A/N: No notes this time. The reason?
R.I.P. Carrie Fisher; One of the few celebrities that actually tried to make the world a bit better. You will be missed; Star Wars will never be the same without you; You are one with The Force now as is the Force now one with you.
Replies to the reviews:
Guest Sorta: Why would you not believe in me? Did something happen?
Rock Raider: Trust me, you still know very little about the true Comet and Jackie. And yes, the idea is that Marco will try to combine his low level of magical knowledge with his martial arts to protect Star. I can spoil this much; He'll find out that he isn't able to cast spells the old fashioned way but will instead rely on his bodily movements to cast it.
Guest: I know about structural mistakes, given that I do write my fanfiction stories halfheartedly but I'm not sure about spelling mistakes. I've got my default spell-checking programme set to 'British English' since I do prefer it. I also do spell words in US English when I'm lazy but it doesn't correct them for whatever reason.
Princess: So you like Tom. That's a shame... I mean I like the dude too, he's awesome, but I have something 'interesting' planned for him which you probably won't like. And you're gonna have to wait for the next chapter for the date to actually start!
Disclaimer: All characters from Star vs. The Forces of Evil belong to the creators of the show. The plot of this story and any original characters that may appear in it, however, do belong to me, and I would kindly ask you to inform me should you want to use anything from this story in your own fanfic.
Beta read by ElleFreak.
Story cover by Luzz015. Be sure to check her out on DeviantArt!
P.S. And no, my new profile picture isn't a Satanic cross... It's from Fullmetal Alchemist you bimbo XD! (Reply to a PM; The dude has disabled responses).
Star vs. The Forces of Evil: Staring it up!
Chapter 2.5
A tough question to ask!
At the Diaz Household
"OK, Marco Diaz, you can do this!" The boy said whilst staring at his own reflection, a look of determination on his face. He took a deep breath and cleared his throat. "Star, will you on a daaaaaa-" He rapidly shook his head and took another breath. "Ok, second try. *Clears throat*: So, Star, I was thinking that you and I could do out on a da- da- da- DANG IT!" The boy groaned and pulled on his hair. He looked at the mirror angrily and pointed a finger at it, his reflection pointing it back at him. "OK, listen here, buddy! You are going to do this without stuttering! Got it!?"
Marco stated at his reflection for a few moment before taking another calming breath and straightening his posture. He opened his eyes and flashed a smexy smile at the mirror. "Hey, Star! Listen, I had this wild idea that you and I could go out on our first daaaaAAAAAAARGH!!" The boy shouted out of pure frustration, took off his shoe and threw it at the mirror before slumping forward and making a pitiful expression. "Why is it so hard to say!?"
At this point, Marco was ready to give up. He'd been practising how to ask her out for over two weeks yet the word 'date' simply wouldn't slip off his tongue no matter how hard he tried. He'd even tried saying it in Spanish but it didn't make a difference. He even went as far as writing a note he could hand over to Star but instead of the word 'date' there were only unintelligible lines scribbled in its place.
It really was frustrating.
"Cmon Marco! Pull yourself together!" He told his own reflection. "All you have to do is say the word 'date' in that particular sentence! It's not even a hard word! 'Date', see! And besides; Star is your best frie-" He stopped himself and took a deep breath. "Star is you friggin girlfriend for crying out loud! You're even married to her! Kinda... So why can't you just bring yourself to ask Star Butterfly out on a date!?" He finished, panting heavily.
"Marco!" He heard his mother's voice. "Come on down! Breakfast is ready!"
The boy sighed. "Coming!" he exclaimed and quickly ran him comb through his hair, then walked out of the bathroom and headed to the dining room. Downstairs, the rest of his family was already eating; Star being too busy gobbling down her cereal, milk dripping down her chin, to even say good morning to him. Marco held back a chuckle and sat down at the table, taking the seat next to Star.
"Good morning, everyone" The boy greeted his family. His parents greeted back while Star murmured something whilst chewing her cereal.
"Star-" Marco laughed. The boy took a napkin and wiped some milk off of her chin. "You really should eat slower. You're gonna get your dress all stained if you eat like this" he told her.
Star swallowed. "Big deal" she replied, raising her wand. "I can just clean it with magic whenever I want to, or replace it altogether, so I'm not really concerned about something as silly as getting milk stains on it"
Marco shook his head; It wouldn't be Star is she wouldn't find some excuse for being messy. Although, she did have a fair point, this time.
Marco poured some cereal and milk into the bowl in front of him, picked up the spoon next to him, and began eating.
"Shoot!" Star suddenly exclaimed.
"What is it?" Marco asked.
"The bus is about to come and I forgot to pack my backpack" Star whined. Marco smirked. "I keep telling you to back it after you've finished doing your homework! Oh, wait..."
Star punched him in the shoulder and playfully stuck out her tongue. "Whatever, Mr. Stickler!" the princess exclaimed. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek before standing up and excusing herself from the table and walking upstairs to pack her things before the bus arrived.
"You think she'll ever change?" Marco asked his parents while pointing at Star as the girl ascended the stairs and vanished from sight.
Mrs. Diaz shrugged. "Hard to say. Do you want her to?"
"Hmm... Nope; I'm good!" Marco replied without any hesitation and took another spoonful of cereal into his mouth.
"While we're on this topic" Angie grinned. "Have you finally mustered up the courage to ask her out or are you still babbling incoherent sentences to your own reflection?"
Hearing this caused Marco to choke on his cereal. He quickly reached for his glass of orange juice and drank from it, then inhaled deeply to regain his breath. The boy stared dumbfoundedly at his mother. "Y-you know about that!?" he asked in a panic.
"Oh, honey!" Angie said. "The entire town knows it by now! You've been trying to do it for the past three weeks!"
"Two!" Marco corrected his mother, holding up two fingers. "And why the heck is everyone so obsessed with me and Star! Don't they have more important things to worry about!?" A thought popped into the boy's head. "Hey; How did you even find out about me wanting to ask her out! I thought the bathroom was soundproof!"
"The walls have ears, Marco" Rafael replied resulting in a confused look from his son.
"Yeah, Marco! The walls have ears!" Marco jumped upon hearing a female voice speak up behind him and swiftly turned around only to see Janna casually sitting on a chair and eating cereal.
"Janna?!" Marco shouted at the girl, who shot him a bored look. "How in blazes name did you get in!?" He then noticed the cereal bowl. "And how long have you been here!"
Janna swallowed her cereal. "I've been sitting here for the past 15 minutes, dude. How have you not noticed this?" she asked as if it were painfully obvious, which it was, sorta.
"What are you even doing here!?" Marco demanded.
Janna shrugged. "I'm always here when I've got nothing better to do" the girl bluntly explained and turned her gaze towards Marco's mother. "Btw, Mrs. Diaz, you're out of milk," the girl said while holding up and empty milk carton.
"Thank you, dear" Angie replied, not finding the girl's presence the least bit unsettling while Mr. Diaz kept reading his newspaper. It amazed Marco how dense his parents could be at times.
"Anyway, man" Janna spoke to Marco "I don't get what the big deal is. Just ask her out and be done with it. She's not gonna say 'no'..."
Marco sighed. "Well I've been trying, and I know that, but I always choke on the last word. I don't know what to do!"
Janna made a thoughtful expression before speaking. "Yeah, I don't really care. Just stop wimping out and act like a man for once..." the girl muttered, voice sounding bored.
Marco glared at Janna as the girl continued eating 'her' cereal. "Need I remind you that I disrupted a wedding for her... A wedding! Inside a castle! In another dimension!"
"Yet you can't bring yourself to ask your own girlfriend out?" Janna stated dully. "That is just sad, dude..."
Marco was about to argue further but the sound of footsteps caught his attention so he turned to the stairway and noticed Star cheerfully skipping down, backpack equipped, and humming happily. The girl's eyes widened in delight upon seeing Janna so she rushed over to the table and greeted "Janna Banana!" She said, using the girl's nickname. "What's up?"
Janna shrugged. "Meh, nothing much. Just finished eating breakfast." the girl casually replied, pointing her finger at the now empty bowl of cereal.
"How is nobody but me bothered by this?" Marco commented from the side but was ignored.
"So," Star spoke, "You gonna join us on the bus?"
Janna shook her head. "Nah. I might actually come on time if I do that. I have a reputation to keep up" she explained and stood up from the table. "So yeah. See you guys at around 3rd period. Probably..." She finished before making her way out of the house.
"There is something seriously off about that girl..." Marco commented. His eyes wandered towards the clock and then towards Star. "The bus is gonna come any minute. Let's go out and wait."
Marco took his backpack out from underneath the kitchen table (Yes, he had it there; Don't ask why) and walked into the living room while saying goodbye to his parents. Star followed him. Once they'd made it out of the house Marco felt a tugging sensation on his hoodie so he turned around and saw Star smirking at him. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
Marco scratched his head whilst staring at her curiously. "Forgetting something?" he repeated to which Star nodded. It took him a few moments to comprehend exactly what she'd meant by that and once his brain had caught up with what she'd meant, his eyes widened which caused Star's smirk to broaden. "Oh, right..." he nervously chuckled before extending his arm and offering the girl his free hand. Shyly and with red-tinted cheeks Star took his hand into her own and stepped closer to him, all the while grinning like an idiot.
Marco shared her grin. While it still felt awkward showing their affection for one another in public, especially around his parents, which is why he liked to avoid doing it inside the house, it also filled the boy with a sense of pride knowing that he was making his girl happy with such simple gestures like holding hands of even just walking side by side. He'd already felt this was back when they were quote on quote 'just friends' but the feeling he was experiencing now some something completely different altogether. If there was a way to make her any happier, he'd go for it, no questions asked.
There is one thing you could do that would make her even happier... His mind told him suggestively.
Taking a deep breath, Marco tightened the grip on Star's hand, causing the girl to lock her gaze with his own. While she was no longer blushing, the sweet smile was still present on her face as was her affectionate look for him.
Marco took a deep breath. This was it!
"Star, will you-" Marco's breath caught in his throat as the boy's voice cracked, earning a raised eyebrow from the princess standing in front of him. He took another deep breath. "As I was saying: Star, how about you and I go-" his voice cracked again, the last few words coming out as high pitched squeaks. Star was becoming slightly concerned.
"Marco, are you alright?" She asked her best friend, her voice filled with confusion.
"I'm fine!" Marco chirped back instantly, sounding nervous and even beginning to sweat a bit. "I j-just wanted to say that you and I should... uh..."
To his salvation, the bus arrived as he was speaking so he frantically looked at Star. "We should get on the bus before it drives off! Yeah! That's what I wanted to say! Hehe..."
"Uh-huh..." Star muttered. Honestly, she had no idea what was going on anymore but decided to shrug it off and put on her trademark smile. "Alrighty then! I call dibs on the window seat!" the energetic princess exclaimed and dragged Marco onto the bus, whose doors closed moments after as it drove off towards school. Marco kept contemplating all drive long how he would bring himself to ask the princess out. He definitely needed some advice on how to overcome his pathetic habit of choking out at the last second.
He'd normally ask Jackie for help, given that she was the one who helped hook him and Star up but she was absent from school due having caught a cold. Janna was of no use and his two guy-friends, Ferguson and Alfonzo, were unfit to help him. No, he definitely needed a girl's advice for this and StarFan13 was completely out of the question. That left Marco with only 1 real option; The only other girl he knew somewhat well and who had experience with these things...
"Excuse me!?" Brittney Wong yelled at Marco. She must have heard wrong.
"I said I needed your help with asking Star out on a date" Marco repeated himself, a look of desperation on his face.
Brittney scoffed at him. "And you want my help?"
"I don't want it, I need it!" Marco emphasised. "I choke every time I try to ask her out and I need someone that can help me do it right!"
"No way am I helping you!" Brittney said angrily, crossing her arms. "It would be a waste of my valuable time I could spend doing more important things other than helping a dork like you go out with a weirdo like that!"
The raven-haired girl turned and began walking away only to have Marco block her part and drop down to his knees, not phased by her insults, mostly because they defined Brittney for who she was. "Please!" the boy exclaimed and clapped his hands together. " I just wanna ask Star out and make her happy! Can you give any advice? Any at all! I promise not to bother you with it again!" Marco begged, literally on his knees at this point!
Brittney defeatedly sighed and shot him a look of sympathy, much to the boy's surprise. She placed the palm of her hand on her forehead and shook her head "Why do I have to have a soft-spot for pathetic wimpy dorks like you!" the girl complained somewhat angrily.
"So... you'll help me?" Marco asked with a hopeful voice.
Brittney groaned, visibly annoyed. "Yes! I'll help you ask weirdo spare-princess out, alright?"
Marco stood back up with a smile and was about to thank the cheerleader but she cut him off by grabbing him by the collar and shooting him a death-glare. "But if you tell anyone, anyone that I helped you out, I will design a machine that will tumble you down an eternal flight of carpets and stairs so you die by broken bones and carpet burns, got it!?"
Marco swallowed and frantically nodded his head. "Yey ma'am!" he squeaked.
Brittney then shoved him away from herself and crossed her arms. "Also, you owe me a favour. Understand?" she stated to which Marco nodded. "Now, what exactly is the problem?" Brittney asked.
"Well, every time I try asking her out or pretend to do so, I always choke before I can properly do it. I've tried it with a mirror but even imagining her standing in front of me causes me to funk out..."
Brittney made a thoughtful expression before pointing a finger towards him. "Yep, you're a loser. But I think I know what the problem is" she stated.
Marco looked at her, amazed and confused. "W-wait; You were able to derive the entire problem from just that?"
"Hey!" Brittney retorted. "I've dated lots of guys and given lots of advice to people other than you so this isn't the first time I've heard a gutless excuse like that!"
"Tell me what it is and how I can stop it then" Marco demanded.
"It's simple, honestly" Brittney stated casually. "You're just overthinking the whole thing and making a big deal out of it when in reality, it's not."
"Uh... come again?"
Brittney groaned in annoyance. "What I'm saying is that you should stop worrying about it and just turn your brain off for a few moments and just go over to her and ask her out! Honestly, what are you even worried about?"
Marco looked away in shame. "Well, nothing. I'm not particularly 'worried' about anything. I just... I don't know..."
Brittney smacked herself on the forehead. "Why are guys always so dense..." she muttered before raising her head and spotting the Mewman princess chatting with a few classmates. Star then spotted Marco and Brittney and started heading over to them. Brittney pulled Marco closer. "Here she comes now. Just talk, don't think, and don't wimp out!"
Marco swallowed and nodded. Brittney released her grip on him just as Star arrived and cheerfully greeted the two. While Brittney did find her annoying due to the princess' cheerful and carefree character, she didn't really hate her. She didn't like her either but when it came to dating she was willing to make acceptions. So, to Marco's, Star's and the Universe's surprise, Brittney smiled and greeted her back.
"Hey, Star!" The raven-haired girl said. "Marco over here has something important to ask you. Right, Marco?"
This caught Marco completely off guard as did Brittney's sudden cheerful mood. He remained frozen and noticed Brittney glaring at him.
"Really?" Star asked. "Alright. What do you wanna ask me, Marco?"
Brittney backed off a few feet, giving the couple some privacy and signalling Marco speak, then making an 'or else' gesture by running her finger along her neck. Marco took a few deep breaths before locking his gaze with Star's and taking her hand into his own. The Mewman princess was dumbfounded by the sudden gesture and stared at him curiously.
"Star," Marco spoke, trying his best to keep his voice from trembling. "Listen. I've actually been meaning to ask you a very important question for the past couple of weeks..." he trailed off. Taking another deep breath to calm his nerves he looked at her seriously. "Star Butterfly, would you like to go on a daaaaaaa-" Marco's eyes widened in panic. This was not happening!
"On a what?" Star asked, her curiosity being replaced with utter confusion.
Marco cleared his throat and began sweating nervously. "On a-a... a..." the boy stuttered which caused the princess to look more confused than before. He giggled nervously.
Behind them, Brittney was boiling mad. Unable to watch the pathetic display any further she walked over to Marco and literally shoved him into Star, knocking both teens to the ground.
"Listen, you!" She shouted while glaring at Star. "This loser boyfriend of yours or whatever the heck he is, is trying to ask you out on a date!" Brittney yelled. "So, what's your answer?"
Star's eyes widened as she looked at Marco in surprise. "Wait! You've been wanting to ask me out on a date?"
Marco nodded. "Y-"
"YES!" Brittney shouted before Marco could utter the word himself. The girl stomped her foot and turned around "Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta get out of here before someone sees me hanging out with you dorks! See you later, NOT!" Brittney finished before storming off.
A moment of silence passed between Star and Marco, the boy still laying on top of her, when the princess smiled at him. "So, when's the date?" she happily chirped.
End of Chapter 2.5!
Chapter end notes:
I didn't actually intend to write this but the thought came to me while writing something else. The writer's paradox :P. I hope it was alright and it also hints who Brittney is going to meet in the near future (not like it isn't obvious enough). I was actually sad when Brittney didn't get any screentime in Season 2; I like her. And btw her name is spelt 'Brittney' and not 'Brittany' like I've seen some people write it as.
Feel free to leave a comment or a suggestion and I will see you guys later!
Expected update: In around 2 weeks!
