*In Jay's Workspace, the entire dimension has been decked out in party decorations, including a banner that reads "Happy 1st Anniversary. In the center of the space is a giant movie screen. In front of that is row upon row of theater seats, in which sits everyone who's made an appearance in the workspace so far. Janna, Omnitraxus Prime, Spongebob Narrator, Ed, Eddy, Plank, TFS Nappa, DAU Kermit, Slick Goku, GIR, the Warner Siblings, Freakazoid, Lemongrab, Baby Yoda, and even Hooty. With everyone present, Jay then steps up so that he can be seen.*
Jay: Everyone, we have MADE IT! Tomorrow marks the first anniversary of Comet vs. the Forces of Evil!
Janna: Hell yeah!
Jay: Now, I know that the story isn't as big as we may have wanted it to be, but to be fair, the show ended two years ago. So it's only natural that people would start to lose interest. But who cares? I'm seeing this through to the end! Speaking of which, we are now in the final arc of the first season of Comet vs. the Forces of Evil, "Storm the Castle." And, since I finished writing this in advance, I figured that we can watch what happens in this four-part arc all at once. From our perspective, at least. The readers will have to wait still.
Kermit: How the heck can we even watch it if it's a story? That doesn't make any sense!
Jay: Duh, Kermit. But since I can do whatever I want in here, I can use the power of imagination to mentally project the events of the story onto the screen. Basically, I'm using my mind to project the story so that we "see" it.
Slick Goku: Whatever. Doesn't matter as long as I'm entertained.
Jay: Oh, and to my readers-
*Jay turns to address the readers*
Jay: Full disclosure, guys. I'm going to forgo tradition and not do
READER'S REVIEWS
At the end of this chapter, for maximum immersion. Instead, I'll do them right now-
LockAndKey989-Thanks
NightAroma-Oh, okay. Thanks for clearing that up. Also, you'll enjoy how this turns out.
Julayla-It's going to be pretty big.
TheWanderingHippie-Thanks for the compliments. As for your statements
1.) I intentionally made the fight as anime as possible. But that was just practice. I want to make them have a rematch down the line where they're way more skilled.
2.) Well, to be fair, I had been building up to Comet's change of mind since "Monster Arm," where I laid the groundwork. This was just the final straw.
3.) That was the point to Toffee's speech. The best villains are the ones that have a point to make. Also, did you think I was going to make you guys wait any longer for "Storm the Castle?" If so, then I have failed you.
All right, guys, enjoy the story. Also, I won't be answer
READER'S REVIEWS
at the end of the next chapter. I'm just going to do them all in bulk after this arc is done. Now, start the finale!
*Jay gets into his seat, and begins to mentally project the story onto the screen*
"Why did I let you talk me into this?" Marcia whispered to herself, making sure her voice was just loud enough for Comet to be able to hear her.
"Oh, come on, Marcia. You're worrying way too much. We'll be fine," Comet said as the two crawled quietly through the damp cave in another dimension.
"I don't worry too much, Comet. You worry too little. They just manage to balance each other out, is all," Marcia retorted.
"Marcia, if you ever want to get anything good out of life, then you've got to learn to loosen up and take a few risks," Comet told her as he looked back over his shoulder. "Now, come on and help me find a sandwich in one of these giant tube things."
"See? That right there-that is not something that most people would go through their lives expecting to hear!" Marcia argued, only for Comet to shrug her off.
It had been a few weeks since the events of Mewnipendence Day, and, for the first time since Comet came to live with her, things had been relatively quiet. Ludo and his flunkies hadn't made a move since then, leaving Comet and Marcia with time to focus on their everyday lives. Thanks to the events of that day, Comet had actually begun to focus on spending more time on Earth and at school. Of course, it also helped that the re-enactment, combined with his heartfelt speech at the feast, had made the boy more popular than ever. CometFan13 had even posted footage of the speech and the day's preceding events on social media, and it went viral. Virtually everyone in Echo Creek, California, had come to know the name of Comet Dragonfly.
As a side effect of his growing popularity, many of Comet's friends had found their social status getting a big boost. Brittney had managed to regain some of her former social status (but didn't let it go to her head), and even the normally unpopular Alfonso and Ferguson had gotten a lot more attention. Hell, Jonah had even been approached by some other students, asking him to teach them alchemy. He turned them down, but he enjoyed the recognition for all it was worth.
And to top it all off, Comet had started using his dimensional scissors for more terrestrial adventures. Whenever he and the others had free time, he would take them on quick trips to exotic places on Earth. Paris? They had lunch under the Eiffel Tower. New York City? Comet had them go skydiving off the Empire State Building. Tokyo? Alfonso, Ferguson, and Marcia spent the whole day geeking out in Akihabara. Life was pretty good. But sooner or later, Comet began to get the need to expand his horizons.
That's why he and Marcia were now in another dimension in search of, of all things, a sandwich. Much to Marcia's dismay.
Marcia was brought out of her thoughts over the last few weeks as Comet motioned for her to halt. There, below them, was a large, oddly shaped tube. Before Marcia could even ask, Come slid down the cave wall and made his way onto the structure with the giant tubes, with Marcia following close behind.
"There should be sandwiches in some of these things," Comet told his best friend as he then peered inside one of the tubes. Sure enough, there was a sandwich resting in the middle of the ground. "Jackpot," Comet whispered as he then put his arm inside one of the tube-like structures.
"Eeew. Comet, don't put your hand in there. That's unsanitary," Marcia complained.
Comet, however, paid her no mind as he kept trying to reach for the sandwich. Still, he had no luck.
"Drat. It's just out of reach." Comet cursed his luck.
"Are you sure this is even safe?" Marcia worriedly asked him.
"I never said that it was," Comet cheekily told her. "Come on, Marcia. Why don't you try?"
Marcia pondered that idea for a moment, then proceeded to get flashbacks to the Monster Arm debacle. "No thanks. I'm good."
Comet remained unperturbed, though. "Suit yourself," he said as he went back to trying to reach inside the tube...only for the upper half of his entire body to get sucked inside.
"Oh, mierda," Marcia cursed as she quickly reached out to grab her best friend by the legs and began trying to pull him out. After a few moments of concerted effort, she succeeded.
"Ah-ha! Gotcha!" Comet said as he revealed that he had the sandwich in his hands, looking pleased with himself as he did so. But before Marcia could scold him for not paying attention, something unexpected happened: the tube began to expel steam in their faces.
"Um, Comet? Is that supposed to happen?" Comet just shrugged his shoulders, clearly not knowing. Then, without warning, the steam blasts began to get even stronger until it got to the point where it blew the two of them of the structure. Except, as Marcia saw, it wasn't a rock as she initially thought: it was a giant, slumbering beast. A beast that Comet had just managed to wake up, something that did not make it very happy.
The giant creature began to roar at the two intruders, freaking Marcia out but not bothering Comet, who was too busy focused on the sandwich in his hand.
"Oh, crapbaskets," Marcia said as the animal began to charge towards them. Marcia's fight-or-flight instincts kicked in, placing her body on autopilot as she grabbed hold of Comet by the hoodie and got the two to run for their lives.
The two best friends ran out of the cave, but the beast was clearly too angered at their intrusion to give up the chase. It continued to chase them out into the gray-scale landscape and down the tree's massive trunk on which it was located. Realizing that they were trapped with nowhere to run to, Marcia quickly assessed their options...and realized that there was only one way out of this mess.
"Comet, come on! We're going have to climb down this thing," she said as she carefully looked for a stable place from which to begin their descent. "Now, just follow me carefully, and we can-"
"No time!" Comet shouted as he roughly pushed Marcia over the side before jumping down after her.
Down, down the two teenagers went as the ground seemed to rush up to greet them. Marcia was screaming her head off, but Comet remained unworried. He simply pointed his Wand at the ground and then cast a spell, creating a giant trampoline for them to land on. Needless to say, rather than safely cushion the impact of the fall, the thing's elasticity made the two bounce back into the air once more, sending them flying towards some trees. Thankfully, their fall got broken by a series of vines that wrapped themselves around the two, safely carrying them down until they were only a few inches above the ground.
"Comet! Are you alright?" Marcia asked.
"Don't worry, Marcia! The sandwich is okay!" Comet said, pointing at the food item that seemed to captivate the boy, much to the girl's irritation.
"Comet, forget about the sandwich. We need to get out of this mess!" Marcia told him, trying to break free of the vines. To make matters worse, a familiar roar pierced the air: the tube animal had not only survived the fall, but it was also still charging after them!
"Comet, we better get ou-COMET!, We gotta get out of here!"
Comet, though, was too engrossed in trying to get the sandwich to even notice what was going around him. "Just a little more. Come on, Comet, you can do it."
"All right, that does it!" Marcia said, having lost all patience with her best friend. Reaching into his pockets, she managed to grab his dimensional scissors and quickly used the blades to cut herself free, sending her down to the ground with a thud as the beast continued to get closer to them.
Acting quickly, Marcia then used the scissors to tear open a portal to Earth and, without any ceremony, proceeded to throw herself and Comet, who had only managed to grab half of the sandwich, into it. They got in just as the sandwich beast would've been right on top of them.
Moments later, the two teenagers came out on the floor in the middle of the upper hallway of Marcia's house. Once her senses told her that she was now safe from the danger, Marcia plopped down onto the floor and allowed the adrenaline in her system to wear off. She was tired, panting, sweating, and her clothes were torn in several places from the fall. She was absolutely exhausted, but all she could think about was whether or not her friend was okay.
"You...you alright?" Marcia asked her bestie.
"Ah, what? I was only able to get half of it?" Comet said in disappointment as he looked at what was left of the sandwich in his hands. "Way to go, Marcia. We only managed to get half of the Universe's most delicious sandwich." He ungratefully complained.
At that moment, something inside of Marcia just...snapped.
"ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME!?" She said as she got up off the ground and looked at Comet like she was about to explode. "HOW THE HELL CAN YOU BE THINKING ABOUT A STUPID SANDWICH AFTER WHAT WE JUST WENT THROUGH!?"
"Hey!" Comet snapped back. "It's not stupid! Didn't you hear me say that it was the Universe's most delicious sandwich? I mean, what were you thinking?"
"Uh, I was thinking about not dying, Comet!" Marcia told him, only for him to just brush it off.
"Pfft. We didn't almost die, Marcia-"
"Yes, we did," Marcia told him. "And unlike you, I would know because I was paying attention and trying to keep us alive!"
As if to prove her point, a giant arm from the sandwich beast suddenly reached through the still-open portal and grabbed Marcia by the ankle. Without even thinking, Marcia grabbed a nearby vase and smashed it against the arm. On the other side of the portal, a roar could be heard as the animal cried out in pain before it finally closed.
"Marcia, you are making a bigger deal out of this than you should be. We've almost died several times on our adventures together, and we came out none the worse for wear."
"Yeah, but not over something as stupid as a freaking sandwich."
Comet gasped. "How dare you? People have died trying to get a crumb of one of these things."
"See? That just proves my point, Comet! We came this close to biting it today!"
"Marcia, in case you've forgotten, we're not exactly what people would call ordinary teenagers-"
"That's not the point, Comet!" Marcia angrily told him. "There is a fine line between brave and being reckless and stupid, and you came very close to crossing that line today, and it almost got us killed!"
Comet, now trying to defuse the situation, stepped forward with the sandwich. "Look, if you would just try some of this, you would understand why it's worth it-"
-Only for Marcia to slap the thing out of his hands, sending it splattering against the nearby wall.
"I don't want any of your stupid sandwich, Comet," she told him. "I want you to listen to me. I thought that you had learned that after what happened with Mewnipendence Day, but you just-GRAAHH!" At this point, Marcia was too pissed off to even form words. Rather than waste any more time trying through Comet's thick skull, she just stormed off in the direction of her room. "I'm going to be in my room. Don't bother me!" she told him as she closed the door behind her, leaving Comet all by himself.
Now visibly annoyed, Comet proceeded to vent his frustration by himself. "I hate when you act like this. It makes me wonder why we're even friends!"
"WELCOME TO THE CLUB, PAL!" Marcia shouted from inside her bedroom, prompting Comet to growl in anger, much to the concern of Coryn and a few of the laser puppies, who couldn't help but overhear everything from Comet's room and had gone to investigate. When they got into the hallway, they found Comet angrily grumbling to himself as he proceeded to pick what was left of the sandwich from the wall, swatting away at some of the flies that had spontaneously gathered around it.
"Ugh, where did all these flies even come from?" Comet complained before putting the sandwich back together. Coryn, meanwhile, proceeded to hop forward and catch all the flies for himself.
"Stupid Marcia. She doesn't know what she's talking about," Comet grumbled as he made his way to his room.
"My daughter is not stupid, young man."
As Comet was about to head inside his room, he was stopped by someone talking to him. Look down the hallway, Comet was surprised to see Mrs. Diaz standing there, looking upset with him.
"So I take it you heard what just happened, then," Comet asked.
"I'm pretty sure the whole neighborhood could hear the two of you yelling your heads off," Mrs. Diaz said with uncharacteristic snark.
"Look, Mrs. Diaz, if you're here to lecture me and show me the error of my ways or whatever, then don't. I'm not in the mood for it."
"I understand, Comet," Mrs. Diaz told him. "But you should know that the only reason that my daughter is mad at you right now is that she cares about you."
"Well, she's sure got a funny way of showing it," Comet rudely snarked before going to open the door. That proved to be a massive mistake, though.
"Comet Dragonfly," Mrs. Diaz sternly said, talking to the boy like she were her own son. "As long as you live under my roof, you will not talk back to me like that. And it is the truth."
Hearing the tone in Mrs. Diaz's voice was enough to make Comet pause. He had never heard Marcia's parents talk to him like that in all the time he had been living with them.
"Comet, you have only been living with us for a few months now, but I can already tell that my daughter thinks the absolute world of you," Mrs. Diaz continued. "Ever since you came into our lives, I have seen how much Marcia has changed for the better. Yes, she was doing well in school, had her hobbies, and had plenty of friends to hang out with. But it felt like she was always going through a routine of living rather than actually living. That all changed when you showed up at our front door. Even though you haven't known each other that long, I can tell that you being her friend has made Marcia happier than she's ever been in her life."
"Then why is she getting on my case like this? She knows that I can take care of myself."
"That is because she cares about you so much that she doesn't want to see anything bad happen to you," Mrs. Diaz calmly explained.
"Like I said, I can take care of myself, Mrs. Diaz. After all, I've got magic, years of combat training and parkour, and my devilishly good looks to get me out of any trouble."
"That may be true, Comet. You're already far more capable and independent than most people your age. But part of being a good friend means knowing when to help a friend out, even when they say they don't want it."
This statement was enough to give Comet pause.
"I'm not going to make you apologize to Marcia, Comet," Mrs. Diaz told him. "But, I think that you should consider how she feels about all of this." And with that, Mrs. Diaz went downstairs, leaving Comet alone with the laser puppies and Coryn.
Now unsure of what to do, Comet opened the door to his bedroom and stepped inside. After carefully setting the sandwich on a plate next to his bed (and covering it so the puppies and Coryn couldn't eat it), the boy proceeded to fall face-first onto his bed and soon drifted off to sleep.
By the time Comet woke up from his impromptu nap, nighttime had already fallen. As Comet proceeded to stretch his tired limbs, the events of the last few hours began to replay inside his head.
"Grrr..." Comet growled as he remembered the fight he had with Marcia. Out of frustration, Comet reached for the plate and took out the sandwich from underneath it, taking a tiny bite.
"Oh, corn, this is sooo good!" Comet said aloud as he ate the sandwich. As he did so, though, his eyes happened to fall upon a framed picture he had on his dresser. It was a picture taken on the day that he and Marcia first met. Both had just gotten back from the Stop-N-Slurp, and even though Marcia's clothes were still a mess from the day's events, she insisted that the two of them pose for a photo to solidify their newfound friendship. Then, he remembered what Mrs. Diaz had told him.
But part of being a good friend means knowing when to help a friend out, even when they say they don't want it.
Remembering that prompted him to remember the day's events, albeit with far more clarity than before.
Jay: It was at this point that Comet knew...he fucked up.
Comet groaned, catching the attention of Hooty. Being a nocturnal creature, the little Hoot-Hoot remained wide awake.
"I feel like such a bonehead, Coryn," Comet said, deriding himself for being such a jerk. "I need to go say sorry to Marcia. I just hope that she will hear me out," he said as he got up off his bed and, taking the sandwich with him, headed for Marcia's bedroom, with Coryn following close behind.
"Marcia? Are you in there? You up...and decent?" Comet fought back the urge to blush. Even if he didn't think of Marcia like that, he was still a teenage boy. When he got no response, he decided to continue talking. "Listen, Marcia...I'm sorry. I know that you were just trying to look out for me when I was too stupid to look out for myself. It's just that I really wanted you to try this sandwich, Marcia. You're one of the coolest people I know, and I think the world about you, and I wanted to show you how much I value you being my best friend. So, please. Can we just talk? I still have the sandwich. It's a little bit dirty, but it still tastes delicious."
Still, there was no answer. Confused, Comet knocked on the door once more...only for it to slowly creak open, revealing that it was never locked.
"Huh...that's weird," Comet thought aloud as he hesitantly walked inside, with Coryn in tow. Once he got inside, though, he saw that the room was completely dark, with no sign of any life.
"Marcia? You in here?" Comet asked again. He couldn't exactly explain it, but his gut was telling him that something wasn't right. As Comet scanned around the room, Coryn pecked at his boots. "Coryn. You see something, buddy?"
"Hoo," the Hoot-Hoot said before motioning towards Marcia's bed. There, laying on the opposite side and looking out at the moonlit night, was Marcia.
"Oh, Marcia. There you are," Comet playfully said. "What the heck are you doing hanging out in the dark like a bunch of weirdy-" Comet stopped mid-sentence as he froze in place. He looked down at Marcia's clothes and noticed something wrong. Even though she was sitting on the bed with her hands behind her... they weren't in the sleeves.
Red flag, Comet thought. Pretending to act like he suspected nothing, Comet calmly stepped towards the bed while slowly reach for his Wand in his pocket. Coryn's feathers bristled as he got ready for a potential fight.
"So, Marcia, I'm not sure how much you heard just now, but I was hoping that you'd consider trying some of this delicious san-LICORICE ROPE!" At Comet's command, a thread of red licorice shot out his arm and wrapped itself around "Marcia." Not wasting any time, Comet leaped forward before using his elbow to pin the intruder against the wall.
"Who are you? Where's Marcia? Did you do something to her?" Comet asked in rapid-fire while the imposter groaned.
"I am terribly zorry," a voice that sounded a lot like the buzzing of an insect said. "But your little friend iz not available at the moment," The being then turned around to look directly at Comet, revealing his identity. It was none other than Boo Fly!
Comet gasped. "I know you. You're one of Ludo's guys!" It didn't take long for Comet to put the pieces together after this. Now visibly enraged, Comet raised his Wand and brought it close to Boo Fly's face. "Where. Is. Marcia?" he demanded from the flyman. "Act like you don't know what I'm talking about, and I narwhal blast you right in the face." He was serious about it, too.
"Az I zaid, zhe iz not here," Boo Fly told him, not even phased by the Prince's threat. "The girl izz currently a guezzt at our mazterr'zz castle," the Monster calmly told him. "If you want to ever want to zee her alive, then come to Caztle Avariuz tonight with the Wand. Come alone. Otherwize, her death will be on your handzz."
Before Comet could even process all of this, Boo Fly managed to wriggle his way free of Comet's grasp and made a mad dash for the window!
"Nacho shurikens!" Comet began calling out spells in a desperate attempt to stop Boo Fly from escaping, but the fly managed to evade each and every one of them.
"CORYN! USE AIR SLASH!"
Coryn dutifully obeyed as he flew into the air and proceeded to strike at Boo Fly with his attacks. Again, though, nothing came of them. Before the two of them even knew it, Boo Fly had made it out the window and flew away into the night sky. The pair could watch helplessly as their only lead on Marcia disappeared into the night, leaving Comet alone to cry out in anger. "LUDOOO!" But pretty soon, the wrath was replaced by something far, far worse: fear. "What...what I have done?" Comet asked aloud. Marcia was now in danger, and it was all his fault!
*KER-RASH!*
Comet was brought out of his self-loathing by the sound of glass shattering on the floor. Turning around, he saw Mr. Diaz standing in the middle of the hallway, a glass of milk broken at his feet while his face was one of abject horror. One look, and it was clear to the boy why: he had just heard everything.
"Comet?" Rafael asked in a shaky voice that sounded like it was seconds from falling apart. "Where's mi hija?"
Comet looked at the poor man. If he didn't feel guilty already, then seeing Marcia's Dad on the verge of a panic attack must have done it for him.
"Comet, where is Mar-"
"Calm down, Mr. Diaz," Comet said, his voice taking a very serious tone as he tried to hide the fact that he was also on the verge of freaking. "I need you to go downstairs and tell your wife everything. I'll join you in about ten minutes," Comet said before making his way out of Marcia's bedroom towards his own.
"Why? What are you going to do? What are we-"
"Mr. Diaz, please trust me on this," Comet said, his voice exuding a level of authority that he never used. "I need to make a few phone calls, then I'll come down and explain everything."
Mr. Diaz nodded, then hurried downstairs as Comet made for his compact.
"Annndd, done!" Jonah said as he finished putting the finishing touches on his latest alchemy-induced project. Using a bunch of multi-colored LEGO Bricks that he had ordered in bulk online, Jonah had proceeded to use alchemy to fuse the plastic they were made from into something way cooler: a 1/100th model of himself fighting side by side with Alucard from the Hellsing Ultimate series. It took all night, but it was worth not sleeping to accomplish.
Jonah happily wiped the sweat off his brow as he admired his handiwork. "Now that that's done, time to get started on my next sculpture: hot Demon bitches!"
It was clear to everyone at this point that Jonah had a thing for Demon girls. Unfortunately, he never got the chance to indulge in his semi-secret fetish as his phone began to ring.
"Ugghh, come on," Jonah complained. "Who could be calling me at this time of night?" he asked as he pressed the phone.
"I'm sorry, but Jonah is not here right now because he is doing something way important than whatever this is, so you can go-"
"Jonah! It's me!" came a desperate voice on the other end that Jonah immediately recognized.
"Oh, hey Comet. What's up?"
"Listen, Jonah. I need your help, and I need it right now."
"Yeah, listen, Comet. While I want to give you props for thinking that I was the only one in Echo Creek that would be wide awake at night, I'm in the middle of something important. So whatever it is, I'm sure it can wait until tomorrow-"
"Marcia's been kidnapped, Jonah."
As soon as he heard that, Jonah's face got very serious. "What?"
"It's Ludo. I don't know how, but he managed to send some of his guys, and they grabbed Marcia right out from under my nose. They're saying that if I don't give them the Wand before morning, she'll die."
Now fully aware of how serious the situation was, Jonah asked only one thing: "What do you need me to do?"
"Call the others. Wake them up by any means necessary if you have to. Just tell them that Marcia's in danger and that they need to come to her house in the next ten minutes. I'll open up a portal in their homes that will take them to the Diaz's living room." As soon as Comet had finished saying that, a portal opened up in Jonah's own bedroom, eliminating any and all doubt in his mind that this was serious.
"I'll be there in a minute," Jonah said before ending the call. Not even bothering to wake up his parents and let them know what was happening, Jonah instead rushed over to his desk and got out his Meseeks Box. He was going to need it for what they were about to do.
Sure enough, Jonah managed to do as Comet asked. Within less than a minute, he had shown up in the Diaz family's living room, where Comet, Coryn, and Marcia's parents all waiting for him. Having brought the Meseeks box with him, Jonah then used it to summon several Meseeks and commanded them to go into each portal and gather the rest of their friends.
It took slightly longer than Comet had wanted. Almost all of his friends on Earth were fast asleep when the Meseeks came for them, and they were none too happy to be woken up. However, when they heard about what happened to Marcia, their concern for their friend superseded any need to sleep, leaving them wide awake. There was also the fact that they were all in various states of dress, some more than others. Brittney and Sabrina had some rather...interesting choices in sleepwear that would've made most boys blush. As for CometFan13...he was just grateful that the Meseeks that got him didn't judge him for his life-size Comet Dragonfly body pillow.
After about fifteen minutes, everyone had gathered in the Diaz's living room: Comet, Coryn, Mr. and Mrs. Diaz, Jonah, Jackson, Alfonso, Ferguson, Sabrina, CometFan13, Brittney, and Karla, all of whom had been given the gist of what was going on. However, Comet still felt the need to recap everything that transpired.
"...And that's basically it. If I don't go to Ludo's Castle before sunrise, Marcia might not make it out of there alive."
Everyone present took this revelation differently. Mrs. Diaz almost passed out, with her husband having to steady her.
Brittney had this look of utter horror in her eyes; she had just started to make things right with Marcia, and now she risked losing her all over again. Only this time, it would be for good. Sabrina wasn't doing much better either, with Karla having to put a hand on her shoulder to keep her from having a panic attack.
Ferguson and CometFan13 began to freak out, prompting Alfonso and Jackson to slap the two of them to get them under control. Despite this, though, Alfonso was barely able to keep himself from panicking. One of his best friends, the one that stood up to bullies for his sake, was being held captive, and he couldn't do anything to help. The normally cool and collected Jackson looked like he was shell-shocked, unable to process all of this information.
As for Jonah? Judging by the look of unbridled rage in his eyes, it was safe to say what Jonah was thinking: if Ludo was there right now, he would probably try and kill the guy.
As everyone began to worry in their own way, Comet clapped his hands to get their attention. "Guys, please. We need to focus. Every second we sit here panicking, Marcia's life remains at risk. So I need you all to get it together."
"Well, what should we do, Comet?"
"Maybe we could call the police?" Ferguson naively suggested. "I mean, it is their job to handle stuff like this."
"Oh, he's right," Mrs. Diaz realized. "Rafael, quick. Go call 911 and tell them-"
"Um, Mrs. Diaz?" Brittney interrupted. "I know that we haven't spoken in years, and I don't want to sound rude, but I think that doing that would be a waste of time that we don't have."
"Brittney's right, Mrs. Diaz," Comet said. "I don't know that much about how law enforcement works here on Earth, but I don't think that they could be of any help."
"But couldn't we at least-"
"Mrs. Diaz, they're right," Jonah said. "Even if we told them what happened and they believed, which I doubt they would, what can they do to help? Most people still don't know about magic, much less that there are other dimensions out there."
"Plus, even if they somehow bought all of that, they still couldn't help since they don't have any dimensional scissors," Comet added on.
"Well, then what are we supposed to do? We can't let my little girl die, Comet," Mr. Diaz pointed out.
Comet walked over to Mr. and Mrs. Diaz and spoke to them in as calm a tone as he could muster with a look of utter sympathy on his face. "Mr. Diaz, you have my word as the Prince of Mewni. I will not let anything happen to your daughter. We're going to get her back. And we're going to make sure Ludo knows what it means to go after my friends."
"But how are we going to do that? What's the plan?" Sabrina asked.
"The plan? The plan is simple, Sabrina," Comet said as he then pulled out an old, worn map of Mewni. On it was a bright red circle labeled "Castle Avarius." "This is where Marcia's being held: Castle Avarius, the ancestral stronghold of Ludo's family, located in the badlands far to the northeast of my family's kingdom and well within Monster territory. I will go there and rescue Marcia myself."
"All right, I got that much. But what are we going to do?" Alfonso asked.
"Yeah? What's our role in this? Do Jackson and I provide air cover while Jonah summons that Black Frost guy to break down the gates?" Karla questioned.
Comet sighed. He hated having to say this next part, but he also thought that it had to be said:
"I'm sorry, but you guys aren't coming on this rescue mission. I have to do this on my own."
"What? Comet, are you crazy!?" Brittney asked, questioning the Prince's mental state. "There's no way that you can get in there by yourself. There are way too many of those freaks!"
"Yeah, dude. No offense, but if you go there by yourself, you'll be walking right into a trap. Ludo will pulverize you," Karla gave her two cents.
"Dude, just let us go with you," Ferguson said, "You know that there's strength in numbers-"
"YOU CAN'T GO, AND THAT'S FINAL!"
Everyone in the room immediately fell silent, shocked at what just happened. Comet rarely ever yelled at them, but when he did, they knew that it could only mean one thing: he was deadly serious.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you guys," Comet said, apologizing for his actions. "Listen, I know that you all want to help. Marcia's just as much your friend as she is mine, and if this were under any other circumstances, I would gladly accept your help."
"Then why won't you-"
"Because not all of you might be able to do anything," Comet told them. "I'm sorry, but it's true. Jonah has his alchemy, taser, and Black Frost. Alfonso and Ferguson have their slingshots. Jackson's got his U-Board, and Karla's got Kevin and the ax-bass guitar that I may or may not have given magical powers. But the rest of you guys aren't fighters. If you go there with me, you could get killed."
"We don't care, Comet. We still want to help-" Brittney tried to argue, only for Comet to shut her down.
"My answer is no, Brittney. It's my fault that Marcia got kidnapped, meaning that it's up to me to fix this mess. And even if I did let you all come, there's the chance that Ludo might end up killing her if he finds out I didn't do as he said."
"Then why do this?" Alfonso asked as he stood up. "Why tell us any of this if you weren't going to let us help you?!"
Comet waited for a moment and then gave his answer. "I never said that I didn't want your help, Alfonso. I just said that you guys can't come with me."
"Huh?" The others didn't follow.
"You guys are my backup plan. I'm well aware that I'm walking into a trap. While I don't care about that, I do care about saving Marcia. That's why I'm giving you guys this." Comet then reached into his pocket and held out a piece of paper. When the others opened it, they saw that it had a bunch of numbers written down.
"What is this?" CometFan13 asked.
"It's the number to my parent's private mirror. They gave it to me for emergencies before I left Mewni," Comet explained. "If I'm not back with Marcia in the next two hours, then I want you to call them on this number and tell them everything."
Everyone's eyes widened in shock. "Comet, dude, do you have any idea what you're asking us to do?!" Ferguson asked him, now clearly questioning his friend's sanity.
"Comet, you do realize that if we call and tell them, then they're likely going to find out everything," Jonah told his friend. "How you've been blatantly breaking all the rules they gave you about never leaving Earth?"
"Or overusing your magic?" Alfonso added.
"Comet, if you do this, then they may not let you come back to Earth once this is all over," Jackson reminded his friend. "Are you sure about this?"
"Guys," Comet said with steely resolve in his voice, "I don't care. I don't care if my parents ground me for the rest of my life. I don't care if they try and throw me in the dungeon. Seven Hells, I don't even care if they decide to outright disown me for being such a huge disappointment. I can live with all of that. But if anything were to happen to Marcia or the rest of you because of me, then I'll never forgive myself."
"Good Lord, he's serious," Jonah said as the weight of everything Comet said sunk in. He was willing to give up his freedom if it meant his friends would be safe.
"I have to go now, you guys," Comet said as he used his scissors to open up a portal. "I swear to you all, I will bring Marcia back." Comet then took a step towards the portal.
"Comet, wait," Jonah said as he grabbed his wrist.
"Jonah, I'm not letting you guys come with you, and that's final," Comet reiterated.
"Yeah, yeah, you want to do this lone wolf hero schtick. But just because we can't come with you doesn't mean we can't help you," Jonah told him.
Comet could tell that Jonah wasn't going to take no for an answer from the tone of his voice. "Okay, I'll bite. What are you planning?"
"This." Jonah then reached into his coat pocket and pulled out an earpiece. "It's what we used during Mewnipendence Day. Put this in your ear, and we'll be able to talk directly with you and come up with a plan."
"Wow. I didn't think of doing that," Comet admitted as he put the communicator in his left ear.
"Also, I've got something else that can help. If you'll let me borrow these." Jonah then yanked the scissors out of Comet's hands.
"Hey! I need those!"
"Relax, your highness," Jonah snarked as he cut open a separate portal. "This will only take five seconds," he explained as he stepped through. True to his word, he was back in five seconds, this time with his laptop in hand. "All right, I'm back. Now just give me a few seconds and...done!"
"I don't follow. What's the weird kid doing?" Brittney asked the others, who remained just as clueless.
"Just look at the screen," Jonah said as he set the laptop on the table. As they did so, they were surprised to a video feed pop up of...themselves?
"All right, you lost me, Jonah," Alfonso stated.
"Yeah, how are you even doing this?" Ferguson wondered.
"Simple: I hid a camera on Comet's clothes a while back. And Marcia's, now that I think about it."
"You what?" the others asked in unison.
"Jonah, that is a serious invasion of privacy. You can't do that, man," Jackson told him.
"You pervert!" the girls all yelled at him.
"Oh, relax, you guys," Jonah said, brushing off their concerns. "I rigged it so that it shuts down whenever they go to the bathroom or get changed. Even I'm not that creepy," he explained. "Besides, I only did it so I can take footage from all your adventures so I can edit it and post it online."
"You've been putting this stuff up on YouTube without their permission? Not cool, dude," Karla said. As an artist, she took plagiarizing one's work very seriously.
"Look, you guys are missing the point," Jonah said to get them back on topic. "With this, we can monitor Comet's progress while he goes Liam Neeson on Ludo's sorry ass. It's not much, but at least it's something."
Comet sighed, exasperated at what Jonah was doing. At the moment, though, he had much bigger concerns. "You know what, I don't care right now, Jonah. If you think this will help, then just do whatever you want. Right now, all I care about is getting Marcia back." Seeing that no one else was objecting to him going, Comet then turned around and made for the portal.
"Wish me luck, everyone. If all goes well, I'll be back with Marcia before sunrise," he said. Then, he stepped inside the portal before letting it close behind him.
As soon as he was gone, everyone looked at each other, the gravity of the situation now fully weighing down on them.
"So, we're not just going to sit here monitor everything, right? We're going to call his parents now, right?"
"Yep," everyone said.
"Come on, let's get set up in Comet's bedroom," Jonah said as he headed towards the stairs, beckoning the others to follow him.
"I think I better make some coffee," Mr. Diaz said. "Something tells me that we're going to need it."
No one objected to this idea. After everything that had just transpired, everyone knew that this was going to be a long night.
To Be Continued...
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