Aha! Finally, got around to finishing this chapter. And just in time for Battle of the Heart and Mind! Thank you all for your continued support.

Shadow 13-Well, I would do that, if this was a loud house crossover, but it's not. I'm keen on keeping this a Steven Universe/Star vs story, so no other characters from other shows will appear/cameo unless I can think of a good reason for them to be in the story. Sorry.

Guest- Absolutely. In a future chapter, I plan on showing Rose's relationships with the former Queens, specifically Justen and Solaria.

On any other day, the sounds of shouting and weapons clanking would be enough to startle Marco. Granted, this seemed to happen on an daily basis nowadays, but it didn't hurt to be a little aware of incoming danger.

Though today's chaos, for the moment at least, seemed to be contained. As Star greeted her brother, who had convinced their mother to spend the weekend at the Diaz residence, the two of them hit things off like their past encounters, endless hugging, endless praising, along with the occasional explosion or two.

The two magical siblings had begun talking about how their respective weeks had gone, Quartz talking about their dad's impromptu 'camping trip' he went own after a monster managed to get his hands on the king's crown, while Star went back and forth on whether or not her 'turbo nuclear butterfly blast' or her 'cataclysmic total extinction death blast' was more effective. The conversation was taken to the next level when Star got more curious on what sort of stuff Quartz was learning with their mother, which lead to him suggesting they give each other a more 'visual' representation.

Which was what lead both brother and sister to 'challenge' each other to a magical duel, both of them showing the other what they've learned, while at the same time taking in some extra 'training'.

Marco watched with a shrug as he witnessed the grand event the royal siblings made for themselves, sitting right next to him was Quartz's friend Connie, easily the most excited about witnessing the magical spectacle other then the prince and princess themselves. "Watch, watch out, duck, throw, look out for that.." Connie elatedly shouted as she struggled to keep herself glued to the ground. "How are you not more excited about this! What's wrong with you!?" She genuinely asked with excitement oozing out of her eyes.

"Star created a black whole on the first day we meant that almost sucked me into an enteral dark and empty abyss." Marco said with a casual shrug. "Stuff like this makes you patient for the real excitement, which will come, jus you wait."

"No, no, I could never get use to this." She admitted with a shaky voice, still very excited, but with a bit of nervousness. "My life not exactly the most eventful thing in the world. The only escape from reality I have is in my favorite book series, Unfamiliar Familiar, but now I can actually have the chance to escape it with those scissors you guys have." The girl squees once more with her blood pumping exponentially. "Don't tell me you haven't wanted something more exciting in your life?"

The school safe kid could only roll his eyes in acknowledgement. "Point taken." Marco, within a quick second, ducks both Connie's and his own head as a shield came hurdling pass them. "But something a little more boring wouldn't hurt either."

"Sorry!" The prince offered quickly, having no time to show his sincerity as he dodged another blast of purple energy from the family's heirloom. A rush of happiness soon returned to his face as another brightly pink shield was summoned over his forearm, deflecting the stream as he moved in a little closer.

While the boy loved his mother, and thanked her greatly for all the time she was putting aside to train him, even the respectful prince had to say that the sessions, while helpful, had the tendency to be a little stiff and, dare he say it, boring to go through at times. Lately, the Queen had raised the standards, looking more at specific results rather than big bursts of power, so a triple exploding bubble bomb became less impressive as they continued.

Training with Star helped relieve both younglings of any stress that had been building up, Star's also stemming from their mother's watchful eye, who's suspicions have been increasing as of late, mostly due to the princess's insistence of calling her as little as possible. She wasn't even aware of Ludo's constant pinning for the magic wand, a little factoid that Star knew would get her dragged back to Mewni.

So for them to have this one moment together, without any restrictions, limits, or standards, just a brother and sister having unsupervised fun, was an opportunity neither sibling was going to waste. "Come on, Quartz! We've loosened our muscle's long enough, let's really get serious!" She delightfully chanted, twirling her body as she casted another spell. "Crystal dagger heart!"

"Hehe, Bubble Bounce Bump!" Quartz shouted with equal excitement, throwing two small bubbles to the ground, jetting him in the air by a good 10-15 feet above his sister. Throwing a sly look to Star as he hung above her, another bubble encased around him as he began falling like an anvil into the sea. Star, of course, dodged her brother's attack, stumbling as she felt the vibrations of Quartz's landing.

"Ha, they may be boring, but I got to hand it to Mom; her lessons look like they're paying off." She complimented before blasting another Narwhal Blast. "Those bubbles are still amazing."

Quartz held out his shield again against the blast, losing it again once he was done protecting himself, now starting to feel a little strain. "They're still too weak." He huffed out, breathing really had to catch his breath again.

"Weak? How are exploding bubbles weak?" Star questioned with clear surprise. "I swear if this is another one of mom's safety lectures at work again..."

"No, no, I'm not trying to be cautious, not to much anyway.." The boy explained. "Apparently, the whole exploding bubble thing isn't suppose to happen, and is a side effect of magic overload or something. I can't make a bubble long enough without having it explode or pop."

"Pfftt.." The princess scoffed. "Only in my Mom's world can she make exploding bubbles seem like a bad thing. I mean, if your bubbles aren't suppose to explode, what's the point of making bubbles at all? SHINEY EMERALD SNAKE STRIKE!" Star's tone made a complete 180 and blasted at her brother once more, to which Quartz blocked with another shield that quickly dissipated. "And that shield of yours seems strong enough to me."

"Yeah, but it takes a lot out of me to summon it anymore than two times, it's pretty exhausting." The sweat on the boy's face spoke volumes as he attempted to walk towards Star, who simply walked backwards with a mischievous smirk. "What are you planning?"

"Aww, is my baby bro-bro all tuckered out now?" Star purposely belittled, making Quartz blush upon hearing Connie's chuckles. "Don't worry, little brother, I'll be sure to take care of you.." She said with a happily creepy voice, causally aiming her wand at her brother. "Terror Tickle Tackle!" A bright glowing green hand bursts from the object, blasting towards the young boy, who embraced for impact. "Don't worry, I made this extra special for you.

"HAHA NO, HAHA, NO, PLEASE, STOP!" Quartz burst in tears, laughing at his sister's 'attack', which brought him down to his knees, unable to keep a steady balance. "I, I..., Please just stop..." He kept on shouting, his laughter becoming more and more uncontrollable.

Star held a satisfied smirk as she watched over her victory in glee. "Just say that I win, and I'll end your suffering." She said in a mock evil tone, cheerfully smiling as she continued to point the wand at him. "We both know I'm the greatest, what's one more admission goin to hurt?"

Managing to fight off the giggles for a quick second, Quartz used whatever strength he had left to summon another bubble in hand. "Ne-never, y-ou, you villain!" He played along with a weak and tired smile, throwing the bubble pass his sister, seemingly missing it's target. "I win."

"Maybe I did my job a little too well?" Star said in confusion, not sure why her brother claimed victory so late, only to gasp as the wand fell right out of her hand. The bubble that flew past Star bounced off a section of the fence behind her, returning and hitting her arm from behind. "Okay, first, cool, very cool, and second, OW!" She stated as she rubbed her hand. "But I can still pick up the wand, you know."

"Not if I can say anything about it, Connie, NOW!" Quartz, turning all attention to the dark skinned girl. Not giving a second to explain themselves, Connie eagerly smiled as she pulled up a small, plastic gun that was sitting right behind her, and tossed it to the boy. The prince quickly got back to his feet and claimed the object from the air. "Aha, and now, behold your watery demise!" The boy laughed as he began dosing large amounts of water at his sister, who could only beg to her brother to cease his attack.

"You win, you win, I said it already, you win!" She admitted defeat over and over again. This is what they both needed, no real magical training or test or anything of the sort would allow water-guns, and that was just a shame, a shame that really needed to be corrected.

Despite proving to be a well executed distraction, Star was able to concentrate just enough to grab her wand again, rolling her way out of the water and preparing for a final strike. "Mega Starfish Tsunami!" A huge wave, filled to the brim with the tiny sea creature rushed out of the wand, furiously flowing out as Quartz could only take it in the face as best he could.

"I told you, if things were really serious, these two probably would've opened a whole to the earth's center by now." Marco spoke to the girl once again as both prepared to be drenched, having no time to brace for impact. Everyone now was having a good laugh at what happened, showing how much fun they were really having, though the two non-magic teens didn't notice one of the house tiles beginning to loosen right above them.

"Have anything left in the tank, or are you ready to call it quits?" Star suggested once the laughter had died down. Even with monsters constantly fighting them, there really wasn't a time where she could let herself unwind like that. Ludo's minions weren't exactly a challenge after firing who-knows-how-many narwhals. Not that she wanted to go all out on her brother, but he at least new how to handle something crazy being hurled at him.

"Nah, I'm good." Quartz admitted, ripping off a Starfish that had landed on his face. "Let's just call this a dra.." His speech stammers as he turns back to Connie and Marco, who were both trying to drain as much of the water from their clothes, and were still very unaware of the tile, barely hanging from a thread on the roof. "Look out!"

The teen boy, knowing fully well to get out of the way as fast as he could (especially if magic was involved in any capacity) complied without a problem, while Connie, ever so curious, turned and searched for what she needed to avoid, only thinking to look up as the tile began to fall. The girl stood there, too shocked to make another move, and completely out of time to do anything about it. Quartz ran, completely on instinct, to get his friend out of danger, stretching out his hand as far as he could, as far as his body would allow him, to shove Connie away.

SMACK CRACK

Connie soon found herself on her back with an 'umph' as the tile splintered into dozens of pieces upon hitting the ground. The only thing that Connie could see in front of her was Quartz's armored hand above her face, getting her out of the way just in time. "Haheha, wow, that, that came out of nowhere." She tried to brush off her embarrassment. "I, be glad my mom's not here, she probably would've tried suing your house for safety violation, or at the very least give a strongly worded phone call." Her attempt to clear the air didn't work, as everyone remained quiet. "Sorry for not moving earlier, but why isn't..." She tried to question her friends on their silence, though as she returned to her feet, she soon got her answer.

Quartz did manage to shove Connie out of the way, but how he did left the other three jaw dropped. The boy arm was stretched out a good 14, maybe 17 feet longer than it's usual length, as seen by the exposed flesh stretched out before them. Connie, rightly freaked out, dropped the part of Quartz's hand she was holding on to in a yelp, making the extended limb fall down with a weak dud. "Is this cool or gross? It feels more like a gross thing, but I'm hoping for cool."

"Definitely gross/cool." Marco and Star spoke at the same time, though only Star continued to talk. "You saved somebody, and unleased a new power, how is that not cool?" She gently pokes the extended limb over and over. "Hehe, still so soft and plushy."

Connie, after shaking off the shock, slowly walked over to the boy, and gently rubbed his arm with curiosity. "Do you feel alright? I, I hope I didn't force you into anything bad, since well, you pushed me to safety."

"No it's fine." Quartz reassured. "This doesn't feel bad at least, just a little weird and new, even for me." He attempted to raise him arm up, struggling to keep it steady as he tried to walk backwards. "All I need to do is get this thing closer to me.." losing control of his arm, it flew over his head, causing him to fall on his back at the added weight above him. The three onlookers could only watch with a mixture of worry and amusement as the prince struggled to get ahold of his elongated appendage. "Okay, I might need a hand with this."

"Your in luck bro, I already know how to take care of this!" Star shouted, pointing her want as she prepared to fire. "Returnio Armio Norma.."

"Wait, wait, wait, WAIT!" Marco pointed the wand done to get Star's attention. "Are you absolutely sure that's the right thing to do right now? Remember what happened the last time someone's arm got mixed in with magic?" Memories of a sore arm surfaced, making the teen rub it uncomfortably.

Star would've retorted with a scoff remark, only to pause once she took another look at Quartz, struggling to pick himself up even with Connie's help. "Fine, we'll push this thing aside for now." Star hung the wand on her side as she helped Connie get Quartz back on his feet. "I think I have something else, but you're really not going to like it Quartz."

The boy gave it a seconds thought as his arm fell limp on the ground once more, making him lean to the right. "It's got to be more comfortable than this."

"I take it back." The prince bitterly mumbled as he had no choice but to hold out his arm before Glossaryck as they entered Star's room. Nobody in the group was particularly enthused by calling upon the blue man's advice again. "I mean, what's the worse your spell's going to do, give me a third arm? There's worse fates to be had you know."

"I know, I know, this isn't exactly your favorite thing to do, so blame Marco for this." She accused, getting a short 'hey' in response. "He's the one who said 'no magic'."

The four decided to remain quiet as Glossaryck continued to observe the extended limb that laid before him. His bored expression didn't help to ease anyone's worries. "Well, there's nothing I can do here. We just have to amputate the arm and hope for the best. Star, you're able to conger something sharp enough, right?"

"No, no, no way we're doing that!" Quartz immediately protested in fear before anyone else could. The nervousness and stress increased ten-fold as he pulled his arm back. "Why.." He began to rant at the Blue man, only to stop as a faint pink glow surrounded the entire limb. Slowly, the arm slithered backward, decreasing in size until it returned to it's normal chubby size. "How.."

"HAha, knew that would work." Glossaryck patted himself on the back before floating back down to his book. "Fear and agitation, arguably one of life's greatest motivators."

While Quartz remained in a state of relief and irritation, Star was still left with a few questions. "While we're BOTH very thankful for helping out.." Quartz grunted like an angry hog in response. "..can you explain exactly what just happened?"

"Oh, just a simple body elongation, nothing too major in terms of magic, though one of the more trickier things to master." He hardly seemed to pay the kids much attention as he continued to explain. "Quartz's body and mind needs to be as loose and mailable as possible for it to happen, so all I had to do was stress him out long enough for his body to retract itself, you're welcome by the way."

Quartz rolled his eyes, knowing that as annoyed as he was at the tiny wise man, he did indeed deserve a 'thank you'. Fortunately for him, Marco talked before he could. "Wait, so your saying he has the power of stretchy noodle arms?"

"It's not just magical stretchy noodle arms, that would be ridiculous." Glossaryck corrected. "He could stretch out his arms, legs, shoulders, fingers, head, really any part of his body." Star and Connie began starring at the prince with newly sparked awe in their eyes, while Quartz did the same by staring at his own hands, imagining that kind of magical power at his palms. "And if he really wanted to, he could completely change his complete shape with only a thought."

Connie's eyes widen upon realization. "Are you telling us that Quartz can actually shapeshift? Turn into other people and creatures and all that?"

"Nail to the coffin." Glosseryck confirmed. "You chose a smart one, Steve." Star snickered at that comment while the two younger ones were left confused. "Hands into swords, feet into puppies, all that good stuff. Now bye!" Before anyone could blink, the tiny man abruptly dived into the spell book like it was a pool, and disappeared into the pages.

"Wait, what about.." Quartz called out, only to resend his questions. "Eh, on second thought, I've had my fill of Glosseryck for today." His tone eventually returned to a more light and happy one. "On that note, I have a new ability!"

"Oh heck yeah! That's my bro for ya!" Star complimented as she brought her brother close to her side. "You and me, discovering magical abilities together, just like it should always be!" Without warning, she began tugging at his arms as hard as she could. "Come on guys, let's stretch him out like taffy."

Quartz was equally as excited to test out his new power, and after he pulled away from his sister's grip, he prepared to stretch out his limbs once more. With a fierce determination, Quartz shut his eyes and concentrated as hard as he could, his face growing a slight tint of red as he did. He let out a small breath of air once he got tired enough. "Nada."

"Okay, we're clearly missing something here. What did we do before that you're not doing now?" The princess pondered for a quick second before snapping her fingers. "I got it! Connie, jump out the window so that my brother can save you!"

Of course, the girl was less than eager to put herself in danger. "WHAT?!" Marco began to put himself between Star and Connie to put some distance between them, just in case.

"Star, we shouldn't get too carried away here." Quartz chimed in with a worried voice. He hoped this wasn't one of those things he had to go back to his mother with and reprimand. She had enough trouble staying off the radar as it is. "I don't want to intentionally hurt her. Or unintentionally for that matter."

Star nods, as if she understood what she actually suggested. "Right, right, I shouldn't put the future girlfriend in harm's way. Marco, you jump out the window instead!" She said with upmost excitement without another second's thought.

"...I think what he's trying to say.." Marco cautiously talked down Star, not before unconsciously moving himself and Connie as far away from the window as possible. "...is I that we should think of another way around this, preferably one that avoids steep ledges of any kind."

"Glosseryck mentioned that this was one of the harder things to do, and that his he needed to be loose and mailable." Connie pondered deeply. "So what else was Quartz doing before, besides saving me?"

"Nothing we don't normally do, play with each other, help each other be even more amazing, if that's even possible." Star chips in with a fond smile, resting the upper half of her body on Quartz's head. She then crouches down to his height, massaging his forehead in a soothing pattern. "We were having fun right, stretching out our abilities, being awesome, right Quartz?"

"We are pretty awesome." Quartz responded with a relaxed smile, feeling more calm and secure by his sisters touch. "Everyday we spend together really is a gift." Quartz's muscles began to lose the tension that they built up from all the training, any aches he had was an after thought in all the comfort he found in his position. It was like his body was held together by screws, and they all just suddenly loosened...

"Ha! Knew that would work." Star gloated as her method yielded the desired results. A familiar pink glow encompassed his arm, elongating itself only 3 feet this time, which the prince was more than happy about.

"Star, how did you.." Marco asked with some surprise. Not that Star was a ditz or anything (if she was, then she wouldn't be so handy and creative with her spells), but it was a bit unlike her to come up with a solution to this sort of problem so quickly.

"Glossaryck said that he needed to stress him out to make him normal, so making him unstressed gave him back his noodle arm, duh." Marco still held his confusion. "It's only half the time I don't know what I'm doing. The other half I just pretend not to know about and hope for the best outcome. But when it comes to my brother, I always give 100%, just so you know." Star added, feeling her friend's questioning gaze on her.

Marco's small revelation into Star's psyche unfortunately was tossed to the side as Quartz began to utilize his extended limb once more. "All right!" He excitedly cheered on, being able to control and lift this arm a whole lot better. "I can finally touch the top of your head without jumping!" He demonstrates his touching abilities by scuffling her hair, just as she had done many times in the past.

"Oh yeah, two can play at that game!" Star smirked evilly once more, giving the large limb a small but painful pinch, making it retract immediately. "I still hold power over you! I gave you that arm, and I can take it away!"

"No fair, I was just getting good at that!" Quartz complained, though his smile betrayed this. "What else did Glossaryck say I could do with shapeshifting? Changing parts of my body?"

"Yeah, yeah! Its a really, really fascinating ability that has a large quantity of uses, becoming bigger, stronger, longer, even changing yourself into someone different so you look like someone that's not socially awkward and can easily walk up to somebody without feeling nervous or.." Connie rambled on, the three wisely deciding to not interrupt. Once she finally heard the words coming out of her mouth, she slapped her hands over her lips, cementing them shut until the blush went away. "It's just something I fantasize. A lot about." She quickly and quietly admitted.

"The looking like someone different thing does sound pretty cool! Think of all the amazing things you can turn into! Like a manticore on the hunt.." Star imagined all sorts of scenarios, each one potentially more dangerous then the next. "..Or an ogre prying away intruders, or a fire breathing dragon with a blazing trail..."

"Or something a little more tame and manageable to handle, just to be on the safe side." Marco suggested, getting a questioning look from Star, who know he was trying to reel things back. "Just saying."

"You mean like a mountain lion?" Quartz immediately thought of.

"Something smaller, like really, really smaller." Marco barked back a little irritably. The teen wasn't exactly the biggest fan of Quartz's pink pet, so naturally, the sight of another large feline would be a little uncomfortable for him.

"Ooh, try a fluffy pink cat then!" Star suggested excitedly. "I've always wanted to live my life as an adorable kitty. Taking Star's suggestion to heart, the boy concentrated as hard as he could, making beads of sweat pour down. "Remember, relax, little bro. Feel my relaxing voice relaxing you. Go with your funky flow."

"I haven't said that in years." The collective chuckle from everyone helped ease Quartz into a more comfortable state of mind. With a steady breath, Quartz loosed every grip in his hands, all the tension that was in his arms went limp as the young boy pictured the cutest cat that he could imagine. "Okay shapeshifting, change me!" Quartz shouted to the air, expecting something grand to appear. The three spectators stepped away to make room, only to find nothing had occurred. "Aww, I thought I really had it that time."

Meow.

"Oooh, good idea Quartz." Star dropped on her arms and knees. "Maybe if we all started acting like cats, we'll be able to set the mood." She started meow as she raised a 'paw' while sticking out her tongue. "What? Just getting into character."

Meow.

"Thanks, but that wasn't me." Quartz admitted, being a little freaked out. The meows started to get louder and louder, causing everyone to turn their heads to find the source. Nothing around them, nothing below or above, but the meows began to feel like they were getting closer. "This is the normal amount of weird right?" Quartz asked himself as he raised his hand to his forehead, feeling the soft fur across his head as he..

"Meow." Feeling his heart stop for a second, the prince slowly raised his arms back down, half expecting his assumption to be wrong. To his surprise and slight horror, a tiny white head with pointy ear replaced more than half of his left index finger. "Meeerrr"

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Was the first thing that came into Quartz's mind, as was the same with Connie, Marco, and Star once they gazed at the misplaced head that weirdly stayed calmed throughout all the noise.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHThat is so amazing!" Star was mostly screaming because everyone else was doing it.

"I know right! It's like a pet for my pocket, except it's always on my finger!" Quartz, once all the shock left his system, agreed whole heartedly with his sibling. Marco and Connie on the other hand, were less enthused about what

"Ehh, is that thing alive?" Connie said with a small amount of discuss. She knew magic had an ugly side, thanks to Unfamiliar Familiar, but this was a tad freakier than she was expecting. She slowly lifted a finger at the tiny aberration of nature and slightly tapped it's head. "Huh, it's softer than it looks."

"Your friend grew a head on his finger, and the first thing you say about it is that it's soft?!" Marco shouted like he was the only sane person around. "How is anyone not more terrified by this!?" The cat meows more. "Seriously, think about it!"

"Oh come on Marco, sure it's a crime against nature, but it's a cute crime." She petted the cat finger even more to the creatures delight. "Come on, give it a chance."

Marco did his best to keep his eyes shut, though the cat's constant cuddling and purring made it more difficult. "I guess it's a little cute." Before Marco could let down his guard, a massive sneeze erupted from him, making the cat wince in pain at the saliva's touch. "It's even triggering my cat allergies." Marco backed away a little. "Exactly how real is this thing?"

"Glosseryck said it come from my mind, so I guess it's as real as I want it to be." Quartz shrugged as he admired his latest accomplishment. "So I guess that makes it even cooler."

"Ah, no duh it does! It's one of the greatest sights in the world." Star blurted as she raised her brother high in the air. "It's a gift, Quartz, a gift that needs to be shared by everyone!"

"You're right! Come on guys, let's take this show one the road!" Quartz jumped out of Star's arms and leaped forward, only to stop at the sound of his stomach growling. "While also grabbing something to eat!"

"Ooh, I know a great donut shop not far from here! Let's roll, bro." The royal siblings returned to their happy prancing, barely noticing the to compatriots they were leaving in their dust.

"Please tell me I still not the only one disturbed by this whole thing. Please." Marco begged Connie.

"No, no, this is pretty, unusual, to say the least." A soft sigh of relief came from the teen. "But they can handle this, right? It doesn't seem to be leading to disaster."

"I thought the same thing about Star's Mewberty, and we both know how that turned out." Connie blushes as she remembers. She still couldn't tell whether or not to count that day as a good or bad one. "And before that, my arm gained sentience and try to devour everyone."

"You don't think that's where this is heading, do you?" Connie feared as both started to walk in hopes of catching up to Star and Quartz. "Quartz becoming a monster?"

Marco found it better not to answer her questions as they finally made their way to the smiling siblings, too lost in their own world to worry about any danger.

Whether it was a subconscious desire to keep the calamity centered to a single area, or just general forgetfulness, Marco realized just how much Star didn't see of Earth despite living with him for a few months now. Compared to Star, Quartz hadn't even spent a quarter of that time, so he might as well been an alien making contact with humans for the first time.

And going by how Quartz showed off his 'companion' to every average joe that came across his path, it wouldn't be that hard to make that assumption either. Quartz quite literally stuck his finger out at everyone so that they could get a good long look at the cat head. Showing it to little kids, who would either be struck down by it's cuteness or run off crying in fright, to adults, who either scoffed at the 'rudeness' of the adolescent or were stunned stupid by such a bizarre fright.

Matters were not helped by Star constantly spotting out the next surveyors, going as far as claiming to the heavens to look at her brother's work. Some assumed it was some sort of side show attraction and would every now and then toss out spare change, one person even tossing out 10$. "See Marco, how can anything bad happen when it get's you free money?" Star proclaimed in victory. Marco kept to himself and stayed silent. This was beginning to feel to much like the Monster arm incident, but he would let his friends be happy for now. Maybe it'll be different.

Soon the four of them arrived at the Big Donut, the best donut shop in town, because it was the only one, according to the advertisements at least. Quartz gasped in awe at the giant pastry that stood on top of the small establishment. "Wow, is that actually real?"

"Sorry bro, it isn't. Trust me, I know." Star shuddered as she grinded her teeth. She was fortunate enough not to break them that day. Without any further questions, the four entered the store, where a short blonde teen stood attentively while a taller teen with huge ear lobes stood less so listening to music. The shorter one was the first to greet them.

"Hey Star, Hey Marco." Sadie said with a small smile. She had known Star and Marco mostly through their reputation at school, but she had the chance to get to know them when one day a certain princess decided to leap onto the roof and try to eat their log in big and painful chunks. One chipped tooth later, the three of them were having a laugh over it with donuts. "I see you've laid off eating the bigger donuts lately."

"You try to eat a giant donut one time and they never let you forget about it." Star laughed it off, knowing she'll never live that one down. "I'm just here with my friends and brother to grab something." Star once again took the opportunity to show off her brother. "Pick out whatever you want."

"Five pink sprinkle doughnuts and a dognut if you will." Quartz spoke proudly.

"Wow, no one's ever been adventurous enough for dognut before." A smirky smile erupts from the short teen. "But I guess that just runs in your family."

"I'm adopted, but thanks."

Nobody else said anything as the boy with ear-lobes lazily shoved all the food into a paper bag, becoming more disinterested with every second that came to pass. "Here's your order kid. $10.05." His monotone broke the silence as he tossed the contents to them, suddenly eyeing the red hooded boy right beside them. "Diaz." He said somewhat bitterly.

"Lars." Marco returned with equally bitterness, both of them throwing knives with know sign of stopping. "Just pay them and go."

"Alright." Quartz responded without noticing the growing tension, tossing out a few cents. "Here's 5." Raising a high hand, he slammed his fist down, almost cracking the counter, with a 10$ bill hanging from the cat head's mouth. "And here's ten." Releasing, both Lars and Sadie got a good look at the finger feline. Sadie was incredibly intrigued, while Lars looked more freaked out.

"Aww, that's adorable." Sadie cooed, rubbing the head, though she retracts as she hears the purrs increasing from it's tiny muzzle. "Are you making it purr?"

"Probably not. It kind of does it's own thing." Quartz admitted, only adding to Marco's discomfort.

"Oh really?" Lars said with disbelief, shoving his finger into the cat's face in an attempt to disprove Quartz's claim. Not being to careful or mindful of the Cat, the feline reacted by sinking it's tiny teeth into the teen's flesh, making Lar's reel it back in pain. "Watch it, hair ball."

Surprisingly, for everyone else that is, Marco managed to get a chuckle out of that. "At least it has a good taste in people.

Lars bitter stare only continued to grow, making Sadie intervene before he did anything rash. "Hey, ,calm down now. I'm sure it only wants to play."

Quartz cups his face in realization. "Of course! It's all alone, how could I be so blind!?" Sadly he picks up his cat finger, which was mostly oblivious to what was going own around it. "It doesn't have any friends!" Signaling everyone to stand back, Quartz waved his arms around like a noodle, snapping it straight once he was ready. "Behold!"

And right before everyone's eye, four more cat heads appeared on his hand, each having various colors to their fur as the young prince cheered in happiness. Everyone else, save for Star, were taken back, especially Lars, whose exposure to magic by this point was little to none. "That's not natural. I can't be the only one to admit that, right?"

"I think that's the first thing we've agreed on in years." Marco replied back neutrally. Lars only rolled his eyes in response as he went back to whatever he was doing before. "Still the same jerk."

Star seemed to be the only one that noticed as they all exit the store. "Ah, do you know him or.."

"We use to hang out in grade school, nothing else to be said." He shut down quickly. "But back to the real issue here, your brother's fingers are getting freakier by the minute." He points back to Quartz, who was back to introducing his new 'friends' with Connie, who would step back every 10 seconds whenever one of the cats would hiss at her.

"Relax, Marco. My brother's just exploring his comfort zone, nothing unusual about that."

"This is the most unusual thing I've ever seen!" A fat teen with thick blonde hair and a collared shirt shouted as loudly and obviously as possible as he filled Quartz's fingers closely with his phone. "Witness the horrible mutation of the human race! Obviously this is the beginning of the sne…" Incredibly annoyed, the cats work together to snatch away the phone away. "Hey, give it back! You will not suppress the truth!" Small cracks on the screen emerge. "I just got that!"

After apologizing to Rolando, and then quickly evading him to avoid his 20 million follow-up questions, the four decided to call it a day and head back to the Diaz residence. All four companions were debating on what to do while enjoying their delicious pastries. "Thanks for the donuts Quartz. Mom doesn't let me eat any, all the trans fats and what not."

"That must be a nightmare. I can't get through the day without having at least one scoop of ice cream in my morning milk." Star moaned as she gulped her donut in one monstrous bite. "I can't even tell you about all the times my mom forbade me from the field of wild unicorns. They're just waiting for me to ride them, how can I not take advantage of that?"

"I can see." Connie chuckled. It didn't really relate to her issues, but it was nice to know about someone else's parental problems. It didn't make her feel so alone. "Though I got to ask why you got 5 doughnuts if you're having that hot dog?"

"Oh it's not for me, it's for them." He placed the two extra rolls of sweet bread on the counter as he let the cat's have at it. "I figured since they have mouths, they must have tummies too, however that works." The cat's wasted no time, gobbling up the first donut in no time at all.

The expressions on everyone else ranged from cringe to engrossment. All three of them were wide-eyed and shocked. "I, I don't really know what I'm looking at here." Marco spoke first.

"It's so weird and impossible, I want to do it, but I can't look away." Connie was next, not sure if this was disgusting or amazing or both.

"And it all feels completely natural, just watch." Taking off the armor on his arms, his wiggled out his other arm like he did before. "Shake it OUT!" Once again, five more cat head replaced the flesh of his fingers, immediately meowing to chomp down on the rest of the donuts.

"Ah, Quartz, you don't think you're going overboard, do you?" Connie spoke with a little more unease. "I mean, how much do you really know about those things?"

"I don't know, but maybe a little snack would help." Picking up his dognut, he prepared to chow on his hybrid pastry, only to recant in pain once the cat's hiss in frustration. "Sorry, I'll just do it more.." The chat's hiss more threateningly as he began to curve his fingers. "I guess cat fingers don't really work that well as fingers."

"Nonsense, this little guys just need to get use to the.." Star tried to ease him by placing her palm on his, only for the little miscreants to bite back on a reflex. "Ooww! I take back half the things I said about them being cute. Get rid of them."

While Marco rolled his eyes at the very obvious, Quartz sweated a bit as the cats only got more and more agitated. They didn't listen to a thing that he told them to do, and were causing more harm than good. "Okay, I'm going to do this again, and when I do, I want no more cat fingers, just regular, normal, Quartz fingers." He shook his arms to loosen his nerves. "And not little me heads, just actual fingers!" He stress loudly, putting on the most serious face he could muster to summon his power. It was really painful, and it didn't seem to be working. "Ju-just a l-little more concentra.." He lifted his right hand to his forehead..

pifp. Meow

Another cat head came bursting out just above the boy's eyebrow, hanging off his head like bulging fat as it meowed in happiness. Quartz, and everyone else were less enchanted at the cat's 'birth'. Now everyone screamed in terror, and it only served to make the boy more freaked out, struggling to stay still as he began to have a panic attack. "Star, Star, use the spell, use the SPELL!"

"I thought it we agreed to not use magic on this!" Star freaked as she readied her wand anyway. Seeing her brother so scared made he sick to her stomach. They could get scared, sometimes very easily, that Star wasn't afraid to admit, but she could hardly remember either of them at the same time feeling this type of fear. A fear that made them hesitate, a fear that stopped them in their tracks and wonder if this would be their life from then on. "And, and it's not going to do anything about the one on your head!"

"I don't care, just cast it!" He exclaimed his plea once more, and this time Star didn't hestitate to comply.

"Returnio, armio, normal reno!" Star shouted it like her life depended on it, and deep down, she wish it was instead of his. A shiny and colorful blast emitted from the wand, engulfing the boy in it's bright light. It lasted for only a second, and Quartz fearfully looked to his fingers to see if it had worked. To his relief, no sign of anything cat-like was to be seen. Even the one on his head disappeared for some odd reason. Everyone sighed in relief, hoping that would be the last of it. "Heh, glad that's over. That would've been a CATastrophe."

Before anyone could laugh or groan at the weak attempt at humor, a wiggling sensation began to form from Quartz's left arm. "Guys, I don't feel so.." The boy's blood freezes solid once his here the sound of another cat coming from his left arm, only now it felt more round and numb. Slowly gazing down at his left arm. This time, it wasn't five cat head on each finger, now it was an entire cat arm that took over more than have of it. The one on his head returned and meowed in a scary synchronization with the one on hand, as if they were both agreeing with something. Even freakier still was when the prince suddenly lost his balance as he right leg became more stubby and less stable. Another cat head took the place of his foot. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"What do we do, what do we do, WHAT DO WE DO!?" Connie freaked as she got right behind Star. It was weirdly cute but it was also the most horrifying thing she's ever seen in her life.

"I, I don't know! Transformations are not what I'm good at! Why do you think I haven't changed Miss Skullnick back?!" Star shouted a little too forcefully as she watched her brother lay down in pain. More and more cat appeared all across his body, making his appear more unnatural with each growing second. Bits of Quartz's armor would fly into the air as the head appeared, growing bigger, rounder, and more blob like. She found it hard to breathe watching her brother in this state of agony.

"Guys, help, I, I can't.." Quartz attempted to say as he move forward. With most of his body comprising of fur and whiskers, he stumbled, making his body move in a ball like fashion. Slowly he rolled towards his companions, hurting himself every time he moved, which the cat's seemed to be enjoying as their smiles grew bigger.

"Quartz, stop moving, you're making it worse!" Star warned as the terrified trio slowly backed away into the kitchen as the creature got closer and closer. It's blobby mass and furry mass only seemed to get bigger and bigger as it got closer to them.

"Guy's, I'm, I'm sorr.." Quartz didn't get the chance to finish, as his face became drowned amidst the lake of heads that covered the entirety of his body now, removing any semblance of an actually person the creature held.

"Quartz, hold on!" Star divided right towards the creature despite Marco's warnings. She immediately began looking for any sign of her brother's face as her shoved away as much of the cat heads as she could. "Can you hear me!? Say my name if you.." Not appreciating the Princess's hands caressing themselves all over it's body, the creature sank it's many teeth deeply into the girl's arm. Marco managed to pull her away as she screamed in pain, leaving a dark red streak leaking from her arm.

The creature wasted no time in corning the kids like animals, preying on them with a happiest smile that they've ever seen. Marco, the only one standing between it and the rest of them, frantically searching for something behind to throw at the beast. "Stay back, stay back, STAY BACK!" He repeated as he threw the first object he felt with as much force as he could muster. It was a cup of water.

"What're trying to do, feed it!?" Connie shouted back sarcastically as she felt herself reach her limit.

"I was going for a frying pan!" Marco shouted back as all three of them prepared to brace themselves, only to find that nothing had happened to them. "What the.." All three of them looked in confusion at the beast, who had reeled it's head in pain. What caught there attention was the amount of flesh that was shown on the creature. The fur on it had shrank a little, revealing a familiar star birthmark that the Princess immediately recognized.

"Water." Star whispered at first, slowly realizing what had to be done. "He needs water!" Quickly filling up more glasses, Connie, Marco, and Star threw as much as they could at the beast again, filling the hisses increasing as more of Quartz's face appeared.

"Star..?" A weak sounding voice emitted from Quartz's throat, though it was enough for Star to dive right back to his side.

"Quartz! Stay with me buddy! Stay with me bro!" Star's tears fell fast on another one of it's heads, attempting to bite her away again. Quartz tried to push her away, but Star stayed adamant on staying put. "We'll make it through this! We will be okay!"

"It really, really hurts. I, I can't stray them off for long." Quartz whined. "Star, you're getting hurt because of me!" Quartz tried to pry her off again, noticing the bite mark from earlier. "I need to get away while I can, because right now, I'm just a monster! An adorable cat monster!"

"No you're not! You're my brother! My only brother, and I'm not about to let a bunch of little freaks take you away from me!"

"Star, please!" Quartz lost control once more, his face being pushed away as all the cat heads seem to collide together to form one gigantic wave of cat heads, towering over all the kids as the prepared to strike them down for good.

"Mega Starfish Tidal Wave!" Star pointed her wand directly at them, forcing them to the back yards as that portion of the house became flooded with water. Not wasting another moment, all three of the kids fled to the outside, cold, wet, and extremely agitated, from the day's events. "Please let this be over, please let this be over.." Star repeated to herself as she approached the unconscious body of her brother. "Just please be okay.."

Unfortunately that wasn't exactly the case. Quartz's body was pink with sharp razor claws, along with petal like hair that covered the majority of his face. The gem on his stomach glowed brightly as it stuck out, and his teeth were more fang like, looking like they could chomp a brick to bits. "What the.." Star question as the boy got up on all fours, prowling around animal like. Something about it seemed familiar. It's animalistic nature, the hidden eyes, the gem on the body, she was sure she's seen it somewhere.

"He's like this again?" Connie gasped, familiar and embarrassing memories resurfacing. The confusion on Star's face made her continued. "Back when you turned into that butterfly creature, he started to change to into that thing, and he started to charge at me."

"But he acted normally after that, so you were obviously able to do something, right?" Marco assumed correctly, judging by all the blushing.

"Yeah, but that was the heat of the moment, and.."

"Connie, what did you do?" Star begged with a pleading look. "If it get's my brother back to normal, we need to know what you did."

"I, he was getting up close, and I, it was obviously because of the hormones you had, so I thought, I mean it was only for a second.." Star and Marco were drawing banks as she danced around the facts. "I kissed him and that knocked him back to reality!" She shouted in one breath, feeling a bit relieved. "Wow, that felt good to admit."

"Wait, you kissed my brother?" She shouted, feeling more surprise in that one moment than she did this entire day. "Why hasn't.." Before she could question this any further, the sound of dimensional scissors came from 10 feet over. "Oh this so isn't the time for him."

Ludo step out first as he always did, with a small band of monsters following. "Remember guys, this strictly stealth. We go end, let nobody see you, and get ou.." The bird man whispers, only to look at the frustrated kids. "I really need to rethink my life." A face palm hit his face. "I suppose you won't just hand over the wand now, will you?"

"In your dreams, dodo. La-AHH!" The girl moaned as she lifted her arm again. The bleeding had yet to stop, and the pain had finally met up with the rest of her body. While the kids checked up on her, and the feral-Quartz running up to her like a dog concerned for it's owner, the princess unknowingly dropped the wand, bouncing it's way towards Ludo, who picks it up in awe.

"Normally I would berate myself and the others for not completing such a simple task sooner, but I'm too happy to care!" Bragging, he had the rest of his crew celebrate and cheer him on in awe while Star and Marco prepared to fight them back for the wand. "I finally did it! I final got the.."

"RAGGGGGGGGH!" Quartz without warning charged at the monster leader, knocking the wand out of his hand and began beating on Ludo. Driving him into the fence head first, the feral-Quartz held him by the throat, casually closing it's claws around it.

"Hey, if this is about me yelling at you because you..." One punch to the face was the response. "Okay, not a talker today, noted. I'm, I should apologize, I should've been more open to peaceful resolutions.." Without another anger filled growl, Ludo was flung across the yard and shoved into the ground as the prince closed in on him again. "SOMEBODY SAVE ME!"

"Oh no you don't, you guys stay the heck back!" Regaining the strength to pick up her wand, she held it as straight as she could and prepared to fire at the monsters, despite the stabbing pain messing up her aim. "He's MY brother. I'm the one who'll deal with him. You guys get."

"Don't listen to her, I'm telling you.." A tight squeeze around his neck told him otherwise. "Listen to her! Listen to her! Just get this psycho off me!" The monster's complied and reentered the portal, leaving Star to deal with her sibling.

"Quartz, let him go!" No response was made as it looked like Quartz was going to finish off Ludo. "QUARTZ UNIVERSE BUTTFERLY, LISTEN TO ME, AND LET. HIM. GO!" Talking his clawed hand off of Ludo, Quartz obeyed and walked slowly towards her, leaving the bird man to flee cowardly. "This isn't you! This wildness, attacking Ludo like that! That's not something you do!" She was met with silence as Quartz planted himself, starring curiously. This figure was familiar, and everything told him to follow her.

"Look, I don't care what happens to Ludo. He's bad, and bad things should happen to him." Star kneeled down to talk directly at him. He still remained beast like, but slightly more docile. "But your the one that tells me to wait, to calm down, and to talk things out. Well, this is me doing that. I'm tired, I'm confused, and I'm pretty sure you are too. I won't fight you Quartz, not now, not ever." Opening her arms, she encases him in a hug. She notices him tensing up more, though she only deepens it. "Those cats are what bit me, not you. I know you'll never fight me. You're too good to fight anyone."

The feral-Quartz rested his chin on the princess, snuggling close as he finally calmed down. A faint pink glow emitted from the boy, and once Star had ended the embrace, she had the smiling, and a bit daze, face of her brother back. "Hey, what did I miss?" Noticing the bite on her arm again, his face returns to a more worried one. "We should probably get that looked at."

"Not now Quartz, you've had a looong day today. Actually enjoy your day off." Star's smirked. "You never told me about you and Connie."

"What about Connie?"

"You know, you know.." Star rolled her eyes, thinking he was just playing dumb. "You're more smooth than I give you credit for."

"Thanks, but I don't know what you're talking about." Everything about his expression spoke of the truth. Nothing indicated any deceit. Besides, lying wasn't Quartz's strong suite. "If it's anything that happens in that, beast form, than I don't remember it."

"Wait, so you don't know that she.." Connie frantically began to wave her at her, shaking her head to get the princess to stop talking. "It's nothing you need to know now." Star knowingly winks back at Connie. She was definitely coming back to this conversation. "So, what now?"

"Something boring." Marco simply stated, with no objection from anyone.

Something boring turned out to be pretty engaging. Connie had to leave about an hour after that, but not before starting everyone off on the first chapter of Unfamiliar Familiar. Everyone was increasingly interested as the book continued the story. Action, Magic, Drama, everything a good book needed. Surprisingly, Star was the one that was the most impressed by it. "It's just like doing it in real life, only I don't have to get up!"

After Connie left, the trio was left to their own devices, but by that point, they could really care less. The three of them practically had to drag each other up the stairs as they entered their own rooms, with Quartz going into Star's. The prince attempted to slip into a sleeping bag he had packed, only to fall flat on his face halfway through it.

Only slightly less tired than the other two, Star placed her brother on her bed and slid right beside them, holding him closely as she felt his steady heartbeat synchronize with her own. Like a sweet melody, the rhythm slowly made her mind slip into drowsiness. She could only watch her brother as she began to close her eyes.

Something so calm, so peaceful. Hard to imagine he turned into that creature. It was weird, the way his gem glowed, the way he acted. It was almost like...

Star had to pause for a moment to really process what she was thinking. She never looked into things to deeply, but for her brother, she made an exception.

If she didn't know any better, she thought Quartz looked like that creature she faced when he was a baby.

Next time: Sleep Spells