Miss Frizzle: I think its time for a... field trip!
WH:... how did you get in here? *Hears the magic school bus honk its horn at me* Of course, that was a stupid question. Enjoy the episode folks.
Mavis was sitting in the common area hanging her head in exasperation as she looked over her warriors; or more accurately the excuses for them. They had lost every single engagement with Star since she had come to earth and the duo seemed to be getting stronger faster than her group was. Looking out over her warriors she could see they were feeling the strain too. Some were silently trying to drown their sorrows in various alcohols, some were engaging in half-hearted feats of strength to distract themselves, and others were busying themselves with work to a relentless degree in order to not face the facts. As she did so she felt a hand on each shoulder and looked behind herself to see Dumnorix and Selene there showing support as best they could. Mavis sniffed slightly taking a swig of some swamp water, gagging at the taste, and smiled at them with a tear in her eye as she spoke.
"Thanks guys, it's nice to see you are here for me." Selene grabbed her in a hug with Dumnorix lifting them both in a hug as he spoke… as softly as he could manage.
"We will succeed eventually; one way or another. If we lose hope we lose any chance whatsoever no matter how slight it may be." Selene chuckled and spoke… as nicely as she could.
"We must push forward with an indomitable will, nothing will break us. We just need one lucky break." Mavis laughed at the two as they separated from her with a messenger coming into the room speaking excitedly.
"Warchief, someone is here to see you!" Everyone in the room looked up with Mavis groaning as she replied.
"I am not interested in joining the Clubertran gang; we are fighting for the good of Mewni not for our own selfish desires."
"*amused chuckling*Then it seems I have come to the right place." A melodic voice filled the hall with everyone perking up in confusion with Mavis having a look of disbelief on her face as she spoke.
"It… can't be…" A figure stepped into the room with Mavis giving a smile and screamed in joy. "LORD MILDREW!" The surrounding warriors gaped in shock as Mavis ran up and embraced Lord Mildrew in front of everyone with him chuckling. "We thought you were dead, taken by Toffee's hands." Mildrew looked over Mavis at the now smiling crowd.
"Reports of my demise were misinformed so to speak." The rest of the warriors gave out a cheer and surrounded Mildrew giving him slaps on the back and hearty welcomes by the group. As the excitement died down Dumnorix asked the question on everyone's minds.
"So Toffee missed you, how?" Mildrew chuckled and spoke in a relaxed tone with a bitter undertow to it.
"Oh he bloody did not, he got me good." Mildrew pointed to his eyepatch making everyone nod in respect. "But he failed to finish me off by just shoving me off a rampart thinking the fall would kill me. Biggest mistake he ever made." The group laughed with Selene asking the next question.
"Wait, why is it now that you show yourself after more than 20 years, and why do you come to us of all people? We are the least promising of the True Mewman freedom fighters." Everyone's smile did fall slightly and looked to Mildrew questioningly with him chuckling as he replied.
"I get your concern people, the reason why is because I am not making any mistakes here. If I had struck sooner Moon might have been anticipating me as my body was never recovered but now she has likely forgotten me. And I have come to your group as you seem to know where Star Butterfly and the magic wand are; get those and the crown is as good as ours." The group cheered as he continued. "I was waiting to see what your group is made out of also and I see that while powerful this Star seems to know how to counter you." The group nodded with their heads down cast. "But no matter, that is about to change. Time for me to analyze in detail you've really got and to help our future queen here win the throne and for us to retake Mewni." He motioned for Mavis with her blushing slightly and the group cheering.
The bus trundled along with the class of students that Marco and Star were in was going on a field trip of sorts that most were not looking forward to. This could be told by the way they were talking away on just about anything except for their destination. In particular Marco and Star were talking together in one seat of the bus looking over Marco's phone. Marco showed Star something with Star giggling and giving him a thumbs up as Marco sent a text. A few seconds later Jackie felt her phone ring and opened it up to see another kitty picture from Marco. She giggled slightly and looked in their direction giving him a thumb up and a blowing Marco a kiss with Marco catching it and applying it to his cheek. Jackie smiled and giggled but when his back was turned her face fell as she slumped back into the bus seat letting out a tired sigh. Janna, who was sitting next to her, turned on Jackie speaking to her.
"Ok, you have been playing along with Marco and sighing like that ever since we left school; you are either gonna tell me what's up or I am gonna drag it out of you." Jackie sighed and turned to Janna with a slightly strained look on her face.
"Marco wasn't late for another date three nights ago… he missed it completely." Janna blinked in shock as she responded.
"Well it was bound to happen sooner or later right; why are you so shocked." Jackie groaned in smacked her head on the seat in front of her.
"It's not that he missed it, it's why he missed it. He was out on one of Star's adventures and was actually the one who initiated it completely forgetting about it to help Star rescue her friend Ponyhead." Jackie pushed her head deeper into the seat as Janna began rubbing her back. "To make things worse he ran about town looking for me in a pink dress saying that he was my date. Not that I am against crossdressing but man if you were going to be that late the least you could have done is put on some normal clothes." Janna groaned in annoyance and pulled Jackie out of the chair and made her face her.
"Well I am not one to go to for romance advice, for obvious reasons, but I think you need to be more reasonable with him. The dress thing was just because he was late and didn't want to miss it entirely; and it did make for some interesting conversation at school." Janna chuckled before facing Jackie again speaking seriously. "Also, Marco has been trying to make up for it constantly in a paranoid state as he is afraid something is wrong with your relationship." Jackie perked up at that one with Janna elaborating. "He said nothing to me but Star told me that you guys have been growing distant with each other and doesn't know why. He's just trying to make it work and…" Janna froze at seeing Jackie's facial expression and spoke slowly. "Do you want it to work?" Jackie's face fell and she spoke softly.
"I don't know. Marco is a fantastic guy but I think I may not be in for this type of relationship that he wants. It feels a little bit… suffocating how he dotes on me yet distant at the same time for being with Star so frequently. Does that make any sense, feeling distant from yet suffocated by the guy you are with?" Janna shrugged as Jackie continued. "And as for the elephant in the room, I think Star is developing feelings for him and vice versa." Janna sat in shock as Jackie elaborated. "They may not realize it because of simply how close they are, like looking at an elephant through a microscope, but I can tell. And if they develop feelings for each other…" Janna went to interrupt as Jackie paused but she held up her finger to keep Janna quiet. "… I'm not gonna fight Star for him. Didn't you hear the rant she made at Brittany's party?" Janna shifted uncomfortably at that as Jackie continued. "If Marco seems to reciprocate her feelings I am not gonna take away what might be her only chance for happiness all things considered; I'm not a bitch." She then put her head in her hands. "Why did I have to ask him to become my boyfriend hours before I heard all that, and because I was worried about Star to begin with? Why oh why oh…" Janna put up her finger tweaking Jackie's nose making her look up in shock as Janna spoke.
"Get a grip girl, people make mistakes. If you are gonna beat yourself up over that you might as well just break up with him now." Jackie looked down somewhat ashamed with her words. "Just let things flow but don't stop putting effort in because if you don't the relationship is already dead. Marco cares about you so much and would do anything for you Jackie; well almost anything that is a rather vague term." The two chuckled as she continued. "So keep at it and don't give up, and if by chance they do realize their feeling s for each other than help steer them close to each other and be the wing-woman. Did I come up with a new term for picking up guys at the bar?" Jackie laughed outright at that as she replied back to Janna.
"Your right, I just keep on getting doubts about everything. Thanks for being there for me." Jackie leaned over and hugged Janna with Janna tentatively returning it. "Now that I think about it, Marco pulled off the dress really well. You think I should dress as a guy for one of our dates and make him wear the dress again?" Janna giggled in devilish delight as her mind went straight into the gutter.
"Oh, there are a lot more possibilities behind this then you might think." A buzz on her phone made Janna look at it and saw a text from Ferguson. 'Marco's got the scissors and the dummies are ready, the field trip is gonna be anything but boring.' "Nice." Janna turned back to Jackie and answered her unspoken question. "We are not going to 'stay' at the paperclip museum this time around." Jackie leaned in close intrigued.
"Do tell."
Star looked around blinking in interest at the pictures and sculptures of various paper clips adorning the walls and on stands in the museum. She knew the other students didn't like stuff like this but for her first time she was going to make the most of it and actually learn. She looked back at the group who were dragging their feet, literally, and had these blank expressions on their faces that screamed boredom. Star chuckled to herself as she faced back to where Mrs. Skullnick, their teacher, began talking about paper clips. 'Of course things are going to be boring if you go in anticipating them to be as such.' Star thought as she listened to Mrs. Skullnick. 'But even if it is boring can be good at times; it means you're safe and can relax.' She realized how depressing that must sound and shook her head slightly.
"You got something to say Star?" Star looked up to Mrs. Skullnick who was looking at her with an evil eye.
"Yes actually." Star replied. "Why was the paper clip invented in the first place. Seems like a very good invention." The class groaned at Star's question as Mrs. Skullnick blinked in confusion as she answered.
"We will be getting to that shortly in our history of the paper clip, a nifty invention that has helped more people then they care to realize." Star nodded and continued to pay attention while the rest of the class dozed off.
At the back of the group however Alfonzo, Jackie, Oskar, and several other kids formed a screen as Marco pulled out the dimensional scissors wrapping some saranwrap over them. Who would have guessed that saranwrap would actually muffle the sound of the cutting even if it was shredded after a single use. Marco motioned over to Janna and Ferguson who nodded and stepped through the portal into Ferguson's room where there was a large number of cloth dummies looking like the entire class in a single pile on top of a magic circle of sorts. Janna and Ferguson sprinkled some sort of liquid over the dummies, clasped a pair of hands, and held their free hand out speaking softly and clearly.
08 The Sorcerer's Apprentice [Paul Dukas] ( watch?v=Gkj2QeogAsU) (Start 2:14)
"Animacus lifgius momentous!" The dummies seemed to shake as a light passed over them and began to move.
"We did it!" Janna pumped her fist with Ferguson chuckling as he replied.
"Well we did sow those things with infused cloth just to be sure; I would have been surprised if it hadn't worked honestly." The two fist bumped and led the dummies out seeing Marco had opened another portal.
Marco motioned for the class to slip in one by one as Ferguson and Janna let out their duplicate dummies that stood behind Star blankly. After about a minute of this or so the last dummy was out and Marco closed that portal with Janna and Ferguson slipping into the second one. As he got into the portal he saw Mrs. Skullnick and Star had not noticed anything and chuckled at how well he had pulled it off. (end music) Closing the portal behind him he looked around seeing the fantastic sights all around him with a look of awe on his face. That was short lived when the crowd of kids cheered for him and lifted him on their shoulders chanting "Marco! Marco! Marco!" He responded in an almost bashful fashion as they finally set him down.
"Ok guys I get it, the hero of the hour and everything, but let's not downplay out sorcerer's and witch's involvement in this." He gestured to Ferguson and Janna who waved at everyone with smiles on their faces. As Marco watched the group dispersed with Jackie grabbing on to his arm and kissing his cheek before speaking.
"Man you pulled a fast one there Marco, how is that you knew Skullnick wouldn't have noticed." Marco chuckled and explained.
"Well I know Mrs. Skullnick is not that attentive when it comes to keeping people in check, especially when there is a body double there. Ever since she turned into a troll that has only gotten worse with her apparently poor eyesight." Jackie and Marco chuckled at how fitting it was for Mrs. Skullnick to be a troll. "And also, Star is very invested into seemingly mundane items and sometimes loves these boring things so she would provide an easy distraction." Jackie chuckled but her face fell slightly before talking to Marco.
"Say, don't you feel bad about leaving Star behind?" Marco sighed slightly and then shrugged before replying.
"Star would have blown our cover for one reason or another and she is safe with Mrs. Skullnick. If anything happens to those dummies, I'll know about it and leap back to save Star." Marco held up what looked like a dowsing rod and winked at Jackie. "But let's not worry about that right now, we got HOURS to explore this dimension that is nothing but a museum; what would you like to see first?" Jackie took a quick look around seeing RuffTuff and Chantal atop what looked to be some sort of flying Manatee and squeed in joy.
"I wanna ride one of those things!" She pulled Marco along who ran with her to where those creatures were lazing around.
"This is my house, this my- this is my house, this is my-this is my house…" Mildrew watched as a group of Mavis's warriors began breakdancing as best they could. But one smashed another down by accident and they began brawling with each other; in a good natured fashion but still. He glanced over as Mavis as she began speaking.
"So, how bad is it?" Mildrew in took some breath as he let out his answer slowly.
"Well… while the discipline is the worst aspect of your group I've dealt with far worse. But this is gonna take some effort." Mavis sighed and began speaking to him freely.
"We have just been meeting failure after failure Mildrew, especially after I lost the last two shadows loyal to us. You don't need to hold back, we are in plenty bad shape." Mildrew looked at Mavis smiling in a comforting fashion and spoke soothingly to her.
"Don't worry, if Moon and Toffee could work up from so little then so can we. All we need is the proper opportunity to strike." Mavis nodded to him as Dumnorix went to pull two of the brawlers apart as they had begun getting nasty with each other. As he did so Selene came into the common area and bowed to Mavis before spekaing rapidly.
"Warchief, I caught wind of a trip by our enemy. They seem to wish to alter the plans of their 'teacher' and go on a trip to the Museum Dimension, could be an opportunity." Selene looked up at Mavis who smiled and chuckled as she spoke.
"One of the members of the Shadow Clause is proven alive and willing to aid us and Star willingly puts herself in great peril for what I guess is amusement. My dear mud-blood, you have the worst timing I've ever heard off." She turned to Mildrew who was smiling as well. "So can you contribute to our plan?" Mildrew smiled and gestured for people to gather around as he spoke.
"Ladies and gents, we have a golden opportunity and I have a plan that they will never see coming; so listen closely…"
"So that's why they have those little notches along the side. To grip the paper so it doesn't slide so easily." Mrs. Skullnick found herself smiling at Star despite everything and nodded.
"Yes Star, there is a lot more work involved with paper clips then you might think. Now if only you kids would show the same interest in these things." Skullnick spoke to other kids behind Star not paying them much heed as long as they followed her.
Life for her was… trying to say the least with everything that had happened to her naturally or unnaturally. She was 50 years old and entering her twilight years with not much in terms outside of teaching students to occupy her time. And the students she was teaching now were nothing to be joyful about except for Star and at one point Marco. Star also had accidentally turned her into a troll as well at the school football game which had made her 'ugly' in all terms and purposes. She wasn't pretty to begin with, she would not be in denial there, but it was at least workable compared to this. She wouldn't confront Star about it though as Star had at least tried to find a way to turn her back and started stressing until Skullnick told her to stop. Given Star's appearance Skullnick had decided to let it drop as her screaming out 'I'm hideous, change me back.' at Star had made her self-conscious about her appearance. As she reminisced about this she heard Star call out.
"Um, Mrs. Skullnick, I don't think everyone is here?" Skullnick turned around to look at the class and double took as something looked wrong.
"Whoever tells me why paperclips have the little divits in them can wait in the bus for the rest of the trip." When no one responded to that she knew something was wrong as some of the students had begged in the past to be left on the bus. "I don't think anyone is here Star." Skullnick looked closely at one of the students and realized it was a cloth dummy with clothes and a face painted on it. "Not even physically." Star waved her wand over the dummies seeming to sense something and spoke to Skullnick.
"Someone used magic to make these things follow us; and considering there was no struggle I'm assuming that everyone went willingly." Skullnick noticed Star get mad at this. "If Marco planned this out I am going to chain him to the stove and force him to feed me non-stop for the whole weekend." Skullnick chuckled at Star and moved the subject along.
"Do you have any idea on how to find them; you know magic and such." Star scratched her chin for a moment before snapping her fingers and pulling out a mini book from a pocket.
"Groficus Giganticus Titanticus." The book expanded in size to become a massive book even by Skullnick's standards. "Glossarick, I need some help." The book flipped open and a one foot tall blue man popped up making Skullnick double take. "Marco has gone somewhere and I need to find him, is there a spell I can use for that?" Glossarick smiled calmly at Star and replied.
"Have you tried calling him on your mirror?" Star groaned slightly and replied.
"He doesn't want to be found Glossarick, why else would I call you out for this?" Glossarick shrugged and reclined floating in mid-air as he answered.
"Well how about deduction, can you deduce where he might have gone given the circumstances and what you have heard him talk about?" Star opened her mouth to reply but stopped thinking for a second and snapping her fingers.
"When he told me about the field trip I told him about a dimension that was nothing but a museum. He showed interest in it saying he wished he could go there instead of the paper clip museum; maybe that's where he got off too." Skullnick noticed Glossarick give out a slight sigh in relief before he replied.
"Well done, you didn't need magic for that at all. Now go find him and if you'll excuse me, I'll be working on some sewing." He dove back into the book making it close behind him with Skullnick bringing up the obvious question.
"How are we going to get there?" Star reached for her pocket before snapping her fingers in frustration.
"Marco would have taken my dimensional scissors to get there. Fortunately I have a plan B for this particular dimension." Star reached into her pocket and pulled out a small vial with white opaque liquid in it. "My parents got me a life-long membership entrance to the dimensional museum giving me easy access; I just have no idea where we will pop up in there though." Star took the cork off the vial and let a single drop fall onto the floor. As they watched it spread into a long line and then came up forming a white door that opened inward.
"Alright Star, you know the area the best, lead the way." Star smiled and opened the door leading them to a small musty smelling area with a sign saying 'Walking with Trolls' hanging above them. "Well, I'm pretty sure I know the area we are in despite never being here before." Star looked around and sighed before speaking.
"We have to walk through the whole section to get out, time to get go…" Star looked to see Skullnick wandering to the side. "Um, this is the part where you get antsy about the students and rush to see if they are ok." Skullnick chuckled and replied.
"They aren't in any immediate danger right?" Star opened her mouth and then closed it confirming Skullnick's suspicions. "Let me have a look around at what a troll is since you turned me into one after all." Star opened her mouth again and closed it again following Skullnick along as she began learning what trolls were.