It's time once again for another game of "SPOT THAT REFERENCE!" Good luck one and all and do enjoy the game.
Mr. Lancer smiled as he watched another family walk into the gymnasium feeling a pleasant early summer wind go by. So far the night was turning out well with high numbers of kids not only coming but bringing their parents as well. 'Perhaps now I am finally getting what it takes to associate with the younger generation for a change.' Lancer thought to himself as he saw the next family come to the entrance. He recognized Jackie Lynn Thomas in a beautiful aquamarine and seafoam color dress with a starfish hair clip to top it all off. He guessed that the person with her was her mother Christine Lynn Thomas wearing clothing similar to what Jackie normally wore. She looked similar to Jackie physically except she had darker skin, brown eyes, and brown hair. He spoke up as the two got close to the entrance.
"Hello Jackie, and you must be Mrs. Lynn Thomas." He held out a hand which she shook with a relaxed smile as she replied.
"Yes. Nice to meet you in person Principal Lancer." Their conversation was interrupted by a fiery portal being cut into existence with Tom, wearing a white suit, and the Wandering Hippie walking out with Tom talking.
"Are you sure this looks nice, I don't want to put the wrong foot forward when… oh hey Jackie." Tom smiled nervously pulling on the collar of his suit while Jackie spoke.
"Hey dude, nice to see you could make it." As they spoke a man suddenly jumped out of some bushes speaking to Jackie with an angry voice.
"You are dating a demon!" The group of people looked back and forth as they took in man in front of them as Jackie and Christine rolled her eyes. He was wearing a formal suit and had white skin with green eyes and, most unusually, his hair was blond with multiple streaks of the turquoise color like Jackie had in her streak.
"Yes Uncle Alan, I am dating a demon. Didn't I tell you he was an unusual gu…" Alan cut off Jackie's reply however.
"But a demon! Do you know what those things do!" The WH stepped forward and started speaking.
"Sir I get your paranoia about demons but as someone who has helped him manage his an-" Tom pushed him to the ground with an oof with a nervous smile on his face.
"... anxiety, yes that was a bit of an issue to deal with *hehe*. But I'm a good guy now so no need to worry." Alan fixed him with a stare that made Tom blink in shock before wilting slightly and taking a step back in fear. Alan then spoke up while giving the 'eye-on-you' gesture.
"Oh Really? Well I've got my eye on yo…" He was cut off when Christine spoke up.
"Wait, whose watching little Nickie if you are here?" Alan sighed and spoke up.
"Oh he's with Charles…" He froze as if realizing what he just said. "… Oh wait that is a problem!" He went to move and sent one last look at Tom. "And remember, eye on you." He then turned the corner with Christine turning towards the group apologizing.
"I'm sorry but Alan can get a bit… protective if you will." Everyone nodded at that as Jackie went over speaking to a still shaking Tom.
"Hey Tom, you ok?" She pulled out a random conch shell and held it to his ear making him calm down as he replied.
"What… happened. I was just suddenly… so afraid of him?" The WH got up shaking himself off and speaking.
"Yeah that was unusual." Lancer, shaking off the weird that just occurred, smiled at the WH speaking up.
"Say have I met you before?" The WH shook his head chuckling slightly.
"No I just have that kind of presence for some reason." At this Christine stepped forward to Tom smiling and holding out her hand.
"So you must be Tom, nice to meet you. Don't worry about my brother-in-law he is a might bit religious and being a district attorney has given him a might bit of an intimidating atmosphere." Tom smiled at Jackie's mom and held out his hand to shake with her speaking up.
"Nice to meet you to ma'am." As the atmosphere relaxed a limo pulled up in front of the entrance with Chloe stepping out of it. "Is that Chloe from the sleepover?" Chloe shooed off a valet who was running to at least close her door as she closed it speaking up kindly.
"No need to worry, I can handle this." The valet nodded caught between relief and anxiety as he went back and moved the limo to park. "Seriously why is my dad so insistent upon these things if he is not coming?" Chloe straightened out her beautiful sunshine dress and spoke up. "Jackie and Tom, nice to see you." Jackie smiled and spoke up.
"Nice to see you again, especially in style. Your parents not coming?" Chloe shook her head with a strange look of relief on her face.
"No, dad has work to deal with. Probably for the best as he is a rather intimidating man at times." Tom nodded in sympathy and spoke up as well.
"Yeah same with both of my parents on both fronts." Lancer frowned as he took this in and spoke up.
"Well it's a shame they couldn't come but at least you two managed to get here." Tom smiled and put his hand around Jackie's waist with Jackie doing the same for him. Chloe looked around the lot speaking up.
"Say where is Alfonzo? Shouldn't everyone be here by now?"
"I am here, just a minute later then I should be." Everyone turned to see Alfonzo was coming up wearing a grey suit that fit him rather well. Behind him was a man that looked almost exactly like Alfonzo except he had short hair and no glasses with a professional stern look on his face. "Oh guys this is my dad, Steven." The man gave a well-practiced smile and extended his hand offering a well-practiced handshake to Lancer, Christine, and the WH speaking up in a surprisingly deep voice.
"Charmed to meet you all. It was a bit difficult but I managed to get off work as this is an important night for my boy." He rubbed his son's head in a surprisingly affectionate move given his professional demeanor. "So where is this Chloe I've heard about?" Chloe raised her hand hesitantly with Steven smiling at her. "Nice to meet you."
Lancer chuckled as the small groups coalesced into a big one only to be brought to attention by flapping wings and a bird's shriek. The parent's looked up in shock to see Floyd cruise to the ground setting down Oskar who was dressed… 'Well he actually looks rather snappy in a suit and with the hair out of his eyes.' Lancer thought to himself as Oskar stepped forward glancing around nervously speaking up.
"Say do I look good guys. Wanna give a good impression for Tempest's parents am I right?" At his words Lancer stepped forward speaking to Oskar.
"I would say you clean up rather nicely Oskar. Nice to see you decided to come." Oskar nodded a bit meek as Jackie, Alfonzo, Chloe, and Tom gathered around to say hi. As they did so the WH turned towards Lancer and spoke up.
"Say you wouldn't happen to be hiring school counselors would you? I was Tom's Anger Management therapist but now that he's good I have surprisingly no work." Lancer blinked in confusion and replied.
"Well sure we can, but I can't just hire you out of the blue. What's your name." He chuckled and replied to Lancer speaking up.
"Call me the Wander Hippie. And don't ask me my real name as I don't know what it is myself for some reason. Memory blanking spells can be a real bitch."
"Sir Language! There are kids here." Steven spoke up a bit annoyed as the Hippie nodded.
"Sorry, I just really hate what that one sorcerer did to me." Steven and Christine looked at Lancer with questions in their eyes with Lancer nodding and speaking.
"Yes this stuff is real; be ready for a wild ride at times with these kids." At this a loud woman's voice was heard coming from nearby.
"Oh those must be your friends. Hello everyone!" The group turned to see Ferguson was here dressed up in what looked like a sailor suit that Donald duck would wear for some reason, except the blue parts were white. The woman next to him was slightly rotund and short with red hair and brilliant green eyes. But what caught the eye were her clothes which looked to be what a 1950's house wife would wear, complete with a spotless apron and her hair done up in a similar fashion to the 1950's. "Oh where is Janna? I so much want to meet the girl that my boy is in love with." The kids chuckled as Ferguson rolled his eyes smiling slightly speaking up.
"She's not here yet mom. My best guess is she's set up an ambush of some sort." The kids nodded with Alfonzo speaking up.
"That does sound like Janna. How are you surviving being her boyfriend by the way?" At this Christine spoke up in concern to Lancer.
"I've heard quite a bit about Janna from Jackie, should I be worried?" Lancer sighed and nodded as he replied.
"While what she does is mostly harmless you do need to be worried about her; and keep a careful eye on your pockets." Steven blinked in concern at this speaking up.
"What kind of a group of friends has my son gotten involved with?" As if the punctuate his point another portal opened up with the distinctive sound of scissors cutting a hole.
Stepping through were River, Bonibell, and Tempest with Tempest wearing what looked to be a purple suit like that a magician would wear. As they came through Tempest immediately flitted on over to Oskar pulling him into a hug speaking up.
"Hey sugar, it's so nice to see you again." He turned to his parents. "Mom dad, you remember Oskar from that time with the cookie beasts do you?" River laughed out loud at this and stepped forward speaking.
"Of course I do my boy and he looks better than ever." He punched Oskar's arm 'softly' as he continued. "So you are with my son eh? I must say you two are excellent for each other." Bonibell fluttered over and kissed Oskar's cheek while smiling broadly as she spoke.
"I knew this night meant a lot for you two; its nights' like these that I remember mine and my meat muffin's first dance." She moved over to River hugging his face as River chuckled and spoke.
"Indeed Sugar wings." He then turned to the adults and spoke up. "You must be some of the kids parents. My name is River and this is my wife Bonibell." Ferguson's mom nearly squealed at this and replied.
"My name is Karen and OMIGOD an actual PIXIE!" She moved over taking a close look at Bonibell. "My son was telling the truth, it's like a dream come true." Christine was chuckling at this while Steven looked a bit flustered and turned to Lancer for support, to which Lancer simply shrugged in confusion.
Oskar was breathing heavily in relief as everyone introduced themselves yet again to each other. He knew he shouldn't have been worried given what Tempest had said about Pixie society and its views on sexuality but that didn't mean his inbuilt nervousness at being judged was dissipated. Tempest looked at him smiling but then blinked in confusion speaking up.
"Say man where are your parents?" At this Alfonzo and Ferguson got eerily quiet and tried shushing Tempest from behind Oskar's back as Oskar spoke.
"Mom's not coming, too 'busy' as she would put it." River came over speaking up at this.
"That's a shame; t'would be a pleasure to meet the parents of this fine young boy." River's words were cut down however by a surprisingly bitter laugh from Oskar.
"No man, no you don't." River and Tempest looked at each other uncomfortably as a new male voice broke into the scene.
"A bird that shows similarities between the families Accipitridae and Paradisaeidae that has the same body size as an Asiatic elephant; intriguing." The now rather large group turned to see three new figures approaching with one veering off to look at Floyd. "How can a creature of this size even get off the ground?"
The figure that was speaking looked to be tall, slim, and dark skinned with brown eyes and was wearing formal cloths but seemed to pull it off in a manner of 'this is what I wear' rather than 'I'm getting dressed up'. The only odd feature about him was a black beanie that completely covered his head so nothing above the ear line was visible. He also seemed to have this nervous twitch about him as he studied the bird more closely. Coming up behind him was a woman that looked and had a demeanor of being the complete opposite of him. She was wearing sturdy if old looking army pants and boots accompanied by a black tank top with bits of dried paint and axel grease spattered over them. She had jaw length blue dyed hair that went with her pale freckled skin and her left eye that was a deep blue color. To add to the 'bad girl' appearance she also had a few ear piercings, tattoos over her lower arms, and an eye patch over her right eye. Coming up behind her, in a surprisingly frilly pink dress offset by a green beanie, was Janna who began rushing over when she saw their group gathered up.
"Hey guys, finally made it or are all of you just early?" Ferguson smiled broadly and turned to Karen speaking up.
"Mom, this is Janna, my girlfriend." Karen immediately squealed and ran over picking up a shocked Janna into a surprisingly strong hug.
"OMIGOD you are so ADORABLE! I knew my son's girlfriend would be oh so beautiful." The kids began chuckling over this as Ferguson spoke up through his laughter.
"Mom easy, too much love is about the only thing that could kill Janna." As the smothering continued Floyd stared at Janna's dad in confusion as he tried analyzing the bird. As he did so the woman grabbed his shoulder making him jump in shock before relaxing to a jitter state.
"Marie you know I hate it when you do that." Marie shrugged and smiled coyly at him before speaking.
"Oh come on double-d, need to keep on your toes in this crowd." She gestured over to the adults with Edd blinking in confusion upon seeing Bonibell.
"I um *ahem* greetings fellow parents, my name is Eddward Ordonia and this is my wife Marie Ordonia, it is a pleasure to meet you." Lancer smiled stepping forward shaking hands with Janna's parents and speaking up.
"It's a pleasure to meet you both. I'm Principal Lancer, although I think you've heard of me by this point given how your daughter acts." Marie shrugged and crossed her arms smiling as she spoke.
"She just has a certain way of expressing herself, no biggie." As the adults talked Karen finally let go of Janna with Tom speaking up.
"Man, I didn't think those dresses were your thing Janna." Janna looked down at her dress blushing slightly.
"What you know pink is my favorite color guys, though it was my dad's idea to get all dressed up even though my mom gets to wear her normal get up." Everyone laughed with Ferguson speaking up.
"Well you pull it off rather well, but are you going to a formal dance or a rave?" He poked at her beanie with Janna poking at his chest.
"And what is your style, Donald Duck?" The two prodded at each other for a minute with the big group getting along quite nicely until Floyd began chirping and pointing with his beak to an incoming car. "Hey I think Star and Marco made it." The kids rushed over with Lancer explaining to the parents what the big deal was.
"You see Marco is an ordinary boy but Star is an… interesting child. In a good way not a bad way." Bonibell spoke up at that confirming Lancer.
"Yes we actually know her quite well. She is actually a princess from the world of Mewni and the daughter of some of our best friends Queen Moon Butterfly and King Toffee Butterfly." Karen, Christine, Edd, Marie, and Steven looked at River, Bonibell, and Lancer in confusion with Steven speaking up.
"Again I need to ask, what kind of group of friends has my son gotten involved with?" Marie chuckled and spoke up with a smile.
"Oh I don't know, but I'm interested in learning more." The WH spoke up at this pointing to Bonibell and River.
"Well if you two managed to make it with your busy schedules I am fairly certain Moon and Toffee have made it." A collection of gasps from the kids drew their attention catching glimpses of Star and Marco in their altered states.
"Whoa I knew we are all dorks, but that's just excessive." Jackie's words were seconded by everyone as Star spoke up.
"Well I kinda messed up with a hair spell and… well… did this to myself." Marco spoke up at this.
"She also got me by chance and there doesn't seem to be a way to undo it. Our best guess was that Star didn't do anything wrong but was affected by a random pulse of magical energy that came out of nowhere." The kids nodded in understanding as Janna and Ferguson sweated slightly as a realization hit them.
"Oh come on Marco don't sell yourself short." Angie got out of the car smiling at everyone. "When Star was affected by the spell Marco couldn't bear to have Star moping about her appearance so he asked for Moon to do this to him so he could make her feel more secure." An awe filled silence encased them with Tom speaking up.
"Ease up there Marco, how are us guys supposed to compete with you at this rate?!" Raphael emerged from the car chuckling and spoke up.
"I said the exact same thing demon boy." Raphael double took at that taking a step back. "Demon boy? You wouldn't happen to be working for El Diablo would you?" Marco groaned and turned to his dad speaking up.
"Dad, Tom is a Lucitor, his parents rule hell they don't work for 'him'." Raphael nodded as Tom looked around awkwardly with Jackie providing moral support. The adults pulled on over with Lancer calling out to the Diaz's.
"It's nice to finally meet you Mr. and Mrs. Diaz. Although I do have to ask where are Mr. and Mrs.- BEAUTY AND THE BEAST!" Lancer double took before he could silence himself as he caught sight of Moon and Toffee with most of the crowd blinking in shock at them. "I'm sorry, I was just taken off guard Mr. and Mrs. Butterfly?" Lancer looked at them in confusion as Toffee calmly spoke.
"Well where did you expect Star to get her Septarian influences?" Star giggled at this and spoke up.
"Yep that's me, a daddy girl." River and Bonibell laughed at that with River clasping Moon a hug.
"Wonderful to see you again Moon!"
"And wonderful seeing you again River." As conversation erupted again Karen spoke up.
"Ok people, time to do pictures!" The adults immediately pulled out cameras with the kids rolling their eyes as they went along with it. As they took pictures Steven once again spoke up.
"Again I must ask, what kind of group have you gotten yourself involved with Alfonzo?" Alfonzo scratched his chin for a second before replying.
"My group." Steven shrugged and continued taking pictures.
"That's fair." As pictures were being snapped the Wandering Hippie excused himself speaking to Tom one last time.
"Remember, you have overcome your anger issues and you can partah just like anyone else. Just relax and everything will be fine." The Hippie winked at Tome pulling out a rune covered staff and twirled it cutting another portal which he bounded through.
Photos were shot with the parents focusing on their kids in front of a backdrop Lancer had set up specifically for this task. 'Damn I thought of everything this evening.' Lancer thought to himself with a self satisfied smirk until he remembered Marco had actually given him most of the ideas. He glanced over at Marco and Star and couldn't help but think of how adorkably cute the two looked in their awkward years as a couple. This made him sigh in sadness as he was reminded once again of how he had no one in his life that was even remotely like that since... well ever. He shook his head clearing the thoughts from it as at this point it didn't matter, the kids were what was important to him now and he would focus on that. His concentration and lamenting were both interrupted by Marie yelling something along the lines of 'taking him Kanker style' prompting him to look up seeing Janna was french kissing a rather shocked looking Ferguson. He almost stepped in to break them up but held himself back as this was the kids night; so long as they didn't go 'too' far he should let them enjoy themselves. As if to push the point home Moon and Toffee immediately pulled each other in for a kiss with Moon stripping off her formal gown to reveal street style clothing and tattoos that easily outclassed Marie's. 'Well despite the fact that she is a queen she is still an individual.' Lancer thought as he reassessed Moon and Toffee for the 10th time in as many minutes. When everyone was finally done Lancer decided it was time for him to join in on the festivities and led the group to the main entrance of the gymnasium speaking up.
"Alright people, I got many of the ideas for tonight from various polls of what the kids wanted so I'm sure it's gonna be a good night." He opened the door showing what was going on. "Behold and be... disappointed?" Lancer double took at the site that laid before him.
The scene in front of him was what he had feared would happen if he had been completely in charge of it; an awkward dance room filled with kids too afraid to step forward and teachers berating kids who did step up to dance. It was made even worse by parents who were either embarrassing their kids or drinkign the adult 'punch' set up for them. All over the scene cheap and outdated pop music played making the scene even more awkward. The group that followed him just stared out inot the crowd before Marie spoke up sarcastically.
"Jeez this party is greaaaaaaat." River spoke up at this completely confused.
"This is a party? More like the scene of a party after something bad happened and no one wants to continue it." Lancer sighed and slumped his shoulders in defeat speaking up.
"I'm sorry kids, and here I thought I could actually do something..." He paused and pulled out a book reading from it. "... 'hip and with the crowd man'. *sigh* If you kids want to go elsewhere its fine; I won't take it personally." The crowd looked at each other awkwardly before Moon stepped forward speaking up.
"No. I have been in far more desperate circumstances then this; my daughter has been looking forward to this since the idea was pitched and I am not going to just let it slid by the wayside due to improper execution." She pulled out a hand mirror and called someone speaking into it. "Yes Helsinki, we have a code Tuti-fruti and you are needed immediately. Come NOW!" Moon hung up with everyone looking at her in shock with Chloe commenting.
"Wow, your mom is rather intense Star." This prompted Lancer to speak up with a slightly worried tone of voice.
"Um... what exactly do you have in mind Mrs. Butterfly?" Moon smiled at him knowingly with Toffee speaking up.
"I'm afraid you are about to find out my dear sir."
PS. Sorry this took so long to get out people. Unless of course you started reading this story after 2/15/2019 in which case I just wasted your time. ;)