A/N: Hey everyone! Lord of the Storm back with another chapter. This one popped into my head when a friend of mine evidently had a bad experience and advised me not to write fiction when drunk. This immediately led me to wonder what Star might summon if she and Marco got a little too buzzed one night. So here's my thoughts on what that might look like. Enjoy!
It was well past 2AM in Echo Creek. The promise of sleep amidst a welcoming cocoon of darkness had lulled even the most ardent night owls into slumber, and all appeared peaceful and right with the world. The quiet serenity in one household was shattered by a familiar sound to its occupants; one akin to a zipper opening or fabric tearing. The darkness of one bedroom was brightened suddenly by a blue and pink swirling portal opening in the middle of it and two very inebriated teens dropping out of it in an undignified heap, laughing all the while.
Getting up off the floor, Star pulled Marco to his feet and wrapped him in a bear hug. "See Marco? I promised you the best 18th birthday a guy could ask for, didn't I deliver?"
Half laughing and half-attempting to shush the princess Marco returned the hug, resting his head atop the interdimensional/magical princess/his roommate/best friend. "Starrrrr. We have to *hiccup* be quiet remember? My parents are asleep. But yes, it was an amazing birthday. Who knew that the Bouncier Lounge could be so much fun?"
When the original Bounce Lounge had closed and Milly Sparkles had retired, Star had been devastated. Not only was it her favorite place to bring Pony Head, Janna, and Kelly for girls nights but it was one of the few places she got to see Marco cut loose and dance. And oh boy did he have some moves! Who knew karate could be so good dancing! They had been to a few different night-clubs and such across the multiverse since then but nothing had ever come close. Then, about a year ago, a miracle came through when Pony Head called Star and let her know some of the biggest fans of their old haunt had decided to launch a new club called the Bouncier Lounge, playing off the nostalgia for the old place and catering to the now older ten/young adult crowd that had spent their younger years partying it up at the original. It had taken Star 15 seconds to get there, and 10 of those were spent convincing Marco to come along. Star didn't know why he kept on resisting, he always ended up having fun anyway. Marco for his part was just happy that he had set a new personal record of resisting Star's puppy dog stare.
Unlike the original, the new club included a bar with cocktail menus from across the multiverse along with a bigger dancefloor that was blacked out save for the occasional strobe light. Needless to say, the duo had become regulars at the place, their, or at least Star's over the top dance moves had made them popular. So, when Star had dragged Marco there tonight and had immediately marched up to the stage, grabbed a microphone, and announced that it was Marco's 18th birthday and that everyone's tab was going to be covered by the Butterfly family, the place had thrown one of the most epic parties the multiverse had ever seen. Not that Star or Marco necessarily cared per say since they were too busy tearing it up with each other on the dance floor and getting what some might consider to be obnoxiously drunk. Hence their current inebriated state.
Stumbling out of Marco's room, the pair decided to head downstairs, neither tired enough to go to sleep yet and wanting to talk at least a little louder without waking up Mr. and Mrs. Diaz. Throwing herself on the living room couch, Star noticed Marco heading into the kitchen. "Oh Marcooooo~! Can I have some nachos? Oh and a soda? Oh and a box of captain blanch's triple omega chocolate ultra rare sugar seeds? Oh and a…"
"Star!" Marco huffed while trying to scramble and gather everything she had asked for. "I only have two arms you know! I'm not like those octopus-men things that the club had as bartenders." Given the size of the bar and the regular attendance at the club, the owners had evidently employed a series of human-octopi hybrids with 8 arms emerging from their torsos, all with independent movement, and with the speed they moved at it seemed like independent thought as well. Suffice to say no one ever waited very long for their drink. Thinking about them made Star giggle. "Oh yeahhhh, those guys! You were so scared of them the first time Marco!"
"It's not my fault! Admit it, they're kind of weird looking!" Marco shouted from the kitchen, trying to get a tray of nachos put together.
"Marco we've been all over the multiverse and seen god knows how much weird and terrifying stuff. Remember the dimension of cats with human faces?"
"We agreed never to talk about that again!"
"Or the sandwich monster?"
"He ruined three of my best hoodies because you wanted lunch!"
Star rolled her eyes, not that Marco could see her exasperation mind you. "My point, is that out of all that over the last 4 years, that an octopus looking bartender wouldn't even cause you to flinch." Marco decided not to answer, figuring keeping up the argument wasn't worth it. A few minutes later Star's stomach grumbled loudly, reminding her still sluggish brain that she was hungry and there should've been food by now. "Marco c'mon, what's the holdup!"
"Sorry Star! Don't really have a sense of balance or, you know, spatial relations, or decent motor function. Turns out you need all those things to make snacks. You could always come in here and help me you know!"
To her credit, Star did at least try and get off the couch, before quickly falling from a sitting position to sprawling across the length of it. It was the thought that counted at least, right? Suddenly Star had a flash of inspiration. She could just poof up some help for Marco! One of those same octopus guys from the club would probably be great. Grabbing her wand from her purse, Star thought about the right wording for the spell before pointing it over in the direction of the kitchen and shouting "Summoning super helpful snack aid!" Unfortunately, all that did was create some sentient kitchen ware who quickly ran out the front door. "Ok…." Star said. "Not quite what I was aiming for, let's try that again. Summoning multi-armed helper!" This time it was just a ball of…. something… with arms sticking out every which way that also quickly…ran…cartwheeled? Moved, it moved out the door.
Star was quickly losing patience with the wand. It knew what she wanted! Maybe it got drunk if she did? Was that how the wand even worked? She'd have asked Glossaryck but he was at a pudding convention in Florida. Star took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, trying to connect to the magic. To her surprise, she found it rather quickly, her drunken state keeping her from noticing that it felt a little off somehow. "Alright, here we go. Summoning mega humongous helping octopus human… thing!" There was a flash of blinding light that shot into the Diaz's kitchen followed shortly by a shriek from Marco. Drunk or not, in a flash Star was on her feet running into the kitchen, or what was left of it at least. Marco was standing paralyzed in front of what Star assumed used to be where the over was. The entire kitchen wall, heck the entire side of the house, had been blown clean away. In the distance Star and Marco could see a 30-foot-tall mud-brown monster stomping its way through Echo Creek. It had the requisite 8 tentacles coming out of its face, and from an angle Star supposed it did look vaguely human. With a roar that the pair could hear clearly from what had to be at least half a mile away already, the beast began tearing up portions of Echo Creek in a rampage straight out of the old Godzilla movies.
Managing to tear his eyes away from the sight for a moment, Marco threw an incredulous look Star's way. "Star… do you realize what you just did?"
"Uhhhh…." Star chewed on the end of her wand. "I summoned an octopus helping monster?"
Marco face-palmed. "No Star. I'm pretty sure you just summoned Cthulhu!"
"Well I don't care what his name is, he better help with the snacks like he was supposed to!"
Marco was about to explain what the Lovecraftian horror actually was when one of the creature's giant footprints crashed down in front of him. Assuming this was the end, Marco threw his arms in front of Star in a defensive stance and closed his eyes when he saw the beast's arm come down towards him. To his surprise though, he didn't feel anything, and after a moment he took a chance to open his eyes and saw that a perfectly done plate of nachos, along with multiple bags of chips, cookies, cereal, and bottles of soda had been placed on what was left of the countertop in front of him and Star. Also the beast had now turned around and was back to turning Echo Creek into a wasteland.
Marco again turned to look at Star who just shrugged and took a nacho from the plate. Popping it into her mouth she gave an involuntary shiver at the taste. "I gotta say Marco, this Cthulhu guy or whatever he's called makes a pretty good nacho, almost as good as yours."
"Star he's destroying the town, we have to stop him!"
"Marco I can't do that. He did exactly what I asked him to. He brought the snacks. What kind of example would I be setting for my other spells if I punished him for that?"
Marco was speechless. "So you're just not going to do anything then?"
"I didn't say that." Grabbing the tray of nachos and some of the snacks, Star proceeded towards the couch. "I'm going to enjoy this late-night snack. That's definitely doing something. Now come and join me, I still have to give you your birthday present."
"Star there's no way in hell you can expect me to just ignore that thing while it…"
"Did I mention your birthday present is a full back massage with tasty nachos and the latest Mackie Hand movie on Blu-ray?"
Marco looked back and forth between the eldritch horror destroying his hometown and the rather cute blond now offering him a movie, a massage, and snacks. He was well and truly torn until he saw Star cutely pouting at him from the living room. "Well…" he hesitated, "I guess it's a problem that can wait till morning," he finished as he walked over and sat on the couch.
Sliding over to him, Star draped one arm over him and whispered into his ear sensually enough to make him shiver, "Good boy."
A/N: And that, ladies, and gentlemen, is why Star shouldn't be allowed to summon things while very drunk. Let that be a lesson to all of you other writers out there if you decide to do something similar, it will end poorly. You have been warned. As always, hope everyone is well and healthy during the ongoing pandemic. Keep your eyes out for the next chapter hopefully coming soon!