*We open in Jay's Workspace, which has now been altered to resemble a rolling meadow underneath a beautiful Summer sun. Underneath a tree, the DevilArtemis version of Kermit the Frog is watching anime on his phone when he notices the readers.*
Kermit: What the- what are you guys doing here? Wait, is the new chapter out today? Well, I hate to break it to you guys, but Jay isn't here. He's busy at a convention trying to-ah, never mind. Look, it doesn't matter. Just go ahead and read Mewni-no wait, too soon. Oh yeah, Jay did have another original chapter planned. It's called "Comet Power." It'll make sense after you read it. Or not.
It was a beautiful Friday afternoon at Echo Creek Academy, and everyone was looking forward to a nice, relaxing weekend of doing absolutely nothing. Or at least, they would after they had finished dealing with the bane of every student's existence: homework.
For generations, students had dealt with the pointless time-waster known as homework, eating up their valuable free time, stressing them out, and preventing them from doing things that would be infinitely more productive. Like, social interaction and pursuing passions that could turn into lifelong careers and lead to great success. Yet, try as they might, no one had been able to defeat this menace to youths everywhere.
But whatever misguided soul who invented the concept of homework didn't count on Jonah Ordonia.
In the waning hours of the school day, Jonah had proceeded to sneak out of class early and set up a stand in the middle of the school parking lot labeled "Homework Hut." Once all the students began leaving school, he got on a megaphone and worked his unholy magic.
"Step right up, people, to Homework Hut, your one-stop shop for all your homework-related woes!" Jonah shouted into the megaphone, quickly attracting a crowd. "That's right, folks. We here at Homework Hut will take care of all your homework for you for a simple fee of five dollars. How do we pull this off, you may ask? With this handy little device called a Meseeks box!" Jonah then held up the Meseeks Box that he had taken from their field trip to the Dimension of Wonder and Amazement. "By simply using this box, we can summon a helper that will do whatever you ask of them. They will not stop until the job is done! So, do we have any takers?"
One of the girls from the cheerleader team, a redhead named Lily, stepped forward with some money in her hand. "I could use someone to help me with my geometry work," she said, obviously unsure if it was safe to trust notorious troublemaker Jonah Ordonia.
"Done!" Jonah said before pressing the button on the Meseeks box, making a Meseeks pop out. After giving its usual, cheerful greeting, Jonah commanded it to help Lily with her geometry homework.
"Can doo!" the Meseeks said before following Lily home to help her out.
"I guarantee that before the night's out, that girl will have her homework done, leaving her free to focus on more important things," Jonah proclaimed. "Oh, and don't freak out when they poof into blue glitter. Existence is painful for them, so they're fine with it. But enough about that! Who here wants to spend a few bucks to get a weekend with no homework?"
Despite that last part that Jonah added, nearly every student present began to clamor towards Jonah, handing him their money in exchange for a Meseeks to do their homework for them. It got to the point that he had to summon a Meseeks to help him run things. Unfortunately for the beanie-wearing boy, this left him free to notice the glare he was getting from the one person who wasn't buying what he was selling: Marcia Diaz.
"What? Don't tell me that you have a problem with this, Diaz," Jonah playfully asked.
"Yeah, I do, Jonah. You're robbing these kids of the chance to build valuable problem-solving skills and cementing what they learned in their classes."
"Marcia," Comet said as he appeared beside his roommate, "I think you mean that he's saving these good people from the drudgery of staring at a textbook and having to answer complicated questions that make them want to pull their hair out."
"Damn right, Comet," Jonah said as he gave his buddy a fist bump.
"So, Jonah, do you think you can hook me up with a Meseeks to get rid of all my math homework? Coryn and I were going to catch some new Pokémon in-game, and I don't want to be distracted by anything." Of course, Comet referred to Coryn, the Hoot-Hoot that he brought to life during the Sleepspell Incident. In the time since then, he had learned how to use his magic to transfer the Pokémon into the games and back out whenever he wanted. Thankfully, though, he had stuck by Marcia's rule of no more Pokémon IRL.
"Few causes are as worthy of bailing on homework as that of video games, my friend," Jonah complimented. "Just give me the money, and I'll be happy to oblige."
Marcia pinched the brow of her nose in disappointment. "This is why our educational system is losing to other countries," she mumbled to herself. "At any rate, I don't need to buy into your racket, Jonah. I made sure to do all my homework for the next week in advance."
"Nerd," Jonah simply said, but not even that could get to her.
"Mock me all you want, Jonah, but it's worth it. Since I don't have to worry about it, I'm free to focus on my plans for this weekend, and they all center around Jackson."
"Ooohhh, are you finally going to tell him how you-" Comet started to say, only for Marcia to cut him off abruptly.
"Zip it, Comet! Not in front of Jonah!" she said. She did not want Jonah Ordonia to go blabbing about her crush on Jackson and ruin everything. "And that's not what this is about, you know. Jackson promised to teach me how to skateboard, and I'm making him own up to that promise this weekend."
"Well, certainly not the most romantic of ideas for a first date," Jonah said. "But hey, beggars can't be choosers, am I right?"
Marcia didn't know whether to blush at the fact that Jonah saw right through her...or just punch him for that smug look on his face. In the end, she decided to do neither and rob him of the satisfaction he would've felt. "In any case, Jackson's coming by the house soon to take me to the skate park and show me the basics. So, I should probably head home." With that, Marcia began walking away from the two boys and the growing crowd of students looking to hire Jonah's services.
"You know," Comet thought out loud, "maybe I should go with her. You know, to provide moral support as her best friend."
Jonah looked at him for a second and quickly guessed his true intentions. "You just want to see what extreme sports are like on Earth, don't you?"
"Oh my corn, yes!" Comet happily admitted. "I'm the most extreme person there is, so of course I have to check this stuff out!"
"Knock yourself out, buddy," Jonah said as he returned to his stand and propped his feet up on the table. "I'm going to be here earning enough money to pay for college."
"Good luck, Jonah," Comet said as he handed him his fee. "Just send the Meseeks to my room and tell him to do all the homework I'll leave out for him," Comet explained before walking after Marcia. "Bye, Jonah. Hope the teachers don't bust you!"
"Even if they do, I can just move my operation somewhere where they can't interfere," Jonah called back as his friend took off after Marcia. He then looked on the table, saw all of the money that the Meseeks had gotten thus far and smirked.
"Jonah Ordonia, you are a genius."
When Marcia had first asked Jackson to teach her how to use a skateboard, she'd done so in the hopes that it would give her something else in common with her longtime crush. She thought that learning how to skateboard would be a cinch between her years of practicing Karate, parkour, and cheerleading! If Jackson could do it so easily every day, then how hard could it be, she had thought.
"Whoa whoa whoa WHOAA!"
As Marcia was only now learning, skateboarding was a lot harder than she thought.
Maldita sea, this sucks, Marcia thought as she fell onto the asphalt and concrete of the skate park for the umpteenth time that afternoon.
"Alright, that was a little bit better, Marcia," Jackson said as he knelt down next to her to make sure that she was alright. "But you shouldn't let yourself get all tense when you're getting on a board. You need to relax and find a way to balance yourself. If you keep acting like you're going to fall off any second, then that's what will happen."
"Great tip, Jackson," Marcia said as she inspected her body to make sure that she didn't skin or bruise anything. Thankfully, those tips on protective gear and legwear that she had read online a few days ago proved to be effective. She wasn't injured at all! At least, not physically. Her pride, though, was getting brutalized.
"Come on, let me show you what I mean," Jackson said as he held his hand out to pull Marcia up, which Marcia took with only a small amount of blushing. Fortunately, Jackson either didn't notice or chalked it up to her embarrassment from falling on her butt several times in a row.
If only he knew the real reason, Marcia thought as she let Jackson take a turn on the rental board.
"See, the trick to riding a skateboard is about maintaining balance," Jackson said as he pushed off the ground and gently moved across the concrete. "Since there's nothing to keep you upright as you're moving, it's up to you to keep your center of gravity stable. And to do that, you need to find the correct position when standing on your board." Jackson began to shift his body in various directions to further demonstrate, causing the board to move in response. Several times, Marcia was worried that he would fall off the board or make it tip over. Yet the teenager demonstrated how adept he was, bending his knees and shifting his weight to keep him on the board at all times. "As long as you do that, and maintain awareness of your surroundings, then you should keep your wipeouts to a minimum," he explained before gently coming to a stop in front of Marcia.
"That doesn't sound very reassuring," Marcia couldn't help but mention.
"Well, even accidents can happen to the best of us, Marcia," Jackson playfully told her, his minty green eyes lighting up in a way that made Marcia's heart skip a beat. "If worse come to worse, then you can always use your parkour skills to help you roll before you land."
"Huh, good point," Marcia conceded as she felt some of her confidence return. "So, what's next? Do I learn how to ollie? Do a kickflip? Grind a halfpipe?"
"Oh, I'd go for the halfpipe if I were you, Marcy!" a voice called out, much to her irritation.
"Comet," she said as she looked over to see her friend lazily resting in the shade of a nearby tree, his rental skateboard laying to one side as he focused on the portable gamepad in his hands, courtesy of the UGC. "I let you tag along because I thought you were going to learn how to skate like I am. If you're just going to sit there and play Pokémon, though, then you might as well head home."
"No way!" Comet refused. "I want to see you guys in action and provide moral support. Isn't that right, Coryn?" Comet asked his Hoot Hoot on the gamepad.
"Hoo hoot!" the loyal Pokémon happily chirped in response to his friend's question.
"See, Marcia? Even Coryn's here to cheer you on."
Marcia couldn't help but roll her eyes. Considering how much trouble Comet was liable to cause when taken to a new location, this was probably the best-case scenario. "All right, then. But you're still paying for the board and gear after this," she told him.
"Can do!" Comet cheerfully said before returning to focus on his game. "Okay, Coryn. Let's try and catch a shiny Pokémon today!"
"Just ignore him," Marcia told her teacher. "So, when will I be able to do everything that you can do?"
"My best guess? It's going to take a while," Jackson candidly told her. "But that's not a bad thing, mind you. Everyone learns at their own pace, but once they master it, the rest is smooth sailing."
Before Marcia even had a chance to answer her, a new, unfamiliar voice interrupted: "If that's true, then how come you're still having a hard time?"
Jackson winced, his normally laid-back face briefly contorting into one of annoyance, which was something Marcia didn't even know he could feel. Curious, Marcia looked over Jackson's shoulder to see what could have him get all bent out of shape and saw three teenage boys around their age dressed in skater gear. On the left was a very stout boy with baggy shorts, a pink shirt with a pterodactyl, and a very stupid look on his face. On the right was a tall, lanky-looking boy with a cylindrical-looking head marked with zits. He looked even dumber than the other one. The one in the middle, though, was the one who stood out to Marcia the most. He was very lean-looking, made even more so by the purple v-neck that ran up past his elbows, and while he didn't appear to be any smarter than the other two, Marcia noticed the cunning twinkle in his eyes.
"Well, well, well," the middle boy said as he strutted up to Jackson. "If it isn't our old pal, Dorkson Lee Thomas," the teen said in a very insulting tone that made the other two teens laugh. Jackson, though, did not let it get to him.
"Hello, Lars," Jackson simply said in response, trying his best to hide his irritation at this new guy getting up in his face.
"I'm surprised to see you here, Dorkson. Since I hadn't seen you around here a lot lately, I figured that you finally learned your lesson and decided to pack it in."
"Nah. I just decided that since I got my new board, I would expand the area in which I practice my skating," Jackson said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Oh, right. That super-awesome, all-terrain super board that can fly that you made up. Just like you made up how you got to go to another planet and get it along with your imaginary friend." Lars said, mocking Jackson.
"Look, Lars, why don't you just quit it with the insults and tell me what you want already," Jackson said, wanting to end the conversation quickly. "Because, in case you haven't noticed, I'm in the middle of something here," he said, gesturing to Marcia.
Lars then looked over Jackson's shoulder and seemed to notice Marcia for the first time since he showed up. Unfortunately for her, as soon as he saw her, he got this creepy look in his eyes that made Marcia want to barf.
"Oooh, well hello there, baby," Lars said as he walked over to her, thinking that he sounded all suave, but in truth, his attitude was enough to turn off any woman with half a brain. "And just who might you be?"
Marcia had to resist the urge to cover her nose; when was the last time this guy had a shower?! "I'm Marcia Diaz," she said in the most polite tone that she could muster. "Jackson here was nice enough to agree to teach me how to use a skateboard."
"Oh, so you're a newbie, then?" Lars asked, his interest now piqued. "Well, if you're looking to learn how to skate like a pro, then don't waste your time with Dorkson over here. My boys and I would be more than happy to teach you everything that you need to know. Ain't that right, Pi, Sputz?"
"Yeah, yeah, Lars." "Uh-huh," the two boys enthusiastically agreed.
"So, what do you say, cutie?" He said as he tried to take Marcia's hand into his, which disgusted her to absolutely no end. Not the least bit because of his hands, which had spots of dirt coming out from underneath his nails!
Thanks to her daily exercise routine and hair-skin care regimen, Marcia liked to think of herself as fairly good-looking. And while it didn't happen that often at school, she wasn't a stranger to being hit on by guys, but she always turned them down. Some, like Tywin, she declined as politely as possible. Others, like Jeremy, had to be flat-out told sorry, not interested. And Lars was looking like he fell into the latter category.
"No thanks. I'm good," Marcia quickly said. "Come on, Jackson, let's go practice somewhere else," she told her crush as she tried to walk away, only for a hand to roughly grab her wrist and stop her.
"Aw, come on, girl," Lars said with an oily tone. "Tell you what: I'll even teach you how to rollerblade, just the two of us."
All right, this guy's asking for it, Marcia thought. If this Lars jerk kept this up, she wouldn't be held responsible for what happened to him. Fortunately, before she could knee the jerk where it hurts, Jackson surprised everyone by punching him across the jaw and sending him falling straight to the ground!
"Owww!" Lars howled in pain, making Comet and several of the other people nearby take notice. "What the Hell was that for?!"
"What do you think, Lars?" Jackson said in a surprisingly angry tone. "First, you decide to start bugging us for no reason. Then you start hitting on my friend when it's clear she's not into you. You should be grateful that all I did was punch you. If I had left it up to Marcia, you'd probably be limping home covered in bandages," the skater boy said, smirking.
Lars spat onto the ground in contempt as he got to his feet. "Oh, that is just like you, Thomas. What happened to you, man? You used to be way cooler when he hung out together, and then you up and decide to bail on us and turn into this lame-ass pansy."
"Wait, you hung out with him?" Marcia asked in confusion, but Jackson didn't seem to pay attention.
"I stopped hanging out with you when you turned into a gigantic douche, Lars. And I'm not a pansy. Hell, I'm probably a better athlete than you now!"
"Oh, snap!" someone called out in the assembled crowd, while Lars' two stooges just looked on in shock. It took a moment for Lars to process what Jackson just said, but once he did, he was livid.
"Is that a challenge I hear," Lars said as he walked right up to Jackson's face, "Dorkson?"
Oh no. Is this one of those scenarios where two guys challenge each other to prove their machoness? As much as Marcia would love to see Jackson put this guy in his place, she didn't want to go picking fights when they didn't need to. At the same time, she pegged Lars for the kind of guy who wouldn't give up unless he was put in his place, and Jackson seemed to agree.
"What did you have in mind?" Jackson calmly asked.
"Rollerblade relay, two days from now, Echo Creek Park. Me and my two best guys race against you and your two best guys. The loser has to do whatever the winner says."
Jackson mulled it over for a minute or two and then finally responded. "I accept. But when you lose, I'm going to make you publicly admit that you're wrong about me and for harassing Marcia." Jackson then held out his hand while Lars got this devilish look on his face.
"Fine," he said as he took Jackson's hand, and as he did so, he started eyeing Jackson's U-Board. "But when I win, I'm going to be taking that fancy board of yours and banning you from the skate park for the next year."
"Fine," Jackson agreed, much to Marcia's horror and the crowd's interest.
"Perfect," Lars said. "I look forward to humiliating you in front of everyone on Sunday." Lars then whistled to his two stooges. "Come on, boys. Let's go plan how we're going to crush Dorkson and his dweeb brigade!" he said as he walked away, with the other two boys laughing the entire time.
As the crowd began to disperse to process the news of what was happening, Marcia, Jackson, and Comet (who hadn't said a word the entire time) just stood there in silence. At last, Comet broke the awkward silence: "What the corn just happened?"
"What the Hell were you thinking?!" Marcia asked Jackson as the trio left the skate park, not wanting to deal with the unwanted attention that the upcoming challenge had just brought him.
"I was thinking that you were being harassed by that jerk and that I should do something about it," Jackson said, plain as day.
"You punched him and then agreed to that crazy challenge!"
"I don't get it, Marcia," Comet said as he walked alongside the two. "I figured that you would be happy that decked that jerk for you. I mean, I was tempted to narwhal blast that guy into next week. Not that I'm trying to disparage your ability to have done so yourself, I mean."
"Yes, Comet, I get it. And thanks, Jackson, for doing that. That was really sweet," Marcia told the secret object of her affections. She meant it, too. While she could've left that boy crying for his Mom, seeing Jackson stand up on her behalf was like something out of a fairy tale! But even so...
"Did you have to agree to this crazy bet, Jackson? This isn't like you. You're usually the kind of guy to let this stuff slide," Marcia keenly observed.
"Well, I normally don't let things like this get to me, but Lars is a bit of an exception," Jackson cooly explained. "He's been a problem for me for years, and this could finally get rid of him."
"How the heck do you even know that jerk, anyway?" Comet asked.
Jackson sighed. He knew that this was coming, but it didn't make it any easier for him. "Truth is, Comet, he, uh, actually used to be a friend of mine."
"No cap?"
"No cap," Jackson reluctantly admitted. "When I was still starting to learn how to ride a skateboard, I ran into Lars at the skatepark. He wound up teaching me the basics, and after that, the two of us just started hanging out as I kept improving my skills on the board. With his help, I was eventually able to grind on halfpipes like a pro. But after that, things started to get...weird between us."
Comet and Marcia looked at each other in confusion. "Weird, how?" Marcia finally asked.
"Weird as in he turned into a huge jerk. Or maybe he was always like that, and he just hid it from me," Jackson said while scratching his head. "At any rate, as I got better and better on a skateboard, I think he got jealous of me and how good I was. He would keep challenging me, wanting to prove that he was better, but I would keep turning him down. I tried to tell him that we had nothing to prove to each other. But I guess it just made him angrier because then he started acting like-"
"A total douchebag?" Comet suggested, which earned him a slap on the shoulder from Marcia.
"Comet!" Marcia said, scolding him for saying something like that.
"No, no, he's right. He was a total douche," Jackson admitted. "When it finally got too much for me, I broke things off with him for good. He's had it out for me ever since."
"Oh, man. I'm sorry to hear that, dude," Comet sympathetically said.
"Don't be, Comet," Jackson told him. "I've got new friends now, and they're way better than Lars and his posse of yes-men."
"Well, at any rate, what's the plan, Jackson," Marcia asked. "How are we going to beat that Neanderthal?"
Jackson got this confused look in his eye. "We? Do you seriously want to help me? Guys, I got myself into this. You don't have to-"
"Jackson, I'm gonna stop you right there," Comet said as he placed a free hand on his friend's shoulder. "How many times have you, Marcia, Jonah, Al, Ferg, and everyone else stuck their necks out for me when they didn't have to? You didn't have to help me with the football game, rescue Aqua, or fight a bunch of Monsters on a runaway bus, but you did. And now, it's my turn to return the favor. I'm helping you, bro."
Realizing that Comet fully intended to help him no matter what, Jackson sighed in resignation. "All right, then," Jackson said. "Welcome aboard, Comet!"
"BT dubs, you don't have to worry about me using magic on this," Comet quickly told his buddy. "After the football game with the Warriors, I learned that that's a bad idea."
"Glad to hear it, buddy," Jackson said. The two boys then fist-bumped, symbolizing their bond of bromanship and making Marcia giggle in the process.
"I can't believe I'm doing this, but yeah, count me in, Jackson," Marcia said as he walked over and joined the two boys. Though, truthfully, she had planned on helping him from the start since this only happened because he was standing up for her.
"Oh yeah! Dream Team of three for the win!" Comet said excitedly as he brought the two in for an impromptu hand pile. "Between Jackson's experience in extreme sports, my athletic prowess, and Marcia's brains, that jerk Lars and his idiot brigade won't know what hit them!"
"You know what? You're right, Comet," Jackson confidently said. "With all the stuff we've had to face in the last few months, beating Lars will be a piece of cake!"
"I LOVE CAKE!" Comet shouted for the world to hear, much to his friend's amusement. Of course, it wasn't so amusing when he suddenly decided to use his Wand to create a giant cake for them to eat then and there. It ended up landing right on top of them and making a mess of everything.
"Comet!" Marcia complained.
The next morning, the trio reconvened at Echo Creek Park, where the race would occur the following day. Jackson had brought an extra pair of rollerblades with him with which his two friends could use to practice with as few people around as possible; the less chance of hitting anyone, the better.
Unfortunately for Marcia, she discovered something very unfortunate. If the previous day's events proved that riding a skateboard was a hurdle for her, then rollerblading might as well have been like trying to jump the Grand Canyon! As soon as she had put the rollerblades on her feet and tried to stand up, she found that the sensation of standing upright on wheels was utterly foreign. She had to throw her arms out just to keep herself from tipping over, but she soon ran into a bigger problem: how to move.
Alas, Marcia had run into that perennial problem of rollerblade beginners, being able to start and stop. As the others watched, she started moving forward, even on level ground. And Marcia started to panic when she couldn't figure out how to stop, which only worsened things. If it hadn't been for the fact that Coryn had been there to pull her back in time, Marcia was sure she would've hit a tree or something more harmful.
As the group's practice continued to drag on, Marcia found things to be getting worse. As Jackson proceeded to explain the ins and outs of rollerblading, he frequently had to stop just so that he could pay extra attention to Marcia. Normally, Marcia would've been giddy at the fact that Jackson was paying extra attention to her. However, given just what was on the line, it only served as a painful reminder of how bad she was at this.
Eventually, after far more time than she would've liked, Marcia was able to get the falling and trouble balancing down to a minimum. Albeit, she still had to go very slowly and with Jackson's supervision, much to her embarrassment.
"Level with me, Jackson," Marcia asked as the boy skated alongside her. "I suck at this, don't I?"
"No, Marcia. Of course not!" Jackson reassured her. "You're still new to this, so, naturally, you're having some problems."
"But that's the problem: I'm new to this!" Marcia said as she threw her hands up in frustration. "The race is tomorrow, and here I am, barely able to move without falling on my butt. How am I supposed to focus on my surroundings if I'm so so caught up in try to stay upr-aahh!"
Marcia had accidentally tripped and fell face-first into a very large bush as if to prove her point. "See what I mean?" Marcia grumbled. And, just to add insult to injury, who should happen to come by as Jackson was trying to pull her out? None other than Lars and his idiot brigade!
Lars, Pi, and Sputz whooshed right past the two teens on their rollerblades, the latter two expertly performing a dual figure-eight with Lars in the center. Remarkably, none of the boys ever crashed into the other, which only made them even more impressive to Marcia...and all the more intimidating because of that. At last, after the boys had finished showing off their moves, they came to a stop right in front of Jackson and Marcia, with Lars having the biggest smirk on his face.
"Well, look who we have here? Two dorks getting ready to spend some quality time together in the bushes. I have to admit, Dorkson, I never pegged you for the kind of guy who would be into that kind of stuff, but I guess everyone has their interests, right boys?"
Marcia felt a blush creep on her face as she knew exactly what Lars meant. She didn't know which was more embarrassing: the fact that Lars had been implying it or that a part of her wanted to make out with Jackson like that sometime in the future! Fortunately, Jackson refused to rise to the bait as he pried Marcia free from the bushes, albeit her skirt got torn in the process, making her grateful that she wore shorts underneath. The last thing that she needed was a pig like Lars ogling her panties!
"What are you doing here, Lars?" Jackson sternly asked the older teen. "Can't you see that we're trying to practice for the race tomorrow?"
"Oh, we know. We were just coming down to scope out whoever you roped into helping you. But if she," he pointed directly at Marcia, "is the best you can come up with, then I don't even know why I'm bothering to do so."
"Why, you arrogant-" Marcia growled as she felt the temptation to kick this guy where it hurts the most rise inside her. Thankfully, Jackson held her back.
"Marcia's way better than you think, Lars. I've seen what she's capable of doing, and trust me, she's going to make you eat those words." Marcia couldn't help smile at how highly Jackson thought of her, but the moment was ruined by the harsh laughter of Lars.
"Oh my God, you sound so lame when you say that! When's the wedding, am I right, boys?" Pi and Sputz started laughing alongside Lars at this, which only infuriated Marcia once more. "Face it, Dorkson. If this is really the best you can do, then there's no way you're going to win tomorrow."
"CLEAR THE WAY!"
Much to everyone's surprise, they saw another figure come rocketing down the path at an incredibly high speed. It was Comet! Living up to his namesake, he was moving so fast that he left a trail of dust in his wake. As he got closer to the teens, rather than slow down, he bent his knees before proceeding to leap up and over their heads before coming back down, now skating backward.
"Hey guys, check out what I can do!" As everyone watched, Comet kept skating backward, effortlessly dodging trash cans, cones, poles, and any other obstacles to be found before wheeling around on a dime. "Pretty cool, huh?"
To say that the others were astonished was an understatement. They were completely blown away.
"Wow, that was so cool!" Pi said, with Sputz saying something incomprehensible but along the same lines. Lars looked at the two, dumbfounded.
"Seriously? You're going to cheer him on!?" Lars shouted at the two. "In case you haven't figured it out, he's probably going to be racing with Dorkson tomorrow!"
"Believe it, Lars," Comet said as he skated on over to the others. "Name's Comet Dragonfly, Magical Prince of the Kingdom of Mewni." As was typical, Comet waved his Wand around and conjured up a rainbow...that caught fire in about two seconds.
"You're a Prince? Really?" Lars asked, clearly not believing Comet's claims.
"You know it!" Comet said. "And it just so happens that the two people you've been harassing happen to be my friends. So, if you know what's good for you, then you'd better mosey on out of here."
"Or else what?" Lars said, not backing down. "You'll throw me in the dungeon?'
"I was thinking more along the lines of humiliating you at the race tomorrow, actually. And when you lose, I'm going to make you not only admit that Jackson's the better skater, but that Marcia's a great athlete. And you're going to have to do it in the form of a song-and-dance."
"Yeah, right," Lars said, as though the notion of losing was impossible. "It doesn't matter if you know a few flashy moves; you guys are still going down tomorrow!" Lars then turned in the opposite direction. "Come on, boys, let's get out of here and get some burgers."
"All right!" As they followed their leader, Pi and Sputz excitedly said, the three of them soon skating out of sight.
As soon as they were gone, Jackson ran over to Comet's sign. "Oh man, Comet! I had no idea you could do that. Are you sure that this is your first time rollerblading?"
Comet shrugged his shoulders. "Never had it back on Mewni. So, yeah, this is my first time. Maybe the years of running around the Castle and doing parkour translated over to this."
"Not sure how that would work, but after everything I've seen you do, Comet, I wouldn't doubt it. You're a natural at this, Comet!" Jackson praised him.
"That's what Marcia said when she showed me how to ride a bike," Comet said. "Though, to be fair, that's only because I looked up how on YouTube beforehand."
"So that's how you knew how to use the brakes without me telling you!" Marcia realized.
"I'm not that big of an idiot, Marcia. Do you honestly think I wouldn't be able to figure out how to use the brakes on a bike and thus go on a runaway spree around Echo Creek?" For some reason, Comet panned away from his two friends and began to stare into space as he said this.
"At any rate, you're a natural, Comet," Jackson told his friend. "If we have you on our team, there's no way that we're going to lose to Lars tomorrow!"
"Good. I don't appreciate it when some asshole talks down to my friends like that."
"Um, guys?" Marcia nervously spoke up. "I know that seeing Comet do what he just did is awesome, but I think you're forgetting something."
"What?" Comet asked.
"That a chain's only as strong as its weakest link. And right now, that's meeee-aaaahh!" Without even meaning to, Marcia proceeded to slip and fall onto the sidewalk once more. "And that's me. I'm the weak link."
"Hey, don't worry, Marcia," Jackson said as he skated over to her. "Now that we know that Comet's naturally gifted at this, we can spend the rest of the day focusing on getting you up to standard," he told her as he helped her up once more.
"Whoopty-doo!" Marcia dryly remarked.
"Now, don't be like that, Marcy," Comet told her. "I know that you can do this. You just need to get the hang of it."
"He's right, Marcia," Jackson reaffirmed. "Now come on, let's go over the basics some more."
Marcia sighed but otherwise tried to look enthusiastic as the two boys led her off to practice some more.
Lars was absolutely livid. After they had gotten out of sight of Jackson and his two dorky friends, he and his two flunkies had doubled back to spy on them from behind a nearby tree. And what he saw was worse than he thought.
He had no idea who this "Comet Dragonboy" was or how he made that rainbow, or why he pretended to be a Prince of some made-up place, but that didn't change the fact that he was good. He was really good at rollerblading.
"That flashy dork's going to mess everything up for us," Lars told Pi and Sputz. "It's bad enough that we have to compete against Thomas, but now we've got to worry about that weirdo!"
"What are we going to do, Lars?" Pi asked. "There's no way that we can win against him, and Jackson's as good a skater as you are."
As soon as those words left his mouth, though, Pi realized that he had made a mistake, especially since Lars proceeded to give him a monstrous death glare.
"Let me make one thing clear," Lars said as he shoved Pi against the tree. "Jackson is not as good as me. He never will be as good as me, and after I humiliate him and his friends tomorrow, everyone in town will realize that, too."
Sputz then said something that sounded unintelligible, yet the two boys were able to understand.
"Don't you worry, Sputz. I have a plan to make sure that this Comet dork won't win. Now listen, here's what we're going to do." Lars then brought the two boys in close and began to explain his plan.
As the sun began to set on Echo Creek, Jackson and the others headed back to Jackson's house to discuss their plans. While the two boys were in high spirits, though, Marcia's were incredibly low.
Despite Jackson's best efforts, Marcia had made little progress towards mastering how to rollerblade. While she eventually learned how to stop falling over, she could only do so by moving very slowly. If she went too fast, she would quickly begin to lose her balance, just like before. Yet her friends remained incredibly positive about their prospects tomorrow, much to her confusion.
Marcia tried to listen as Jackson gave them the details about the race, but she was having difficulty paying attention for once. She did get most of the key information, though. According to Jackson, the race would consist of one lap around Echo Creek Park. At the start, one member from each team would head out on the main path that snaked through the park, having to navigate around various cones and obstacles that would be put in place, courtesy of the multiple spells that Comet had created. They would meet up with their proceeding teammate at a certain point, allowing them to continue on in the race. The team that managed to make it to the finish line first would win.
"All right, now here's the order in which we'll go," Jackson explained. "I will be heading out first, then Comet will follow up after me, and then Marcia will finish us off."
At the mention of her name, Marcia's ears perked up. "Wait, why am I going last, guys? In fact, why am I going at all?"
"Because you're part of the time, obviously," Comet told her like the most obvious thing in the world.
"But, I still stink at this! If I go, then we're going to lose. You do know that, right?"
"Marcia, you're too hard on yourself," Comet told her. "You've got a lot of potential, and I know that you'll do great. And don't worry about messing up. We've got a plan for that."
"You do?"
"Simple: Jackson and I will smoke the competition so that by the time we reach you, you'll have a big enough lead to win. I think that the two of us can pull it off."
"You know it, brother! Up top!" Jackson said, giving Comet a high-five.
All of this, though, only made Marcia feel worse about herself. "So, not only am I that bad at this, but to win and keep Jackson from getting kicked out of the skate park, I have to let you guys do all the heavy lifting?" Just saying that out loud was making Marcia depressed, something that the two boys noticed, making them feel very awkward.
"Uh, no, it's not that, Marcia. We're just, um, we, uh,-" Comet fumbled to come up with something to make her feel better, to no avail.
"It's alright, guys. I'm not upset with you if that's what you're thinking," Marcia said, putting on a clearly fake smile. "Listen, guys, I'm tired. I think I'm going to head home and go to bed." And with that, Marcia left without another word, leaving the two boys to stew over their thoughts.
"We fucked up, didn't we?" Comet asked, breaking the silence.
"Big time," Jackson admitted before slumping onto his bed. "Man, this sucks. I was trying to help her, and all I did was make her feel bad about herself." Jackson sighed. "She must think I'm a jerk right now."
"Trust me, Jackson," Comet said as he sat down next to him. "If she thought you were a jerk, then she would've nominated me for the biggest douche in the Universe after we first met."
"Yeah, right."
"No, seriously. When we first met, I proceeded to terrify Marcia with a giant mutant butterfly, got her furniture sucked into a black hole, and left her soaked under her own personal rain cloud."
Jackson chuckled a little at this. "Holy shit, and that all happened?"
"Yep. And if we're still best friends, then there's no way that Marcia could ever think bad about you. To tell you the truth, she probably feels bad about herself for looking like an idiot in front of us."
"Well, she shouldn't," Jackson said. "Marcia's good enough to help you fight Monsters and travel to other dimensions every day. Not many people our age can do that."
"Damn right!" Comet admitted. "Marcia may not realize it, but she's already plenty kinds of awesome, which is why I hate seeing her beat herself up like this."
"Same here," Jackson confessed. "Hopefully, she won't let this bug her too much."
"Hey, don't worry, Jackson," Comet told him. "I'm sure that she's gone home to think things over, and by tomorrow, she'll be back and ready to kick some serious ass!"
"I am going to screw so badly tomorrow," Marcia moaned to herself as she wistfully drank her Slurpee.
Even though she had told the boys that she was going home to rest, that had been a bald-faced lie. Truthfully, she was too depressed to sulk in her room, so she went out for a walk to clear her head. She had heard that when adults tended to feel down like she was, they would drown their depression with drinking. But since she was still too young to do that, she decided to do the next best thing: sit in the parking lot of the Stop-and-Slurp and guzzle down a giant Slurpee.
"What am I going to do? There's no way that I'll be able to compete with Lars or his Goon Squad tomorrow. I'm not only going to cost Jackson his board and get him banned from the park for a whole year, but I'll humiliate him and myself all at the same time! THIS STINKS!" Marcia raged out loud, not caring if anyone heard her at the moment. As quickly as the fire lit inside of her, though, it went out, leaving her as depressed as ever. "Why does it have to be so hard to impress the people you like?"
"I wish I knew that myself."
Marcia's eyes shot up; she knew that voice! Her eyes began to dart around in a panic as she tried to figure out where it was coming from. And then she saw him. Standing directly in front of her, with a sheepish look on his face, was none other than-
"BUFF FROG!" Acting on instinct, Marcia quickly got into a combat stance. Albeit, she set her Slurpee down as she did so. "Chaa!" Marcia shouted as she quickly rushed towards her opponent, fists aimed directly at his face, preparing to make the first move-"
"Stop, stop, stop!" Buff Frog suddenly shouted as he raised his hands in front of him. "I did not come here to fight you!" he frantically said as he closed his eyes, bracing for the punch. Much to his surprise, it never came. Opening up his eyes, Buff Frog saw that Marcia had stopped herself just short of his face, her own face a mixture of confusion.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"I said, I did not come here to fight you, karate girl," Buff Frog reiterated. "Nor have I come here to steal Wand from Comet."
"Yeah, right," Marcia said, not buying it. "There's no way that you'd come here without Ludo having ordered you to do so as part of some dumb plan." At the mention of Ludo, Buff Frog's face became very sullen, much to Marcia's surprise.
"I...no longer work for Ludo," he said with a heavy heart.
"Say what, now?"
"After failure in museum dimension, Ludo fired me. I am...all alone. I had nowhere else to go and didn't want to stay on Mewni, so I came here. Been living wherever I can on what money I have available."
For a moment, Marcia thought that Buff Frog was lying. That this was part of some crazy plot to get the Wand. But as she took another look at Buff Frog, she realized that he had to be telling the truth. For one thing, he was no longer wearing the outfit that she usually saw him in. Rather than the dark green tunic with the winged eyeball (which she assumed was Ludo's family crest) and spiked shoulder pads, Buff Frog was now wearing a simpler tunic, one that was a far lighter green. In place of the shoulder pads and eyeball, it had a simple, black belt with a skull for the buckle. He didn't look all that menacing anymore.
I think he's actually telling the truth, Marcia thought to herself. Plus, she knew that he couldn't be all bad. She remembered how he teamed up with Comet to save her and Ludo during the Monster Arm incident. Against her better judgment, Marcia backed down.
"Then why are you here?" She asked him, ready to get into a fighting stance, if necessary.
"I just wanted to get food to eat. This place is all I can afford."
Looking at the once intimidating-looking Monster and seeing the state he was in, Marcia couldn't help but feel pity for the guy. "Wait right here," she said as she ran back inside the Stop-N-Slurp. A few minutes later, she came back out with a bag of chips and another Slurpee, both of which she handed to a surprised Buff Frog. When he asked why he was doing this, she told him, "Because I'm taking pity on you."
The next thing either of them knew, they had struck up a conversation. Buff Frog explained to her how Ludo had reacted to his failure, though for some reason, he was very evasive about a few details. Marcia didn't pry, though. And before long, she was venting about her frustrations over the last few days. How Lars had tried hitting on her pressured Jackson into that dumb race, everything.
"...And Jackson told me that I shouldn't worry about tomorrow because he and Comet will make sure that I'll have enough time to win for us. And I know that that should make me feel better about myself, but it doesn't. It makes me feel even worse!" She ranted before taking a sip from her Slurpee. "They might as well have said that they have no faith in me!"
"I do not think Skater Boy meant it like that-"
"Well, that's what it felt like!" Marcia humphed. "And all I wanted to do was impress him, and this is how things turned out. What a joke."
"You have feelings for Skater Boy, then?"
Marcia blushed but didn't bother to deny it. "Yes. I've had a crush on him from the moment I met him. He's, like, one of the coolest guys that I know, and all I wanted was a chance to show him how cool I can be." Marcia slumped onto the cold concrete of the store entrance. "But after tomorrow, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to even look him in the eye, much less get him to like me."
"Somehow, I can relate," Buff Frog wisely said. "I, too, know what it is like to want to impress someone you want recognition from, only to fail."
"You mean Ludo? But he's a jerk," Marcia pointed out. "You and your friends are the ones doing all the fighting. All he does is stand around barking orders like a jackass and then getting mad at you when his stupid plans fall apart."
"Even so, Ludo is still my master. Or, was my master," Buff Frog sadly noted.
"But that's no excuse for him to treat you guys like that. I don't get it: why did you follow him? Why would anyone follow him? And for that matter, why does he want the Wand so badly, anyway?"
"You have seen how powerful Wand is, no? With that power, we could do anything."
"Yeah, but is it really worth all of the beatdowns and bruises, though? Isn't there something else that you guys can be doing with your lives?"
For a moment, Buff Frog tensed up, and Marcia was afraid that she had struck a nerve in him. However, he instead sighed, as he seemed to remember that, despite being Comet's bodyguard, she remained ignorant about what things were like for his kind. Getting up and walking a few steps away, the Frog Man began to stare into the night sky as he began to remember a great many things.
"Because we believe that Wand is only hope for a better life for us," he finally said. And while Marcia wasn't entirely sure why, but the way that he had said it managed to touch something in her heart. Deciding to take a chance, Marcia got up and looked at Buff Frog.
"I want to know: why are Mewmans and Monsters enemies?"
For a moment, Buff Frog was surprised. Few people had ever bothered to ask a Monster why they were in the state of living they found themselves in. The fact that the human girl was willing to hear him out warmed Buff Frog's heart.
"Very well, then. I will tell you the story of how Mewni came to be the way it was and how we came to serve Ludo."
Kermit: Ah, snap! Shit just got real! Well, there you have it, folks; the end to part one of this original arc for Comet vs. the Forces of Evil. Oh, and since Jay's not around to stop me, I'm just going to come out and let you guys know where he got Lars and his idiot posse from: Rocket Power. You know, that cartoon on Nickelodeon about those kids that were into extreme sports?
Kermit: At any rate, I'm sure Jay will be able to explain more about this next week when he's back from that convention of his. And I hope you guys are ready for my boy, Buff Frog, to give us a crash course on the basic history of Mewman-Monster relations. But until then, it's time for me to do the thing that Jay does at the end of every chapter.
READER'S REVIEWS, YAAAYY!
NightAroma-Yeah, I don't blame you. The Dalek reference was pretty subtle. In the "Freeze Day" chapter in King Skye's entry in the Book of spells, Jay did reference them before. And yeah, Toffee rigging the mace so it would only respond to his fingerprints was pretty clever. And I can honestly tell you right here and now, No. "Marco Grows a Beard" will not be adapted. Instead, Jay's got something cooler in mind.
Also, I don't think he cared about who voices CometFan13.
LockAndKey989-Not yet. But don't worry, it's coming.
*Zarbon Moan*
Ah, crapbaskets. I thought I could get away from that here.
The Wandering Hippie-Hippie, there are a lot of things that Jay would want to say, but I'm going to focus on the main one. One big pet peeve Jay had about Star vs. is that Star didn't blossom into the leadership role like she should've. One that was done on her terms, and not anyone else's bullshit expectations. And that's going to be one of the big themes to Comet vs.: achieving the balance between self-determination of one's life vs. the responsibilities we find ourselves dealing with. Comet has everything that Star possesses in the show, but his increased self-awareness of it allows him to put those skills to better use early on. Also, Comet's pretty good at leading others. Remember Libertalia? He did that.
Julayla-Yeah, Jay hates plot holes, too. So he goes out of his way to fill them up with concrete and mortar the first chance he gets.
FungusDungus000-You could say that. Let's just say that in this story, the Septarian's are a bigger threat than they were in the show, and you'll eventually learn why.
You know what to do: fave and follow this story, and follow Jay on Twitter (JZ-Gaming), Insta (RJ Writing Ink), and YouTube (Jungoguy).
See you next week, guys! Hopefully, Jay will have some cool stories to tell from that convention of his.