"Plus," Ms. Skullnick scratched the back of her head. "M aybe I was a little too harsh on you. I've spent all this time blaming you for turning me into a freak that I let it cloud my opinion of you. As a teacher, I shouldn't have done that. So, I'm sorry, too."
"Wait, so you're not mad about becoming a troll?"
"Are you kidding me, Comet?" Ms. Skullnick excitedly said. "Thanks to this field trip, I learned that I've got super strength, and I'm going to live for another four-five hundred years! By the time I retire, I'll be a damn millionaire!" she said with stars in her eyes. "You turning me into a troll may be the best thing that's ever happened to me! Thank you, Comet!"
"So, what you're saying is that you're not mad, and I'm not in trouble?"
"Pretty much."
Now it was Comet's turn to celebrate. "YAHOO!" Comet shouted as he got his Wand out and began to launch fireworks into the school in celebration, with all of them saying something like "COMET IS #1," much to his friend's exasperation.
"All right, don't let it go to your head, kid," Ms. Skullnick said as she tried to get the situation under control. "Now, let's head inside and get our stuff so we can all head home. I don't care if it's not time for school to be let out; we've earned it."
Now it was the class' turn to celebrate, with everyone heading back inside while cheering for Comet and Ms. Skullnick. A few students, though, lingered outside the entrance so that they could talk to each other.
"Hey, Brittney," Sabrina said to her former boss as she went to head inside, making the latter freeze up.
"Oh, um, hey Sabrina," Brittney nervously sputtered. "Did you, uh, did you need something?"
"So, I remember what you said to us in the cave, and I couldn't stop thinking about it," Sabrina carefully explained. "And I remember how harsh I was to you just before all of this went down, and I'm sure you remember, too." At this point, Sabrina realized that she was babbling and decided to get straight to the point. "Did you really mean everything that you said?"
Without a moment's hesitation, Brittney nodded her head. "Yeah, I did. After what happened at my birthday party, and everything Comet said to me, and what you said to me, I took a long look at myself. And I was ashamed of who I'd turned into." Brittney couldn't help but look back on her past behavior with regret. "I won't lie: I'm still into Comet. Just like I know that you are, along with a lot of the girls in school. But you're wrong about me doing all of this just to impress him. I'm also doing this for myself. I'm tired of everyone fearing and hating me, and I don't want to spend the rest of my life alone. Or worse, surrounded by people who only care about me for my wealth and status. So, I decided to change who I am. It hasn't been easy, and it's involved crossing a lot of burned bridges," she said, referring to how hard it was to get on speaking terms with Marcia again, "but it's worth it. And, Comet or no Comet, I want to try and do the same with you, Sabrina."
"Brittney..."
"Sabrina, I know that I wasn't really your friend before. But now I'm trying to change that. So, do you think that, maybe, we can start over?"
Sabrina sighed. "Brittney, I had to put with you telling me what to do for years. You would boss me around every waking minute of my life," she reminded her. "And now that you're trying to turn over a new leaf, I wasn't sure how to react," she admitted. "But, I guess that you really are trying to be a better person now."
"So, where does that leave us standing, then?" Brittney hesitantly asked. "Are we friends again?"
"Maybe," Sabrina. "But I will say this: you're welcome to come back to the Spirit Committee whenever you want. Just promise to work with everyone instead of making them work for you."
"Yeah," Brittney said, smiling. "I think I can do that."
And with that, the two girls headed inside the school.
"Well, that certainly was interesting," Jackson said as he, Marcia, and Jonah watched from the sidelines. "So, do you think that they're really friends now?"
Having both seen how determined Brittney Wong was to change herself into a better person, Marcia and Jackson looked at each other and nodded, much to Jackson's confusion.
"Yeah, I think that they're getting there," Marcia explained. "Now, onto more important business regarding our bet. Due to today's events, I think that it would only be fair for us to call the whole thing a draw."
"Agreed."
"Damn it," Jonah cursed. He was really hoping to see what either side was going to make the other do.
"However, in exchange for calling this off," Marcia continued, "I would like to remind you of a certain promise that you made me some time ago."
"What promise?" Jackson asked. Then, realization dawned on him.
"Oh, yeah! You wanted me to teach you how to skateboard!" Jackson exclaimed. "Yeah, I can totally do that if you're still up for it."
"Uh-huh," Marcia nodded.
"Then, how about next weekend. I can take you to the skate park and show you the basics?"
"Deal," Marcia simply said. Though on the inside, she was practically squealing with joy over her pseudo-date with the man of her dreams!
"Well, I know what I'm doing next weekend, then. By the way, Jacks, if you're still looking for someone to do your math homework for you, then I've got a deal for you." Jonah then proceeded to pull out a very familiar-looking box that he somehow stashed inside his coat pocket.
"Is that the-are you kidding me, Jonah?!" Marcia gasped. "You took that Meseeks Box from the other dimension, didn't you?"
"Yeah. So what? I doubt they'll come looking for it. And besides, Skullnick kept the armor she took from that Troll exhibit.
"Touche," Marcia had to admit. "Just, don't go mad with power with that thing. We don't know what it's capable of," she said as she headed inside.
"No promises, Marcia!" Jonah teased. "Best. Field trip. Ever."
"YOU F***KING FAILURE!"
"BUT MASTER, I-"
"DON'T YOU 'BUT MASTER' ME, BUFF FROG! I KNOW WHAT HAPPENED OUT THERE! I WAS WATCHING EVERYTHING FROM INSIDE THE CASTLE!" Ludo yelled as he continued to verbally emasculate Buff Frog. After the Monsters had somehow managed to get away from the Yarn Monster, they were left with no choice but retreat. There was no way that they could get the drop on the Prince on Earth, so they returned to Castle Avarius on Mewni, demoralized and defeated. And Ludo was absolutely livid at Buff Frog. As soon as his followers had returned, Ludo summoned them all to the observation room and, in what to be his most terrifying outburst yet, tore into poor Buff Frog.
"YOU HAD ONE JOB, BUFF FROG! ONE SIMPLE JOB: GET THE WAND, USE THE MACE, AND DELIVER IT TO ME! BUT DID YOU DO WHAT I SAID? NO, BECAUSE, APPARENTLY, YOU COULDN'T EVEN BE TRUSTED TO HANDLE THAT!"
"But Master, I'm telling you!" Buff Frog said, holding up the mace as he tried to defend his apparent blunder. "This thing! It did not work no matter what I did!"
"Allow me to see that," Toffee cooly said as he took the mace from the Frog Man's hands. After eyeing it for a brief second, he pressed down on the button, causing it to open up as it did before. "It seems to work fine for me. Perhaps you were using it wrong, then."
"N-no, I didn't-"
"Oh, look at that. You were using it wrong after all, you worthless, overgrown swamp scum!" The other Monsters gasped at this; they were used to Ludo berating them, but it had never sunk to this level.
As loyal as he was to Ludo, this was one insult that Buff Frog could not abide by. "Nyet! I used that device just as you showed us! You sabotaged it!" Buff Frog accused Toffee.
"What a foolish accusation, Buff Frog," Toffee said without batting an eye. "What would make you think that I would deliberately hinder our cause?"
"Do not try to deny it, Toffee!" Buff Frog continued. "I have had eye on you since the day you got here. I had no idea why a Septarian, one of the most feared of all Monsters, would want to join our forces. You could have assembled your own troops with your skills and made your own attempt to take Dragonfly Wand. Now, I am certain." Buff Frog then turned towards his leader.
"Ludo, Master, I know that we are desperate to make things better for our kind. But I implore you to open your eyes and see the truth. Toffee is just using us for his own means. So long as he stays with us, we are not safe!"
This made the other Monsters gasp even louder. What had started as simply berating Buff Frog had turned into the respected Frog Man accusing one of their own of conspiracy. As Ludo looked on, confused as to what he should do, Toffee remained as stoic as ever.
"Are you finished?" he calmly asked. "Because from my perspective, it sounds like you are merely trying to make excuses for your continued failures." Toffee then turned to look at Ludo. "Sir, as you stated in our previous skirmish, we were within arm's reach of the Wand. Had it not been for unforeseen circumstances, we likely would've obtained in Symphonia." All of the Monsters nodded in agreement. "I had ensured that this attempt would be idiot-proof, and yet Buff Frog somehow managed to bungle it, anyway," he reminded their leader as he strode towards his side. "This level of incompetence is unacceptable if we are to triumph over our hated foes, sir. I think you know what needs to be done."
For a brief moment, Ludo hesitated. He knew what he had to do, but he didn't want to. Buff Frog had been amongst his best soldiers. Seven Hells, Buff Frog helped save his life from that crazed tentacle arm the Earth girl had that one time! Yet, he could not deny the truth in Toffee's words. At last, Ludo made a decision.
"Buff Frog," Ludo said as he walked towards his faithful soldier. "I rescued you from a life in the swamps of Mewni. I took you into my ancestral home. I gave you purpose. I gave you pants, and this is how you reward me? With nothing but continued fa-wait a minute," Ludo paused as he looked at Buff Frog. It was only then that he realized that the Frog Man was missing something from his uniform. "WHERE ARE YOUR PANTS!?"
"Uhhh, well," Buff Frog tried to explain as best he could, but Ludo was having none of that.
"You know what, I don't care. Because after today, I never want to deal with you ever again."
"M-master?"
"Buff Frog, you're fired! I hereby kick you out of my army and banish you from Castle Avarius!" Ludo proclaimed, making the entire group of Monsters break out into a symphony of gasps and whispers while the color began to drain from Buff Frog's face.
"Master, please! You are making a big mistake! Toffee will only lead us to ruin!" Buff Frog tried to argue the point some more, but it was clear that his words would not reach Ludo.
"Lobster Claws, Beard Deer," Ludo said, summoning the two to stand before him. "Please escort Buff Frog outside the castle and make sure that he doesn't get back in," he coldly told them before turning around and walking away, much to many of the Monster's protests and concerns.
"Listen, Buff Frog," Beard Deer awkwardly said. "I'm really sorry about having to do this to ya, man."
"Yeah, me too," Lobster Claws tearfully admitted. "I don't want to have to do this to ya!"
Seeing the sad expressions on his longtime colleague's faces made Buff Frog's stern face soften. "Nyet, my friends," he told them. "There is no need. I will see myself out." Buff Frog then reached into his shirt pockets and pulled out his dimensional scissors, opening a portal.
"Until we meet again, my brother's in arms," Buff Frog wistfully said to his now-former comrades, doing his best not to get emotional before stepping into the portal, destination unknown.
"Let this be a lesson to the rest of you," Ludo said, getting everyone's attention. "From here on out, I will no longer tolerate failure. WE. ARE GETTING. THAT WAND! I don't care how long it takes or what we have to go through to do so. We are getting it, with or without your help. Am I understood?"
"YES, MASTER!" The Monsters said in unison, to his satisfaction.
"Very good. If anyone needs me, I will be in my office," Ludo announced before leaving without another word. He needed to come up with new plans to retrieve the Wand. And, admittedly, what he just did to one of his most loyal servants had left him wanting a drink.
As all of the Monster wearily began to return to their duties, Toffee lingered in the room, carefully inspecting the mace in his hands. Buff Frog had been close, closer than Toffee would've liked to admit. He was right about the fact that he never intended for the interdimensional mace to work for him but was wrong about sabotaging it. After all, why would he need to damage something programmed to only respond to his fingerprints? Still, his plan to discredit Buff Frog and have him cast out had worked perfectly. Now that he had eliminated the fool, Toffee had made himself Ludo's new right-hand Monster.
One step nearer, Toffee thought as he allowed himself a moment to indulge in his fantasies of what was to come. And until then, none would suspect what he was really up to...or who his true master was.
Glory to Septarsis, Toffee thought as he tossed the mace aside, no longer having any use for it. Just like he would soon no longer have any use for Ludo.
Jay: AHHHHHH, SNAP! I bet that you guys didn't see that coming, now did you? Actually, that's a lie. If you watched the show and realized that I was combining "Interdimensional Field Trip" with elements of "Mewnipendence Day", then you should've known that this was how it would end. But I cranked things up a notch.
Kermit: Yeah, not duh, Jay. You had Ludo just tear into Buff Frog like there was no tomorrow.
GIR: BIRD MAN MADE FROG MAN SAADD! *GIR begins to cry over Buff Frog being fired.* I NEED A TACQUITO!
Jay: Don't worry, GIR. Buff Frog's going to land on his feet and bounce back from this. In fact, you may end up seeing him again sooner than you think.
GIR: R-really?
Jay: Really.
GIR: YAYY!
Kermit: Oh, and kudos on the resolution to Ms. Skullnick's grudge against Comet. Don't think that ever happened in the show.
Jay: Yeah, it didn't. But since I try to focus more on the characters than the show did, I wanted to give that some closure. Also, what Ms. Skullnick said about being a Troll was my honest opinion. She lives a few extra centuries and has super-strength. That's a pretty sweet deal. And I used this little arc to advance Brittney's ongoing redemption by patching things up with Sabrina.
Kermit: Oh, yeah, I almost forgot about that. Nice work on that, Jay.
Jay: Thank you. And before you ask, yes. The Meseeks Box will become a recurring thing in this story. Just don't expect Jonah to be using it to solve every problem he comes across. And now that that's out of the way, it's time to respond to
READER'S REVIEWS
LockAndKey989-Rick's not the only one with a Meseeks Box. And you're wrong about Sabrina; it was a one-time thing. But if you're looking to make a TV Tropes page for this story, be my guest.
NightAroma-I hope I met your expectations. And yeah, one difference between Star and Comet is that Comet has slightly more common sense in this story. Thanks to his upbringing, he had to be more observant than he lets on. And yeah, you were so far off the mark about Sabrina that it hurt.
AND CONGRATS, YOU GOT ALL OF THOSE REFERENCES CORRECT! Though, technically, the Doctor's TARDIS is modeled after a Police Box. And yes, I would reccomend you watch Wander over Yonder on Disney+. It was made by Craig McCracken, the creator of The Powerpuff Girls, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, and Kid Cosmic. And it's good. Also, I'm pretty sure that I made up volcano peppers.
FungusDungus000-The yarn monster came back. And yeah, let's just say I'm taking the re-enactment from "Mewnipendence Day" and kicking it into high gear.
Mlpbrony Fan15-Thanks, fellow Brony. But there are plenty of other good fanfics out there that would be worth your time, both for this show and a boat load of others. DM me if you want some recommendations.
The Wandering Hippie-It was meant to highlight how Brittney's changed for the better since Comet tore her ego to shreds. Also, average? Am I losing my edge, broh?
95-Let's just say he used magic to stitch it back together after Marcia suggested that. I refuse to have any plot holes in my story.
Lord of the Storm-You got them! Also, where the heck have you been for the last few months, and when is more of My Life, My Kingdom, My War. I want to know what happens!
You know what to do: fave and follow this story, and follow me on Twitter (JZ-Gaming), Insta (RJ Writing Ink), and YouTube (Jungoguy).
The next few chapters are going to be more original stories. After that, it's a clear stretch until we make it to the finale to part one of this fic. Congrats to everyone for getting all the references. Except for one. You guys missed the Dalek from Dr. Who, AKA the metal trash can thing. See ya next week!