A/N: I tried to get this done ASAP, but I've recently entered (by the demand of my literary teacher) into some competition and have to have an original short story finished within the next 2 weeks, which is, obviously, much harder to write than this fic since I actually have to be mindful of what I write. On top of that, I've been sick, so yeah...
Expect the next one in about 2-3 weeks. I'll start writing it once I'm done with that other thing.
P.S. I've also come across a fun style of writing that involves leaving comments in brackets every now and then, so I'm gonna toy around with it a bit and see whether it's any good or not. If it turns out annoying for you guys to read, just say so and I'll stop ^^.
Replies to the latest reviews:
Sugar: I mean I have read a few lemons, but not with damn kids... That's just messed up.
Dex Cipher: Man, f*** those perverts that write about teenagers 'doing it!'
Disclaimer: I do not claim the right to Star vs. the Forces of Evil or any of the characters that appear in the show. They belong to Disney and the show's creator, Daron Nefcy. I do, however, claim the right to the plot as well as any original characters that may appear in this fic, and would kindly ask you to inform me should you want to use anything from this fic in your own story. -jolleIQ
Beta read by ElleFreak.
Story cover by Luzz015. Be sure to check her out on DeviantArt!
Star vs. The Forces of Evil: Staring it up!
Chapter 8
Secrets Exposed
The Underworld
Tom was lying on his bed and casually listing through his Demon's Weekly magazine when he heard a knock on the door.
"Come in," he said, tossing the magazine aside and smiling upon seeing Trisha, his trusty librarian, enter through the door. She looked unusually energetic and cheerful as she was carrying an enormous book. Tom could tell at a glance that it was a spellbook. He stood up and walked over to her, but never got the chance to greet her.
"Tom, I've found it!" Trisha chirped.
"That's great! Um, found what, exactly?"
"I've found the spell that made you forget the people you were dealing with back then. They must've cast an amnesia spell on you."
"Amnesia spell? You sure?"
"It's definitely an amnesia spell. With this other spell I've found, we should be able to nullify it and fully restore your memories." Trisha threw the enormous book at Tom and the weight plus the impact of the manuscript knocked him flat onto his back.
"C-cant... breathe..." Tom gasped desperately, his lungs being crushed under the weight of the book.
"Whoops..." Trisha dashed over to him and picked the book up with seemingly no effort whatsoever. Tom stood up promptly and glared at her whilst rubbing his aching back with one hand and using the other to support himself on Trisha's shoulder.
"Just how strong are you!?" Tom demanded. For some harpy librarian to so easily lift a book that had nearly crushed him to death mere moments ago was absurd; he was a demon prince, for crying out loud!
"Oh, I'm not really strong," Trisha replied along with a shrug. "But you can't leave a good book just lying on the ground, can you?"
Tom straightened his back (which cracked audibly) and winced in pain for a moment, then relaxed and let out a long sigh.
"That's better," he murmured and looked at Trisha, who seemed to be waiting for him to speak up. "Show me the spell," he commanded the librarian and she nodded and promptly opened the book on the said page - how she was able to hold it open without even a hint of strain on her face was beyond him. Tom analysed the text and nodded after a time, evidently satisfied.
"Can you cast it?" Trisha inquired, closing the book and then using a silent levitation spell to send it off to the library to its rightful spot on the shelves. Tom mentally slapped himself, embarrassed that he hadn't thought of using a levitation spell himself.
"Yeah, I should be able to." Tom mused something over, and added, "The only downside is that it'll put me to sleep for the duration of the spell to prevent any memory harm from happening. So I'm gonna need you to watch over me and make sure nobody wakes me up." He noticed that a violent blush had formed on Trisha's cheeks. He could see it even though her beautiful red feathers. "Uh, are you feeling alright?" He wondered if she'd come down with the flu.
Trisha shook her head and calmed herself, and her cheeks turned back to their usual shade of her. The truth was that she was nervous about watching over her master while he slept, although a feeling of excitement was very clearly present as well, not that she would ever admit that aloud.
Tom arched an eyebrow at the silent harpy, but ultimately he shrugged it off, deciding that it was nothing to worry about since she now looked totally fine.
Tom laid flatly on his bed and looked at Trisha.
"If you don't wanna stand here for four or five hours, grab a chair or something and sit down. And make sure you aren't too loud; I'm not a heavy sleeper."
"No worries. I don't make a lot of noise."
Tom cast a satisfied smile at, then closed his eyes and with a snap of his fingers he was put to sleep.
Trisha leant close to his face to get a better look at his demonic features.
"He does look handsome when he's asleep..." she muttered and twirled her index fingers, then, realising what she'd said, Trisha smacked herself on the forehead and nearly jagged her own eyes out with her sharp talons.
This was definitely not the time for those kinds of thoughts.
"Then again..." she muttered as a tiny, naughty smirk appeared on her lips. "He will need a queen someday..."
Lingering on the thought, Trisha snapped her talons and a book from the library came floating towards her, appropriately titled 'How to Capture a Demon's Heart.'
Trisha opened it, deciding that it was time to do some research of her own, all while listening to the soothing sound of Tom's even breaths.
Earth
Jackie sat on her bed, enveloped in darkness, the curtains of her windows drawn closed so that only a few measly particles of light shone through. She bore a troubled look, lost in heavy thoughts as she stared at her feet.
The time had come.
She still couldn't believe it.
Those are your orders, my daughter. I expect nothing less than their fulfilment.
Those fateful words were stuck in her mind.
It had been about an hour since she'd returned to Earth from the dimension her mother dwelt in, and her thoughts were still scattered all about.
She'd long known that it was high time to commence the vile plan and earn her rightful vengeance upon those who'd wronged her, but thinking about it now, she wasn't quite ready.
She sighed deeply and clenched her fists, a bitter frown forming on her face.
"Remember, Jackie, this is justice for what happened," she muttered to herself in a self-assured voice. "After all, they took everything from you. If it wasn't for her-"
The ringing of the doorbell startled her, snapping her out of her transfixed state of mind. She stood up and promptly made her way downstairs to answer the door. Upon opening it, she was greeted with a familiar smile.
"Hi, Jackie." Marco raised his hand to greet her.
"Oh, hey dude, what's up?" she asked, genuinely happy to see the boy.
"A lot, actually..." Marco thought it was best not to bother Jackie with any of the stuff he and Star had gone through since he'd last met up with her. He would catch up on things some other time, for now, he had other things to discuss.
"But that's for later. Anyway, Star and I talked about a few things and we decided that it was high time we pay you back."
"Pay me back?" Jackie inquired in a curious tone. "Pay me back for that?"
Marco chuckled.
"Ah, still playing the humble dame, are we?" He said in an overly-flirtatious manner, which Jackie took notice of and glared at him.
"Um, what did you just call me?" Jackie demanded with her arms on her hips and a menacing glare aimed at the Latino.
Marco swallowed and let out a nervous chuckle as he raised his arms defensively.
"Kidding, kidding!"
"Mm-hmm. Sure you are."
"Anyhow, Star and I owe you big time for helping us figure things out back then, so she wanted me to go over to your house and ask you if you wanted to join me, her and Pony Head for some fun at the Bounce Lounge?"
"Bounce Lounge? I've never heard of that club before. It is new or something?"
"It's in another dimension, actually."
"Well, it's cool that you guys want me to hang out with you 'n all, but there's really no need to 'pay me back' since I didn't really do anything."
"Well even if you didn't do anything, Star and I still want you to join us for some fun today," Marco insisted, smiling modestly.
"I dunno about that, Marco." Jackie smirked evilly. "Wouldn't I just be the third wheel while the two of you make kissy faces?"
"No," replied Marco bluntly, clearly irritated. "We're not going on a date. We are going there to have lots of fun and dance our butts off! Not everyone can get in on a whim, you know, so you'd better come unless you wanna miss out on the fun!"
Jackie considered Marco's proposal, then finally nodded after a time.
"I guess it sounds like fun..." she muttered, considering his proposal. "How much is the entry fee?"
"No no no." Marco shook his head defiantly. "Star and I will cover everything. Even if you don't feel like we owe you anything, we insist on it. No buts."
Jackie sighed, yet couldn't help but smile as she shook her head.
"I swear, the two of you are impossible." She gave a defeated sigh. "Alright. Count me in!"
"Sweet! Meetup's at my place in twenty."
"Alright, I'll be there," she said and gave him a thumbs up.
Jackie waved the boy goodbye as he walked away from her front porch and headed home. Her cheerful smile immediately dropped and was replaced by a grim frown. She felt like a dirtbag for what she was about to do, but it needed to be done. She'd come too far to turn back.
"Sorry, guys..." she murmured as she reached into her pocket and took out her phone, then dialled a number and held it next to her ear.
"Hello. You have reached Child Services. This is Bertha speaking. How may I assist you?" a woman answered.
"Yeah, hi. This is Jackie Lynn Thomas. I have a case to report..."
Meanwhile
"I'm back!" said Marco upon entering through the front door. The sight that greeted him warned his heart. Star and Zora were in the living room, sitting on the carpet. Zora was seated on Star's lap, eagerly gazing at the book Star was holding in front of her.
Star had quite an apt for storytelling, as Marco had found out, and had gone through two whole books of Mewman fairy tales with Zora over just as many days. By the looks of it, the third one was drawing to a close as both were engrossed in the story, each in their own way.
"And then, the Big Bad Monster said: "Well, if I can't eat your corn, then I'll just eat you! Rawr!" Star made scratching motions with her hands to imitate the monster. Zora was completely transfixed and gazed at the illustrations in amazement, her mouth agape.
Would the monster eat the children!?
Would someone stop the monster!?
Marco chuckled. Yeah, those were probably her thoughts.
"But before the monster could chomp off the little children's heads," Star continued with a chirpier voice, "the brave knight came bursting through the door and he slashed the vicious monster in half! And the little Mewmans happily ate their corn! The End!"
"Wow! That was awesome, Star!" Zora clapped her hands cheerfully. A thought crossed her mind. "Say; how come every story you've told me involves killing a monster?"
"Let's just say that the old Mewman storytellers weren't too fond of monsters..."
"Makes sense." Zora nodded. "Can you read me another story?"
"Another one?" Zora responded with an eager nod. "Hmm... We're done with this book. Maybe I have another one upstairs..."
"I could tell you one of Earth's classics!" Marco stated, entering the room.
"Marco, nobody wants to hear your boring Earth stories!" Star complained.
"Hey! They are not boring!" he protested, but Star was quick to correct him.
"Uh, they are! I've not heard one that involves a monster getting chopped in half! So they're boring!"
"Why does your definition of a good story involve a monster getting killed? I thought you liked monsters?"
"I do. But it can't be a children's story without a big bad monster meeting its demise! Duh!" Star exclaimed as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Marco sighed. Star was definitely a stubborn one, so reasoning her was impossible.
"Anyway, it's not like we have the time for another story. Jackie will be here in about fifteen minutes."
Star perked up upon hearing this.
"So she'll come with us to the Bounce Lounge?"
"Yep."
"Awesome! I've been wanting to return the favour for a long time."
"Uh, what's the Bounce Lounge?"
The two teens looked at Zora, who whipped her head from one to the other, having become lost in the conversation.
"Oh, right, we forgot to tell you," Star said with an apologetic voice as she motioned Zora to get off her to allow her to stand up. Zora obeyed the princess and both were soon upright. "Marco and I are taking a friend of ours to this place that's in another dimension," she explained.
"We kind of owe her," Marco added, chuckling awkwardly.
Zora looked towards Star and asked, "Can I come?"
"Sorry, sweetie, but you're too young to get in." Star's apologetic voice suggested that she didn't want to leave Zora behind, but she and Marco had forgotten about it when they planned the whole thing.
Zora looked crestfallen but nodded.
"Oh, ok."
"Hey, no need to make such a long face!" Star said cheerfully. "Angie and Rafael said they'd have lots of fun with, so you won't even notice we're gone!"
Zora smiled upon hearing that both of Marco's parents would be watching over her. The two adults always treated her kindly and made her laugh with their antics. On top of that, they allowed her things that, for whatever reason, Star strictly forbade her, to which Marco would shake his head in protest, which often resulted in the two quarrelling over it. Marco simply couldn't understand how Star, the reckless princess from another dimension who has no problem charging head first into all sorts of trouble, would be so strict and protective of Zora. He remembered this one instance at the playground where Star used magic on the swing to prevent it from swinging too high, arguing that Zora may fall off and hurt herself, which had earned a glare from Marco, who called the princess out for her foolishness.
Zora didn't seem to mind the restrictions that the Mewman princess kept putting her under. After all, Star did spend an abundance of time with the girl, telling her stories and doing otherwise goofy and fun things.
Marco mostly tended to her education, since she'd taken an interest in the Alphabet and writing. Fortunately, for bizarre reasons beyond his control, Mewman writing and Earth writing were identical, so she'd be able to use it in both dimensions. He also prepared snacks for her and always made sure that her flower-pattern robe, which was the only piece of clothing that Zora wore during the day, stayed clean. He wasn't as strict and careful as Star - which probably went against the laws of the Universe - when it came to playing with Zora, but the girl much prefers Star as a play-partner.
In any case, Zora was happy to spend some time with Angie and Rafael.
"Alright," she told Star. The princess was satisfied with the answer and patted Zora on the head, much to her annoyance. Marco chuckled upon seeing her pouting face.
Later
The doorbell rang and Marco, who was closest to the door, opened it and greeted the skater girl standing on his doorstep.
"Hey. We ready to go or what?" Jackie asked upon entering the house and closing the door.
"Almost. Star's upstairs looking for the tickets," Marco explained with a sigh; it was typical for Star to 'misplace' stuff, so he couldn't be too mad about it. He Jackie to the living room. There she was greeted by Angie who was sitting on the couch will a girl Jackie had heard of but never seen. Zora stared at her with an inquisitive look, her head tilted to the side.
The tried her best to play it cool and ignore the guilt that was eating her up from the inside. She'd had her chance to back out, what was done was done.
Jackie walked over to the couch and greeted the girl. "Hello. I'm Jackie, Marco and Star's friend."
Zora was reluctant to speak up and looked past Jackie's shoulder to see Marco's reaction. He seemed to be calm about the situation and was smiling, so Zora concluded that it was alright to speak to the teenage girl before her.
With a smile, Zora said, "Hi! My name's Zora. It's nice to meet you!"
Dammit! Why does she have to be so cute!? Jackie screamed internally but was mindful not to let it show on the outside. Jackie then spotted the mask resting atop the young girl's head.
So that's the-
"Hmm? What's wrong?" Zora asked upon noticing that Jackie was staring at her. Zora followed her gaze and realised what had caught the elderly girl's attention. "Oh, this is just the mask my parents gave to me. At least, that's what I think it is..."
... your... parents...
"Uh, Jackie. Are you ok?" Marco asked, genuinely concerned for his friend. The face she'd made a second ago was alarming. Jackie gazed at him, still dazed. "Are you feeling sick or something? We don't have to go today if you don't want to. I'll just tell Star to postpone the tickets and-"
"No!" Jackie yelped, startling both Zora, Marco and Angie, the latter of whom thought it best to let the kids chat undisturbed. Jackie inhaled a breath of air and soothed her nerves, upon which her usual calm and relaxed stance returned. "I'm fine, dude. I was just looking at how pretty the mask is."
Zora beamed upon hearing that. Her mask was pretty, after all.
"Alright. If you say so." Marco shrugged, falling for Jackie's bluff.
The two then heard the rapid tapping of footfalls on the staircase and spotted the energetic Mewman princess running down the stairs with the tickets in hand. She greeted Jackie with a light hug and a bright smile.
"Glad you decided to tag along! This will be so much fun!"
"I hope so. I've never been to that place before."
"Well, duh! 'Course you haven't been there! You don't have dimensional scissors like I do!" Star proclaimed proudly as she took out the said scissors from her pocket. Jackie chuckled nervously.
"Right, right. Anyway, I'm all set if you are."
Star smiled and tore open a portal that leads to the Bounce Lounge. However, before she could enter, she needed to take care of a few minor details.
"Angie," Star spoke to the woman who looked at her with a smile.
"Yes, Star?"
"I've told you this before, but I'll do in again just in case: that cartoon she likes is on at six; for dinner, she likes to eat Captain Crunchy's or if she doesn't feel like eating cereal, she tends to make cook something herself, so don't worry. Oh, and a cup of tea to help her sleep better. Her bedtime is at nine, but if she isn't tired let her stay up for another hour or so if Marco and I aren't back by then. Also, don't forget to-"
"I know, Star! I know!" Angie cut her off and laughed heartily. "This isn't the first time I've had to watch her while you two were doing other things, you know? Once Rafael comes back we'll take her to the park to play and grab a bite to eat at that Chinese restaurant she liked so much."
"It was really pretty!" Zora commented, reminiscing the beautiful decorations that she'd been captivated by when they'd gone to eat there. The food wasn't bad, either, so hearing that Angie and Rafael would take her there sent a wave of excitement and impatience to wash over her.
Star wasn't entirely sold by Angie's promise and added, "And remember to not feed an entire bag of candy like last time! I barely got her to sleep thanks to the sugar-overdose!" Star warned Angie who whistled innocently. Zora rubbed her stomach, the not-too-fond memory of the stomach pain she'd felt the next day after overindulging on the sweet stuff.
She then heard a snicker and noticed Jackie covering her mouth with one hand in an attempt to mask her giggling.
"What's so funny?" Star demanded harshly, hating that she was the object of someone's amusement.
"You sound like a mom!"
The comment took Star off-guard, eliciting a fierce blush to tint her face. Her mouth was glued shut and her mind was paralyzed.
"Well, Marco," Jackie lightly elbowed the boy, who looked dazed, no doubt a side-casualty of Jackie's remark. "Looks like you don't have to worry about hiring a babysitter too often in the future, huh? Although judging by Star's enthusiasm, you're gonna have to start coming up with a few good names pretty soon..."
"Aright! We're off! Bye!" Marco shouted as he literally shoved both Jackie and Star into the portal, then jumped in himself. Jackie may have been unaware of his and Star's 'biological incompatibility' but he really, really didn't want to discuss with her.
"Bye, kids! Have fun!" Angie said with her always-cheerful voice and waved them goodbye as the portal closed. Not a moment later, she reached behind her back and revealed a large bag of gummy worms she'd had stashed away for the occasion.
"Want some candy?" Angie whispered suggestively to Zora with an evil smirk as she opened the bag and offered it to Zora. Hey, what Star didn't know wouldn't hurt her, right?
"Yes, ma'am!" Zora nodded eagerly and stuffed the mouth-wattering goodness in her mouth.
End of Part I!
